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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
-
-
-