Crosswits is a Britishgame show produced byTyne Tees in association with Cove Productions and Action Time, and filmed from Tyne Tees' City Road studios inNewcastle upon Tyne. First shown on 3 September 1985, it was originally hosted byBarry Cryer for the first two series; comedianTom O'Connor then took over from series 3 until the show ended on 23 December 1998. The show consisted of two members of the public competing against each other to solve simple crossword puzzles. A "celebrity" partner helped each player. The announcers for the show were generally Tyne Tees, as well as continuity announcersJudi Lines,Jonathan Morrell andBill Steel.

The teams consisted of two players (one celebrity and one contestant), solving words in acrossword puzzle (by virtue of clues), with six words to solve and with a clue word, all of which were clues to a keyword. Each correct answer kept control and earned one point per letter in the answer, plus a chance to solve the keyword for 10 bonus points. On the first two series, which were transmitted weekly, the teams played for pounds. Later in the run, teams always took turns whether they were right or wrong.

There were also special rounds in the game:

• Anagram round – the first letter of every answer in the crossword puzzle would make up the keyword.
• Mystery round – finding a keyword after one clue without assistance from a clue word would win the contestant a small prize, such as a cordless phone or a pocket TV.
• Song round – all clues were lyrics to a well-known song.

The team with the most points when time ran out won the game, and played the same Crossfire round as the American version. The other player received a dictionary and thesaurus.

The winning team was shown one last crossword puzzle with 10 words, none of which were clues to a master puzzle. If they could solve all ten clues in 60 seconds or less, the player would win a holiday, or a gold pen and pencil set otherwise.

The first series aired on Tuesday afternoons at 3 pm, apart fromTVS who aired the series on Thursday afternoons at the same time.

The second series aired on Monday evenings at 6:30 pm in theTyne Tees region. The rest of the regions aired the series on Tuesday afternoons at 3 pm.

The third series aired on Tuesday to Thursday afternoons at 2 pm, apart fromTVS which aired the series on Monday afternoons at 3 pm, but did not air all the episodes, andChannel which aired the series on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons at 3 pm.

From the fourth series up until the tenth series, the show aired on Monday to Friday mornings at 9:25 am, just afterTV-am/GMTV had finished.

The eleventh series aired on Monday to Friday afternoons but was not networked. Depending on the region, it aired at random times in certain areas.

• Carlton,Central,Tyne Tees,Westcountry andYorkshire had shown the series at 1:25 pm.
• Ulster aired the episodes at 1:55 pm.
• Grampian put the shows out at 2:50 pm.
• Scottish aired the episodes at 2:20 pm, but only four times a week.
• Border andGranada aired the episodes at 5:10 pm most days.
• Anglia andMeridian aired the episodes on most days at 12:55 pm. Anglia continued to broadcast more episodes, finishing on 24 January 1997.
• HTV aired over half the episodes at 2:25 pm, but did not complete the run.

The twelfth series aired on Tuesday to Thursday afternoons at 1:50 pm for the first 32 episodes from 6 January to 19 March. The last three episodes aired from 21 to 23 December 1998.

• Crosswits atIMDb

• 1980s British game shows
• 1990s British game shows
• 1985 British television series debuts
• 1998 British television series endings
• British television series based on American television series
• British English-language television shows
• ITV game shows
• Television shows produced by Tyne Tees Television
• Television series by ITV Studios

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