The Wall Street Journal Crossword

About The Wall Street Journal Crossword

The Wall Street Journal Crossword is the newspaper's own daily puzzle, solved in the browser on wsj.com and in the Puzzles section of the WSJ app. Mike Shenk has edited the Journal's crosswords since 1998, when the paper hired him as its first crossword editor. For years it ran one large 21x21 puzzle on Fridays, with variety puzzles added on Saturdays from 2005.

In September 2015 the Journal moved to a crossword every weekday. The 21x21 grid went to the weekend edition, and the Friday crossword turned into a contest puzzle: once the grid is filled, its entries and title point to one more answer, the meta, which solvers can send in before the weekend is out. Solving blogs such as Crossword Fiend write up each week's meta after the deadline.

A weekday puzzle is a standard American crossword: a 15x15 grid with a theme, clued in the Journal's polished house style, with a mild lean toward business and current affairs. Saturday's larger grid takes longer and sits beside a variety puzzle from the paper's puzzle page.

It suits solvers who already do a daily crossword and want a second one, and anyone who likes metas: the Friday contest has a following of its own among solving blogs. Guides to the puzzle say it can be played free online, while most of the Journal's news needs a subscription.

How to play The Wall Street Journal Crossword

1. Open the crossword page on wsj.com or the Puzzles section of the WSJ app and pick today's puzzle.
2. Tap a square or a clue to select an entry, then type the answer; the clue bar shows the clue for the highlighted entry.
3. Use the arrows or tap the square again to switch between Across and Down, and fill crossing entries to confirm letters.
4. On Friday, after finishing the grid, read the instructions and the title to find the meta answer, and send it in for the weekly contest.
5. Come back the next day for a new grid, or the following week to see the contest answer.

Tips

• Read the puzzle's title before you start: it usually names the theme, and on Friday it is part of the meta.
• On a contest Friday, write down the longest entries and anything that looks odd once the grid is filled; the meta is often hidden in their first letters, their numbers or a word they share.
• Clues with a question mark are wordplay; leave them for later and come back with crossing letters in place.
• Saturday's 21x21 grid rewards working outward from the theme entries once you have cracked one.

Questions