Home

How We Make and Check Our Puzzles

A word that isn’t in the grid or an answer key that doesn’t match spoils a puzzle, especially after you have printed thirty copies for a class or an activity group. So every PuzzleKick puzzle is built by our own software and then checked by separate test programs before it reaches the site. If a single check fails, the update stops until the problem is fixed.

Right now that means 192 printable PDFs checked before every update: 92 for word searches, 47 for crosswords, 16 for sudoku, 29 for bingo and 8 card game score sheets.

Word searches

Each theme starts with its own word list. Our software builds the grid from that list, and the level decides the size and the directions words can run:

• Easy: 10 × 10, words run only across and down.
• Medium: 13 × 13, adds diagonals.
• Hard (15 × 15) and Expert (20 × 20): all eight directions, including backwards.
• Large print: 11 × 11 with big letters; across, down and diagonally downward, never backwards.

The empty squares are filled differently by level. On easier puzzles we use common letters and leave out Q, V, X and Z. On Hard and Expert the filler letters come from the word list itself, so false starts look like real words.

The check: a separate program reads the finished printable page, the same one that becomes the PDF, and searches the grid in all eight directions for every word in the list. Each word must be there exactly once; an accidental second copy fails the check. The answer key must mark every word, and its grid must match the puzzle letter for letter.

Crosswords

Clues are written for each theme and checked for accuracy before they go live. The grid is laid out by our software, and the checker then confirms that:

• the answer key spells exactly the intended answers, and no answer letters appear on the puzzle page;
• every clue number sits on the right square, and every clue shows the right number of letters;
• the clue printed on the page is the same as the clue in our list, with one clue for every answer.

Large print crosswords must pass extra checks: the clues sit on their own page in 18-point type, and the squares measure 0.61 to 0.73 inches on paper, well above the size of a regular puzzle.

Sudoku

Every sudoku must have exactly one solution, and it must be possible to reach it without guessing. The level depends mainly on the solving steps you need:

• Very easy: you only ever need squares where a single number fits.
• Easy and Medium: you may also need the “only place” step, where a number can go in just one square of a row, column or box.

The check: when the site is built, each puzzle is solved step by step to confirm it fits its level. Then a second solver, written separately from the program that makes the puzzles, solves every printed puzzle again, confirms there is only one solution and compares it with the answer key square by square.

Bingo cards

• Every word card has 24 different theme words around the free center square, and no two cards in a set are the same.
• The caller’s list includes every word that can appear on a card, so no square can go uncalled.
• Number cards follow the usual ranges: B 1–15, I 16–30, N 31–45, G 46–60, O 61–75.

Score sheets

The scoring reminders printed on our card game score sheets were checked against the rules published on Pagat.com, a long-standing reference for card games. Where tables commonly play differently, such as a gin bonus of 20 or 25, the sheet shows both.

Print and screen checks

• Every PDF is rendered and measured: nothing may run past the bottom margin or off the page. Sheets are designed for US Letter paper.
• Large print word searches must have letters at least one and a half times the size of the Medium puzzle.
• Before each update, every page is opened in a real browser at desktop and phone sizes, and every internal link is followed, so nothing is cut off or broken.
• We compare the text of similar pages, so each theme page has its own introduction and tips rather than a copy with the name swapped.

What software can’t check

A program can prove that a puzzle works. It can’t tell whether a clue is confusing or a word is too hard for a second grader. That is why every new page is read in full before it goes live, and why we take reports from readers seriously.

Found a mistake?

Please email [email protected] with the page and what looks wrong. We fix it, run every check again and update the PDF. You can read more about PuzzleKick here.

Page last updated: October 16, 2026