Thanksgiving Crossword Puzzle - Free

Here's a free Thanksgiving crossword puzzle, a fun way to exercise your brain. Print it out and solve it on paper.

This puzzle is part of the free online brain games collection. For a list of all my free crosswords, visit the Easy Printable Crossword Puzzles page.

Thanksgiving Crossword Puzzle Instructions

If you like this crossword puzzle, check out my collection of easy printable crossword puzzles for more.

HOW TO PLAY. Using your memory and logic skills, use the provided clues to figure out the words hidden in the puzzle. The hidden words are arranged in a criss-cross grid, where the word overlap each other at common letters.

The puzzle solution is also provided with the printable version. The solution appears on page 2.

Best of luck solving the puzzle!

Interesting Facts About Thanksgiving

Here are some interesting facts from Worldstrides.com about the Thanksgiving holiday to put you in the mood to solve this puzzle:

• The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 over a three day harvest festival. It included 50 Pilgrims, 90 Wampanoag Indians, and lasted three days. It is believed by historians that only five women were present.

• The tradition of football on Thanksgiving began in 1876 with a game between Yale and Princeton. The first NFL games were played on Thanksgiving in 1920.

• The average number of calories consumed on Thanksgiving is 4,500!

• Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3, 1863. Sarah Joseph Hale, the woman who wrote "Mary Had A Little Lamb," convinced Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday after writing letters for 17 years.

• Turkey wasn't on the menu at the first Thanksgiving. Venison, duck, goose, oysters, lobster, eel, and fish were likely served, alongside pumpkins and cranberries (but not pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce!).

• Harry Truman is often credited with being the first president to pardon a turkey, but that's not quite true. He was the first to receive a ceremonial turkey from the National Turkey Federation, and he had it for dinner.

  John F. Kennedy was the first to let a Thanksgiving turkey go, followed by Richard Nixon who sent his turkey to a petting zoo.

I enjoy solving crossword puzzles. It was a lot of fun coming up with the words and clues for this Thanksgiving crossword puzzle.

Crossword puzzles train memory, word skills, and logical reasoning. Solve puzzles like this often to give your brain a boost!

Published: 04/10/2020
Last Updated: 05/07/2026