Crosswords in other languages

The crossword was invented nearly exactly 100 years ago — yes, 2103 is its centenary! We all know that in that time it's spread throughout all English-speaking countries.

But what about other countries? The answer is a resounding yes!

In almost every country that I researched, they have crosswords. The forms are often a bit different from what we're used to — the grids are often non-symmetrical, 2-letter words are allowed, accented characters are often ignored, and sometimes the clues are written into the black squares.

Here are some links to crossword sites from other countries, for your enjoyment.

Afrikaans blokkieraaisel

Part of a Chinese crossword
Chinese 填字游戏

Danish kryds og tværs

Dutch kruiswoordraadsel


Finnish crosswords often include picture clues
Finnish Sanaristikko 

French grids use a different numbering system
French mots croises

A German crosswordGerman Kreuzworträtsel

Greek σταυρόλεξο 

Part of a Hebrew crossword
Hebrew תשבץ 

Indonesian teka-teki silang

Italian crosswords use rectangles rather than squaresItalian cruciverba 

Japanese クロスワード パズル

A bit of a Korean crossword
Korean 크로스 워드 퍼즐

A Polish crosswordPolish Krzyżówka

Romanian cuvinte încrucişate

The Russian grids seem to be the only non-English ones that are symmetricalRussian кроссворд
Part of a Swedish crosswordSwedish Korsord

Spanish crucigramas

Turkish Kare Bulmaca


As for cryptic crosswords, as far as I can tell, they are very much a British English phenomenon. I think that some countries may have puns or plays on words in some clues, but I don't think there is anything that really approaches the full complexity of a cryptic.