This style of grid is also used in several countries other than Sweden, often in magazines, but also in daily newspapers. Arrows indicate in which direction the clues have to be answered: vertical or horizontal. The 'Swedish-style' grid (picture crosswords) uses no clue numbers, as the clues are contained in the cells which do not contain answers. they may not be orthogonally contiguous) and that the corner squares must be white. The design of Japanese crossword grids often follows two additional rules: that shaded cells may not share a side (i.e. Most puzzle designs also require that all white cells be orthogonally contiguous (that is, connected in one mass through shared sides, to form a single polyomino). For example, if the top row has an answer running all the way across, there will often be no across answers in the second row.Īnother tradition in puzzle design (in North America, India, and Britain particularly) is that the grid should have 180-degree rotational (also known as 'radial') symmetry, so that its pattern appears the same if the paper is turned upside down. Crossword grids elsewhere, such as in Britain, South Africa, India and Australia, have a lattice-like structure, with a higher percentage of shaded squares (around 25%), leaving about half the letters in an answer unchecked. In such puzzles shaded squares are typically limited to about one-sixth of the total. is part of both an 'across' word and a 'down' word) and usually each answer must contain at least three letters.

Barred grid where bold bars are used instead of shaded blocks to separate the wordsĬrossword grids such as those appearing in most North American newspapers and magazines feature solid areas of white squares.

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