Last checked: 10 November 2026. Facts below come from the Exet about page and exet.app as they read on that date.
If you publish puzzle books on KDP or Etsy, you are usually shopping for batch interiors, not one Sunday newspaper grid. Exet crossword software is a browser-based crossword construction app: you lay out a grid, fill it, write straight or cryptic clues, and export. That is a strong fit when the job is one polished crossword. It is a weaker fit when the job is sixty themed pages plus a PDF interior you can upload tonight.
Puzzle Maker Pro on Windows is built for the second job — word-list-driven criss-cross books, answer keys, and Instant Puzzle Books assembly. It does not ship a full-size American or British newspaper crossword (the classic 15×15 or 21×21 block style these construction tools are known for). For crossword books, compare Exet against Regular Criss Cross and the Crossword Variations Bundle, not against a newspaper module we have not released.
What Exet is
Exet is open-source software under the MIT license, maintained by Viresh Ratnakar. You run it in a desktop or laptop browser from exet.app (or host your own copy from the GitHub repository). The about page listed Exet v1.10 as of 10 November 2026.
Official copy describes a web app for crossword construction: grid editing, fill assistance, and clue writing for straight or cryptic puzzles. It has no purchase price on the public about or app pages we checked — you pay nothing to the author through those pages, and the license lets you use and modify the code on MIT terms.
Storage stays in the browser’s local storage. The about page states that Exet does not send your puzzles to the server that serves the app. Revisions of puzzles you work on are kept locally.
Exports named on the about page:
- Exolve format
.puz- Embeddable HTML via Exolve (with caveats documented in Exolve’s own docs)
The about page recommends a full-sized screen. Phone-sized browsers are possible but not the intended experience.
Languages listed in 2026 include English (two word lists: Lufz and Nediger List), Portuguese (Brazilian), and Hindi, with more planned.
None of that is a book factory. It is a constructor’s bench.
What Exet is good at
Treat Exet as exet crossword construction software in the true sense: one grid, deep attention, standard interchange files at the end.
Single-puzzle focus. You are inside one crossword until it is right. Fill suggestions draw on curated lexicons (including the modified UKACD-derived Lufz list and the Nediger List on the about page). That matches how constructors talk about exet crossword constructor workflows — grid first, then fill, then clues.
Straight and cryptic. The same tool covers quick American-style clueing and cryptic work without switching apps.
Open formats out. When you need to hand a .puz to a collaborator, drop an Exolve file into another toolchain, or embed a playable grid on a blog, the export menu is the payoff. For a publisher who only needs one hero puzzle on a sales page, that can be enough.
No install for tryouts. Because it runs in the browser, you can open Exet on any machine with a modern browser and see whether the UI fits your hands — useful before you commit to a paid desktop constructor.
Transparent license. MIT open source means you can read the code, fork it, or self-host. There is no activation key or subscription on the official pages we checked.
If your product is “I built this grid myself and I want to publish it once,” Exet earns its place in the shortlist.
Where puzzle-book publishers need a different workflow
KDP and Etsy buyers buy count, theme, and print quality — sixty puzzles, consistent margins, an answer section that matches, and a Look Inside preview that shows a real page early. That is batch work.
Exet does not, on its official pages, promise:
- Quantity runs from one word list (fifty themed grids with one click)
- Trim-size PDF interiors sized for 6×9 or 8.5×11 upload
- Answer-key books assembled as a single interior file
- Reuse of the same themed list across criss-cross, secret-word, and spiral layouts
Those gaps are not flaws in Exet. They are a different job title: constructor versus book publisher.
For the book job, Puzzle Maker Pro’s shipped crossword path is not the unreleased full newspaper grid. It is intersecting criss-cross and related variations from your lists:
- Regular Criss Cross — numbered Across and Down crossings from your word list, with optional Word Fill mode when you skip writing clues.
- Crossword Variations Bundle — the related criss-cross, secret-word, and spiral looks that share list economics but look different at thumbnail size.
- Instant Puzzle Books — included in every paid edition; turns generated pages into a book interior workflow on the desktop.
Every paid edition includes Puzzle Book Studio. Multi-collection books unlock with Productivity or Time Saver — not Creative alone. Interactive adds web play on supported modules; it does not unlock multi-collection assembly.
When you are choosing software for batch puzzles and reuse, read crossword puzzle creation software that scales for the batch-and-export angle — without treating that article’s phrase as the target here.
When you are choosing which criss-cross product fits a fill-in or clued book, see Crossword and fill-in puzzles for publishers for clue-wall economics and product choice.
How it compares
Exet sits with three other constructor-first tools we review for the same publisher audience. Each page is standalone; together they answer “which bench fits my job?”
| Tool | Platform (official, Nov 2026) | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Exet (here) | Browser; MIT open source | One grid in the browser, .puz / Exolve out, no shop SKU |
| CrossFire crossword software | Desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux); $50 registered copy on the official page | Paid 15×15 / 21×21 American newspaper-style construction |
| Crossword Compiler for publishers | Windows 10/11; subscription or one-off per ordering page | Broad puzzle types, print/PDF export, long-standing Windows constructor |
| Crosserville crossword software | Browser; account to start | Cloud save, curated word list, submission-format export |
A crossfire vs crossword compiler vs exet shootout is not the point of any one of those articles — desktop paid American grids versus Windows generalist versus open browser constructor are three different buyers. Pick by platform, price, and whether you are publishing one interchange file or sixty book pages.
Puzzle Maker Pro belongs in the column “book interiors from word lists,” not in the constructor row, until a full newspaper crossword module ships.
A practical decision rule
Choose Exet when you want open-source crossword construction in the browser, you are fine with local storage, and your deliverable is a single .puz, Exolve file, or embed — not a KDP interior.
Choose Puzzle Maker Pro when you already have themed word lists (or plan to build them), you need criss-cross or variation layouts at quantity, and you want print-ready pages plus book assembly on Windows.
Use both only if the jobs are separate: prototype a hard grid in Exet, then run your book line in Regular Criss Cross. Do not expect one tool to replace the other without manual page building in between.
Other puzzles you might like
If criss-cross is not the right look, the which crossword variation guide compares Regular Criss Cross, Secret Word Criss Cross, and Word Spiral at thumbnail scale.
For word hunts without crossings, see word search for publishers.
For logic grids and sudoku-style books that batch more easily than clue writing, browse the KDP sudoku variations guide.
Next step
Match the tool to the deliverable: one constructor file, or a full book interior. Confirm which Puzzle Maker Pro edition covers the crossword products you need on which edition should I get.