Crossword constructor worksheet

Find structural grid defects before fill and clue review

Paste a block pattern. This local check identifies 180° symmetry mismatches, disconnected open regions, unchecked cells, and two-letter entries.

Selected ruleset

American-style structural check + 180° rotational symmetry

This checker applies the American-style checks documented by Crossword Compiler: every letter has two words through it, no two-letter words, and no disconnected areas. It also requires a 180°-symmetric block pattern as an explicit profile setting. This is not a universal publisher rule: Apple News+ submissions, for example, explicitly allow asymmetry and other symmetry types.

Input

Grid pattern

Rows must be the same length. Spaces, bars, rebus cells, and clues are outside this checker. Letters are treated as open cells and are not dictionary-checked.

Grid local: the grid and result stay in page memory. After consent, the measurement provider receives ordinary connection metadata and allowlisted event names only.

Method and limits

A structural preflight, not acceptance validation

Checked here

  • Block-pattern equality after a 180° rotation.
  • Orthogonal connectivity of every open cell.
  • Whether every open cell belongs to both an Across and Down run of at least two cells.
  • Every two-letter Across/Down entry, plus a complete entry-length map.

Not checked

  • Publisher acceptance, theme exceptions, word-count limits, fill quality, clues, originality, or rights.
  • Whether typed letters make valid words or agree at imported crossings.
  • Barred, cryptic/quick, diagramless, rebus, or other non-profile formats.

Sources reviewed 2026-09-27

Why this profile is named