I Solved Crosswords Every Day for a Year. Here Is What I Learned.

About a year ago, I decided to do a crossword every day. Not because I was good at them – I absolutely wasn’t. I’d stare at a Monday NYT puzzle and still have blank squares after 20 minutes. But I’d heard they were good for your brain, and honestly? I just wanted to stop being the person who couldn’t finish them.

365 puzzles later, I can now finish a Monday in under 4 minutes, a Wednesday in about 12, and I occasionally – not always, but occasionally – finish a Saturday. what I picked up along the way that I wish someone had told me on day one.

Start Easy. Seriously.

If you’re new to crosswords, do NOT jump into a Saturday or Sunday NYT puzzle. You’ll hate it. Most publications grade difficulty by day:

• Monday/Tuesday – Straightforward clues, common vocabulary
• Wednesday/Thursday – Trickier wordplay, puns, theme puzzles
• Friday/Saturday – Minimal theme, maximum difficulty, fewer black squares
• Sunday – Bigger grid (21×21 vs 15×15), Thursday-level difficulty but longer

Start with Monday. Get comfortable. Then graduate. There’s no shame in easy puzzles – they teach you the patterns.

The Words That Appear in Every. Single. Puzzle.

Crossword constructors have a dirty secret: certain words appear way more often than they should because they fit the grid perfectly. Learn these “crosswordese” words and you’ll fill squares before even reading the clue:

• OREO – The most common crossword answer in America. “Cookie brand” or “Nabisco treat” = OREO. Always.
• ALOE – “Healing plant” or “Vera gel ingredient.” Shows up 2-3 times a week across major publications.
• ERIE – “Great Lake” or “Pennsylvania city.” Also ERIE Canal.
• ARIA – “Opera solo.” If you see anything opera-related, try ARIA first.
• EPEE – “Fencing sword.” Three E’s make it a grid-filler dream.
• ERA – “Time period.” Three letters, two vowels. Constructors love it.
• OLEO – Old-fashioned word for margarine. Less common in 2026 puzzles but still pops up.
• ASEA – “On the ocean.” Weird word nobody uses in real life. Shows up in crosswords constantly.

How to Read Clues Like a Pro

Crossword clues follow rules. Once you learn the rules, the puzzles get dramatically easier:

• Question mark at the end? The answer involves wordplay or a pun. “Worker with a lot of energy?” might be DYNAMO or BEE (get it? “worker bee”).
• Abbreviation in the clue? The answer is abbreviated too. “Neighbor of Wyo.” = IDA (for Idaho).
• “Perhaps” or “for one”? The answer is a category, not a specific thing. “Mars, for one” = PLANET (not the candy bar… unless it’s Thursday).
• Quotes around the clue? The answer is conversational. “”Forget it!”” = NOWAY or ASIF.
• Foreign language hint? “Friend, in French” = AMI. “The, in Spanish” = LOS or LAS.
• Tense and part of speech match. If the clue is past tense, the answer is past tense. Clue ends in -S? Answer probably does too.

The Pattern Trick That Changed Everything

Once you’ve filled in a few crossing letters, use the pattern to solve the rest. Say you have _A_E with 4 letters. That could be: BAKE, CAKE, DALE, FARE, GAME, GATE, HAZE, LAKE, MAKE, MAZE, PACE, RAGE, SAKE, TALE, VANE, WADE…

Our Crossword Solver does exactly this – enter the letters you know (using ? for blanks) and it spits out every match. I use it when I’m stuck and it’s been a genuine learning tool.

What’s Changed in Crosswords for 2026

The crossword world keeps evolving:

• The NYT Games app bundle (Wordle, Connections, Strands, Spelling Bee + Crosswords) has made puzzles more mainstream than ever. Their subscriber count for Games reportedly passed 12 million in late 2025.
• More inclusive vocabulary. Modern constructors are moving away from obscure crosswordese and toward words people actually use. You’ll see more pop culture, current slang, and diverse references.
• Mini crosswords are huge. The NYT Mini, LA Times Mini, and others have created a pipeline of new solvers who graduate to full-size puzzles.
• AI-assisted construction is helping create cleaner, more interesting grids with less “glue” (those obscure words needed to hold a grid together).

My Daily Routine (Steal This)

1. NYT Mini (2 minutes, morning coffee)
2. NYT Daily crossword (varies – 4 min Monday, 30+ min Saturday)
3. If I get stuck, I check 2-3 crossing clues using our Crossword Solver
4. After finishing, I look up any answers I didn’t know. This is how you build vocabulary.

Other Useful Tools

• Anagram Solver – Some crossword clues are hidden anagrams. This catches them.
• Dictionary Checker – “Is that really a word?” Find out.
• Word Unscrambler – The all-purpose letter tool. Good for everything.

A year of daily crosswords taught me patience, expanded my vocabulary more than any book, and gave me something to do instead of doomscrolling. If you’re thinking about starting – do it. Start with Monday. You’ll thank yourself later.