#Best crosswords reddit full#
#Best crosswords reddit software#
#Best crosswords reddit mac#

Our theme is probably a Tuesday or Wednesday level. On the other hand, Saturdays are wide open, which leads to more zing in terms of longer entries, but also more trade-offs in smoothness when those long entries have to yield good shorter fill. Mondays are generally closed off (note all the black squares around the edges), which tends to lead to smoother fill. CALL NUMBER is our only other 10-letter option, so in it goes. So once we lock in MACBOOK AIR, we have to stick a theme entry with the same number of letters in the opposite, lower-right slot. LAST: Yup! And those symmetry rules mean theme entries must be arranged symmetrically.

#Best crosswords reddit software#

And the software places the numbers in the grid for you, which is really convenient. All you do to add a symmetrical pair of blocks is press the period key in one of the two squares (or in the exact center, if we’re being precise). Maintaining rotational symmetry can be a pain, but fortunately, CrossFire takes care of that for you. One longstanding rule is that grids must be rotationally symmetric, which means that they look the same if you turn them upside-down (other kinds of symmetry exist, too, but that’s a topic for an advanced grid-design column!). STEINBERG: Before we do that, though, let’s back up a little. There are way fewer three-letter words than four-letter words, which means our colleagues won’t have a great choice of fill, so let’s go with one of our other themers. LAST: Right! This is where we’re trying to set up our next pair of constructors - the ones who will complete the filling of the puzzle - for success. Looks very cool, although I’ll confess I haven’t played around with it much.

#Best crosswords reddit full#

The biggest downside to Crossword Compiler is its price - if you want the full Professional Bundle, it will set you back $169.Ī third, brand-new option is Keiran King’s free, web-based crossword construction program, Phil. For example, Crossword Compiler has much more user-friendly environments for searching and editing word lists. It doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as the Windows-only Crossword Compiler, though.

#Best crosswords reddit mac#

If you’re on a Mac like me, I highly recommend CrossFire, which has a nice grid-filling environment and, at $50, it won’t break your budget. STEINBERG: There are a few ways to make a crossword puzzle, including the good, old-fashioned graph-paper-and-pencil method, but there are several excellent software programs that make designing and filling grids easier. STEINBERG: If only! Choosing the Right Tool NATAN LAST: Wait, practice? I thought we just plug our lovely theme answers into a piece of software and, voilà, a beautiful crossword emerges.