Thomas Joseph Crossword

How to play the Thomas Joseph Crossword

The Thomas Joseph Crossword is one of America's most loved daily puzzles. Syndicated across hundreds of newspapers and available online, it offers solvers a rewarding mix of challenge and charm. Whether you are a beginner sharpening your word skills or an expert looking for a quick brain workout, this puzzle slots neatly into a daily routine. The interactive puzzle at the top of this page is the official Arkadium-hosted version — press Play, fill in the grid, and use our daily answers page if you hit a wall.

Getting started

Every Thomas Joseph Crossword puzzle is a grid of black and white squares. Your task is to fill in the white squares with words that fit the provided clues, which are divided into two groups:

• Across — clues for words running left to right.
• Down — clues for words running top to bottom.

Each clue has a corresponding numbered cell in the grid. Most clues are straightforward, though some lean on puns, fill-in-the-blank phrasing or mild misdirection.

Tips for solving

• Start with the easy clues. Scan the list for clues you can answer instantly and write those in first.
• Use intersecting letters. Solving one word gives you free letters for everything that crosses it.
• Mind the word length. Each clue fits a specific number of boxes; that constraint often narrows down the right answer immediately.
• Watch for plurals and tense. Plural clues usually end in S; past-tense clues usually end in ED.
• Look for foreign-language flags. A clue mentioning "in French" or a French name like Henri usually wants the foreign-language word, not the English one.
• Use the answer key strategically. Our interactive daily answers lets you reveal one clue at a time, so you can unstick a corner without spoiling the rest of the grid.

Browse by date or by clue

Once you have finished — or got stuck — every puzzle on this site has its own page:

• A date page like /thomas-joseph-crossword-may-22-2026-answers lists every clue from that day without spoiling the answers. Tap any clue to see its solution.
• A clue page like /clue/gained-back shows the answer as crossword tiles, the length, and every other Thomas Joseph puzzle date that clue text has appeared in.

Benefits of solving every day

• Sharpens memory and processing speed. Regular puzzling has been linked in published research to slower decline in verbal recall as adults age.
• Grows your vocabulary. Every solve introduces a few words you wouldn't otherwise meet.
• Reduces stress. The focused, low-stakes attention of a daily puzzle feels meditative for many solvers.
• Builds a daily ritual. Pair the puzzle with a fixed point in the day and you have a low-effort habit that compounds over months.

About the Thomas Joseph Crossword

The Thomas Joseph Crossword is a daily American crossword distributed by King Features Syndicate. It appears in more than a hundred newspapers across the United States and on dozens of online puzzle platforms. Compared with the larger 15×15 weekday puzzles run by major broadsheets, the Thomas Joseph uses a more compact grid — commonly 11×13 — with shorter answers, a friendly difficulty curve and a consistent editorial voice from day to day. A confident solver finishes the grid in well under fifteen minutes, which makes it a perfect coffee-break companion.

About this site

This site mirrors the official daily Thomas Joseph Crossword feed and gives every clue and date its own home page. New puzzles are imported automatically every day. The interactive game at the top of this page is the official Arkadium build of the puzzle — nothing is modified, and the puzzle data remains the property of King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Puzzle data © King Features Syndicate, Inc. Site content © thomasjosephcrossword.net.