Resources

All of the items here are all of the free (!) resources that I use in my own constructing. There are great paid resources too, I know – but they’re not included because 1) I haven’t tried any of them out, and 2) I feel like I’ve managed to do so much with just these resources.

Feb 2026 Update: Whoops! I hadn’t updated this page for, like, four years? Anyways, now this provides a more comprehensive (and true-to-me) look at my processes.

Current Specs

Grid-Making: Software

I’ve got three total grid-making sites that I use at least occasionally, which combined I feel pretty much give me everything I want. They are, ranked in order of screen-time:

  • Ingrid – I converted to this in 2025, and I probably make 90-95% of my puzzles exclusively on this downloaded platform. It comes with a nicely curated wordlist in Spread the Word(list) – more on that later – though you can also add other wordlists and rank the combined list. Overall, I just find it very intuitive and enjoyable to use, and feel most in my “flow state” while using it.
    • Pros: Feels nice to use, is constantly checking whether your grid is fillable without you specifically asking it to, easy “versioning,” capabilities for barred grids
    • Cons: No rebus functionality, no cloud sharing
  • Crosserville – Though I’ve converted mostly to Ingrid for grid-making, Crosserville is still a great option – at the very least, because of its integrated glut of features not related to grid-making. I mostly use it for rebuses, which Ingrid doesn’t allow for. Also, because it’s web-based you can easily edit the same puzzle on multiple devices.
    • Pros: Cloud sharing, restore point “versioning,” other non-grid related stuff
    • Cons: Have to press a button to see fill options (the horror!), overall just a touch slower to use for me
  • Crosshare – This online puzzle-sharing site does have some pretty neat options for constructing – capabilities like barred grids, Schrodinger entries, etc. The main knock is that it runs off its own wordlist which makes it less ideal for the actual word suggestions.
    • Pros: Cloud sharing, even more capabilities for interesting formats/tricks
    • Cons: No custom wordlist options

Grid-Making: Wordlists

I used pre-made wordlists for a long time, which helps maximize “fun crossword-making time” rather than “annoying word rescoring time.” In 2026 I began the process of customizing my wordlists, which you can read about here – but regardless, these wordlists are nice as starting points for immediate grid-making and extensive lists to cull through and rescore:

  • Spread the Word(list) – My bread-and-butter list that I always have on in addition to my personal list. It’s pretty accurate in terms of rating (though not perfect), and the tradeoff is that it’s a smaller list. Compiled by Brooke Husic and Enrique Henestroza Anguiano.
  • Peter Broda’s Wordlist – A lot more words, which means several fun entries that have never been used in crosswords. It also means several nonsensical entries that should never be used in crosswords. As an additional warning: This is scored 0-100, which makes it difficult to use in conjunction with STWL. Compiled by Peter Broda.
  • Expanded Crossword Name Database – Proper names aren’t always the best option in crosswords, but I do like to consider names of people/groups that have been historically underrepresented in puzzles, which this provides. Compiled by Erica Hsiung Wojcik.

I didn’t love the Crosserville wordlist many years ago; I think they’ve made some changes to improve it significantly since then, but I haven’t checked it out.

Cluing

First of all, you should not rely exclusively on copying clues from databases – the work will be better and more meaningful if you try to make clues yourself. However, I do like cluing databases if I’m stuck and for inspiration of different cluing angles. I’ve used Crosshare sometimes, but now I’m primarily using Crosserville for its large database of published clues from different venues.

Theme Creation

  • RhymeZone – In particular, I like its “phrases” and “related words” tabs to come up with potential theme entries I hadn’t considered when I have a revealer, and in general to inspire me.
  • Wordlisted – a new addition to my workflow but I’m pretty obsessed. Lots of capabilities for finding interesting connections between words, from repeated letter patterns to letter-swappy stuff to words within words and many others. A while back I had attempted to learn some basic python to do very minor operations, but Wordlisted makes me appreciate how I can just leave that work to the professionals. Created by Adam Aaronson.
  • Saying words out loud, very slowly – Tried but true!

Existing Puzzle Research

  • Crosserville – The “theme search” entry allows you to see if a potential revealer has been used before. I like how its database includes puzzles from several venues as opposed to just the New York Times (like for XWordInfo).
  • Diary of a Crossword Fiend – Helpful for finding puzzles from a specific date or author. The venues they cover include things like Incubator, the Washington Post Sunday crossword, and AVCX, which I often find inspiringly creative.

Promising Resources

I either don’t use these anymore or haven’t tried these yet, but I think there’s potential utility:

  • Crossword Grid Search – I found this pretty useful as a beginner constructor trying to figure out where to put black squares in my theme puzzles. Nowadays I think I have better intuition for that aspect of constructing, but I definitely appreciated it when I was starting out (and probably could still find uses for it even now).
  • Qat – This seems similar to Wordlisted for letter patterns, but could be worth seeing if it has additional capabilities.
  • Phil – This was my first constructing barebones constructing tool. It doesn’t have any autofill features, so it can be a struggle. I occasionally use it to humble myself. Created by Keiran King.

If you have anything that you think should be added, send me an email at thegridalchemist@gmail.com 🙂