How to Play Crossword Solitaire

Crossword Solitaire Rules

| Players: 1 | Type: Solitaire | Supplies: 1 Deck |

Objective

The objective of Crossword is to make all numbers in each individual row add up to an even number and all numbers in each individual column add up to an even number. There are seven rows and seven columns.

Setup

Remove all jacks, queens, and kings from the deck and place them in their own reserve pile. Leave room for a seven-by-seven grid of 49 tableau cells. Deal one card to the center of the grid face up. Place the remaining deck face up to form the stock.

Card Values

Jacks/Queens/Kings: 0
Aces: 1
2-10: Face Value

Game Play

Jacks, queens, and kings are worth 0. Aces are worth 1. All other cards are worth their face value.

Cards from the stock must be played face up. The top card of the stock is available for play onto any empty cell that is adjacent to a cell containing either a face-up or face-down card. This includes cells that are horizontally, vertically, or diagonally adjacent. For example, the top card of the stock is the 4 of hearts, and may be played anywhere above, next to, or diagonal to the central starting card, the 6 of spades.

Cards from the reserve pile may be played on an empty cell anywhere on the grid, face down. Cards from the reserve pile are not worth any points. Only one card is allowed per cell in the tableau, whether it is face-up or face-down.

The game is over when all 49 cells are filled.

To Win

Crossword is won if each individual row of seven cells adds up to an even number, and each individual column of seven cells adds up to an even number. The seven rows and seven columns must be individually counted at the end. If all cells are filled and any individual row or column adds up to an odd number, the game is lost.

Variations

To make the game easier, at the end of the game you could take the leftover three cards and place them, one at a time, onto any of the filled 49 tableau cells. This can potentially help you recover from a mistake.

To make the game harder, do not allow the face cards from the reserve to be adjacent to each other vertically or horizontally, but they may be adjacent diagonally. If you fail to fill the grid because of the face card restriction, the game is lost.

A variation I have seen has all of the same rules, except instead of removing the face cards to form a reserve pile, they are shuffled into the other cards and the entire deck is in a stockpile face up at the beginning of the game. You still deal a card to the center, and the face cards are still worth no points. The game is over when all 49 cells are filled.