April Fools Crossword Puzzle

Print a criss-cross vocabulary crossword for April Fools' Day: harmless pranks, giggles, jokes, jesters and the day's history.

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April Fools Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

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Word bank

  • April
  • Fool
  • Giggle
  • Gotcha
  • Hoax
  • Jester
  • Joke
  • Prank
  • Riddle
  • Silly
  • Surprise
  • Trick

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Answer key: April Fools Crossword

1F2J3R4JOKE5APRILOSDLTDE6GL7SUR8PRISE9HIRGOLA10GO11TCHALNLRXYKEICK

Across 4 JOKE · 5 APRIL · 7 SURPRISE · 10 GOTCHA

Down 1 FOOL · 2 JESTER · 3 RIDDLE · 6 GIGGLE · 7 SILLY · 8 PRANK · 9 HOAX · 11 TRICK

Next step Find April Fools words in a word searchFind April words in a word search

All 117 clues

Show all clues and answers

Harmless Pranks 27

  • Backward The wrong way round, like a cap with its bill behind
  • Balloon Fill a closet with these and nothing breaks
  • Confetti Bits of paper that rain down when a cupboard door opens
  • Costume Clothes for playing a part
  • Disguise Anything that hides who you are
  • Fake Not real, like a rubber snake
  • Googly ___ eyes: wiggly plastic craft pieces stuck on a lunch box
  • Gotcha "Got you" squeezed into one word
  • Gullible Easily taken in
  • Harmless Safe for everyone, the first rule of the day's fun
  • Hoax False story dressed up as news
  • Illusion Optical ___: an image the eye reads wrong
  • Invisible ___ ink: writing that cannot be seen until it is treated
  • Mischief What a puppy with a slipper is up to
  • Mustache Lip hair, real or glued on
  • Planner The one who thinks up the gag days ahead
  • Prank A rubber duck in the cookie jar, for one
  • Pretend Make believe
  • Reveal "It was me all along" is one
  • Sneak Creep along without being seen
  • Spider Toy web-spinner on a string
  • Sticky ___ notes: paper squares that can cover a whole desk
  • Surprise Jack-in-the-box moment
  • Swap To trade one thing for another when no one looks
  • Tiptoe How to cross a room when the baby is asleep
  • Trick A coin pulled from behind your ear is one
  • Whisper Voice for sharing a plan in the back row

Giggles and Grins 21

  • Amused How a good gag leaves the one it was played on
  • Belly ___ laugh: a deep one that shakes the whole body
  • Cackle Laugh that sounds like a barnyard bird
  • Chortle Gleeful laugh; the word came into English from the poem Jabberwocky
  • Chuckle Low laugh, mouth nearly closed
  • Giggle Sound that spreads down a row of desks
  • Grin Ear-to-ear expression
  • Guffaw Laugh loud enough to turn heads
  • Hilarious So funny your sides hurt
  • Howl To laugh as loudly as a wolf calls
  • Humor American spelling of the quality that makes people laugh
  • Silly Goofy on purpose
  • Smirk Half smile of someone who knows a secret
  • Snicker Sly laugh you try to hold in
  • Snort Laugh that escapes through the nose
  • Tears Laugh hard enough and these roll down your cheeks
  • Tickle What a feather does to the bottom of a foot
  • Titter Nervous little laugh
  • Wacky Odd and funny at once
  • Wink One eye shut for a moment to say "just kidding"
  • Zany Madcap and offbeat

Jokes and Wordplay 26

  • Anagram Stale is one of least
  • Banter Friendly back-talk between pals
  • Caricature Picture that exaggerates the features of its subject
  • Cartoon Drawn show, or a single funny drawing in a newspaper
  • Comic ___ strip: drawings arranged in a row of panels
  • Farce Light stage play with highly implausible plots
  • Hyperbole Exaggeration used as a figure of speech
  • Joke Short funny story with a twist at the end
  • Knock Word said twice to start a call-and-response gag
  • Limerick Funny poem whose third and fourth lines are the short ones
  • Nonsense ___ verse: playful poetry that makes no sense on purpose
  • Oxymoron Figure of speech that sets opposite meanings side by side
  • Palindrome Word or phrase that reads the same in both directions
  • Parody Work made to imitate and poke fun at another
  • Portmanteau Smog or motel, for example
  • Pun Wordplay on two meanings of one word
  • Punchline Last line of a gag, the part meant to get the laugh
  • Quip Quick, clever remark
  • Rebus An eye, a heart and a U drawn in a row make one
  • Rhyme What cat and hat do
  • Riddle "What has hands but cannot clap?" is one
  • Spoonerism Slip of the tongue in which sounds trade places between words
  • Tale Tall ___: unbelievable story told as if it were true
  • Twister Tongue ___: phrase built to be hard to say
  • Wit The ability to say clever things that make people laugh
  • Yarn Long, rambling story

April 1 in History 19

  • April Month of 30 days whose showers bring May flowers
  • Broadcast To send over the air, as the 1957 gag was
  • Calendar One disputed theory ties the day to a French change of this in 1564
  • Custom A practice kept year after year
  • Errand Short trip to run for someone; a 1561 poem strings pointless ones together
  • Fish Paper shape stuck on a back where people speak French
  • Fool The one who falls for it, in the day's name
  • France Country at the center of the 1564 theory about the day
  • Harvest What a family was shown bringing in from the trees in the 1957 report
  • Headline Largest words on a front page
  • Lions In 1698 Londoners were sent to watch these being washed
  • Noon In Britain, the hour after which the gags must stop
  • Origin Nobody knows this for the day exactly
  • Spaghetti Noodles that a 1957 British program had hanging from branches
  • Switzerland Alpine nation where the 1957 gag film was set
  • Thirty Number of days in the month that the day opens
  • Tower The ___ of London: where the dupes of 1698 were sent
  • Viewer One of hundreds who phoned in after the 1957 report
  • Weevil Made-up pest whose disappearance the 1957 report credited for the crop

Jesters and Clowns 24

  • Antics Capers and monkey business
  • Audience Those who watch the act and, with luck, laugh
  • Banana Its peel is the thing to slip on in an old gag
  • Bells Little ringers on the cap of a king's merrymaker
  • Circus Show under a big top
  • Clown Tumbler in distinctive makeup and exaggerated footwear
  • Comedian One who tells funny stories on a stage
  • Comedy Kind of play or film meant to make people laugh
  • Harlequin Best known of the funny servants of the Italian commedia
  • Jester Court performer in a cap that jingles
  • Juggler Performer with three clubs in the air at once
  • Magician Stage performer with a wand and a top hat
  • Marotte Stick with a carved head, carried by a king's merrymaker
  • Mime Silent performer; the word comes from the Greek for imitator
  • Motley What the king's merrymaker wears
  • Pie Dessert thrown at a person as a gag
  • Prop Object a performer uses in an act
  • Rascal Lovable troublemaker
  • Shenanigans Eleven-letter word for playful goings-on
  • Slapstick Knockabout fun named for a paddle of two thin slats
  • Sleight ___ of hand: skilled finger work used by card performers
  • Unicycle One-wheeled ride
  • Ventriloquist Stage artist who throws the voice
  • Wig Hair that comes off

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for grades 2 to 7, in five sets: harmless pranks, kinds of laughter, jokes and wordplay, April 1 in history, and jesters and clowns. Every date and custom in the history set was checked in two places, English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and the Museum of Hoaxes (hoaxes.org), in October 2026; the other word facts were checked against English Wikipedia. Licence: own work

How it works

This April Fools crossword puzzle prints on Letter or A4, answer key included. The first puzzle has 12 words with a word bank, among them Prank, Joke, Hoax, Trick, Giggle and Surprise. Every prank in the clues is a harmless one.

Read the full guide

Five sets after the basics

Harmless Pranks has Googly, Confetti, Disguise and Tiptoe. Giggles and Grins has Chortle, Guffaw, Snicker and Smirk. Jokes and Wordplay has Limerick, Palindrome, Spoonerism and Anagram. April 1 in History has Spaghetti, Weevil, Lions and Tower. Jesters and Clowns has Motley, Marotte, Harlequin and Unicycle.

Old hoaxes a class can check

In 1698 Londoners were sent to the Tower to watch the Lions being washed. In 1957 a British television report showed Spaghetti hanging from trees in Switzerland. A Flemish poem of 1561 tells of one pointless Errand after another. All three are clues.

  • Read the history clues aloud after the puzzle and let the class vote on which hoax they would have believed.

Questions and answers

What grade is the April Fools crossword puzzle for?

April Fools Basics, with its word bank, suits grades 2 to 4: Prank, Joke, Silly, Grin. The five themed sets suit grades 4 to 7, with answers such as Palindrome and Ventriloquist. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

Does the April Fools crossword puzzle come with an answer key?

Yes. Every print ends with the answer key on a sheet of its own. It is free, with no sign-up.

When did April Fools' Day start?

Nobody knows exactly. A Flemish poem of 1561 has a servant sent on pointless errands on April 1, and a British writer mentioned the day in 1686. One theory ties it to a French calendar change of 1564, but that is disputed.

What is an April fish?

Poisson d'avril, or April fish, is the French name for an April fool. A classic prank there is to stick a paper fish on someone's back without being noticed.

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