CrossWiseDA is a “solitaire” crossword puzzle game. To give you an idea of what you’re getting into, it’s something on the order of Scrabble, but designed to be played without the interference and embarrassment of competitors. The object is to play until you can’t. A high score is your reward.
IMPORTANT: CrossWiseDA, version 2.1 incorporates several improvements over the earlier versions:
1. The locations of the double spaces have been changed to match those of the stand-alone version, CrossWise. Because of this, you’ll notice relatively higher scores.
2. A new menu item, Remove Active Tiles, has been added to make it easier to transfer all active tiles from the playing board back to the tile tray.
3. Words may no longer be added to the main dictionary, CWDict. A user dictionary, CWUserDict, has been provided for this purpose. It stores words in text format and can be edited with a text processor.
4. I’ve changed the way CrossWiseDA counts words to agree with the way CrossWise does so. Now, when letters are appended to a word to create a new word, the new word is counted separately. For instance, if you play AGREE, CrossWiseDA counts that as one word. When MENT is added to make AGREEMENT, the result is counted as an additional word.
Two problems with the earlier version have have been corrected:
1. Recordkeeping for the high score and high number of words was not always accurate.
2. Game files were not always stored accurately, sometimes causing the DA to bomb. IMPORTANT: In order to fix this bug, I had to change the way CrossWiseDA saves files. For this reason, game files created with version 1 will not work with version 2. An attempt to read them will cause the game to bomb.
IMPORTANT: CrossWise WILL NOT read CrossWiseDA game files. The reverse is also true. The file formats are entirely different.
CrossWiseDA laid out on a 12 X 12 square “board” where “tiles” are placed to form words. When a letter is placed on a square with a “crossed arrows” icon, the value of the word comprising it is thus doubled. Such doubling does not conclude for the word after one play. For instance, if you were to play the word “VEX” over a crossed arrows icon, your score would be augmented by double the value of the letters making up that word. If you later add an “ES” to make “VEXES,” the value of this entire word is doubled, even though the additional E or S may not have been placed on a crossed arrows space. Furthermore, words extending over more than one such space will have their values doubled for as many double spaces they cover.
If you are able to play all seven tiles in your tray in one turn, an additional fifty points is added to your score.
Directly beneath the board is the tile tray. CrossWiseDA fills it with randomly selected tiles before each play. It is from the letters on these tiles that the words must be formed. To move a tile from the tray to the board, simply click on it and drag it as you would with a Macintosh window. You may place the first tile anywhere on the board, and subsequent tiles must be placed on vacant spaces or back in the tray. If you attempt to place one tile atop another or outside the bounds of the playing board or tile tray, the tile will simply return to wherever it was before you selected it.
Tiles placed on the board must be in single, unbroken rows or columns. Any attempt to score a play with tiles positioned otherwise will result in an illegal play alert and the play will not be scored until the tiles are correctly placed.
Any accepted English word is legal for play, with the exceptions of proper names, any other capitalized words, and hyphened words. Foreign words found in English dictionaries are acceptable, as are archaic and obsolete English words. Slang, argot, cant, etc., are all legal.
Almost any word may be pluralized by adding "S." Thus, "THIEFS" means more than one of the word "THIEF"; whereas "THIEVES" means more than one thief. Exceptions are words ending with "CH,", “J,” "SH," "S," "X," and "Z." The plurals of such words are usually formed by adding "ES."
When you have formed your word, press the Score Play button. Supposing that the play is legal, the word is inverted on the board as a sign that the play is over and your score changed as appropriate. If word checking is activated (the default), your word is checked against the dictionary. If it can’t recognize the word, a dialog appears giving you a choice of cancelling the play or adding the word to the dictionary; otherwise, it proceeeds with scoring. Once a play is over and all tiles inverted, those tiles are forever frozen in place. They cannot be removed.
By pressing a letter key on your keyboard, you invoke a dialog informing you of the value of the letter and the number of those letters remaining to be played. Double-clicking any tile on the board or in the tile tray has the same effect.
The option Check Words in the CrossWiseDA menu should be checked as a default. This tells you that dictionary checking is activated. Selecting it will disable checking. (The dictionaries CWDict and CWUserDict must be in your System Folder.) If a word is played that is not found in one of the dictionaries, an alert is presented giving you a choice of cancelling the play or adding the word to the dictionary. NOTE: Words in CWDict are stored in a compact form. They are not recognizable as ordinary text. For that reason the dictionary cannot be successfully edited with a word processor or text editor. CWUserDict has been added to this version of CrossWiseDA, which stores added words in a text format. That may be edited with any text processor.
Another addition to this version is the Remove Active Tiles option in the menu. This returns all active (not scored) letters on the board to the tile tray. It's easier than dragging each tile back individually if you change your mind about a play.
Your score and the number of words played are displayed in the lower right-hand corner of the window. If you take a peek at the menu, you will see two options showing the current high score and the current high number of words. Selecting either of these two choices will reset the respective number to zero. An alert will warn you of the consequences of you actions and give you a chance to back out gracefully.
Using the Print Game option of the menu sends the whole window to your printer in graphic form. Make sure your printer is on before you try it. You probably thought of that, though.
The other options act much like you expect Mac menu options to work. You may save your games and recall them later, as you wish.
Oh, you might want to look at About CrossWiseDA.... It shows interesting stuff like where to send your check. I'm only asking $7.00. That's not a lot. I've put in many hours of programming for this game. If you've ever tried typing a dictionary from scratch (Yes, I did!), you'll wonder why I'm not charging twice as much. Never again! With your check you'll gain the right to complain, make suggestions, and receive any improved versions for next to nothing.
If you'll add $5.00 to that, I'll include the stand-alone version, CrossWise. It allows up to four players, and has several fancy features I didn't think appropriate for the DA version. Or, you can get just CrossWise for $10.00.
CrossWiseDA was developed on a Mac Plus. I'm too poor to afford anything else. Consequently, there's no color. I wouldn't try it on a 512K Mac or lower. It ought to work on the SE and II, but I've not tried it. Be careful! I CAN'T GUARANTEE ANYTHING!
I do hope you enjoy CrossWiseDA. Let me know what you think.
