Best Crossword Puzzle Books (2026): Beginner to Expert
Crossword puzzle books range from "first crossword ever" beginner editions to brutal Sunday-paper-difficulty compilations. We organize this guide by difficulty level so you can find the right entry point — gifting a Sunday-level book to a beginner is the most common crossword-purchase mistake. Note on this site: we publish kids activity books, including a kids crossword printable pack. The adult crossword picks here are what we recommend personally.
The short answer
- 1.Will Shortz / NYT Light & Easy crosswords
- 2.Will Shortz / NYT daily crossword compilations
- 3.Will Shortz / NYT Sunday Crosswords
- 4.Newsday / Stan Newman crossword books
- 5.Sunlight Large Print Crossword Puzzles: Easy, Medium & HardAdults · large print
- 6.Themed crossword books (Crosswords for Cat Lovers, etc.)
How we chose
Named editor
The editor matters more than the publisher. Will Shortz, Mike Shenk, Stanley Newman — the editor's name is the quality signal. Unnamed editions are auto-generated.
Difficulty labeling
Good crossword books label every puzzle's difficulty. Lazy ones lump everything as "crossword puzzles for adults."
Grid size
Most adult crosswords are 15×15 (daily) or 21×21 (Sunday). Kids and beginner books use 11×11 or 13×13. Don't buy 21×21 grids as your first crossword book.
Themed vs. themeless
Themed crosswords (Sunday-style) are more fun to solve. Themeless (daily-style) are more puzzley. Beginners should start themed.
Our top picks by level
- #1
Will Shortz / NYT Light & Easy crosswords
Best beginner crossword book. NYT-quality editing, but every puzzle is Monday-or-Tuesday difficulty. You can finish puzzles and feel good doing it. Weakness: experienced solvers blast through these in 5–10 minutes.
- #2
Will Shortz / NYT daily crossword compilations
The middle-of-the-road pick. Monday-through-Saturday puzzles graduated from easy to hard within the same book. Best long-term solver investment. Weakness: pricey relative to budget compilations.
- #3
Will Shortz / NYT Sunday Crosswords
Sunday-only compilations — bigger grids (21×21), themed, harder. The gift book for crossword fans. Worth waiting until you're solving Friday-level NYT crosswords reliably before buying. Weakness: hard. Don't start here.
- #4
Newsday / Stan Newman crossword books
Stan Newman edits the Newsday Saturday Stumper, the hardest crossword in regular circulation. Underrated alternative to the NYT — different cluing style, slightly more wordplay-focused. Weakness: niche audience and harder to find in big-box stores.
- #5
Sunlight Large Print Crossword Puzzles: Easy, Medium & Hard
Adults · large print
Ours, and the one we reach for. Three difficulty tiers in one book, labeled on every puzzle, so a household with two solvers of different levels only buys one book. Black squares that read as solidly black rather than grey, clue lists set as large as the grid, one puzzle per page on paper that takes an eraser, and an answer key printed at full size instead of shrunk into the back. If you only want one level, the same line splits into Easy, Medium and Hard. Weakness: the cluing is deliberately fair rather than tricky. A solver who wants late-week NYT wordplay should buy the Shortz collections above and keep this one for the evenings they don't want a fight.
Paperback$10.99In a rush? Download the PDF now and print it at home.
- #6
Themed crossword books (Crosswords for Cat Lovers, etc.)
Themed novelty crossword books — TV shows, hobbies, pets. Cluing tends to be easier. Best as gifts for non-crossword people. Quality varies by editor. Weakness: shallow puzzle inventory. Most themed books are one-and-done.
Best crossword puzzle books for beginners
A beginner needs three things: short answers, fair clues (no puns until you know the conventions), and puzzles you can finish in one sitting. Monday-level collections give you all three. Two signs a book is wrong for a beginner: 21×21 grids, and no difficulty label on the puzzles. Work through 30–50 easy puzzles before moving up. Speed isn't the goal; finishing without looking at the answers is.
Our crossword books for adults
Standard print, 100 puzzles per book, fair clues and a full answer key. Easy is the place for a beginner to start; Hard is late-week newspaper level; the combined volume climbs through all three.
Best large print crossword puzzle books
Large print is about more than bigger letters. The clue list has to be set as large as the grid, or you end up squinting at the half of the page you read most. Black squares should read solid black, not grey, and the squares need to be big enough to write in with a normal pencil. Our large print crosswords are 30 pt, one puzzle per page, with answer keys printed at full size. Easy is the place to start; Hard is daily-newspaper level.
Large Print Crossword Puzzles for Seniors: Easy — 50 puzzles, one per page — 30 pt type · extra-heavy grid lines
Large Print Crossword Puzzles for Seniors: Medium — 50 puzzles, one per page — 30 pt type · extra-heavy grid lines
Large Print Crossword Puzzles for Seniors: Hard — 50 puzzles, one per page — 30 pt type · extra-heavy grid lines
Hard crossword books: the Saturday Stumper and late-week puzzles
If Friday and Saturday newspaper puzzles no longer slow you down, the Newsday Saturday Stumper collections edited by Stan Newman are the usual next step: themeless, with clues that hinge on a second meaning. Late-week NYT collections are the other route. Neither is a beginner gift.
Older crossword collections that still hold up
Crosswords don't go stale the way trivia does, so a collection from a few years ago is usually a bargain. The exceptions are clues built on pop culture and current events, which date fast. Classic newspaper compilations, which are mostly wordplay and general knowledge, age well. Buy older editions secondhand and save the new ones for gifts.
Crossword puzzle books for kids
Kids crosswords need a word bank, short themed answers and one puzzle per page. Start a 6- or 7-year-old on easy puzzles with a bank and move up a level when they finish without help. Try the free crossword pack for kids first to see if it clicks.
Crossword Puzzles for Kids: Easy — 100 puzzles, one per page — themed grids · fair clues
What to look for in a crossword book
Editor's name on the cover
Will Shortz, Stan Newman, Mike Shenk, Patti Varol. If an editor is named, the puzzles are hand-built. If not, they're software-generated.
Difficulty match
Match the book's level to the solver. Beginners should start with Light & Easy or Monday-style editions. Don't gift Sunday-difficulty to a beginner.
Pocket vs. large format
Pocket editions for travel, large format for the couch. Crossword grids are smaller than puzzle grids generally, so pocket editions actually work for crosswords.
Pencil-friendly paper
Crossword solvers erase. Cheap printings have paper that smears or tears with an eraser. The named publishers all use erasable stock.
DIY vs buy
Free crossword printables online are mostly low-quality. The Times's daily online crossword (and its app) is the best free-ish option, and the paid digital subscription is cheap. For physical books, paid is the only way to get hand-edited quality.
Crossword books for every solver in the family
Ages 2–5 · 4–7 · 7+ · Adults
Frequently asked questions
- What's the easiest crossword book for beginners?
- Will Shortz Light & Easy is the standard answer. Every puzzle is Monday-level NYT difficulty. After ~50 puzzles you'll be ready for the daily compilations.
- How do NYT crosswords work — Monday to Saturday?
- The NYT crossword gets harder through the week. Monday is easiest, Saturday is hardest, Sunday is large (21×21) and roughly Thursday-difficulty. Beginners should start Monday and work forward as they get faster.
- Are paper crosswords or app crosswords better?
- App crosswords are more convenient and have built-in solver tools. Paper crosswords are better for sustained focus and screen-fatigue reasons. Most regular solvers use both.
- What is the best large print crossword puzzle book?
- One where the clues are printed as large as the grid, with solid black squares and one puzzle per page. Our large print crosswords are set at 30 pt in Easy, Medium and Hard; the Easy edition is the best place to start.
- What's the best crossword book for a beginner gift?
- Will Shortz Light & Easy Crosswords. It's beginner-difficulty with NYT quality, costs $10–12, and looks gift-worthy.
Sunlight Kids activity books — for every age.
Ages 2–5 · 4–7 · 7+ · Adults