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National Crossword Puzzle Day

Hobby · Fun · December 21

A day for crossword puzzles: the grids, the clues, the wordplay, and the quiet satisfaction of filling in every last square.

National Crossword Puzzle Day falls on Monday, December 21, 2026. That is 55 days away.

A crossword is a grid of white and black squares with two lists of clues, one for answers that run across and one for answers that run down. Every letter belongs to two words at once, so one right answer hands you a head start on its neighbors.

The pleasure is partly in the clues. Some are plain definitions. Others are puns, anagrams or sly misdirection, often marked with a question mark to warn you that the obvious reading is wrong. Solvers learn a strange private vocabulary along the way, short words with friendly vowels that grid makers lean on again and again.

People solve in different ways. Some work in pen out of confidence or stubbornness. Some use pencil and a good eraser. Many solve on a phone over coffee, and plenty of couples and friends pass a single puzzle back and forth, each one covering the other's blind spots. Puzzles in many newspapers tend to get harder as the week goes on, so a stuck solver can always step back to an easier day.

If a grid has you beaten, leave it alone for an hour. Answers have a way of arriving while you are washing dishes, and the empty squares look different when you come back.

The last square you fill is often the one where two hard clues cross, and getting that single letter can feel better than all the rest.

Ways to celebrate

• Try a crossword in pen, or in pencil if you prefer an eraser.
• Solve a puzzle together with a friend or family member.
• Look for a free daily crossword at your local library or newspaper.
• Write a small mini crossword for someone using names they know.
• Go back to an unfinished puzzle and see what fresh eyes find.

Dates

All national days on December 21

Also on December 21

• National Coquito Day
• National French Fried Shrimp Day
• Humbug Day
• Winter Solstice
• Don't Make Your Bed Day
• National Flashlight Day
• Look on the Bright Side Day

Categories: Hobby daysFun days