#Www puzzle maker com how to
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Our applications are designed to help you build puzzles that are as challenging and as fun as you want them to be. Having Across bonus words that are as long as our theme entries would be confusing for solvers because then they might think they are part of the theme.We at Puzzle Maker are dedicated to putting together the best, most fun, and most challenging puzzles that youвЂ™ve ever solved. STEINBERG: Nice! We need to make sure the bonus words go in the Down direction, though. Bonus words are typically lively, and theyвЂ™re a great way to add sparkle to a fill! LetвЂ™s see what would happen if we made that a 10-letter вЂњbonus word.вЂќ A bonus word is a nontheme entry thatвЂ™s comparable in length to the theme entries. One nice thing is that the first Z could go in a long, nonfill slot.

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The next place we can look is how to fashion a fillable corner out of the ZвЂ™s in PUZZLE PIECE. If we want to avoid blocky three-letter word regions, our only options are under the N or U of NUMBER - while there are words that end with U, there are way more that end with N. STEINBERG: With that covered, letвЂ™s start placing the nontheme entry blocks! IвЂ™d suggest looking at CALL NUMBER. All entries in the grid must be at least three letters long, and no single section can be completely cut off, like the black squares are doing in the upper right.

STEINBERG: Now is also a good time to mention a couple more rules. Because of the consonant-heavy nature of the English language, it helps to have consonants doing double duty: If you have JACOB in your grid going across, better to place black squares so the word crossing it begins with J, rather than ends with J. LAST: That graphic is great! One wonkish aside - if you look at, say, the average Friday or Sunday grid structure, you can see that upward stair steps (also known as black squares set on a diagonal) are more common than not. Our theme is probably a Tuesday or Wednesday level. On the other hand, Saturdays are wide open, which leads to more zing in terms of longer entries, but also more trade-offs in smoothness when those long entries have to yield good shorter fill. Mondays are generally closed off (note all the black squares around the edges), which tends to lead to smoother fill. CALL NUMBER is our only other 10-letter option, so in it goes. So once we lock in MACBOOK AIR, we have to stick a theme entry with the same number of letters in the opposite, lower-right slot. LAST: Yup! And those symmetry rules mean theme entries must be arranged symmetrically.

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And the software places the numbers in the grid for you, which is really convenient. All you do to add a symmetrical pair of blocks is press the period key in one of the two squares (or in the exact center, if weвЂ™re being precise). Maintaining rotational symmetry can be a pain, but fortunately, CrossFire takes care of that for you.

One longstanding rule is that grids must be rotationally symmetric, which means that they look the same if you turn them upside-down (other kinds of symmetry exist, too, but thatвЂ™s a topic for an advanced grid-design column!).

STEINBERG: Before we do that, though, letвЂ™s back up a little. There are way fewer three-letter words than four-letter words, which means our colleagues wonвЂ™t have a great choice of fill, so letвЂ™s go with one of our other themers. LAST: Right! This is where weвЂ™re trying to set up our next pair of constructors - the ones who will complete the filling of the puzzle - for success. Looks very cool, although IвЂ™ll confess I havenвЂ™t played around with it much.

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The biggest downside to Crossword Compiler is its price - if you want the full Professional Bundle, it will set you back $169.ДЄ third, brand-new option is Keiran KingвЂ™s free, web-based crossword construction program, Phil. For example, Crossword Compiler has much more user-friendly environments for searching and editing word lists. It doesnвЂ™t have as many bells and whistles as the Windows-only Crossword Compiler, though.

#Www puzzle maker com mac

If youвЂ™re on a Mac like me, I highly recommend CrossFire, which has a nice grid-filling environment and, at $50, it wonвЂ™t break your budget. STEINBERG: There are a few ways to make a crossword puzzle, including the good, old-fashioned graph-paper-and-pencil method, but there are several excellent software programs that make designing and filling grids easier. STEINBERG: If only! Choosing the Right Tool NATAN LAST: Wait, practice? I thought we just plug our lovely theme answers into a piece of software and, voilГ , a beautiful crossword emerges.