End-of-term crosswords: a class gift and a lesson in one
How a class can write a crossword for their teacher in the last week of term.
Filling the last week
The last week of term is a scheduling problem. The books are in, the classroom is half packed, and the afternoons need something that is neither a film nor chaos.
Writing a crossword covers it. Definitions, synonyms and wordplay are all genuine curriculum work, and at the end of it the class has produced a present rather than a worksheet.
Running it with a class
Split the class into pairs and give each pair one answer to define: the teacher's catchphrase, the class pet, the trip everyone remembers, the number of fire drills, the book you read together, the classroom plant.
Collect the words, build the grid, and print it on decent paper with the answer sheet kept back. Every pupil can sign the margin, which is the bit teachers actually keep.
How to make your own in about five minutes
Open the builder, type in twelve to twenty answers — single words work best, and names are fine — then write a short clue for each one. If a clue is not coming, the clue helper will suggest one you can edit rather than accept wholesale, which is usually the faster route.
The grid arranges itself around your words, and you can reshuffle the layout until the shape suits. Publishing gives you a link to send and a print view with the blank grid, the clue list and a separate answer sheet on A4. Nobody you send it to needs an account to solve it.
Printing it for a room full of people
Every puzzle on the site has a print view laid out for A4: an empty grid, the clues in two columns, and the answers on their own page so you can keep them back. Printing one copy per person and one answer sheet for whoever is running things is usually the right split.
If you would rather not print, the link works on any phone browser and keeps each person's progress separately, so a table can race without sharing a screen.