Loadstar 128 18/q18.d81/t.cc

Text File | 2022-08-28 | 14KB | 336 lines

                         C R Y P T I - C R O S T I C S

                               by Fender Tucker


NOTE: People who regularly solve Dell puzzle books will have no trouble
figuring out how to solve CRYPTI-CROSTICS, but if you are new to
doublecrostics and cryptic crosswords, please print out the long text file
that follows.  Cryptic puzzles are considered some of the most difficult
puzzles of all, but then again, they are the most satisfying.


     It is the LOADSTAR mission to bring puzzles into the computer age.  Our
philosophy is that our egoless companions (our C-128s) can do just about
everything a piece of paper, a game board or a deck of cards can do, and do
it better.  It is in this spirit that I proudly present CRYPTI-CROSTICS, my
most complicated program to date.  Well, it was complicated to write, but
it's not complicated to use.

     CRYPTI-CROSTICS combines traditional doublecrostics puzzles with
cryptic clues.  A doublecrostic is a puzzle where you are to figure out a
notable quote which is displayed at the top of the page.  The puzzle begins
with all letters of the quote blanked out; all you see are the spaces
between words, so you know how many letters are in each word of the quote.
Below the quote are dashes with definitions associated with each set of
dashes.

     The puzzle-maker has taken the letters that make up the quote, mixed
them up and created totally unrelated words out of them.  The puzzle-solver
has two ways to solve the puzzle: he can enter words in the blanks below by
using the definitions, or he can infer words in the quote above.  For
instance, if a three-letter word begins with "th", the third letter is
probably "e".  One-letter words are probably "a " or "I".

     The blanks in the quote and the blanks below are matched, one for one.
Everytime the solver enters a letter below, the corresponding letter above
appears, and vice versa.  The more words you fill in, either in the quote
above or the words below, the more information you have.  The puzzle is
solved when you know the whole quote and the words below.

     What makes this kind of puzzle "crostic" is the fact that the first
letter of each word below, when placed together, spells out the name of the
person who made the quote.

     CRYPTI-CROSTICS has two modes: the Puzzle-Solving Mode and the
Puzzle-Creating Mode.  There are six puzzles on the LOADSTAR disk for you to
solve, numbered 1 through 6.  I made up the first five and Barbara Schulak
supplied number 6.  To solve one, choose SOLVE A CRYPTI-CROSTIC from the
main menu and select a puzzle from the directory menu that pops up.

 SOLVING A CRYPTI-CROSTIC
 ------------------------

     After choosing a puzzle you'll go to the solving screen where the quote
grid will be displayed in white at the top of the screen and the words
window will be in purple in the middle of the screen.  The definitions
window is blue and at the bottom of the screen.  Notice that some of the
letters in the quote and in the purple window are "given".  These are
correct and will be explained in the CREATING section later in this text
file.  Just consider them as "given" hints to solving.  You can't change
them.

     Begin by moving the cursor up and down (and across) the purple window.
Notice that the definition window displays the definition of the word the
cursor is on.  You know how many letters are in each word because there will
be a blank for each letter.  If you know a word, enter the word by typing
the word.  You don't need to hit RETURN, but if you do, the cursor will drop
to the next line.

NOTE:  In this program I tried to make all keyboard entry as simple and
free-form as possible.  Play with the cursor keys, hitting RETURN, CLR,
HOME, etc. to see what they do.  You shouldn't be able to do anything too
destructive.  You can type directly over another letter or press SPACE to
erase a letter.  INSERT and DELETE don't work.  STOP won't stop the program
but RUN/STOP-RESTORE will.

      Try going up when the cursor is on the top row of the purple box.  The
cursor will move up to the top, left box of the quote grid.  Don't be
confused by the fact that a light red "shadow" cursor is displayed every
time you move the real cursor.  This "shadow" cursor shows you which blank
corresponds with the blank under the cursor.  The real cursor is the one
that's blinking, whether it's in the top grid or the purple box.

NOTE: In doublecrostics on paper there are code numbers to show the solver
which blanks correspond.  It's a royal hassle to use them and often mistakes
are made because of them.  Peter Rokitski, puzzler extraordinaire and fellow
Softdisk employee, feels that the chance for human error adds to the
entertainment value of puzzles, but I feel that having the program quickly
show you which blanks correspond is a true benefit that only a computer than
provide.

     So, in the SOLVING mode, you can enter the words below or enter letters
directly into the quote above.  The more you enter, the more clues you have
to the rest of the puzzle.

     The F-keys are used throughout the program for special functions.  In
the SOLVING mode they are:

  F1 - Load a saved puzzle.  You may not have finished solving a puzzle and
so may have saved it for later.  Only one saved game per puzzle is allowed
so you don't have to enter a filename -- the puzzle is saved under the same
name as the puzzle you loaded, except with a "cd." prefix.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The program periodically accesses the disk drive so please
leave the disk with the program and its puzzles in the drive at all times.
The program should work with any drive numbered between 8 and 32.

  F3 - Reveal a letter.  This is a mild "cheat" key.  It reveals the correct
letter under the cursor, both above and in the middle.

  F5 - Toggle definitions.  CYRPTI-CROSTICS uses cryptic definitions as well
as "regular" definitions.  You may use either or both kinds of definitions
by toggling this as you move the cursor around.  If you do not understand
cryptic definitions, please read my article on them which is on Side One of
the LOADSTAR 128 #18 disk.

  F7 - Save current (unfinished) puzzle to disk.  No filename is needed --
just have a disk with at least 17 blocks free in the drive.  As usual, there
is no room on LOADSTAR 128 #18 for a saved game.  On programs that save
files to disk, you are expected to copy them to disks with plenty of room
before using them.

  F2 - Reveal solution.  DON'T press this unless you really want to see the
quotation and the words.  If you accidentally press this you can quickly
press any key and return to the puzzle.

     Many veteran puzzle solvers may not want to finish a puzzle after they
know the answers.  There is no key that will fill in all of the blanks.
Either take the time to fill them in or exit to the main menu with the ESC
key, glowing in the knowledge that you solved the thing even though the
program doesn't know it.

 CREATING A CRYPTI-CROSTIC
 -------------------------

     Making up a true, professional-quality doublecrostic is probably one of
the toughest jobs the Dell puzzle-makers have.  I've tried to make up
professional doublecrostics and I don't have the time or patience.  So I've
made CRYPTI-CROSTICS very forgiving.  With a little thought you too can make
up a puzzle like the ones on the disk in about an hour.  Making up the
cryptic definitions takes more time, but you don't need to use cryptic
clues.

     The first thing to do is come up with an appropriate quotation.  I got
my quotations from THE PORTABLE CURMUDGEON, compiled and edited by Jon
Winokur, NAL Books, 1987.  The quotation cannot be more than 108 letters
long, not counting punctuation.  The input box (which is white) will allow
more than 108 characters so you can use correct punctuation, but only the
alphabetic characters will be used in the puzzle itself.

IMPORTANT!!!  The input box doesn't word wrap, and you shouldn't either.
Just start typing and press F1 when done.  DO NOT have more than one space
in a row in your quote because that's how the program knows when the
quotation is done -- when it encounters two spaces.

     After you enter