Solving Guide

How to Solve the WSJ Crossword: The Complete Guide

The Wall Street Journal crossword rewards rhythm: know what each day of the week asks of you, grab the easy footholds first, and let the crossings do the heavy lifting. Here's the system we use to finish the grid every morning — and what to do on the days it fights back.

1. Know the difficulty curve

WSJ puzzles run Monday through Saturday and get steadily harder as the week goes on. Monday and Tuesday are warm-ups with straightforward clues. By Thursday expect wordplay and trickier themes, and Friday often brings the contest “meta” puzzle — a grid that hides a second answer. Saturday is the big 21×21. Pick your battles accordingly: a new solver should build streaks early in the week. For the full breakdown, see our day-by-day difficulty guide.

2. Open with the gimmes

Skim the whole clue list before writing anything. Fill-in-the-blank clues (“___ we there yet?”), abbreviations (“Big Apple sch.”) and proper names you know cold are near-certain answers. Enter those first — every letter you place turns two or three unsolved clues into half-solved ones.

3. Learn the crosswordese

Short, vowel-heavy words are the mortar of every grid, and the same ones appear week after week. Memorize a couple dozen and you'll fill corners on sight:

Want the full list, organized so it sticks? We keep one in the essential crosswordese guide.

4. Trust the crossings

Every letter in the grid is checked by two answers, so use that. Unsure between POUT and MOUE for “Sullen look”? Run the crossing clues and let them vote. If a cross produces an impossible letter combination, erase early — a single wrong “gimme” can poison a whole corner.

5. Stuck? Pattern-search it

When a corner won't budge, take the letters you do have to our Crossword Solver. Set the answer length, type the known letters in their positions, and use “?” for the blanks — it returns every word that fits the pattern. One match is usually all a stuck corner needs.