|
Puzzle Workshop is a program for the automated compiling of crosswords. It comes in two flavours:
Version 1
This is free, a demo can be downloaded from this site. It compiles freeform crosswords only,
click here for the Version 1 pages.
Version 2
This does everything that Version 1 does, but can additionally create symmetrical, newspaper-style crosswords from a built-in dictionary, and can combine your own word list with dictionary words. It can be purchased on-line for £12.
|
|
|
|
Stock Grids
The program comes with some 200 built-in grid designs. From the Home tab proceed as follows:
- Click the button labelled New Symmetrical Crossword. This takes you to the Setup tab.
- You can now select the crossword dimensions from the scroll-box, the default is 15x15 squares but you can select any size between 7x7 and 27x27 (right).
- Next, select a grid design from the gallery of stock grids: scroll the display, and click on one of the grey preview images. There are many more of these available for the popular sizes (13x13 and 15x15 squares) than for the other sizes, and are arranged in order of the number of letters (white squares) they contain.
External Word List
From the same dialogue a separate tab allows you to import an external word list, which will then be used in combination with the internal dictionary to create a Hybrid style of crossword. For each grid the programs creates it attempts to maximise the number of words from your word list, filling the remaining slots with words from the built-in dictionary. As it proceeds, the fills are ranked in descending sequence of the number of imported words used. The imported words are identified on the displayed grid by giving them a pale yellow background.
< Prev
Next >
|
|
