AUS-PC-SOFT Shareware presents...
Xword for iPhone, iPod touch & iPad
(aka Crossword Express)
Now available on the iTunes App Store.
 |
Description
Xword differs from all other crossword Apps in that it can generate puzzles on demand. Every time
you request a new puzzle, Xword will generate a brand new, never before seen puzzle, all in a matter of seconds. These puzzles
are not the sparsely populated free-form puzzles so typical of most computer generated crosswords. They are fully formed professional
looking puzzles of the type you will see in your daily newspapers.
Naturally a dictionary of words and clues is required to make this possible. The dictionary supplied with Xword is a basic
Webster's dictionary having just over 31,000 entries. It is anticipated that future versions of Xword will have a significantly
expanded dictionary, with the option of selecting words which conform to either Webster's or Oxford standard spelling.
Having created such a puzzle you can begin to solve it using an intuitive set of tap and swipe gestures. If you have difficulty
with any section of the puzzle, you can get some help by revealing a single letter at a time and you can also ask to be shown the
location of any errors within the puzzle. A timer gives you an indication of how long you are taking to complete the puzzle, and
a Clear button allows you to begin the solving process again at any time.
Xword can create puzzles in a wide variety of sizes and styles.
The size can be selected from 9x9, 11x11, 13x13 and 15x15, and the grid style can be selected from American, British, Bar
and Novelty styles. Please refer to the following graphics and text for a description of these four grid styles.
|
 |
American Style
These grids are characterized by the fact that every cell in the puzzle is formed by the intersection
of an Across word and a Down word. This in turn results in a tendency for the puzzle to have a lot of quite short words. Such
puzzles are quite difficult to construct, but are relatively easy to solve.
|
 |
British Style
These grids have many solitary cells which are not situated at the intersection of two words. This
feature is generally frowned upon in the US, but it does provide the opportunity to build a puzzle with a much greater
percentage of longer words. These puzzles are rather easy to construct, but are much more difficult to solve.
|
 |
Bar Style
Every cell of these puzzles will contain a letter, and although every cell may be at the intersection
of two words, this will not necessarily always be the case. The pattern is created by bars rather than black cells. A cell containing
a bar terminates a word, in the same way that a black cell does, but it also contains a letter. The flexibility provided by bars
allows a much greater proportion of longer words than can be achieved by the American style.
|
 |
Novelty Style
A Novelty grid is one which contains a number of Tunnel cells. The grid shown here has four such cells.
A tunnel cell does not contain a letter and neither does it terminate a word. What it does do is to change the direction of any
word which encounters it. In this example, the grid is essentially the same as the Bar style grid above with just four strategically
placed Tunnel cells. Tunnel cells can also be introduced into both American and British style grids.
|
You may wish to contact AUS-PC-SOFT Shareware for one or more of the following reasons...
Bug reports. If the bug is real, it will be removed in the next version of Xword. Suggestions. If the suggestion is considered to have merit, it will be introduced with the next version of Xword. Dictionary corrections. It is unlikely that a dictionary of 31,000 words will be perfectly accurate. It may contain inappropriate words, spelling errors or
even incorrect definitions. All corrections will be gratefully received and acted upon.
All communications may be directed to crauswords@bigpond.com
|
Find out about Magnum Opus, the puzzle software that might
have been.
|
|
