Quick Crossword (Evening Standard)

About Quick Crossword (Evening Standard)

The Quick Crossword is the straightforward crossword from the London Evening Standard. Its clues are plain definitions rather than cryptic wordplay, so each answer is a synonym or a short description of the word you need, with its length in brackets. The online version sits on the paper's puzzle site, puzzles.standard.co.uk, which Arkadium runs for the Evening Standard.

A new grid goes up each weekday, Monday to Friday, the same for every solver; there is no puzzle on Saturday or Sunday. The game opens on a month calendar with a PLAY button under each day so far and the days still to come greyed out, along with your points and how many of the month's puzzles you have solved. Inside a puzzle, a timer runs above a 13 by 13 grid, with the across and down clues beside it.

If you get stuck you can check your letters or reveal a word or the whole puzzle, and a pencil mode lets you pencil in a guess. The grid can also be printed to finish on paper. The fastest times can earn a place on the top-10 leaderboard.

It suits anyone who wants a weekday crossword without learning cryptic conventions: a commuter-length puzzle in the style of the British newspaper quick crosswords. The puzzle is free, with display ads on the page around the game.

How to play Quick Crossword (Evening Standard)

1. Open the Quick Crossword on the Evening Standard puzzles site; it opens on this month's calendar.
2. Press PLAY under the latest weekday to open its grid.
3. Pick a clue from the across or down list, or click a square in the grid to select its word.
4. Type your answer; the letters fill the highlighted squares and cross into the words around them.
5. Use the crossing letters to work out the harder clues until every square is filled.
6. If you are stuck, use Check on your letters or Reveal a word or the whole puzzle, or print the grid to finish on paper.
7. Finish quickly to see your time and whether it made the top-10 leaderboard.

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Tips

• Quick clues are plain definitions, so check the answer's length and tense against the clue's wording.
• Fill in short words first: their letters open up the longer answers that cross them.
• Revealing a word ends any chance at the leaderboard time, so try the crossing clues before you reveal one.
• There is no weekend grid: use Saturday or Sunday to catch up on weekday puzzles you missed from the calendar.

Questions