30 Printable Crossword Puzzles
Updated: Apr. 11, 2024
How many answers can you get correct on these printable crossword puzzles?
Test your brain with these tricky crossword puzzles
What’s a nine-letter word for a tricky word puzzle that exercises the mind? That’s right: crossword! Like challenging riddles and visual brainteasers, crossword puzzles are a great way to keep your mind sharp. We’ve collected a number of the puzzles that run in the large-print edition of Reader’s Digest every month. Give these printable crossword puzzles a try and then come back to see how many answers you got correct.
Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more brainteasers, puzzles, humor, travel, tech and fun facts all week long.
December 2023/January 2024 printable crossword puzzle
Charles Dickens wrote what is arguably the most famous Yuletide story, A Christmas Carol. But that’s just the tip of his literary iceberg. The titles of four other Dickens classics appear in this month’s brainteasing crossword puzzle.
Crossword puzzle answer: December 2023/January 2024
November 2023 printable crossword puzzle
In this month’s puzzle, a handful of familiar phrases are presented anew—with a twist. Once you determine that twist, answers will fall into place more easily.
Crossword puzzle answer: November 2023
October 2023 printable crossword puzzle
The link between the seven themed entries is obvious. But there is more here than meets the eye. Take a second look and find another connection.
Crossword puzzle answer: October 2023
September 2023 printable crossword puzzle
The theme of this month’s puzzle is for you to determine. The long central entry at 21 Across ties the four other theme answers together.
Crossword puzzle answer: September 2023
July/August 2023 printable crossword puzzle
There are scores of common expressions that include parts of the body. For example, you can bend an ear, lend an ear, put your ear to the ground, play something by ear or eat an ear of corn. The five theme entries in our puzzle employ five body parts.
Crossword puzzle answer: July/August 2023
June 2023 printable crossword puzzle
From writer Stephen Crane to actress Rhea Perlman and skateboard superstar Tony Hawk, bird names are ubiquitous. You’ll find five more in this month’s puzzle. We wanted to include Meadowlark Lemon, but it just has too many letters!
Crossword puzzle answer: June 2023
May 2023 printable crossword puzzle
We’re firm believers that you don’t have to wait until Oct. 31 to enjoy a good horror movie. Springtime screams are just as fun as Halloween thrills. We prefer the classics, though, and have included six in this month’s puzzle.
Crossword puzzle answer: May 2023
March/April 2023 printable crossword puzzle
We’ve all heard about George Washington’s wooden teeth and the (probably apocryphal) story of the cherry tree, but how much do we know about our vice presidents? For instance, who was the first Roman Catholic vice president? That would be Joe Biden. Below, you’ll find five more pieces of veep trivia, all about recent vice presidents (from the 20th and 21st centuries). One of these did go on to become POTUS…
Crossword puzzle answer: March/April 2023
February 2023 printable crossword puzzle
It was The Book of St. Albans in 1486 that first listed numerous imaginative names for collectives, such as a gaggle of geese and a diligence of messengers. In the intervening centuries, people have taken up this game with a prickle of hedgehogs, an exaggeration of fishermen and even more fun terms (murder of crows, anyone?). This month, we offer seven more playful collectives.
Crossword puzzle answer: February 2023
December 2022/January 2023 printable crossword puzzle
Daniel Craig has announced that his most recent turn as James Bond will be his last. As of this writing, his successor has yet to be announced, though there is much speculation. This issue’s puzzle focuses on the pre-Craig Bonds. Can you identify them by film title and date?
Crossword puzzle answer: December 2022/January 2023
November 2022 printable crossword puzzle
Where were you in ’72? The Poseidon Adventure was on the big screen, All in the Family ruled the small and Mr. Coffee made his debut. A number of interesting news stories happened as well, some of which are mentioned in this month’s puzzle.
Crossword puzzle answer: November 2022
October 2022 printable crossword puzzle
Look out the window. For many of us, the leaves are no longer green but are sporting a riot of colors. The answers in this month’s puzzle feature five of the colors most commonly thought of as fall colors.
Crossword puzzle answer: October 2022
September 2022 printable crossword puzzle
What do actress Cicely Tyson, singer Rosemary Clooney and Pepper Potts, the character who runs Iron Man Tony Stark’s Stark Industries, have in common? Each has an herb (or a seasoning) in her name. You’ll find five similarly flavorful (or medicinal) names in this month’s puzzle.
Crossword puzzle answer: September 2022
July/August 2022 printable crossword puzzle
This puzzle features a bit of uplifting advice from a person who is the embodiment of what she preaches. Your mission, should you decide to accept it: Solve the puzzle, read the quote, then heed the advice.
Crossword puzzle answer: July/August 2022
June 2022 printable crossword puzzle
June is bursting forth all over—in this month’s puzzle, at least. Clues in bold include five famous Junes, with facts related to each in the grid. Did you know that prolific voice actress June Foray provided the voices of both Rocky the Flying Squirrel and his nemesis, Natasha Fatale?
Crossword puzzle answer: June 2022
May 2022 printable crossword puzzle
Last year, Merriam-Webster added 455 new words to its dictionary. Five of them are answers to the clues in bold below—and all are words that have been swirling around in the collective consciousness. Many new words are COVID-19-related, but we have avoided those. We want to be a super-spreader of fun only.
Crossword puzzle answer: May 2022
March/April 2022 printable crossword puzzle
April lends its name to many fictional characters, as well as to famous song and movie titles. There’s the movie Enchanted April, the song “April Showers” and the classic TV character April Dancer (The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.). You’ll find five other monthly entities in this issue’s puzzle.
Crossword puzzle answer: March/April 2022
February 2022 printable crossword puzzle
Whatever your age, you likely have fond childhood memories of the sitcoms you grew up with, whether it’s Leave It to Beaver, The Brady Bunch or Modern Family. This month, we honor a handful of sitcom classics. All have stood the test of time; the most recent debuted in 1984. Solve to reminisce.
Crossword puzzle answer: February 2022
December 2021/January 2022 printable crossword puzzle
Sample the tasty wordplay in this month’s puzzle. Here is your party invite from the baker: “Wheat love for you to join us.” Some entries are clever, while others are groaners, but none of them will add any inches to your waistline. Apply your brain to the subject of grain.
Crossword puzzle answer: December 2021/January 2022
November 2021 printable crossword puzzle
We’ve played with the names of six famous figures from children’s stories in this month’s puzzle. Examples of tweaked names include the soft-spoken Little Miss Muffled, the lazy princess Sleep-in Beauty and the ungainly Prince Alarming. Think of those in the puzzle as the protagonists of some fractured fairy tales.
Crossword puzzle answer: November 2021
October 2021 printable crossword puzzle
Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson is known as Mr. October for his outstanding performances in multiple World Series. The only Mrs. October we could find is the title character in an obscure 1973 novel. This month’s puzzle contains seven famous people with Mr. and Mrs. in their names. Enjoy—perhaps while munching on some Mrs. Fields cookies or drinking a Mr. Pibb.
Crossword puzzle answer: October 2021
September 2021 printable crossword puzzle
Some say that our personalities are determined by the stars. In this month’s crossword, we imagine the sun signs of famous people—from literature, entertainment and history—based on their names. Could they be accurate? Solve and see.
Crossword puzzle answer: September 2021
July/August 2021 printable crossword puzzle
The placement of the five theme entries in this month’s puzzle is significant, and once you deduce one of them, the others should be easier to surmise. Answers touch on science, geography, entertainment and holidays.
Crossword puzzle answer: July/August 2021
June 2021 printable crossword puzzle
The title of this month’s puzzle is Noel, but it has nothing to do with that December holiday. Deduce the reason for this title, and you’ll get a valuable hint in solving the puzzle. Or you can dive right in! The more solutions you reveal, the closer you’ll get to the common factor among the five theme answers.
Crossword puzzle answer: June 2021
May 2021 printable crossword puzzle
The five theme answers in this month’s puzzle come from different categories of trivia, but they have one thing in common: All have a little extra weight attached. What that cryptic explanation means is for you to determine.
Crossword puzzle answer: May 2021
April 2021 printable crossword puzzle
After 2020, we’re all very familiar with the term social distancing. The year also gave us sharents, a word for parents who love to brag about their undeniably terrific child by showing off pictures or videos. This month’s puzzle contains five coinages that popped up or rose to prominence in 2020.
Crossword puzzle answer: April 2021
March 2021 printable crossword puzzle
Aside from identifying the third month of the year,the word march is a verb, a noun and a proper name. There’s March Madness (most of which, ironically, occurs in April), the March Hare, the March of Dimes and more. You’ll find five very different marches in this month’s puzzle.
Crossword puzzle answer: March 2021
February 2021 printable crossword puzzle
In honor of the new year, our puzzle pays tribute to new things: places, titles and a person. There are five altogether. To save space (and to make things a bit more challenging), the word new has been omitted from the answers.
Crossword puzzle answer: February 2021
December 2020/January 2021 printable crossword puzzle
You hear them once, twice or 20 times, and they stick in your head like earworms: They’re classic slogans! We’ve included eight in this month’s puzzle. That’s certainly a lot, but we know you can do it! As the Adidas slogan says, “Impossible is nothing.”
Crossword puzzle answer: December 2020/January 2021
November 2020 printable crossword puzzle
With the dwindling of daily newspapers, fewer people read the funnies these days. Still, some comic strips will always be classics, and you’ll find five in this month’s puzzle.
Crossword puzzle answer: November 2020
Get a crossword every month
Subscribe to the large print edition of Reader’s Digest to enjoy a new crossword in the magazine every month.
Why trust us
Reader’s Digest is known for humor and brain games, including quizzes, puzzles, riddles, word games, trivia, math, pattern and logic puzzles, guessing games, crosswords, rebus, hidden objects and spot-the-difference challenges. We’ve earned prestigious ASME awards for our entertainment content and have produced dozens of brainteaser books, including Word Searches, Word Power, Use Your Words, Fun Puzzles and Brain Ticklers, Mind Stretchers, Ultimate Christmas Puzzles and more. Our 10 published volumes of Mind Stretchers were edited by Allen D. Bragdon, founder of the Brainwaves Center and editor of Games magazine. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
