A FREEFORM puzzle is a simple crossword puzzle which can be made from a very limited number of words (as few as 20 or 30 words is sufficient). School teachers will find this option useful for teaching vocabulary, and for revising specialized school subjects.

These graphics show a Freeform puzzle in the Crossword Express Build screen and a PNG graphic file produced by the program's print function, showing the complete puzzle solution. See also a  full size version of a PDF file  showing the solution.

FEATURES
The key features of the Crossword Express Freeform Crossword Construction function are as follows:-
  • Fully automated construction of puzzles using the contents of a pre-selected dictionary containing both words and clues.

  • Make puzzles in sizes up to 50 by 50, or specify a template which will control the shape of the resulting puzzle.

  • Specify an optimization mode so that the puzzle is created with the maximum number of words, the maximum number of letters, or the maximum number of interlinking letters.

  • Specify a filter which controls which words in the pre-selected dictionary will be used to construct the puzzle. For example you can elect to use only words which contain the letter group CIE.

  • Puzzles can be printed in an unprecedented range of user controlled colors and formats. Output can be sent direct to the printer or, if you install the appropriate software, it can be sent to a PDF file. The recommended software for this purpose is  Primo PDF which you can download free from their website,  although you might consider sending them a small donation if you find their program useful. Mac users will be able to create a PDF file directly from the screen provided by the printer driver.

  • A fully interactive Solve function is available to allow you to solve the crosswords "on screen" without needing to print them.

  • Export selected puzzles to a Web Application which can be uploaded to a web server to provide interactive puzzle content on your web site.