The crossword is already solved for you, except a crew swapped roughly half the answers for convincing fakes, and your job is to expose them before your strikes run out.
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How to play
A deduction twist on the classic crossword. Every square is filled in, but around half the entries are decoy words that still fit their slots. Read the clues, distrust the grid, and replace each fake with the genuine answer before you run out of strikes.
Select an entry from the grid or the clue list to see its clue and the word currently sitting in the grid.
If it's wrong, type the real answer and Swap, or reveal a short list of choices for a small penalty.
A correct swap also locks in the letters it shares with crossing entries, which become free hints.
Every wrong guess costs a strike; fix all the fakes before your strikes are gone.
Game modes
Daily: one shared puzzle each day at a fixed difficulty.
Endless: unlimited fresh puzzles with Easy, Normal and Hard settings that change grid size, the fraction of fakes and how many strikes you get.
Controls
Desktop: click a grid cell or a clue to select an entry (click the same cell again to flip between the across and down word), type the real answer and press Enter or Swap. Buttons handle Reveal choices, New Puzzle and mute.
Phone & tablet: tap cells and clues to select and tap the on-screen buttons; because you type answers, a device with a keyboard is recommended.
Tips & strategy
Solve the entries you're sure are real first, their crossing letters expose which neighbours must be fakes.
A word can fit the slot perfectly and still be wrong; trust the clue over the letters already shown.
Use Reveal choices only when you're truly stuck, since the penalty eats into your score.
Speed matters: a faster clear and fewer strikes both raise your final score.
Origins
The grid and the clues are the crossword's, the form that newspapers and magazines have carried since the New York World popularised it in the 1910s.
The original inversion is that the grid arrives already filled, and about half the entries are decoys that still fit their slots.
A crossword's whole contract is that the grid is trustworthy — crossing letters confirm each other, which is how you solve clues you could not answer cold. Making entries fit but lie removes that, so the crossing letters become the thing you have to test rather than the thing you rely on.
About Crossword Heist
Crossword Heist is an original, free browser game that reinvents the everyday crossword as a hidden-imposter deduction puzzle. Built in-house for PlayPendium with daily and endless play.
A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.
