SpeedOGrams
	SpeedOGrams are a fast paced Crossword puzzle. You are shown an anagram and a clue. The clue may be either Quick, General or Cryptic. To solve the puzzle you have to click on the letters in the anagram in the order that you think they should appear. If you make a mistake then click on the incorrect letter and it will be put back in the anagram. You can also use the keyboard to enter your solution. The backspace key will delete your last entry. To submit the solution you must press the enter key or click on the green submit button. If you correctly complete the puzzle within the green region of the timer then you will earn 100 points. Within the orange region 50 points and within the red region 20 points. The timer starts counting down at a slow speed and gradually speeds up. We hope you enjoy our latest puzzle.
	Codewords
	Codewords are crosswords without conventional clues and with all the letters changed to numbers. The puzzle contains all the letters from A to Z and each letter is assigned a number. Your task is to work out which letter each number corresponds to. You are given some clues, but they are fairly scant. You will see that in the solution grid two or three letters will have been solved for you. The rest is up to you and your vocabulary. There are three parts to each puzzle: first there is the main grid, where numbers appear in the corners of the squares; second is the solution grid, where you can place each letter of the alphabet in its numbered box as a reference; third is an alphabet where you can check off the letters as you solve them. Every letter in the alphabet is used. You may be familiar with similar puzzles to Codewords, but beware: our puzzles can contain proper nouns and some phrases. You may find place names, names of famous people and hyphenated words. While this adds slightly to the difficulty of the puzzle, it doubles its entertainment value. The crossword compiler’s bible is the Chambers Dictionary, but while this is used for the vast majority of words, the Collins Dictionary is also used for proper nouns and phrases not included in the Chambers work. English spellings are the rule and ‘ise’ is used, rather than the American ‘ize’ ending (excepting those few words where ‘ize’ is conventional). Codewords have a very enthusiastic following and reward dedication and perseverance with a very tricky and enjoyable puzzle. To play Codewords click on the Crossword and then type in your solution. If you click on a highlighted cell again then it will be changed from horizontal to vertical selection (or vice versa). If you make a mistake then you can overtype or press the backspace button to remove that letter.
	Polywords
	Polyword Puzzles have 9 letters with one letter in the centre. Your task is to make up words of 4 letters or more. All words must contain the central letter. To enter a word type on the keyboard and then press the enter key. If your word is accepted then it will be entered on the right.
	Crosswords
	Our crosswords have been published in the Daily Telegraph for many years and are set by our expert Crossword Compiler. The spellings used are British and the Crosswords come in Quick, General or Cryptic formats. If you click on a cell in the crossword then the corresponding clue will be highlighted and scrolled to be made visible. If you click on that cell again then it will change to the vertical clue (or vice versa). If you click on a clue then the corresponding row or column of cells will be selected. You can use the backspace key to delete an entry.
	Sudoku
	Our Sudoku puzzles are expertly graded and all have just one solution which can be discovered using purely logical steps.
	The History of Sudoku
	Sudoku didn't just arrive with us from nowhere - it has been around for years in Japan and before that the USA. In fact, it's a variation of the magic square puzzle that has been intriguing human beings since before history began. So actually it's no surprise that it has suddenly become so popular: it contains all the things we inquisitive humans love. It's a bit of a mystery at first and a challenge, then it's a problem that we think we can solve and then, when we do find an answer, it gives us a sense of achievement and pride.
	What is Sudoku
	Sudoku is a 9 x 9 grid that contains nine smaller 3 x 3 grids. The rows are given the letters A-J (we miss out "I" in case it's mistaken for a "1") from top to bottom and the columns are numbered 1-9. Figure 1 also shows you how we number the 3 x 3 boxes. A real sudoku has numbers scattered around it that are your clues.
	Figure 1
	Making a Start
	The object of the puzzle is to get all of the numbers 1 to 9 into each of the 3 x 3 boxes and also into each row and each column. As there are only nine squares in each box, row or column there's no room for repeating any numbers.
	Figure 2
	Here's an easy sudoku at Figure 2, and I've shown you with the circled numbers how we find the missing numbers. The grey lines show where the circled numbers cannot go. We want to solve the 1 in box 1 and the ones in columns 2 and 3 tell us that no more ones can go in those columns. Then the 1 in row A tells us that there can be no more ones in that row. As you can see, that leaves only the one square available in box 1 for the number 1 to go, and it has been printed in grey.
	Figure 3
	In Figure 3, there an even easier number to find. The 5 in box 8 can only go in J6. There's another 5 in box 3 that I haven't marked, but that you should spot quite easily. See if you can solve some more in the same way in this sudoku.
	More Difficult Strategies
	As you have probably gathered already, solving sudoku is as much about finding where numbers can't go as where they should be. But in order to discover where numbers can or cannot go, you first need to know exactly where all the numbers can possibly be. We do this by concentrating on individual squares and asking the questions "Can one go in here? Can two go? Can three go?" all the way to nine while checking that square's box, row and column to see if that number appears in them already. If the answer is "Yes" then we pencil the number in the corner. Figure 4 shows a sudoku after this process has been completed.
	Figure 4
	Now what? Well, often this process will show up numbers that only appear once in a box, row or column. That's great, because these numbers will be solved. But there are much more interesting things that we can discover. If you look in column 7 you will see two squares that contain the numbers 3 and 4. We know that either 3 or four will go in either of the squares in box 3, and we also know that in box 3 there is nowhere else for them to go. We can deduce from this that these two squares have to be the squares conting 3 and 4 for that column as well as for the box. If that is true, then any other 3s and 4s in that column can be removed. Reducing options in this way will eventually lead you to a solution. There's another important strategy illustrated in Figure 4. In box 2 there is a group of numbers that act just like the pairs we saw in box 3. We have three squares sharing three numbers. In this case they are 4, 5 and 7. It doesn't matter which way they appear: 47, 45, 57 is one way; 457, 457, 45 might be another, just so long as it is three numbers and three squares. Just like the pair, these three tell us that in this box only the numbers 4, 5 and 7 can appear in these three squares. We don't know which square the individual numbers will be in, but they must be there. And if they are there, they cannot be anywhere else in the row, so every 4, 5 or 7 other than these can be removed. Look what happens in box 3 when you remove the 4. First you solve the 3, then the 4 and then a small landslide of other numbers appear to be solvable. A complete guide to playing Sudoku is available here.
	Additional Features in our Player
	The Whizzy Wheel shown above is displayed when you click on a Sudoku Cell. To enter a number in the cell simply click on the relevant segment. To erase a number click on the eraser. If you click on the pencil segment you will be entering pencil numbers into the cell. If you select a number which is already present then that number is removed as a pencil mark. In addition to using the Whizzy Wheel you can also use the keyboard to enter numbers as well as the arrow keys to move around the puzzle.
	Our Sudoku player is rather special. Not only can you have pencil marks, you can also have auto pencil marks. There is a penalty involved in switching on auto pencil marks but when you are starting out this is a price worth paying. The auto pencil marks look at rows, columns and boxes and work out which of the values are possible in any given cell. This will enable you to quickly spot the techniques you need to apply in order to solve the puzzle. As you improve in your implementation of the techniques you may find that you use the auto possibles less and start to use the set possibles and then manually manage your pencil marks.
	Jigsaw Sudoku
	Jigsaw Sudoku is a colourful and intriguing variation on classic Sudoku. All the numbers 1 to 9 must appear in each row and column but the boxes are uneven shapes. Each box must contain all the numbers from 1 to 9. The same strategies that are used in Sudoku may be used in Jigsaw Sudoku.
	Killer Sudoku
	Killer Sudoku requires that all the numbers between 1 and 9 must be present in each row, column and box but instead of being given some numbers already filled in you are given clues which are the sum of all the numbers present in the cages. A cage is represented by a dotted line and, in the case of a colour puzzle, the cage is in a single colour. One additional rule which all our puzzles adhere to is that a cage may not contain the same number twice. This is an important rule to remember since without it you might think that one of our puzzles has got multiple possible solutions. This would never be the case! We have a Killer Helper which you can use when doing your killer puzzles. This shows the possible combinations for any sum. You can find the killer helper here.
	Kakuro
	In a Kakuro puzzle you are given the sum of the numbers in a horizontal or vertical line of cells. The cells can contain numbers between 1 and 9 and the same number will not be repeated in any horizontal or vertical line of cells. We have a Kakuro Helper which you can use when doing your kakuro puzzles. This shows the possible combinations for any sum. You can find the kakuro helper here.
	Mini Sudoku
	Mini Sudoku is a Sudoku puzzle where you need to use the numbers 1 to 6. Each row, column and block must contain all the numbers 1 to 6.
	Sudoku X
	Sudoku X has the same rules as Standard Sudoku but has the additional constraint that the X must also contain the numbers 1 to 9 in its diagonals.
	Mini Killer Sudoku
	Mini Killer Sudoku is a 6x6 Killer Sudoku puzzle. Using the numbers 1 to 6, each row, column and box must contain all the numbers 1 to 6. The clues show the sum of all the numbers in the cages.