Interactive Crossword Puzzles in Excel

To add some fun to vocabulary lessons, have your students fill out a crossword puzzle directly in Excel. It's easy!

Creating the Pattern

1. To begin, you should type your vocabulary words and their clues into a Word document and save it. You will copy and paste from this document to construct your puzzle.
2. Next, you will need a sketch of your crossword puzzle on paper before you can design the Excel spreadsheet. The easiest way to do this is to use the puzzle-creating tool at www.puzzlemaker.com. Visit the site and select Criss-Cross from the drop-down menu, then follow the directions provided to create your crossword puzzle. Remember to copy and paste from your Word document to save time.
3. Print out a copy of your puzzle.
4. Beginning with the topmost square of the puzzle, count the number of squares going down, starting with 4 (4, 5, 6...). This will determine the number of rows you will use in your spreadsheet. Starting with row 4 will allow room for the title of the puzzle at the top of the page.
5. Now beginning with the leftmost square, label the squares alphabetically going across (a, b, c...). This will determine the number of columns needed for your spreadsheet.

Formatting the Spreadsheet

1. Open Microsoft Excel and start a new, blank worksheet.
2. First, you will need to change the column widths to look more like a crossword puzzle. Click on the column letter A at the top of the spreadsheet, and drag the mouse across to select all of the columns in your puzzle (refer to step 5 in the previous section).
3. Select Format » Column » Width from the menu bar. Change the column width to 4 and click OK.
4. Next, click on the number 4 at the left side of your spreadsheet and drag the mouse down to select all of the rows in your puzzle (refer to step 4 in the previous section).
5. Select Format » Row » Height, from the menu bar. Change the row height to 24 and click OK.
6. Using your printout of the puzzle, type the answers of your puzzle into the assigned cells, one letter per cell.


7. Use the paint can on the formatting toolbar to fill in every square without a letter. Most crossword puzzles have a black fill, but you can use any color you wish.

8. Lastly, create border lines between individual cells. To do this, select the entire puzzle area and click Format » Cells, then choose the Border tab. If you have created a black fill for your puzzle, you will only need to add an inside border. For any other color, you may also want to select an Outline border. Click OK to apply your border.

Inserting Clues

1. To insert clues for each answer, select the cell of the first letter of the word and choose Insert » Comment from the menu bar.
2. In the comment box, type the clue for this answer or copy and paste it from your Word document. Click out of the box when you are finished. A small red triangle will appear in the upper-right corner of the cell. Do this for all clues in your puzzle.

Making the Puzzle Interactive

To make your puzzle interactive, create a set of conditions to let students know if their answers are right or wrong. For example, you can have the cell of each correctly typed letter turn green and each incorrectly typed letter turn red. This step requires less time if you set only one condition per cell (e.g., only having the incorrect cells turn red).

1. To set conditions, select the cell you want to work with. Choose Format » Conditional Formatting from the menu bar.
2. For this example, you will have the cell turn red if the letter is incorrect. Use the second drop-down field to choose not equal to. In the next box, type the correct letter.
3. Click Format. Select the Patterns tab and choose a red color. Click OK. If you want to add another condition, simply click Add >> and complete your second condition.

You will need to do this for every letter in your puzzle. Thus, if you have more than one condition, it will take more time. To save time, you can also use the Ctrl key to select every cell that contains the same letter and format them all at once.

Creating a Template

Save the puzzle with the answers filled in to use as an answer key. Now delete the answers from your puzzle and save the worksheet a second time as a template so students can complete the puzzle without changing the original file. To do this, select File » Save As. Next to Save As Type, use the drop-down field to select Template. Notice that the extension is now .xlt instead of .xls.

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