15 Best Crossword Puzzle Books Of 2024, Recommended By A Parenting Expert

Solving crossword puzzles is a tried-and-tested way to pass the time when you’re bored. Moreover, it can also help you improve your brain function and enhance vocabulary. Thus, level up from your traditional crossword puzzle magazines and bring home the best crossword puzzle books to spend your time fruitfully.

Megan Imhoff, a writer, book reviewer, and founder of Ish Mom, says, “Remember, our brains age as much as the rest of us! Just as incorporating fitness into our everyday lives can halt or slow muscular atrophy, completing a daily crossword puzzle can do the same to our brains.”

If you want to keep yourself occupied while also improving your memory, problem-solving skills, and learning abilities, we have listed some top crossword puzzle books you can buy online. Besides, these expert-approved books also make great gifts for children.

In This Article

15 Best Crossword Puzzle Books

1. Best For Memory:Brain Games Crossword Puzzles

The book has 192 pages and more than 80 interesting crossword puzzles. It has big prints that are easy-to-read and make filling up simpler. The book has spiral binding and has puzzles on both sides of a page. After completing the puzzle, you can check the answers given at the end of the book. The book is handy and its portable size easily fits into a bag to go everywhere with you.

Item Weight: 1.23 pounds

protip_icon Do remember
The objective is to excite interest, not to overwhelm them. Find topics that your child has shown interest in when buying brain puzzles.

2. Best Entertainment:Funster Crossword Puzzle Book for Adults

Exercise your brain with this book from Funster, which has 101 crossword puzzles that you can solve. The puzzles are printed in a large text format so that you do not strain your eyes even when working on three or two puzzles in one go. Even the grids are big, making it easy for you to enter the letters and solve the puzzle. The solvable puzzles are neither too difficult nor too easy, which means you won’t get frustrated or bored easily working on them.

Item Weight: 1.3 pounds

Why We Think It's Worth Buying

About 2,504 reviewers on Amazon have given their seal of approval to the product.

3. Best Intermediate:The Crossword Book: Over 350 Crosswords

Almost one puzzle a day for an entire year – that is what this crossword book offers with more than 350 crossword puzzles to solve. The difficulty level varies from easy to intermediate, which makes this book suitable for anyone keenly interested in testing their crossword knowledge. It comes in a spiral-bind form, making it easy to fold and use it anywhere conveniently. The book features a variety of popular puzzle types from different genres, making it one of the most exciting and diverse brain-training books.

Item Weight: 1.08 pounds

4. Best Challenging:USA Today Crossword 3

The book is a collection of crossword puzzles taken from the popular newspaper, USA Today. It includes around 200 easy and challenging puzzles from different genres to keep you occupied all day. This American crossword puzzle book has bold and clear prints, which makes it easy for crossword enthusiasts to enhance their puzzle-solving skills without any interruptions or eye strain. You can choose to solve puzzles of varying levels.

Item Weight: 10.4 ounces

protip_icon Trivia
The world’s largest published crossword, created by 20 artists, has 66,666 clues, with 33,018 clues across and 33,648 clues down (1).

5. Best Time Pass:Merriam-Webster Crossword Puzzle Dictionary

Get help in solving more crossword puzzles in less time with the help of this crossword puzzle dictionary. It contains more than 20,000 new words and 340,000 clues appropriately organized to help you solve lots of puzzles and make you an expert crossword solver. The words cover a vast range of topics, including place names and people, among others. This is the fourth edition of the book and can be used as a helpful guide to solving any difficult crossword.

6. Best For Easy Reading:AARP Large Print Crossword Puzzles

The collection brings you more than 40 interesting crossword challenges from a variety of themes, including world history, sports, and pop culture. Solving these puzzles not only improves your critical-thinking ability but also gives you knowledge on various important world topics. The pages of the book are bound in a spiral format, making it a durable option for puzzle book collectors.

Item Weight: 7.2 ounces

7. Best For Mind Exercise:Simon & Schuster Mega Crossword Puzzle Book #19

4.5
Simon & Schuster Mega Crossword Puzzle Book #19 Image: Simon & Schuster

Beginner or expert, you would be delighted to have this Simon & Schuster mega crossword puzzle book, which is a celebratory edition. The wordplay gamebook contains more than 300 brand new word grid challenges printed in a clear format on perforated pages, making it easy and quick for you to keep solving them without any major hassle. This best-selling cognitive puzzle book has several classic pieces of puzzles, making it an all-time favorite of crossword stalwarts.

Item Weight: 1.7 pounds

Why We Think It's Worth Buying

The 1,281 reviews on Amazon indicate that this product has a loyal following.

8. Best Fun:Kappa Super Saver Large Print Crosswords Pack

4.5

You get not one but six crossword puzzle books in this value pack. Solving easy to tricky puzzles in this book could help you relax and also exercise your gray cells a little. The puzzles have easy-to-read letters with large prints in all the six books. You can keep solving puzzles and keep switching the books until you become an expert crossword solver. This set also makes an excellent gift set for friends and family members who love solving crosswords.

Item Weight: 1.9 pounds
protip_icon Quick tip
During long travel, children are often in need of stimulation. Ditch the electronics and try to engage them in a word game or a puzzle the whole family can play together.

9. Best Beginner-Friendly:75 Easy-To-Read Crossword Puzzles

The new crossword puzzle book contains 75 puzzles from different themes. Each one has a unique title, such as English conversation, Silent Gourmet, and Greener Pastures. Solving these puzzles improves your brain function and keeps you engaged and entertained. The word-based puzzles in the book are designed with a clear font and big letters, so you can solve the puzzles easily without spending too much time reading.

Item Weight: 12.8 ounces

10. Best Sober:Drunk Crosswords: All-New Puzzles with a Twist

It is not a usual book of crossword puzzles, for it includes amusing puzzles that are amusing and challenging. The book brings you around 50 old-fashioned, straightforward, and witty puzzles inspired by various themes such as rebuses, drinking games, asymmetric grids, and lots more to help you make your brain sharp while having fun. It is a unique book of puzzles that you can carry anywhere.

Item Weight: 9.6 ounces

11. Best Twists:The Best of Merl Reagle’s Sunday Crosswords: Big Book No. 2

The book is a combination of two popular books, Sunday Crosswords Volume 3 and 4. It contains 60 puzzles that are not only intelligently put across but are also funny, tricky, and interesting, making it one of the best crossword books. Solving these extra-large Sunday puzzles can keep you busy for a long time and improve your vocabulary while testing and enhancing your critical-thinking capacity. Whether you are a beginner or an expert in solving crossword puzzles, you will be entertained by the puzzles in this book.

12. Best Classic:The New York Times Greatest Hits of Monday Crossword Puzzles

This easy crossword puzzle book contains 100 puzzles that can be solved by any crossword solver who enjoys the activity. The paperback book has 127 pages with bold and clear prints that can be read and solved without straining the eyes, making it ideal for entertainment and leisure time. The book is ideal for anyone who is a beginner and looking for solvable puzzles to learn new words to test and improve brain power and learning capacity.

Item Weight: 5.6 ounces

13. Best For Improving Vocabulary:Easy-To-Read Crossword Puzzles For Adults

In this book, you can find puzzles that are neither too easy nor too hard. The book contains 80 crossword puzzles designed to challenge your mind. The grids are big enough for you to enter the letters, and every puzzle has plenty of clues to help you solve it. You can work on the puzzles any day and from anywhere without getting bored and improve your thinking capacity and boost your vocabulary.

Item Weight: 5.6 ounces

14. Best For Solving Techniques:The New York Times Best of Saturday Crosswords

Get a collection of the New York Times Saturday crossword puzzles, all in one book. Clearly printed in paperback format, this book brings you 75 classic crossword puzzles, allowing you to employ all your puzzle-solving techniques. It is a famous crossword puzzle book that can also be gifted to a crossword enthusiast who enjoys spending their free time by solving puzzles and expanding knowledge on various topics.

Item Weight: 4.2 ounces

15. Best Culinary Topics:Food for Thought Crosswords

*The prices provided in this article are based on the latest available information. However, they may vary due to changes in pricing by the seller and/or promotional offers.

If you are a foodie and enjoy learning different cuisines and food-related words, then this book could bring a smile on your face. The book is not only fun to solve but also challenging in every way, testing your mental capacity. It includes tricky writing and gives you extensive knowledge of various culinary topics. The puzzling challenges are designed to keep you interested enough to try more and more of them.

How To Choose The Right Crossword Puzzle Book?

Here are some points to consider while purchasing crossword puzzle books.

  1. Difficulty level: Choose a crossword puzzle book suitable for your age and experience. You can opt for a book suitable for the present level that offers you a relaxing activity or something more challenging to level up and make your brain sharp.
  2. Design: If you are looking for a puzzle book that you will solve while commuting, opt for a lightweight book in a portable size. Ensure the book is easy to navigate and foldable for easy use.
  3. Font size: Ensure the puzzles are printed in large font size for easy readability, clarity, and reduced eye strain.
  4. Subject: Choose crossword puzzles based on your area of interest. Many books focus on history, geography, movies, and so on.
  5. Reviews: Go through crossword book reviews given by genuine users to select a book best suited for your needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the most popular crossword puzzle book?

Crossword puzzle books with a large number of puzzles and different levels, from easy and intermediate to hard, that come with a helping guide and are convenient to carry tend to be popular among people.

2. Do crossword puzzles help with stress?

While the primary advantage of doing crossword puzzles is improved cognitive functioning, crossword puzzles can also be beneficial for reducing stress by distracting your mind.

3. What do circles mean in a crossword puzzle?

Typically, a circle indicates a hint related to the theme of the crossword if read in a proper manner.

4. How fast can I do a crossword?

It depends on the person’s ability to complete crossword puzzles and the difficulty level of the puzzle. An average person can complete a mini puzzle in about five to eight minutes.

Why Trust MomJunction?

Wedetso Chirhah is an avid reader and holds proficiency in writing and reviewing the best available books for kids. He has explored various forums and did a critical evaluation to compile this list of the best crossword puzzle books that are sure to test and boost your child’s thinking and learning abilities. Wedesto also shares a few tips that could help select the suitable crossword puzzle book available in the market for your child.

The Bottom Line

Keep your mind engaged and active with the best crossword puzzle books. These books will improve your vocabulary and test your cognitive and memory skills while helping you while away time. Not only are they educational, but they also offer tons of fun. We recommend the Funster Crossword Puzzle Book for Adults, with balanced puzzles that are neither hard nor easy; The Crossword Book: Over 350 Crosswords, which offers puzzles across genres, and the Simon & Schuster Mega Crossword Puzzle Book #19 with perforated pages. While you may come across several crossword puzzle books, ensure to buy one that matches your skill level, is about a topic you are interested in, and has bold and clear prints for easy reading and comprehension.


References

MomJunction's articles are written after analyzing the research works of expert authors and institutions. Our references consist of resources established by authorities in their respective fields. You can learn more about the authenticity of the information we present in our editorial policy.
  1. Largest published crossword
    https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-published-crossword

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