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t.cruciverb 99
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2022-08-26
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C R U C I V E R B A L I S T 9 9
Program by Barbara Schulak
Text by Fender Tucker
This program, which is used for
making the crossword files used in
PUZZLE PAGE and other crossword
programs on LOADSTAR, was first
published on LS #54 and again on LS
#146 and #161.
CRUCIVERBALIST 99 is an upgrade
and should replace all previous
versions. Thanks to the new STAR
LINKER, a "bug" in the previous
version is fixed.
There are three "modules" to the
program. The CONSTRUCTOR is where
you will make the puzzle by entering
letters and black squares. The
DEFINITIONS module is where you enter
in the definitions after the puzzle
is made. And the PLAYER module is
where you can field test the puzzle,
seeing it just as a solver would.
The fourth item on the menu is
for changing drives. Just press [4]
until the drive you want everything
loaded from and saved to is
displayed. Only active drives are
allowed.
The fifth item quits to LOADSTAR
if there is a LOADSTAR disk in an
active drive.
[CONSTRUCTOR]
[{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}]
Here is where you create the
puzzle grid. Move the cursor with
the CRSR keys and simply type in the
words.
[F1] allows you to toggle between
vertical and horizontal mode, making
it easier to enter words quickly.
[F2] toggles Symmetry on and off.
This means that if you place a black
square in the top left corner, a
corresponding black square will
automatically appear in the bottom
right corner. Most puzzles are
symmetrical about the center point,
but if you don't care, just keep
Symmetry off.
[F3] loads a puzzle. Sorry, there is
no file requestor so you must
remember filenames.
[F5] saves a puzzle under any name
you wish. On LOADSTAR we
traditionally call a puzzle by the
first word across followed by the
number of the issue it was on (minus
100 if it's past #100). You might
want to develop a system for
numbering your puzzles since SAVE
does [not] scratch and save. You have
to use a different filename each time
you save. Since it may take several
sessions to finish a puzzle, you'll
probably end up with several files
which you will probably want to
scratch when done. All except the
final, finished one, of course!
[F7] prints out a small hardcopy of
the grid in the middle of a sheet of
paper. I haven't used this feature
much, but if the file gets corrupted
or lost, you'll be glad to at least
have the grid printed out.
[F8] takes you back to the Main Menu.
[SPACE] places a black square on the
grid. If Symmetry is ON then another
black square will appear when you
place one.
[SHIFT SPACE] will erase a black
square or a letter. Notice that even
if Symmetry is ON, SHIFT SPACE will
[not] erase the symmetrical square.
[DEFINITIONS]
[{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}]
It's assumed you will come to
this module after constructing a
puzzle with the CONSTRUCTOR. In this
module you move the cursor with the
CRSR keys to any letter of a word. If
it's an ACROSS word then press [A] and
you'll be in an input box to enter
the definition of the word. If the
word is a DOWN word, then press [D] to
go to an input box for the DOWN word.
You can revise a definition at any
time, but since the input box is
cleared when you go to it, you have
to enter the revised definition
entirely.
[F1] will print all of the ACROSS
definitions.
[F3] will load a puzzle. Enter the
filename at the prompt.
[F5] will save the puzzle. Enter a
new filename at the prompt.
[F7] will print all of the DOWN
definitions.
[F8] takes you back to the Main
Menu.
[PLAYER]
[{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}{SHIFT-*}]
When you first enter the PLAYER
module, the definition boxes at the
bottom are blank. Just press any key
and they'll show up.
[F1] toggles the direction the
cursor moves when you enter letters.
It saves time and effort. The
current mode you're in is shown in
light green below the F-key menu.
[F3] saves the puzzle to the disk
you specified at the Main Menu. Each
file is 25 blocks long and you
[cannot] save a puzzle with an
existing file name.
[F5] will reveal the correct letter
in the square where the cursor is.
It's a "cheat" key that is really
handy. Try looking up a letter or a
word in the solution to a paper-based
crossword puzzle and you can't do it
without accidentally seeing other
words in the puzzle. This feature
demonstrates yet one more way that
computers have enriched our lives.
We can cheat better!
[F2] will show you the whole
solution so be careful not to press
this key prematurely. If you
accidentally hit it, immediately
press [F4] and maybe you won't see
anything you don't want to see.
[F4] loads from memory the puzzle as
it was the last time you saved it
with F3...at least during this
session.
[F6] asks you for a filename for a
new puzzle. Just press RETURN if you
hit this by accident.
[F8] takes you back to the Main
Menu.
[NOTE:] Since all of the puzzles on
LS #175 are RLE packed, you can't use
the PLAYER module to solve them. Use
PUZZLE PAGE instead. However, any
puzzles you make with CRUCIVERBALIST
99, as well as any you find on past
LOADSTARs that are 25 blocks long,
can be edited and played inside of
CRUCIVERBALIST 99.
If you would like to convert any
RLEd crossword file found on LOADSTAR
back into a 25-block file that
CRUCIVERBALIST 99 can load, run PUZZLE
PAGE on that issue and select the
puzzle. When it's on the screen, break
into BASIC with STOP-RESTORE. Then,
on a blank part of the screen, enter
this set of commands:
sys57812"filename",dv:poke193,0:
poke194,128:poke174,0:poke175,152:
sys62954
Make sure there are at least 25
blocks free on the disk in drive DV
(use your drive number) before
entering this command. The file
that's created can be loaded into
CRUCIVERBALIST 99 for editing or
playing.
FT
[DAVE'S COMMENT:] I put this here in
hopes that someone would find an old
puzzle magazine and do some typing.
Better yet, sit down with
Cruciverbalist and try your hand at
creating your own crosswords. It is a
great challenge!
DMM