Crosswords Help

Finding facts

• There are hundreds of reference books for you to consult at Reference books online
• You can also check the complete Encyclopaedia Britannica online
• Even more reference books are available at Encyclopaedias and miscellaneous facts on WebLinks
• If you are trying to use a search engine to track down an elusive fact, you can find search tips at Making the most of search engines

Checking words in dictionaries

• There are links to standard English dictionaries at Dictionaries > English dictionaries on WebLinks
• You can check online over half a million words, old and new, in the complete Oxford English Dictionary Online. This is one of the library's online reference books
• There are collections of specialist dictionaries at Bedford Central, Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard libraries. For example there are dictionaries of etymology, foreign words and phrases used in English, idioms, rhyming words, slang, catchphrases and synonyms

Using crossword solvers and anagram finders

• Crossword solvers enable you to enter a few letters of a word and find words that match those letters
• Anagram finders give you all possible variations of any letters you enter
• You can find crossword solvers and anagram finders at Dictionaries > Word oddities and crosswords help on WebLinks
• There is also a 'Crossword solver' in the 'Dictionaries' section of the Credo Reference online reference books service
• When searching the Oxford English Dictionary Online (OED Online) you can use 'wildcard' characters. Use a question mark ? instead of any one single character or an asterisk * for instead of any number of characters (or none at all). For even more possibilities, log in to the OED Online and click 'Help with using OED Online'  then 'How do I find a word' then 'Wildcards'

Further information

• Library catalogue
• Contact us - for help to find information, from your local librarians
• 'Enquire' - a 24-hour chat enquiry service from the national People's Network. Local librarians take part in 'Enquire' on a rota basis but it is likely that you would be answered by a librarian from another library service

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