Editing Crossword (section)

== Other variants ==
These are common crossword variants that vary more from a regular crossword than just an unusual grid shape or unusual clues; these crossword variants may be based on different solving principles and require a different solving skill set.

=== Cipher crosswords ===
Cipher crosswords were invented in Germany in the 19th century. Published under various trade names (including Code Breakers, Code Crackers, and Kaidoku), and not to be confused with cryptic crosswords (ciphertext puzzles are commonly known as [[cryptogram]]s), a cipher crossword replaces the clues for each entry with clues for each white cell of the grid—an integer from 1 to 26 inclusive is printed in the corner of each. The objective, as any other crossword, is to determine the proper letter for each cell; in a cipher crossword, the 26 numbers serve as a [[cipher]] for those letters: cells that share matching numbers are filled with matching letters, and no two numbers stand for the same letter. All resultant entries must be valid words. Usually, at least one number's letter is given at the outset. English-language cipher crosswords are nearly always [[pangram]]matic (all letters of the alphabet appear in the solution). As these puzzles are closer to codes than quizzes, they require a different skillset; many basic cryptographic techniques, such as determining likely vowels, are key to solving these. Given their pangrammaticity, a frequent start point is locating where 'Q' and 'U' must appear.

=== Diagramless crosswords ===
In a diagramless crossword, often called a diagramless for short or, in the UK, a skeleton crossword or carte blanche, the grid offers overall dimensions, but the locations of most of the clue numbers and shaded squares are unspecified. A solver must deduce not only the answers to individual clues, but how to fit together partially built-up clumps of answers into larger clumps with properly set shaded squares. Some of these puzzles follow the traditional symmetry rule, others have left-right mirror symmetry, and others have greater levels of symmetry or outlines suggesting other shapes. If the symmetry of the grid is given, the solver can use it to his/her advantage.

=== Fill-in crosswords ===
{{Main|Fill-In (puzzle)}}

A fill-in crossword (also known as crusadex or cruzadex) features a grid and the full list of words to be entered in that grid, but does not give explicit clues for where each word goes. The challenge is figuring out how to integrate the list of words together within the grid so that all intersections of words are valid. Fill-in crosswords may often have longer word length than regular crosswords to make the crossword easier to solve, and symmetry is often disregarded. Fitting together several long words is easier than fitting together several short words because there are fewer possibilities for how the long words intersect together. These types of crosswords are also used to demonstrate [[artificial intelligence]] abilities, such as finding solutions to the puzzle based on a set of determined [[constraint satisfaction problem|constraints]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Poole|first1=David L.|last2=Mackworth|first2=Alan K.|date=2010|title=Artificial Intelligence: Foundations of Computational Agents|location=New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-51900-7}}</ref>

=== Cross-figures ===
{{Main|Cross-figure}}
A cross-figure or crossnumber is the numerical analogy of a crossword, in which the solutions to the clues are numbers instead of words. Clues are usually [[arithmetic]]al expressions, but can also be [[general knowledge]] clues to which the answer is a number or year. There are also numerical fill-in crosswords.

=== Acrostic puzzles ===
{{Main|Acrostic (puzzle)}}

An acrostic is a type of word puzzle, in eponymous [[acrostic]] form, that typically consists of two parts. The first is a set of lettered clues, each of which has numbered blanks representing the letters of the answer. The second part is a long series of numbered blanks and spaces, representing a quotation or other text, into which the answers for the clues fit. In most forms of the puzzle, the first letters of each correct clue answer, read in order from clue A on down the list, will spell out the author of the quote and the title of the work it is taken from; this can be used as an additional solving aid.

===Arroword===

The arroword is a variant of a crossword that does not have as many black squares as a true crossword, but has arrows inside the grid, with clues preceding the arrows. It has been called the most popular word puzzle in many [[European countries]], and is often called the Scandinavian crossword, as it is believed to have originated in Sweden.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.puzzler.com/Puzzles-encyclopedia/Arroword.htm |title=Arroword |publisher=puzzler.com |access-date=May 17, 2011 }}</ref>