100This screen is your "guidance system" for CWC. From here you can 100select one of the puzzle functions and begin working in that section. 100 100 100DESIGN PUZZLE - create or modify a puzzle and its word clues 100SOLVE PUZZLE - work on a solution to an existing puzzle 100LOAD/SAVE PUZZLE - load and save puzzle designs and solutions to disk 100PRINT PUZZLE - print puzzles and answer sheets 100 100 100To begin a section, select one of the puzzle functions by moving the 100menu bar with the ARROW KEYS and pressing ENTER, or simply press the 100key that corresponds with the FIRST LETTER of the function's name. 100 100Pressing F3 will cause CWC to read its configuration/printer files 100again. This is done automatically when Crossword Creator is first 100started, but if you alter some of the original settings while the 100program is still running they will only take effect if you read the 100files again. 100 100"But", you say, "how can I change the files from INSIDE the program, 100and why would I want to, anyway?" Well, one reason you might want 100to reconfigure "on the fly" would be to change printers if you have 100more than one. Or, when you first install CWC you might want to 100experiment with different screen colors. This is much easier if you 100don't have to exit and restart the program just to put a small change 100into effect. 100 100If you use a memory-resident text editor you can, of course, merely 100pop-up a window and change the files. If you don't have a tool like 100that, you will need to get back to DOS temporarily by pressing F4. 100When the command prompt appears you can fire up EDLIN or your favorite 100word processor to edit the files. 100 100You can actually do just about any DOS function now, but be aware that 100CWC is still resident and you will have less memory to work with than 100usual. To return to CWC, issue the DOS command "EXIT". 100 100Pressing ESC from the MAIN MENU will end CWC and return you to DOS. 200This screen is where you design your puzzles. You can create new 200puzzles from scratch, or modify existing ones that you have loaded 200from disk. There is no "correct" way to start designing a puzzle, but 200essentially you have two tasks to complete: drawing a picture of the 200completed puzzle, and defining a clue for each word in the puzzle. 200 200Once you have typed a word into the puzzle, you can define its clue by 200placing the cursor on any letter in the word, and pressing F3 for an 200ACROSS clue, or F4 for a DOWN clue. F5 and F6 can be used to jump 200quickly from word to word in the puzzle, and F9 will give you a 200complete list of all the currently defined clues. 200 200If you need help designing a crossword, or are short on time, 200the AUTO PLACEMENT function is a powerful aid. When you press 200F7 or F8, you will be prompted to enter a word that you want 200to include in your puzzle design. When you press ENTER, CWC will 200actually place your new word into the puzzle for you, right before 200your eyes! The program makes sure that your new word intersects with 200at least one other existing word, AND that no "side-effect" or 200coincidental words are added that you did not intend to create. 200 200The PLUS KEY ("+") is also a useful aid in puzzle design; it toggles 200the typing direction between ACROSS and DOWN. This makes it easy to 200type words in either direction without fussing with the ARROW KEYS. 200Try it out. 200 200The UNDERSCORE KEY ("_" Shift-hyphen) types a "pseudo letter"; a 200place holder for a "real" letter. If you have a favorite layout for 200a crossword puzzle, you can create a reusable pattern or "template" 200by typing only pseudo letters. 200 200There are also many "puzzle editing" keys that are used for moving 200the cursor around in the WORK AREA, typing letters and blank spaces, 200deleting and inserting individual letters (or entire lines), etc. 200These are all displayed in the HELP AREA for reference. 200 200 200Beneath the WORK AREA and the HELP AREA are a number of "status 200indicators" that provide information about the puzzle you are 200working on: 200 200MEM= - shows the amount of available system memory in bytes 200 200STR= - shows the amount of available "string space" in bytes; 200 your puzzle and all of its clues must fit in this memory, 200 so don't let this number drop too low. 200 200PUZ: - displays the disk file name of the current puzzle 200 200DIR: - displays the current typing direction 200 200CLU: - shows the number of clues defined for the puzzle 200 200LET: - shows the number of letters in a word (displayed only when the 200 word's clue is defined) 200 200CURSOR POSITION: displays the current ROW and COLUMN 200 position of the cursor in the puzzle 300This screen is where you work on a solution to an existing puzzle, 300just like solving a traditional crossword. To display the clue for a 300word in the puzzle, place the cursor on any letter in the word and 300press F3 for an ACROSS clue, or F4 for a DOWN clue. F5 and F6 allow 300you to jump quickly from word to word in the puzzle. 300 300As you display clues, the typing direction is automatically toggled 300for you, so you can type letters into the puzzle at any time. When 300you have supplied a letter for every space in the puzzle, check your 300answers by pressing F9. If your solution does not match the original 300design, CWC will cause the incorrect letters to blink. 300 300Remember that you must first LOAD a puzzle before you can work on its 300solution. And note also that you can SAVE and LOAD solutions 300independently of puzzles. This allows you to save an incomplete 300solution so you can work on it later, or even keep multiple solutions 300(with different names, of course) for the same puzzle. 400This screen is a menu that allows you to load and save your puzzles 400and solutions to disk. Select the function you want, just as you 400did on the MAIN MENU. 400 400CWC will prompt you for a puzzle name. The name you supply will be 400the primary part of the disk file name. Do not supply a file name 400extension; CWC will append ".PUZ" and ".CLU" to puzzle designs and 400clues, and ".SOL" to puzzle solutions. 400 400CWC may pre-fill the puzzle name prompt for you. If that name is 400satisfactory, merely press ENTER to accept it. If you want to change 400the proposed name, edit it until you have what you want. Always 400press ENTER to signal the end of your input. 400 400Another way to supply a puzzle name is to select it from a list of 400available puzzles. If you press either the UP ARROW key or the 400DOWN ARROW key in response to the prompt, you will be presented 400with a list containing all of the available design names or 400solution names. To select one, merely hilite the name with the 400ARROW keys and press ENTER. 400 400If you change your mind about loading or saving a puzzle, simply 400press ESC in response to the prompt and you will be returned to the 400LOAD/SAVE MENU. CWC will let you know when your puzzle design or 400solution has been successfully loaded or saved. 400 400Whenever you SAVE a puzzle design, CWC will prompt you TWICE. The 400first prompt is the standard one you always get; the one where you 400supply the puzzle name. The second prompt will be for a puzzle 400"title". The phrase that you supply here will appear above the 400puzzle area when you actually print the crossword. 500This screen is a menu that allows you to print your crossword puzzle 500designs in the traditional format, complete with numbered squares 500and an indexed clue list. You can also print an answer sheet, 500the puzzle design only, or just the clue list. Select the function 500you want, just as you did on the MAIN MENU. 500 500Make sure your printer is ready, and remember that you can only 500print the puzzle that is currently loaded. If you need to cancel 500a print routine after it has begun, press ESC. 500 500You will always be prompted for a printer definition name before 500printing starts. As with other prompts, you may change the proposed 500response or just press ENTER to continue. If you DO change the 500printer name, the new printer definition will be read before CWC 500starts printing. 500 500Also, if you have specified "FormFeed=/M" for "manual", in your 500printer definition file, CWC will pause before printing each page 500to allow you to setup another sheet of paper. 500 500If you get a "Puzzle is too wide..." warning when printing your 500puzzles, it means that your printer (according to the definition 500file you're using) cannot print that many characters on a single 500line. Puzzles require much more space to print on paper than they 500do to display on the screen, so it is possible for you to design a 500puzzle that exceeds the carriage width of your printer. 500 500If your printer has the capability, the simplest solution to this 500problem is to print your puzzle using "condensed" print. This may 500require you to switch to a different printer driver, one that turns 500on the condensed print feature. 500 500If your printer does not support condensed print, your only other 500alternatives are to redesign the puzzle, or let CWC truncate it to 500fit at print time (truncating does not permanently alter your 500puzzle design).