The Bottom Line
Pros
- Comes with a great help file which includes an introduction to cryptic clues.
- Solves both cryptic and American-style puzzles
- Over 4,000 anagram indicators
- Database includes a lexicon of over 750,000 words and phrases
- Free online demos allows you to try the software for two weeks before buying
Cons
- Needs a large amount of disk space for the full installation
- Doesn't always get the anagram indicator, but generally gets the correct answer
Description
- Solve both cryptic and American-style crosswords
- Handles most types of cryptic clues including anagram, charades, double definitions, "sounds like" clues and many more!
- Gives a full explanation as to how it arrived at the answer.
- Supports both British and American-style English.
- Clues can be entered and solved individually.
- "Knows" over 4,000 anagram indicators
- Database includes a lexicon of over 750,000 words and phrases
- Free trial version available for download
Guide Review - Crossword Maestro
Wow! That's quite a claim. I tried out Crossword Maestro to see, first of all, if it could do what it claims and, secondly, to try and understand why anyone would want a computer to take the challenge out of their solving fun.
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...
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!
Definitely a remarkable program! Crossword Maestro adds another useful tool to the puzzle enthusiasts software library. Hats off to William Tunstall-Pedoe and his collaborators for their efforts. Visit the Genius 2000 site to learn about the many features of this and other programs.
