Printable crossword · Sports and outdoors
Basketball crossword
Clues across and down, at three difficulties, and it prints with the answer key.
Across
- 2 Wooden surface where games are played
- 4 Whistle-blower in stripes
- 9 Flat panel behind the ring
- 11 Short break the coach can call
- 12 Metal ring the ball must go through
- 13 Slam the ball down from above the rim
Down
- 1 Sound marking the end of a quarter
- 2 Person calling plays from the sideline
- 3 Taking too many steps without bouncing the ball
- 5 Unguarded shot from the line, worth one point
- 6 Bounce the ball while moving up the court
- 7 Swatting away an opponent's shot
- 8 Pass that leads directly to a score
- 10 Grabbing the ball after a missed shot
- 14 Cord mesh hanging from the ring
Print the page above, or take the easy grid as a PDF. Both carry the answer key, and large print is a setting rather than a separate file.
Show the answer key
- 1 down: BUZZER. Sound marking the end of a quarter
- 2 across: COURT. Wooden surface where games are played
- 2 down: COACH. Person calling plays from the sideline
- 3 down: TRAVEL. Taking too many steps without bouncing the ball
- 4 across: REFEREE. Whistle-blower in stripes
- 5 down: FREETHROW. Unguarded shot from the line, worth one point
- 6 down: DRIBBLE. Bounce the ball while moving up the court
- 7 down: BLOCK. Swatting away an opponent's shot
- 8 down: ASSIST. Pass that leads directly to a score
- 9 across: BACKBOARD. Flat panel behind the ring
- 10 down: REBOUND. Grabbing the ball after a missed shot
- 11 across: TIMEOUT. Short break the coach can call
- 12 across: HOOP. Metal ring the ball must go through
- 13 across: DUNK. Slam the ball down from above the rim
- 14 down: NET. Cord mesh hanging from the ring
Across
- 3 Pass that leads directly to a score
- 6 Flat panel behind the ring
- 10 Whistle-blower in stripes
- 11 Grabbing the ball after a missed shot
- 13 Cord mesh hanging from the ring
- 14 Person calling plays from the sideline
- 16 Illegal contact that may send a player to the line
Down
- 1 Bounce the ball while moving up the court
- 2 Swatting away an opponent's shot
- 4 Short break the coach can call
- 5 Unguarded shot from the line, worth one point
- 7 Wooden surface where games are played
- 8 Sound marking the end of a quarter
- 9 Taking too many steps without bouncing the ball
- 12 Slam the ball down from above the rim
- 15 Metal ring the ball must go through
Print the page above, or take the medium grid as a PDF. Both carry the answer key, and large print is a setting rather than a separate file.
Show the answer key
- 1 down: DRIBBLE. Bounce the ball while moving up the court
- 2 down: BLOCK. Swatting away an opponent's shot
- 3 across: ASSIST. Pass that leads directly to a score
- 4 down: TIMEOUT. Short break the coach can call
- 5 down: FREETHROW. Unguarded shot from the line, worth one point
- 6 across: BACKBOARD. Flat panel behind the ring
- 7 down: COURT. Wooden surface where games are played
- 8 down: BUZZER. Sound marking the end of a quarter
- 9 down: TRAVEL. Taking too many steps without bouncing the ball
- 10 across: REFEREE. Whistle-blower in stripes
- 11 across: REBOUND. Grabbing the ball after a missed shot
- 12 down: DUNK. Slam the ball down from above the rim
- 13 across: NET. Cord mesh hanging from the ring
- 14 across: COACH. Person calling plays from the sideline
- 15 down: HOOP. Metal ring the ball must go through
- 16 across: FOUL. Illegal contact that may send a player to the line
Across
- 4 Pass that leads directly to a score
- 7 Flat panel behind the ring
- 8 Person calling plays from the sideline
- 10 Whistle-blower in stripes
- 12 Grabbing the ball after a missed shot
- 15 Illegal contact that may send a player to the line
Down
- 1 Cord mesh hanging from the ring
- 2 Short break the coach can call
- 3 Bounce the ball while moving up the court
- 5 Unguarded shot from the line, worth one point
- 6 Wooden surface where games are played
- 9 Taking too many steps without bouncing the ball
- 11 Sound marking the end of a quarter
- 13 Swatting away an opponent's shot
- 14 Slam the ball down from above the rim
Print the page above, or take the hard grid as a PDF. Both carry the answer key, and large print is a setting rather than a separate file.
Show the answer key
- 1 down: NET. Cord mesh hanging from the ring
- 2 down: TIMEOUT. Short break the coach can call
- 3 down: DRIBBLE. Bounce the ball while moving up the court
- 4 across: ASSIST. Pass that leads directly to a score
- 5 down: FREETHROW. Unguarded shot from the line, worth one point
- 6 down: COURT. Wooden surface where games are played
- 7 across: BACKBOARD. Flat panel behind the ring
- 8 across: COACH. Person calling plays from the sideline
- 9 down: TRAVEL. Taking too many steps without bouncing the ball
- 10 across: REFEREE. Whistle-blower in stripes
- 11 down: BUZZER. Sound marking the end of a quarter
- 12 across: REBOUND. Grabbing the ball after a missed shot
- 13 down: BLOCK. Swatting away an opponent's shot
- 14 down: DUNK. Slam the ball down from above the rim
- 15 across: FOUL. Illegal contact that may send a player to the line
About Basketball
Basketball began in a Massachusetts gymnasium in 1891, when James Naismith nailed peach baskets to a balcony railing and wrote thirteen rules to keep his students active indoors through winter. Early games had no dribbling and no backboards; both arrived later, along with a net that actually lets the ball fall through. This crossword works through the vocabulary of the modern game: the violations a referee calls, the shot awarded after contact, the play that ends when the buzzer sounds.
A coach or PE teacher can hand this to players on a travel day, and it suits any classroom the week a tournament is on.
What is in this crossword
A 14 by 21 crossword with 6 across and 9 down, on the subject of Basketball.
- Grid
- 14 x 21
- Across
- 6
- Down
- 9
- Longest answer
- FREETHROW (9 letters)