Crossword Puzzles Printable for Adults

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General Knowledge 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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Answer key: General Knowledge Crossword

1C2H3VE4PALETTENITSK5RO6BO7TUUAA8E9ASELLPN10ALA11FD12SHAMPOOSEEAAT13MUSCLEZUAOR14BERLINY

Across 4 PALETTE · 5 ROBOT · 8 EASEL · 12 SHAMPOO · 13 MUSCLE · 14 BERLIN

Down 1 CENSUS · 2 HAIKU · 3 VETO · 6 BALLOT · 7 TAPAS · 9 ANDES · 10 AMAZON · 11 FEMUR · 12 SALARY

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All 160 clues

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World Geography 26

  • Alps Range that holds Mont Blanc
  • Amazon River that carries more water than any other
  • Andes Longest continental mountain range, along South America's western edge
  • Atoll Ring-shaped coral reef around a lagoon
  • Borneo Island shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei
  • Bosporus Strait that divides Istanbul between Europe and Asia
  • Canberra Australian capital, sited as a middle ground between Melbourne and Sydney
  • Danube River that flows through ten countries, more than any other
  • Everest Highest peak above sea level, on the border of Nepal and China
  • Fjord Long, narrow sea inlet cut by a glacier
  • Geyser Spring that throws out hot water and steam in bursts
  • Gibraltar British territory whose rock guards the entrance to the Mediterranean
  • Hanoi Capital of Vietnam, in the Red River Delta
  • Iceland Island nation on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
  • Kilimanjaro Dormant volcano in Tanzania, Africa's highest mountain
  • Lisbon Capital of Portugal, on the north shore of the Tagus
  • Nairobi Kenyan capital with a national park about 7 km to its south
  • Oslo Norwegian capital, host of the 1952 Winter Olympics
  • Ottawa Canadian capital, across the river from Gatineau
  • Panama Country whose canal joins the Atlantic and the Pacific
  • Patagonia Southern end of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile
  • Sahara Largest hot desert on Earth
  • Sicily Largest island in the Mediterranean, home of Mount Etna
  • Suez Egyptian canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea
  • Vienna Austrian capital, long the seat of the Habsburg emperors
  • Zambezi River that drops over Victoria Falls

Science and Nature 27

  • Albatross Seabird whose largest kinds have the widest wingspan of any bird
  • Aquifer Underground layer of rock that holds water
  • Basalt Dark rock, the most common volcanic rock on Earth
  • Cheetah Fastest land animal
  • Decibel Unit for sound level, one tenth of a bel
  • Femur Thigh bone, the longest in the human body
  • Helium Second lightest element, named for the Greek sun god
  • Insulin Pancreatic hormone that moves glucose out of the blood and into cells
  • Isotope Form of an element with a different number of neutrons
  • Koala Australian tree-dweller that lives on eucalyptus leaves
  • Krill Small crustaceans that baleen whales strain from the sea
  • Lichen Partnership of fungus and algae, often found on bare rock
  • Marsupial Mammal that carries its young in a pouch
  • Mitosis Cell division that yields two identical nuclei
  • Monsoon Seasonal reversing wind that brings a rainy season, as in South Asia
  • Narwhal Arctic whale with a long spiral tusk
  • Octopus Sea creature with eight arms and three hearts
  • Osmosis Movement of water through a membrane toward the more concentrated side
  • Photon Particle of light
  • Platypus Egg-laying mammal of eastern Australia, with a bill like a duck
  • Pulsar Spinning collapsed star whose beam sweeps past Earth like a lighthouse
  • Quartz Hard, common mineral of silicon and oxygen
  • Retina Light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye
  • Sequoia Genus of the coast redwood, the tallest trees alive
  • Sodium Element with the symbol Na, found in table salt
  • Titan Saturn's largest moon, with a thick atmosphere
  • Tungsten Metal with the highest melting point, symbol W

Arts and Letters 27

  • Allegory Story whose characters stand for ideas
  • Baroque Ornate style that began in Rome around 1600
  • Collage Art of pasted paper and found bits, from the French for to glue
  • Cubism Art movement begun by Picasso and Braque in the early 1900s
  • Easel Stand that holds a painter's canvas
  • Epic Long narrative poem such as the Odyssey
  • Flamenco Song, dance and guitar tradition of Andalusia
  • Florence Italian city known as the birthplace of the Renaissance
  • Fresco Painting done on wet plaster
  • Gothic Style of pointed arches and flying buttresses
  • Haiku Short Japanese poem in a 5, 7, 5 pattern
  • Kabuki Classical Japanese theater known for bold makeup
  • Kiln Oven for firing pottery
  • Libretto Text of an opera, from the Italian for little book
  • Limerick Five-line comic verse that shares its name with an Irish city
  • Louvre Paris museum housed in a former royal palace
  • Metaphor Figure of speech that calls one thing another
  • Minaret Tower of a mosque, from which the call to prayer is made
  • Mosaic Picture made of small pieces of stone or glass
  • Novella Fiction longer than a short story and shorter than a novel
  • Pagoda Tiered tower with many eaves, seen across East Asia
  • Palette Board on which a painter mixes colors
  • Satire Writing that holds folly up to ridicule
  • Sonnet Poem of fourteen lines
  • Stanza Group of lines in a poem, from the Italian for room
  • Tango Partner dance born along the Rio de la Plata
  • Tragedy Drama of human suffering; Hamlet is one

History and Civics 27

  • Abdicate To give up a throne
  • Agora Open gathering place and market of an ancient Greek city
  • Apollo NASA program that landed people on the Moon
  • Armistice Agreement that stopped the fighting on 11 November 1918
  • Aztec Empire whose capital, Tenochtitlan, stood where Mexico City is now
  • Ballot Voting paper, from the Italian for a little ball
  • Bastille Paris fortress stormed on 14 July 1789
  • Berlin City divided by a wall from 1961 to 1989
  • Carthage North African rival that Rome fought in the Punic Wars
  • Census Official count of a population
  • Embargo Government ban on trade with another country
  • Filibuster Long speech meant to delay or block a vote
  • Forum Public square at the heart of an ancient Roman city
  • Hastings Battle of 1066 won by William of Normandy
  • Pompeii Roman town buried by Vesuvius in AD 79
  • Quorum Smallest number of members who must be present to do business
  • Republic State where power rests with the public, from the Latin res publica
  • Rosetta Name of the stone, found in 1799, that unlocked Egyptian hieroglyphs
  • Runnymede Meadow by the Thames where King John sealed Magna Carta in 1215
  • Senate Chamber whose name comes from the Latin for old man
  • Sparta Greek city-state whose 300 held the pass at Thermopylae
  • Sputnik First artificial satellite, launched in 1957
  • Suffrage The right to vote
  • Versailles Palace where the 1919 peace treaty with Germany was signed
  • Veto Power to block a bill, from the Latin for I forbid
  • Waterloo Battle of 1815, in what is now Belgium, that was Napoleon's last
  • Yorktown Virginia siege of 1781 that ended with the surrender of Cornwallis

Word Origins 28

  • Algebra From the Arabic al-jabr, a term once used for setting broken bones
  • Alibi Defense of having been somewhere else; Latin for elsewhere
  • Boycott Protest named for an English land agent shunned in Ireland in 1880
  • Bungalow Low house whose name means a house in the Bengal style
  • Candidate Office seeker, from the Latin for shining white
  • Checkmate From a Persian phrase often glossed as the king is helpless
  • Clue Once spelled clew, a ball of thread, like the one that led Theseus out of the maze
  • Companion Friend, from Latin roots meaning with bread
  • Dandelion Weed named from the French for lion's tooth
  • Disaster Calamity, from old roots meaning bad star
  • Karaoke Japanese for empty orchestra
  • Khaki Cloth color, from a Hindustani word for soil-colored
  • Mortgage Home loan, from Law French words meaning death pledge
  • Muscle From the Latin for little mouse
  • Pedigree Family tree, from the Old French for foot of a crane
  • Quarantine Isolation, from the Venetian for forty days
  • Robot Word coined for a 1920 Czech play, from a Czech term for forced labor
  • Sabotage French word tied to sabots, the wooden shoes that workers once wore
  • Safari Swahili for journey
  • Salary Regular pay, from a Latin word tied to salt
  • Sarcasm From a Greek verb meaning to tear flesh
  • Shampoo From the Hindi for to press or knead
  • Trivia From the Latin for three roads
  • Tsunami Japanese for harbor wave
  • Tulip Flower whose name is thought to come from a word for turban
  • Ukulele Hawaiian for jumping flea
  • Vaccine From the Latin for cow, after the cowpox used against smallpox
  • Window From the Old Norse for wind eye

Food and Drink 25

  • Baguette Long, thin French loaf
  • Brie Soft French cheese with a white rind, named for its home region
  • Croissant Crescent-shaped pastry with Austrian roots
  • Espresso Coffee made by forcing hot water under pressure through fine grounds
  • Feta Greek brined white cheese, made mostly from sheep's milk
  • Gazpacho Cold Spanish soup of raw vegetables
  • Gnocchi Italian dumplings, often made with potato
  • Gouda Dutch cheese named for a city in South Holland
  • Guacamole Avocado dip first made in Mexico
  • Hummus Levantine dip of mashed chickpeas
  • Kimchi Korean dish of salted, fermented vegetables
  • Mozzarella Southern Italian cheese, in tradition made from buffalo milk
  • Oolong Chinese tea, partly oxidized, between green and black
  • Paella Rice dish from Valencia, named for the pan it cooks in
  • Paprika Spice of dried, ground red peppers, a mark of Hungarian cooking
  • Pesto Sauce from Genoa of basil, pine nuts, garlic and cheese
  • Risotto Northern Italian rice dish cooked in broth until creamy
  • Saffron Spice made from the dried crimson threads of a crocus
  • Sandwich Lunch named for an 18th-century English earl
  • Sourdough Bread raised by a starter of wild yeast and bacteria
  • Sushi Japanese dish built on vinegared rice
  • Tahini Paste of ground sesame seeds
  • Tapas Small plates of Spanish cooking
  • Tempura Japanese battered, deep-fried dish that traces to Portuguese visitors
  • Wasabi Pungent paste from a Japanese plant related to horseradish

How this list was compiled: 160 general knowledge clues written for this site. Each states a fact checked against English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) or, for four word origins, Wiktionary, in September 2026. Where a popular story differs from the article, the clue follows the article or hedges. No living person, brand, film or song is used, and nothing that changes from year to year. Licence: own work

How it works

These printable crossword puzzles for adults ask for general knowledge: the largest hot desert, a poem of fourteen lines, the meadow where Magna Carta was sealed. They are vocabulary crosswords, and every clue states a fact that was checked.

Read the full guide

Six subjects, with warm-ups and stumpers

The subject sets are World Geography, Science and Nature, Arts and Letters, History and Civics, Word Origins and Food and Drink. Warm-Up Clues, the opening set, gathers the most familiar answers from all six, such as Everest, Haiku and Sushi. Stumpers gathers the hardest, such as Runnymede, Bosporus and Libretto. Press New puzzle for a different grid from the same set.

Word origins, with the doubtful ones hedged

Word Origins is the set people read aloud: Muscle comes from the Latin for little mouse and Window from the Old Norse for wind eye. Checkmate comes from a Persian phrase often glossed as the king is helpless. Where a popular story fails the check, the clue follows the source, so Salary is only tied to salt.

  • For a puzzle group or a waiting room, print Warm-Up Clues with the word bank on (More options), then Stumpers with it off.
  • Large print, a tick box in More options, holds 8 answers with short clues. For everyday words, the easy large print crossword page fits better.
  • A 20-word puzzle (press Add another clue to build one) often runs to a third sheet. The "Print gives" line has the count before you print.

Questions and answers

Are these like newspaper crosswords?

No. A newspaper crossword is a symmetric grid packed edge to edge with answers. These are criss-cross vocabulary crosswords: answers interlock where they share a letter, and the rest of the grid stays open. The clues are straight facts, not cryptic wordplay.

How hard are the clues?

Medium. Warm-Up Clues are things most adults half remember, such as the Japanese poem in a 5, 7, 5 pattern. Stumpers asks for the strait that divides Istanbul. The word bank makes any set gentler: it prints the puzzle's answers under the clues.

Do the clues need pop culture or current events?

No. No clue needs a celebrity, a brand, a film, a team or this year's news, and none gives a population, an office holder or a record. Nobody living is an answer or is named in a clue.

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