Rules, help & how things work
Everything you need to know - from your first cell to the Champions League.
Rankings & divisions
Two separate ladders, and they never touch each other - solo play is ranked one way, multiplayer another. Here's the short version; the full ruleset, every band and tiebreaker, lives on its own page.
A football-league ladder. Your points over the last 90 days rank you against everyone else, split into four quarters. Rewards showing up and doing the work.
A Glicko-2 skill rating, the same maths chess uses. Each tier splits into three divisions. Rewards winning head-to-head.
Two ways to compete
One shared grid and one move a turn: a whole word or a single letter. Your clock only runs on your move, like chess. Three wrong guesses are free; after that, every miss costs 10 points and reveals a letter your opponent can use.
No turns. Everyone solves the same puzzle at the same time on their own grid, and the first correct answer takes the word's full points. In 1v1 you get three tries a word; in 2v2, one each. The game ends when the countdown runs out or the grid is full, and most points wins.
Solve together
Crosswords were always better with someone else holding the pencil. Invite a friend into today's daily and solve the same grid together, at the same time, wherever you both are.
How to play
Three ways to have your answers checked
Single-player puzzles only. Pick a mode before you start; it sets your scoring multiplier.
On a computer keyboard
On a phone or tablet
2v2 teams
Pick a friend, name your team, and play as a pair: turns alternate between the two teams, both of you share one clock, and your team's total decides the winner. A separate 2v2 rating never touches your 1v1 rating.
The crosswords
Crossword Capital serves daily challenges, competitive leaderboards, and real-time multiplayer matches - with boards from both sides of the Atlantic.
Printing
Any of the six daily crosswords can be printed as an A4 sheet from its options screen: solve it at the kitchen table instead of on a screen. Premium members print straight away, can save the sheet as a PDF, and can print from the archive too. For free players, printing uses today's free daily crossword, so you print it or play it on screen, not both, and a short ad runs first. A crossword you have already completed can be reprinted at any time.
Subscription
Free gets one daily crossword a day, unlimited multiplayer, Friends and Solve together, with ads. Premium (£1.99 a month or £19.99 a year) adds unlimited dailies, the archive and no ads.
Credits
Credits are earned by placing on the daily and weekly leaderboards, never bought. 100 credits buys a month of Premium or any avatar in the gallery.
Made by
Developed by Rhubarb Press.