Crossclimb

About Crossclimb

Crossclimb was one of the first three games LinkedIn launched at the end of April 2024, together with Pinpoint and Queens, as part of LinkedIn News. It mixes two old puzzle types: the crossword style clue and the word ladder, where you change one letter at a time to get from one word to another.

A round starts with a blank ladder. The middle rungs each have a clue, often a bit of general knowledge or wordplay, and you type the answer into the rung. Once you have them, you drag the rungs into an order where each word is one letter away from the words above and below it. When that order is right, the top and bottom rungs unlock, and their clues often go together. Those two words also have to fit the ladder, which gives you a useful hint.

The game is timed, so you can work the clues in any order, and the ladder rule lets you check one answer against another. A hint button reveals a letter, Reveal row fills a whole word, and settings can strike through wrong answers as you type or reorder the ladder for you. After you finish, you see your time against other players and your connections and keep your streak going.

Crossclimb suits people who like mini crosswords and quiz questions and enjoy the extra step of fitting answers together. It is lighter on vocabulary than a full crossword and rewards knowing a bit of everything.

How to play Crossclimb

1. Open Crossclimb on LinkedIn and press Start game.
2. Tap a middle rung to see its clue and type the answer.
3. Fill in all the middle rungs the same way.
4. Drag the rungs into an order where each word differs from the next by one letter.
5. When the order is right, solve the unlocked top and bottom clues to finish the ladder.

Tips

• Skip a hard clue; once neighbouring rungs are solved, the one letter rule narrows it down.
• All the middle words have the same length, so count the boxes before guessing.
• Try ordering the ladder as soon as you have most rungs; the gaps show which letters the missing words need.
• The top and bottom clues are often linked, so solving one can help with the other.
• Remember the top and bottom words must also be one letter away from their neighbours on the ladder.

Questions