a puzzle in which words corresponding to numbered clues or definitions are supplied and fitted into correspondingly numbered sets of squares, one letter per square, the words being arranged horizontally or vertically so that most letters form part of two words.
Origin of crossword puzzle
1910–15;cross- + word, allegedly for earlier word cross
British Dictionary definitions for crossword puzzle
crossword puzzle
noun
a puzzle in which the solver deduces words suggested by numbered clues and writes them into corresponding boxes in a grid to form a vertical and horizontal patternSometimes shortened to: crossword
