User:Fpuelz

KrossWordPuzzle is a crossword playing game and editor.

Introduction

You can use KrossWordPuzzle to play crosswords or to create new crosswords. It can open and save *.puz-files (AcrossLite) and it's own *.kwp files (which are XML files) or *.kwpz (which are compressed *.kwp files). You can download lots of crosswords from within the game.

Screenshots

Features

Many crossword types: American, Swedish, Number Puzzle and Crossnumber. User defined types are also possible based on a set of rules Barred crosswords can be played/designed (bars added automatically)

Many cell types:

Empty Cells
Letter Cells
Clue Cells (containing the clue text, eg. for swedish crosswords)
Double Clue Cells (two half clue cells inside one cell in the crossword grid)
Image cells (can be stretched across multiple cells, can display local or remote images)
Solution Letter Cells (all solution letter cells of a crossword form it's solution word)

A library, to store crosswords in
Load different file formats (.puz, .kwp, .kwpz)
Export to many file formats (.puz, .kwp, .kwpz, .pdf, .ps, .png, .jpg)
Download lots of PUZ-files from the Internet.
Thumb creator for crossword files. It's used to get thumbnails for crosswords in the library. Can also be enabled for crossword files in dolphin.

Print crosswords, print preview.

Themes. There are currently three themes available: Default, Scribble and an Egyptian theme.

Give hints, check and solve crosswords.
Set confidence values for filled out letter cells.
A solution word can be defined by converting some letter cells to "solution letter cells" in edit mode. The solution word is displayed in a toolbar
Erasor tool to clear letter cells / whole clue answers.
Clue list in a dock, which also shows the current answers.

Edit crosswords (edit mode)

Add / remove / change clues and images
Change correct letters
Convert between crossword types
Resize the crossword grid
Move all cells in the grid
Interactively change answer-lengths by dragging a bar after the last letter cell of a clue
Check for 180 degree rotation symmetry
View statistics
Templates for new crosswords
Undo / redo for all edit actions. The undo stack can also be saved with the crossword in XML files.
A dictionary to find matching answers for new clues

Restore lost crosswords after a crash of the game (hopefully there is none ;)).

Using KrossWordPuzzle

Settings

To open the settings dialog use Settings -> Configure KrossWordPuzzle....

Animations

You can disable animations if the game is running slow or if you don't like them.

You can enable/disable all animations with Enable Animations. The other checkboxes enable/disable single animation types:

Animate Size Changes: Animates changes to the size of image cells.
Animate Position Changes: Animates changes to the position of cells, ie. moves the cells to their new position.
Animate Items Appearance: Fades in new cells.
Animate Items Disappearance: Fades out cells when they disappear.
Animate Focus In: Animates cells when they get focus.
Animate Changing Letter: Turns letter cells around when their letter changes, with the new letter on the other side.
Animate Changes to an Items Appearance: Fades from the previous appearance of a cell to it's new appearance. This also animates selection changes.

Themes

KrossWordPuzzle uses the default theme selection page. Just select the theme you want to use. By default, there are three themes:

Default
Egyptian
Scribble (looks like a handwritten crossword)

Crossword Types

TODO

Write text here :)

American Crosswords

Crossword grids such as those appearing in most North American newspapers and magazines feature solid areas of white squares. Every letter is checked, and usually each answer is required to contain at least three letters. In such puzzles shaded squares are traditionally limited to about one-sixth of the design. Crossword grids elsewhere, such as in Britain and Australia, have a lattice-like structure, with a higher percentage of shaded squares, leaving up to half the letters in an answer unchecked. For example, if the top row has an answer running all the way across, there will be no across answers in the second row.

Another tradition in puzzle design (in North America and Britain particularly) is that the grid should have 180-degree rotational symmetry, so that its pattern appears the same if the paper is turned upside down. Most puzzle designs also require that all white cells be orthogonally contiguous (that is, connected in one mass through shared sides, to form a single polyomino).

Swedish Crosswords

The Swedish-Style grid uses no clue numbers - the clues are contained in the cells which would normally be black in other countries. Arrows indicate in which direction the clues have to be answered, vertical or horizontal. This style of grid is used in several countries other than Sweden, usually in magazines with pages of A4 or similar size. The grid often has a photo of a pop or movie star replacing a block of squares, as a clue to one answer. These puzzles usually have no symmetry in the grid.

Crosswords with clue cells inside the crossword grid are also called Arrowwords, Pointers or Tipwords in English, Autodefinidos in Spanish, Mots Fléchés in French, etc.

Crossnumbers

A crossnumber (also known as a cross-figure) is the numerical analogy of a crossword, in which the solutions to the clues are numbers instead of words. Clues are usually arithmetical expressions, but can also be general knowledge clues to which the answer is a number or year. There are also numerical fill-in crosswords.

The Daily Mail Weekend magazine used to feature crossnumbers under the misnomer Number Word. This kind of puzzle should not be confused with a different puzzle that the Daily Mail refers to as Cross Number.

Number Puzzles

Number puzzles are a variant of crosswords in which each cell has a number between 1 and 26. The solver has to find out for which letter of the alphabet a number stands.

Free Crosswords

This is a special type that tries to be least restrictive. You can use all available cell types (eg. clue cells, double clue cells, image cells, solution letter cells). You can mix answers that have a clue cell with answers that don't. Answers may contain characters as well as numbers.

User Defined Crosswords

Lets you specify your own rules. TODO: Description of the rules

KrossWordPuzzle has a page on kde-apps.org, where you can download the latest sources and binary packages for various distributions.

Support for this application can be found from the project's home page