🧩 9×9 grid · about 10 to 20 minutes
Small Crossword Puzzles
50 free 9×9 crosswords for coffee breaks, classrooms and new crossword fans. Bite-sized puzzles with a proper grid and plenty of crossings. Play on screen or print on one page, with the answers on a separate sheet.
Every grid is built by our own program from a ranked word list, checked by tests to be fully filled with no repeated answers, and every clue is written from scratch for Brain Teaser Club.
🌱 Easy small crosswords
Everyday words and plain, friendly clues. 17 puzzles.
⭐ Medium small crosswords
A wider vocabulary and a few puns to untangle. 17 puzzles.
🔥 Hard small crosswords
Rarer words and trickier, punnier clues. 16 puzzles.
Puzzle guide
About small crosswords
What they are
Small crosswords use a 9×9 grid with black squares, so they look and feel like a real crossword while staying short. Expect 24 to 30 clues and ten to twenty minutes of solving. All 50 are original, with a spread of easy, medium and hard clue styles.
How to play
Solve on screen with the built-in timer, check and reveal buttons, or print a copy. Numbers in the grid match the numbered clue lists, and answers of three letters or more run either across or down.
Tips
Fill in the short three- and four-letter answers early; they cross the longer words and make them far easier to guess. If you are stuck on a long answer, count its letters and look for common endings such as -ING, -ED or -ER.
Who they suit
This size is a good step up for older children who enjoy minis, a handy classroom activity that fits in one lesson, and a relaxed coffee-break puzzle for adults.
Printing
Each small crossword prints on one page with the clues beside the grid. Print a second copy so two people can race each other, and keep the answer page for marking.
Good to know
Small crossword questions
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Crossword clues are just tiny riddles
Every crossword clue is a riddle with the answer written in the grid. Here are a few medium riddles with answers, then more brain games from the club.