About the xWord database

xWord is a database of crossword clues and their answers. Every day we record the clues from the major daily crosswords — the LA Times, New York Times, USA Today, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, Daily Themed, Universal and others — and add them to a single archive that goes back years.

Most answer sites give you one answer for one puzzle on one day. We do something different: one page per clue, showing every answer that clue has ever had, in every puzzle, on every date. When “Robin Hood foe” has been SHERIFF six times and PRINCEJOHN three times, you see both, with the letter counts, so you can pick the one that fits your grid.

Answer pages work the other way round: one answer, every clue that has led to it. If you have some letters already, the pattern search narrows the list.

Where the data comes from

Clues and answers are collected from the published puzzles themselves after each puzzle is released, then checked against the completed grid. We do not publish a puzzle's clues before the publisher does, and we never reproduce the grid or the puzzle file — only the clue text and the answer, which is what a stuck solver needs.

Independence

xWord is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsday, Dow Jones, PlaySimple or any other publisher. Puzzle names are used only to identify which crossword a clue appeared in.

Read how we verify answers, or get in touch if you've spotted a mistake.