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PuzzleTide Crossword

Use this skill whenever the user asks for a crossword puzzle — custom word/clue lists, themed crosswords, educational worksheets, or printable PDFs. Generate...

catorch

@catorch

What This Skill Does

Generates crossword puzzles from custom word/clue lists, themed word banks, or JSON files using the local PuzzleTide CLI. Produces valid interlocking grids with standard numbering and outputs printable PDFs or structured JSON.

Replaces hand-drawing crossword grids or relying on language models that cannot maintain consistent word intersections.

When to Use It

  • Create a printable crossword puzzle for a classroom worksheet or study guide
  • Generate a themed crossword from a word bank like food or animals
  • Build a custom crossword with your own word and clue pairs for a party or event
  • Export a crossword grid as JSON for embedding in a web or mobile app
  • Produce a crossword PDF with numbered grid, clue list, and solution for distribution

Install

$ openclaw skills install @catorch/puzzletide-crossword

PuzzleTide Crossword

Generate crossword puzzles with the local PuzzleTide CLI.

Never hand-draw a crossword grid. Language models cannot reliably keep intersecting words consistent. The CLI places words with real intersections, assigns standard crossword numbering, and validates that every clue's answer matches the grid before returning — words that cannot interlock are reported as unplaced instead of silently broken.

Prefer the local CLI. Check availability in this order:

ptide --version
puzzletide --version
npx puzzletide --version

If none of those work, ask the user before installing (npm install -g puzzletide).

Generate with your own clues (best quality)

Write the clues yourself — you are good at clues; the CLI is good at grids:

ptide crossword generate --words "PARIS: Capital of France; TOKYO: Capital of Japan; OSLO: Capital of Norway"

For longer lists use a JSON file:

ptide crossword generate --file words.json --pdf crossword.pdf
# words.json: [{"word": "PARIS", "clue": "Capital of France"}, ...]

Generate from a themed word bank

Clues are auto-generated puzzle-style hints (unscramble, letter counts):

ptide crossword generate --theme food/fruits --count 10

For better clues, pull the words and write clues yourself:

ptide words list food/fruits --count 10 --json
# ...then pass your own word:clue pairs to crossword generate.

Printable and structured output

ptide crossword generate --file words.json --pdf crossword.pdf --title "Science Review"
ptide run puzzle.crossword.generate --theme animals --json

The PDF has three sections: empty numbered grid, clue list, and solution. --json returns the grid ("#" = black cell) plus across/down clues with coordinates — ready for rendering in an app.

Links

Safety

  • Puzzles are generated locally; no account, API key, or network access.
  • Do not install packages without asking the user first.

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