After two weeks of putting the software through its paces I found Crossword Maestro to be more than just a way to cheat. As a learning tool, it's great for those wishing to fathom the seemingly, insoluble cryptic crosswords and their Sphinx-like clues. The software explains how it arrives at the solution and, by working backwards, the puzzler is able to see how the clue setter encrypted the answer.

• Here's a Crossword Maestro explanation.

Crossword Maestro is very accommodating. You can solve a single clue or the Auto-Solver will automatically solve an entire puzzle. In Two Agent Mode you and the computer can work on a puzzle simultaneously and in Race Mode you can pit your solving skills against those of the computer. Man against the machine...

Crosswords are a fun way to expand one's vocabulary and Crossword Maestro is like a personal tutor with the patience of Job. According to the author, its database includes a lexicon of over 750,000 words and phrases and a "huge knowledge base of the English language" for recognizing word substitutions, anagrams, reversals, hidden words, etc. It knows over 3,000 anagram indicators. However, I was perplexed when it failed to recognize TRANSPLANT as the anagram indicator in the clue:

Nonetheless, it arrived at the answer: CAMELLIA

I threw another clue at it:

Once again, it got the answer (QUEENS) but didn't recognize APPEAR IN as the hidden word indicator. Maybe they were too easy.

In a random cryptic puzzle that I had Crossword Maestro solve, its success rate was around 50% but it never failed to have the correct answer in its alternative list of possibilities. Considering that the test puzzle was written by an American amateur and didn't hold hard and fast to cryptic convention, I would say the program is very flexible and its analytical capabilities are impressive!

Incidentally, this might explain the large amount of disk space required to install Crossword Maestro. Full installation eats up over 80Mb of memory! Fortunately, there's an option of minimum installation which needs less than 4Mb but this slows down its operation considerably as the program has to refer more often to the CD. A clue that may take from 60-90 seconds to solve might now take as long as several minutes. Happily, in the near future, disk space will be less of a concern.

Crossword Maestro also solves regular American style puzzles. It comes with a library of quality puzzles and there are a large number available on the Net. Additionally, it can import crosswords in Across Lite (puz.) and Crossword Compiler, Antony Lewis' software, exports in CMO format. Users can also enter any puzzle grid and clues by hand. Great for help with the Sunday stumper from your daily paper.

• Windows 95
• 80 Mb of disk storage
• (4Mb for partial installation)