CrossWordy includes Reveal tools to help if you get stuck. They are designed as a safety net, so you can keep enjoying the puzzle without becoming completely blocked.
You can choose to reveal a single letter, a whole word or the entire puzzle, depending on how much help you want.
What Reveal does
Reveal gives you three levels of assistance:
- Letter – reveals the selected letter everywhere it appears in the puzzle
- Word – reveals the selected word only
- Puzzle – reveals the whole puzzle and ends the attempt as unsolved
This gives you flexibility. If you only need a small nudge, a letter may be enough. If you want more help, you can reveal a word. If you are completely stuck, revealing the whole puzzle lets you see the answer and move on.
When Reveal is useful
Reveal is there to support the experience, not punish you for getting stuck.
A well-timed reveal can help you:
- understand a word pattern you had not seen
- unlock another part of the grid
- learn how the puzzle was structured
- keep the game enjoyable instead of frustrating
Many players use Reveal as a learning tool. Seeing the missing piece can make the rest of the puzzle clearer and help you recognise similar situations in future games.
How Reveal affects your score
Using Reveal does affect your Player Skill result for that puzzle.
Each type of assistance carries a penalty:
- Hint – minus 4
- Reveal letter – minus 8 each
- Reveal word – minus 15 each
- Reveal puzzle – score becomes 0
This means Reveal is useful, but there is a trade-off. The more help you use, the lower the puzzle’s skill score will be.
Your Win Streak and Player Skill measure different things, so using Reveal is best seen as a way to learn and keep playing, rather than as the strongest scoring option.
Letter, word or puzzle?
If you are not sure which option to use, a good rule is to start small.
- Use Letter if you want a gentle push
- Use Word if one part of the grid is blocking your progress
- Use Puzzle if you want to see the full answer and move on
Often, revealing one letter is enough to restart your thinking without giving away too much.
Reveal is part of the game
Reveal is built into CrossWordy because the aim is to make the game challenging but fair.
You do not have to solve every puzzle unaided to enjoy improving. Sometimes the fastest way to get better is to use a little help, understand what you missed and carry that knowledge into the next puzzle.
Want to sharpen your solving without using too much assistance?
You can also read our How to get better at CrossWordy guide for practical solving tips.