Continuity

Continuity (aka Barred Grid Crossword) is solved like a standard crossword, but the answers are separated in the grid by bold lines, rather than black squares. As with the black squares in standard crosswords, the barred lines often follow a centrally symmetrical pattern.

Because every square in the finished crossword is occupied by a letter, barred line grids allow for more answers than a standard grid. A feature of many of these puzzles is that every letter is part of both an Across and a Down answer. This gives the solver plenty of help – unless the compiler deliberately chooses trickier answers!

The way the clues are set out in this puzzle often depends on the style of the grid. Fully intersected grids generally avoid having numbers in the grid, so the answers are clued by row or column – eg, Across clue 1 will have the clues to all answers that belong in the first row, with the clues separated by a bullet point. Less interlocked grids may well have numbers in the grid, and the clues will follow the standard crossword clue layout.