Crosswordle

Crosswordle is Wordle in reverse. The bottom row already shows the all green answer, and your job is to fill in the empty rows above it so each one is a real word that produces exactly the green, yellow, and gray pattern shown. Subtitled "Sudoku meets Wordle," it turns the familiar tile grid into a logic puzzle where you work backward from the solution instead of guessing toward it, with difficulty modes that change how many rows you have to reconstruct.

What is Crosswordle?

Crosswordle is the original "reverse Wordle." Where standard Wordle hands you a blank board and asks you to discover a secret five letter word, Crosswordle hands you the ending. The bottom row is already filled in as the all green solution, and the rows above it are blank except for a fixed pattern of green, yellow, and gray squares. Your task is to reconstruct the guesses that could have produced that exact coloring, working from the answer backward to a plausible history. The creators describe it as "Sudoku meets Wordle," which captures the feel: it looks like a Wordle grid, but you solve it through deduction and constraint satisfaction rather than vocabulary alone.

Every row you enter has to be a real five letter word, and it has to be consistent with the colored tiles laid out for it. A green tile means that letter must sit in that exact column to match the answer. A yellow tile means the letter belongs somewhere in the answer but must appear in a different column in your guess. A gray tile means the letter is absent from the answer entirely. The standard Wordle logic carries between rows too: once a letter has been ruled out as gray, you cannot reuse it in a row below. That single rule is what turns the grid into a layered puzzle, because a word that satisfies its own row in isolation can still be illegal once the rows beneath it are filled.

What sets Crosswordle apart from the wave of Wordle spinoffs is that it inverts the entire information flow. In Wordle you spend guesses to earn clues. In Crosswordle the clues are the starting point and the words are the unknowns, so there is no luck and no hidden answer to stumble onto. Two solvers staring at the same grid are working the exact same logic problem. The game was built by Elynn Lee, with Michael Yong, and launched in 2022, posted to Hacker News and Product Hunt during the original Wordle boom. It runs as a free browser game, and it includes a solve timer for the daily puzzle along with basic stats tracking.

Crosswordle varies its challenge through difficulty modes that change the height of the grid, which means the number of rows you have to reconstruct above the answer. The Easy mode uses a short three row grid, the Normal mode used for the daily puzzle gives you four rows, and the Hard mode stretches to six rows. There is a fresh daily puzzle that everyone solves in common, and you can also pick a difficulty and play on demand when one a day is not enough. The vibe is quiet and analytical rather than fast or flashy. An Easy grid can fall in under a minute, while a taller Hard grid with several constrained rows can genuinely stall you, since one wrong word near the top cascades into contradictions below. It rewards people who enjoy logic and word puzzles equally: crossword and Sudoku solvers tend to like the deductive backbone, and Wordle regulars enjoy seeing the familiar tiles flipped on their head.

How to play Crosswordle

1. Open a puzzle and read the bottom row first, since it already shows the completed all green answer word.
2. Study the green, yellow, and gray tiles printed on each empty row above the answer, because they define exactly what every word in that row must do.
3. Pick a row and type a real five letter word that produces those exact colors when checked against the answer below.
4. Keep every green letter locked in its column, place yellow letters in a different column from where they sit in the answer, and avoid gray letters completely.
5. Carry your eliminations downward: never reuse a letter in a lower row once it has shown up gray in a row above it.
6. Finish every blank row so the full grid reads as one consistent, legal Wordle history, then check or share your result.
7. Adjust the difficulty mode to change the grid height: Easy gives a short three row grid, Normal matches the four row daily, and Hard stretches to six rows.

Tips and strategy

• Solve each row as its own constraint problem first, because the tile colors tell you precisely which positions are locked and which letters are off limits before you ever think of a word.
• Anchor on the greens. A green tile fixes both a letter and its column, so it is the cheapest information you have and the fastest way to narrow candidate words.
• Read yellows as a placement puzzle, not just a hint: the letter is in the answer but must land in a different column than it occupies in the solution row.
• Work the most constrained rows before the open ones, since a row crowded with greens and grays usually has only a handful of legal words and pins down your choices.
• Track your gray letters as a running banned list, because a word that fits its own row perfectly can still be illegal once an earlier gray rules one of its letters out.
• When a lower row refuses to resolve, suspect a word you committed higher up and revise upward, since one bad early choice quietly poisons every row beneath it.
• Start with Easy if you are new, since its three row grid teaches the backward logic before you take on the six row Hard mode.

Good to know

Modes

Easy three rows, Normal four rows (daily), Hard six rows

Daily

New shared daily puzzle each day, plus modes on demand

Cost

Free, no download or sign up

Word length

Five letter words, classic Wordle size

Creator

Elynn Lee, with Michael Yong

Launched

2022, via Hacker News and Product Hunt

Platform

Browser based, desktop and mobile

Crosswordle FAQ

Is Crosswordle related to Wordle?

Yes, it is built directly on Wordle's rules but inverts them. Instead of guessing a hidden word, you are shown the all green answer and the colored tiles above it, and you reconstruct the earlier guesses that fit. It is widely called the original reverse Wordle.

Is Crosswordle free?

Yes. It runs in your web browser with no download, account, or payment required, on both desktop and mobile.

Who made Crosswordle?

This Crosswordle, subtitled "Sudoku meets Wordle," was created by Elynn Lee, with Michael Yong, and launched in 2022 during the original Wordle boom. Note that several unrelated games also use the name Crosswordle.

How do the tile colors work in Crosswordle?

Green means the letter must sit in that exact column to match the answer, yellow means the letter is in the answer but must appear in a different column, and gray means the letter is not in the answer at all. Gray letters also cannot be reused in any row below.

Does Crosswordle have difficulty modes?

Yes. The difficulty changes the grid height, which is how many rows you reconstruct above the answer. Easy uses a three row grid, Normal uses four rows and matches the daily puzzle, and Hard stretches to six rows. Taller grids are harder because a wrong word near the top cascades into contradictions below.

Is there a daily Crosswordle puzzle?

Yes. There is a shared daily puzzle everyone solves in common, and the daily also runs a solve timer. You can also choose a difficulty mode and play more puzzles whenever you want.