Editorial Policy

Our standards for accuracy, sourcing, reviews, and how we handle the small but real conflicts of running a publication that covers products we also operate alongside.

This page exists for two reasons. The first is regulatory — publishers are increasingly expected to publish their editorial standards, and we agree with the principle. The second is practical: we want readers to be able to verify, in plain language, what we do and don’t do. If we ever fall short of any of these commitments, please tell us.

Reviews

Every review on CrosswordGuru is based on at least 30 days of regular use of the product being reviewed. We do not publish first-impression reviews. We do not accept payment in exchange for a review. We do not accept paid placement on our “Best Of” lists. We do not write reviews based on press releases.

Where a publisher has provided us with a free press copy of a product (as is common in the games industry), we disclose that in the review itself. We have not, to date, accepted any paid press trips, sponsored reviews, or affiliate-driven “best of” listings. We will publicly disclose any of these arrangements before they appear in coverage.

News and reporting

News articles are based on first-hand reporting where possible, and named sources where consent allows. Where a source has asked to be quoted anonymously — typically for news involving company internals or unannounced product launches — we say so in the piece, and we do not publish information from anonymous sources unless we have been able to corroborate it with at least one named source or with a verifiable document.

We do not publish leaked content where the leak appears to violate someone’s reasonable privacy. We do not republish stories from other outlets without independently verifying the facts.

Corrections

If we publish something inaccurate, we correct it. The correction appears in two places: at the top of the article, with a clear note describing what changed, and on a public corrections log we maintain. We do not silently edit articles to remove embarrassing errors. To request a correction, email [email protected].

How we use AI

We do not publish AI-generated articles. Every article on this site is written by a named human editor and edited by a different human. We do, occasionally, use AI tools as research aids — for example, to help us scan a long PDF or to brainstorm article angles. We do not use them to generate prose that we then publish under a human byline.

If we ever do publish AI-assisted content, we will label it clearly and explain how the assistance was used.

Our relationship with our answer sites

CrosswordGuru is operated by the same team that runs codycrossanswers.com, nytimescrossword.net, 7little.com, and several other dedicated daily-puzzle answer sites. Those sites are not editorial — they exist to provide verified solutions to specific puzzles. They are referenced from articles on this site as lookups.

We are explicit about this so readers can decide for themselves how to weigh our coverage of those puzzle formats. Our reviews of CodyCross, the NYT Crossword, and 7 Little Words are not influenced by our operation of the corresponding answer sites. The relationship is operational, not editorial. We have, on multiple occasions, given negative or mixed reviews to puzzles whose answer sites we operate.

Independence

CrosswordGuru is not affiliated with The New York Times, Fanatee, Blue Ox Family Games, Dow Jones, the LA Times, King Features, PlaySimple, or any other crossword publisher. We cover all of them. We criticize all of them when we think they’ve made a bad call. None of them have any editorial input into what we publish.

Source materials and credits

Photographs on this site are licensed from Unsplash under their free-use license, with photographer credits in the caption. Charts and data visualizations are produced in-house unless otherwise credited.

If you believe we have used an image incorrectly, contact [email protected] and we’ll resolve it the same day.

Comments and engagement

We don’t currently host comments on articles — partly because of moderation overhead, partly because the daily-puzzle community has plenty of healthier homes for discussion (the various subreddits, in particular). We do read every email we receive at editor accounts, and we use selected reader feedback as the basis for follow-up coverage.

Last updated

This editorial policy was last updated on May 9, 2026. We review it annually and on the occasion of any significant changes to our funding model.