As many of you who have visited me often already know, I enjoy puzzles and games. And with my passion for words, any puzzles involving words are extra appealing!

December 21st is National Crossword Puzzle Day, for it was on this date in 1913 that the first “word-cross” puzzle was published in the New York World by Arthur Wynne (source). Check out the first crossword puzzle here.

So I thought it the perfect opportunity to share with you this website which lets you play the crossword (at varying degrees of difficulty and a few variations of the game itself). Solitaire.org offers puzzle-lovers like myself so many options, including word puzzles, logic puzzles, and of course the game of solitaire too, or the game of patience, the name I grew up knowing it as. The best thing about it for me is that I can instantly start playing without ads popping up anywhere at anytime as I play. So it actually allows me to totally and simply enjoy the game!

Solitaire.org: Exploring It

It is simply a place that offers you a chance to play many different puzzles online, instantly and without the hassle of ads. On the homepage, you can use the search option to see if a particular game you are looking for is on the site, or use the options available to pick one of the games from those categories. Note that when you pick the Solitaire option (the first one), it will automatically start your first default or classic Solitaire game for you with the cards dealt and ready to play. Plus, the default mode here is 3 cards dealt each time (more on the Solitaire game later)

But as you can see from the above snapshot, the website offers various card games, matching games, word and logic puzzles, as well as hidden object type games (I am enjoying these too by the way), and Mahjong (which I am yet to attempt)

Given that it is the 21st of December, or the 109th birthday of the crossword puzzle, let me start with the crossword puzzles and options that Solitaire.org offers.

Crossword Puzzles

One of my favorite categories here is the Word puzzles category, and while I enjoy all of them (haven’t played Wordoku as much as the others though), I am working on getting better at the crossword puzzle and so glad there are so many puzzles to solve on this website!

What first

a) To get to the crossword puzzles, select the Word category. You could also reach it from the Logic Puzzles category.

And then

b) And then pick the crossword puzzle option under that. You will then need to scroll down at this point to see the puzzle itself.

On scrolling down, you will see the below where you have the option to start playing the game online by clicking on the ‘Start New Game’ button or printing it for yourself to play at leisure later, using paper and pen(cil). Note that the language option simply presents a few things in that selected language (like Across and Down are Paar and Niche when we pick Hinglish!) At this point, from what I see, the clues and the solutions are all in English only.

Now play

c) Here, I go starting my new game…The site allows you to pick puzzles from other dates as well as today’s. So I picked the 30th of November for I knew I had not solved it for that day

Another thing I absolutely totally love is that it automatically pauses the game and the timer the moment we go to another tab and on return, does not instantly restart but offers the option to continue

You have the option of selecting music to play, sound effects for the puzzle, as well as to pause/restart the game. Note that the correct letters will be in green while any wrong ones are in red

You’re Done?

While I did not finish this crossword puzzle since I got distracted by other things and need to get back to it still, here is what happens when you finish a puzzle. This one pictured below is called LetterLogic and gives us one starting letter (randomly filled in one of the squares). We then use logic and the number of letters in the words to fill in the puzzle!

More on the Word Puzzles

I have been enjoying all of the word puzzles on Solitaire.org! Word searches have long been something I enjoyed. Also, it is something others don’t want to play with me near them. Why? I keep saying I found more words (or worse, solving it for them!)!! And now I can keep playing it online without troubling others!

Plus, words!! What more can I say? Anytime I play any word related games — like the daily Wordle or Spelling Bee or versions of the Wordle or Scrabble or… well, you get the point — I end up learning new words and recalling words I need to use more often.

The Rest of the Games

Other than the word games, my favorite games are

• the classic Solitaire game
• logic puzzles (especially old favorites that I recalled once I started playing them here – Minesweeper, Battleship and Tetrablocks (similar to Tetris))
• as well as the Hidden Object and
• Match 3 games

I did say I will talk about the classic solitaire game some more at the start. What I did want to say was that I love that there are so many variations of the game!! I recall playing this as a child with an actual pack of cards. I knew it as the game of patience played by myself – solitarily, and hence solitaire. Later, I played it on various online sites. Now, with so many options, levels, and variations available here, I will be playing it more often.

My teens enjoyed the Minesweeper, Crossword, Solitaire, as well as Hidden Object and Nonogram games too. (Also, it is no longer my teens, but one adult son and one teenage daughter, as of yesterday!!)

I am yet to try the card games and the myriad options of Solitaire (and there are so very many of them though the next ones I want to try are Algerian Patience and a Tower of Hanoi version of Solitaire), as well as Mahjong options, but I will get to them over time (I know).

One other new favorite (at least for me)

Hidden Object is deceptively challenging, and so very beautiful too! Each hidden object game has a few levels and levels get unlocked as you finish them. Objects to find appear on the bottom of the page. With each object you find, new objects appear there until you have found all the hidden objects!

As with other games, you can:

• manually pause the game
• get hints for it
• and quit to continue later (as long as you have not cleaned your browser cache, the website remembers the last status of the game).
• The game automatically pauses when you move out of the website and asks if you want to continue when you return.

My teen wonders why I am so in love with this game, given my love for word and logic puzzles! But I do, and I end up asking her for help to find items, and she is good at it!!

Overall

What I Love So Far (and My Kids as Well)

• Free to play + ad-free + no need for login or account creation
• Various options for each type of game and various levels too
• Detailed step-by-step instructions on how to play each game provided as you scroll down the page for the game along with scoring techniques, basics of the game, variations, and special game features (where applicable, of course, for some of the items, based on the game)
• I loved reading the additional facts, history, and other game related information given for some of the games.
  • Like, did you know that “Solitaire emerged in the 1700s in northern Europe!”
• While I might not really use this feature, it might be useful to many – the option to be able to print out some of the games (like Sudoku and the Crossword) so you can play at your leisure.
• I totally appreciate that there is something here for everyone, no matter their age, skill level with the game, or even familiarity with using technology
• Love that all the games here provide a challenge to our brains!!
• And oh yes, you can play it on your phone too (but I am trying to avoid it)

The Other Side of Things

• At this point, I cannot think of much really in terms of cons or improvements needed, except the addition of more games I enjoy playing
• Playing it on the phone proved a little challenging for me for various reasons, the foremost one being that the top of the game/puzzle itself was partially hidden (though we can see through). It was just distracting more than anything else. And since I plan to avoid playing on the phone, it is not a problem for me (for now)

• And of course, if they improve upon the site by adding more games, the con is that I might end up spending more time exploring and playing the games here!!

So overall, this is an addiction we all love in our family. Plus, it is one that has quite a few benefits to make it a worthwhile addiction too.

If someone asks, it is a great place for –

• all who enjoy any games and puzzles
• those who need a break for a while from their regular tasks
• me!

Related Reads

• Wordle Alternatives: 13+ Options You Will Love
• Wonderful Word Games: A Lewis Carroll and Wordle Connection
• W is for……..Word Games….
• 10 Terrific Board Games for Book Lovers that are Perfect

And Now, the End of this Post

Dear reader, have you used this website already? If not, and if you enjoy any of the games, then you should check it out for an enjoyable experience. And you will end up discovering new challenges you are sure to enjoy (like we all did at home!) What is your favorite game/puzzle to play? Do let me know. And if you try out this website, feel free to let me know what you think about it. Hopefully you will like and enjoy it as much as I do!! As always, I recommend all comments and recommendations, and before you say goodbye, be sure to check out Solitaire.org!