About this site…

The idea for catholiccrosswords.com began years ago as a plan to create some supplemental income for my retirement. But prayer moved the idea from being a business to being a ministry. And that move has blessed me with peace, with a kind of peace that a business can’t give. I am grateful to God for that shift in paradigm. So now I have the happy job of stocking an all-you-can-eat buffet of Catholic word puzzles! (New puzzles will be added daily.)

And free means free. There are no ads and no solicitations. So, enjoy. If you like the site – please let me know on the “Contact” page. If there is a problem (bad clue, broken link, etc.), let me know and I’ll fix it.

With the conception of this site also came my pen name. I go by Tau Logos. The tau is the Greek “T” which the Franciscans have used for centuries as a symbol of the cross. Logos is the Greek word for word, and for Christians it is the Word (John 1:1). So, for me, Tau Logos, or Cross Word, speaks to both who I am and what I do in this ministry.

About these puzzles…

The themes and words used in these puzzles come from any and every part of the Catholic world: the Bible, the saints, Church history, popes, encyclicals, current events, modern authors and artists, bishops, etc. Some may seem down right obscure, and they are. But where I have incorporated obscure people, places or terms, I have tried to include around them more common ones to make them more “figure-out-able”.

Bible quotes are taken from the New American Bible Revised Edition unless otherwise noted. Permission for this use comes from the USCCB:

“No permission is required for use of less than 5,000 words of the NAB in print, sound, or electronic formats (for web usage, see below) provided that such use comprises less than 40% of a single book of the Bible and less than 40% of the proposed work.”

And…

  • The appropriate copyright acknowledgment must be given:

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Other works commonly sited in the puzzles are designated by the following abbreviations:

DR = Douay Rheims Bible

LOTR = The Lord of the Rings (Including The Hobbit)

Also:

At the end of a clue involving a saint there will often be the year the saint died (d.) and that saint’s feast day (f.).