Cruxword tips and strategy
Everyone gets the same 21 tiles, so the difference between a 300 and a 400 is all in how you lay them out. Here's what our solver's best grids have in common, with real examples from past puzzles. New to the game? Start with how to play.
The scoring, in one line
+10 per tile placed · +5 per letter past three in each word · +10 per crossing square · +50 for using all 21 tiles · −5 per unused tile.
Do the sums and three things stand out. Tiles on the board are the base: a valid grid using all 21 is worth 260 before any bonuses. Crossings are worth twice as much per square as extra word length. And finishing the rack matters more than anything else.
1. Use all 21 tiles
One leftover tile costs 65 points: its own 10, the 50-point bonus and the 5-point penalty. No clever long word makes that back. Every par grid in our archive uses all 21 tiles, and if you're stuck with one or two left over, it's nearly always worth rebuilding part of the grid to fit them.
Two-letter words are how you get there. All of these appear in our par grids: AN, AR, AS, BY, DA, DO, EF, EH, ER, ES, GI, GO, HA, HI, IF, IN, KA, NU, OF, PA, PE, PI, RE, SI, TE, UH, UM, UP, WE, XU, YE, YO. The dictionary also accepts handy ones like QI, ZA, XI, JO, OX, AX and EX.
2. Cross as often as you can
Every square that belongs to both an across word and a down word scores 10 on top of everything else. That's why the best grids look like a long spine with lots of short words hanging off and through it, rather than a few long words that barely touch.
Compare two par grids. Puzzle No. 3 used four words, including two long ones, ARTICHOKE and OUTLIVED, and only three crossings:
Puzzle No. 8 got 60 points more from a shorter-looking grid: one ten-letter spine, LANDSCAPES, and seven short words through it, for ten crossings:
The word-length bonus was lower in the better grid. The crossings made the difference.
3. Find a long spine first
Crossings need something to cross. Start by looking for the longest word you can make, ideally seven to ten letters, and lay it across the middle. A ten-letter word earns 35 length points by itself and gives you ten places to hang other words.
Look for common endings and beginnings to stretch a word: -ING, -ED, -ER, -S, -LY, RE-, UN-. With 7 vowels against 14 consonants, words with consonant clusters (ST, SCR, NG, BL) help use up the consonants that would otherwise be left over.
4. Place awkward letters early
J, Q, X and Z are hard to fit once the board fills up. Put them down while there's still room around them, ideally where they can be part of two words. In No. 18 the X sits inside MAILBOX; in No. 3 the Z ends BLITZ, and in No. 11 it went into FEZ.
5. Leave short words for last
A good order of play: spine word first, then the medium words that cross it and use your awkward letters, then two- and three-letter words to place the last tiles and pick up extra crossings. Every short word placed across another word's letter is 10 points for the crossing plus 10 for each new tile.
6. Keep improving
You can submit as many times as you like and only your best grid counts, so submit a safe grid early and then try to beat it. If you know the answer to "could this word cross one more?", you're thinking like the solver.
A checklist before you submit
- All 21 tiles on the board?
- Is there a longer word hiding in your spine (add -S, -ED, -ING)?
- Could any short word move so it crosses another word?
- Is every run of two or more letters, across and down, a real word?
Practise on past puzzles
Every past puzzle in the archive has a par: the score of our solver's example grid. Play one blind, then compare your grid with the par grid on its puzzle page. Par across the first twenty puzzles ranged from 350 to 420, about 390 on average.
Questions
What is a good Cruxword score?
Using all 21 tiles in a valid grid is already worth 260 points before any bonuses. Our solver's par grids for the first twenty puzzles scored between 350 and 420, about 390 on average, so anything near par is a strong score.
Should I always use all 21 tiles?
Almost always. Using every tile earns a 50-point bonus, and each unused tile also loses its own 10 points and costs a 5-point penalty, so one leftover tile is a 65-point swing.
Are crossings or long words worth more?
Crossings usually are. Each crossing square is worth 10, while each letter past three in a word is worth 5. The highest-scoring par grids use one long spine word with many short words crossing it.
Do two-letter words count?
Yes. Any run of two or more letters must be a valid word, and two-letter words are the easiest way to place your last few tiles and add crossings.