Cruciverbal Building Supplies
Some crossword solvers/constructors still prefer paper and pencil over keyboard and mouse. Reardless of your particular preference, the electronic age has made crosswords more available than ever. Today, the race is on to capture the hearts and minds of puzzle solvers and composers. With millions of people caught up in the world's number one word game, the stakes are enormous. Here's the typical menu from a cruciverbal diner.
Offline Solving
This is the most popular method of electronic interplay for onscreen solving. An applet, which is a small program that resides on your computer as long as your browser is open (but not necessarily connected to the Net), automatically downloads to your computer. This applet, usually written in Java, allows you to interact with the onscreen puzzle. Various options are possible depending on the complexity of the applet. Some allow for timers, hints or color coded fonts which indicate right and wrong answers. Many electronic versions of daily newspapers use this method for presenting their daily puzzles.
- Free Crosswords by Dave Fisher
- Newspaper Crosswords
- Across Lite from LitSoft
Solver's Software
These programs are usually provided free of charge. The user downloads and saves the program on their hard disk. Puzzles, formatted specifically for the individual interfaces, are then downloaded from various site on the Web. These puzzles may require a small fee.
Crossword Construction
This software allows you to construct your own puzzles from scratch. Some are more powerful than others and include features such as automatic grid filling, wild card searches, anagram generators, etc. The software is either downloaded from the Web or sent on a CD via snail mail. Most are available in demo versions (some features are disabled), shareware or for a fee upfront.
- Crossword Compiler by Antony Lewis (Windows)
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- Crossword Wizard
- Crossword Weaver from Variety Games
- Cruciverbalist from West Pole Software Company (Mac)
Specialty Programs
- Crossword Maestro
An amazing program that can actually solve cryptic or regular crosswords
I hope you'll be a regular visitor to this site.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome and encouraged.
With your input this crossword feature will be a growing success.
Until next time, HAPPY PUZZLING!
