A title as simple as 'Dad' or 'Dad's Crossword' means that you don't have to include the word 'Dad' in lots of your clues. You can also provide context for a crossword via its title. A brilliantly simple idea that worked extremely well.Īnother customer made a crossword where all the clues were dates and all the answers were names - the dates were dates of birth and the names were the names of the recipient's grandchildren. One of our customers had the brilliant idea of making a crossword for someone who had appeared in lots of stage shows. Each clue was the name of the stage show (so there were some very short clues, like 'Cats' and 'Grease') and each answer was the name of the character that the recipient had played in the show. A warning, though: a theme only works if all clues and answers are appropriate to the theme. The theme provides the context for the clues and answers. Great clues don't have to be clever or brilliantly worded, they just have to give a warm feeling to the person who the crossword gift is for.Ī theme for your crossword can really help with writing your clues because it means you don't have to provide as much information in each clue. But when combined with the answer and read by the gift recipient, they become meaningful and very personal. We've seen clues with nonsense words, dates, single-word clues, acronyms, names, places - all of which, on their own, don't mean very much. But so what? As long as it makes sense to the recipient of your gift, it's a good clue! Some of the clues might be totally meaningless to everyone else. Each clue combines with its answer to evoke a memory or highlight something important to whoever the crossword is about. Sometimes, the more specific they are, the better. Your audience is one single person so you can be really specific with the clues. When a crossword is a gift, you've got a lot more latitude for your clues. If it's possible, try out your clues on someone before you commit them to the crossword. You'll soon find out if a clue 'works' or not - do you get a confused, blank face as they wonder what you're getting at, or an excited smile as they solve the clue? The very best clues are those where the answer is on the tip of the tongue but takes a bit of thought before it tumbles out of the mouth. If your crossword has factual answers, make sure the facts are right! Obvious, really, but if a clue points to an answer that's different from the right answer, it means you've got the wrong clue. It helps motivate them to keep at it if they get stuck on a harder clue later on. It's a good idea to have a few easy clues so that people can get some of the answers quite quickly. So the clues must be something everyone can relate to. If people don't understand the clue, they're not going to get the answer! And they're going to get frustrated. It's common sense: a clue is no good if no-one understands it. If you're writing a crossword to be solved by more than one person, your clues need to be general enough to be understood by everyone who's going to try and solve them. It's a great idea for a present - a fun activity and also a wonderful keepsake (and the keepsake then carries the memory of attempting to solve the crossword!). Sometimes we've designed crosswords that created to be solved first, and then, after the solving, a print of the crossword with answers is given as a gift. Once you've got your list of answers and before you start writing the clues, think about your audience: who is going to read the clues?Īre you creating your crossword as a gift? Is it a celebration of someone's life? Then your clues exist to give context or add information about the answer in the grid.Īre you creating a crossword as a puzzle for a group of people to solve? Then your clues must contain sufficient information for people to get to the answer. We've seen all sorts of subject matter on crosswords ( read our blog post here - crosswords are very versatile!) and we've seen all manner of different clues.īut what makes a good crossword clue? If you're creating a crossword as a gift for someone, or you're creating a crossword for people you know to solve, read on for a few simple pointers that can help when writing those all-important clues. They're mostly given as gifts, though sometimes they're intended as crosswords for people to solve (for example, at social gatherings like weddings). How To Write Clues For Your Own CrosswordĪre you creating a crossword? Choosing the answers is important and fun, but writing great clues can make your crossword even better.Īt elevencorners we've designed many personalised crosswords for our customers.
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