Crux (Mind Loft)

Crux is Mind Loft's clueless crossword. The grid holds eight hidden words (twelve on Sundays) that cross one another, and nothing tells you what any single word is. The only help is a list of four categories, and part of the puzzle is working out which words belong to which.

You select a slot, such as 1-Down with nine letters, and type any real word of that length. Feedback works like a word-guessing game: a filled tile locks the letter into its square and every crossing word, while an outlined tile means the letter belongs somewhere else in that word. The whole board shares one guess budget (27 guesses on the twelve-word Sunday board), so a good guess in one word helps the crossings around it. There is a free hint and a paid hint that costs a guess and a point.

When you submit, each solved word is filed under its category, scoring a point for every word solved and a point for every correct placement. The leaderboard compares score, guesses and time. A new Crux arrives every day at midnight Eastern.