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Verbal Reasoning · Grid

Place words in a constraint grid

Fit supplied words into a grid using length and crossing constraints.

Watch the worked example

Crack the Crossing Grid

This video shows how to fit the words given into a grid using word lengths and crossing-letter constraints. Watch an 11+ verbal reasoning question solved step by step.

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Quick quiz: Place words in a constraint grid

10 questions, with feedback after each one. No sign-up needed.

Read the questions in this quiz
  1. Question 1

    The 6 words are brass, tin, zinc, silver, copper, iron. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. brass and copper share a column. zinc and silver share a row. silver sits directly above iron. brass is not in the bottom row. tin sits immediately to the left of copper. Which word ends up in the bottom right square?

    • A.tin
    • B.silver
    • C.copper
    • D.iron
  2. Question 2

    The 6 words are tuba, harp, cello, piano, flute, violin. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. cello sits directly above piano. flute and violin share a row. tuba is not in the left column. violin sits directly above harp. Which word ends up in the top right square?

    • A.cello
    • B.violin
    • C.harp
    • D.tuba
  3. Question 3

    The 6 words are owl, robin, thrush, crow, wren, magpie. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. thrush sits directly above wren. magpie sits directly above robin. crow sits immediately to the left of thrush. Which word ends up in the top left square?

    • A.robin
    • B.crow
    • C.magpie
    • D.owl
  4. Question 4

    The 6 words are wren, magpie, finch, owl, thrush, robin. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. finch and owl share a row. magpie is not in the top row. wren sits directly above robin. wren and owl share a column. owl is not in the left column. owl is not in the top row. Which word ends up in the middle right square?

    • A.magpie
    • B.wren
    • C.finch
    • D.robin
  5. Question 5

    The 6 words are owl, swift, magpie, robin, wren, crow. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. crow sits directly above wren. crow sits immediately to the left of swift. magpie and crow share a column. wren sits immediately to the left of robin. swift is not in the middle row. Which word ends up in the bottom right square?

    • A.crow
    • B.robin
    • C.owl
    • D.magpie
  6. Question 6

    The 6 words are rowan, elm, yew, beech, ash, oak. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. oak sits immediately to the left of ash. rowan is not in the middle row. yew sits immediately to the left of elm. beech sits directly above yew. Which word ends up in the middle right square?

    • A.beech
    • B.rowan
    • C.elm
    • D.ash
  7. Question 7

    The 6 words are oak, rowan, willow, elm, yew, ash. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. ash sits directly above elm. rowan sits immediately to the left of ash. willow and elm share a column. elm and yew share a row. elm is not in the bottom row. Which word ends up in the top left square?

    • A.willow
    • B.rowan
    • C.elm
    • D.oak
  8. Question 8

    The 6 words are nickel, copper, iron, lead, tin, brass. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. copper is not in the right column. lead sits immediately to the left of iron. copper is not in the top row. tin sits directly above lead. copper and brass share a row. Which word ends up in the middle right square?

    • A.brass
    • B.nickel
    • C.lead
    • D.iron
  9. Question 9

    The 6 words are drum, tuba, violin, flute, cello, piano. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. tuba is not in the bottom row. cello sits directly above piano. drum and cello share a row. violin and flute share a column. tuba is not in the left column. drum sits directly above violin. Which word ends up in the middle left square?

    • A.flute
    • B.cello
    • C.piano
    • D.drum
  10. Question 10

    The 6 words are ash, beech, elm, holly, oak, yew. Put them into a grid of 3 rows and 2 columns, one word in each square. yew sits immediately to the left of oak. elm and holly share a column. yew sits directly above beech. beech is not in the bottom row. ash and holly share a row. Which word ends up in the top right square?

    • A.yew
    • B.beech
    • C.elm
    • D.oak

Practise it now

Drop all 6 instruments words into the grid so that every clue is true at once.

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A worked example

One question of the kind this skill is tested with, worked all the way through: the reasoning, and what the wrong answers are there to catch.

Starting with the clue that decides most

The 6 words are yew, elm, ash, rowan, holly, oak. Put them into a grid of 2 rows and 3 columns, one word in each square. elm sits directly above ash. ash sits immediately to the left of holly. yew sits directly above oak. holly sits immediately to the left of oak. Which word ends up in the top middle square?

Fill one grid in and see why every clue has to be reread once a square is filled.

  1. yew
  2. ash
  3. rowan
  4. holly

Answer: rowan

How you get there

Only one arrangement makes every clue true at once, and in it the top middle square holds rowan. None of the clues is spare: take any one away and a second arrangement becomes possible, which means each one has to be used. "yew" fits some of the clues, and that is the trap, because a word only belongs in a square when NO clue refuses it. Start with the clue that leaves the fewest choices, write that word in, and then reread the other clues with the grid partly filled, because a clue that told you nothing at first often decides the next square.

Why the other answers tempt

A word that fits one clue can still be refused by another: a square is only settled when no clue rules it out.

If they are stuck, say this

Draw the grid and put in the word whose clue leaves it the fewest choices, then read the other clues again with that square filled.

Now do it live in Placing Words by Constraints

What this exercise is doing

Placing Words by Constraints

Drop all 6 instruments words into the grid so that every clue is true at once.

The clues are not hints, they are the answer taken apart. "flute sits immediately to the left of tuba." fixes one word, "flute sits immediately to the left of tuba." hangs the next one off it, and the rest follow because each word can only be in one cell. violin ends up in the top row, left column, and once you have checked all 3 clues there is nothing left to choose: a puzzle with two arrangements would not be a puzzle.

What to say if they get stuck

  1. Start with the clue that fixes something on its own: "flute sits immediately to the left of tuba."
  2. Then chain off it: "flute sits immediately to the left of tuba."
  3. There is exactly one arrangement that keeps all 3 clues true - if a clue turns red, that word cannot live there.

Open Placing Words by Constraints on its own page to share it

Questions parents ask about place words in a constraint grid

What this skill involves, common mistakes and ways to practise it at home.

Fit supplied words into a grid using length and crossing constraints. It is one of 26 named verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the grid strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.

Verbal reasoning is a set of question types, not a subject to revise

A free diagnostic works out which of the codes, analogies, word puzzles and logic types are already secure, and which are not.