Using Our Online Puzzle Solving Tools
The players are designed to be intuitive, but here are some useful tips that you might have missed:
With the grid based puzzles, such as crosswords, you can click directly on a grid square to highlight the answer cells for a particular run. If a cell is in both an across and a down answer, then click the cell again to toggle between the vertical and horizontal clues.
With grid puzzles that have clues (such as pangrams, crosswords, every letter counts) - you can also click directly on a clue for the answer squares to be highlighted in the grid. For instance, click on the clue for 5 Across, and the cursor will move to the first answer square in the grid for that clue. When you enter a letter, the cursor will move automatically to the next letter in that answer.
When you are inside the solving grid, you can click tab to move to the next clue. You can press shift+tab to move backwards to the previous clue. Repeated pressing will cycle you through every across and every down clue, and then back again.
With any grid puzzle, you can also use the arrow keys to move up, down, left and right around the grid. These various methods for navigating the grid should ensure that there is always a quick and easy way for you to move from clue to clue without manually having to click in the grid for every letter you wish to place.
We also have various solving tools - for instance the ability to see if you have entered a letter incorrectly by using the 'show wrong moves' facility.
If you make a mistake and want to start again, you can click 'reset'. This returns you to the start of an unplayed puzzle or your last saved position. If you are halfway through a puzzle, and need to go, click 'save' so your work isn't lost.
The important thing to note is that if you click 'show solution' at any point, then you will not receive any points for completing the puzzle. But use of other solving aids such as showing wrong moves is allowed and will still lead to points being awarded for your solve of the puzzle.
Are there any questions you have about the players and how to use them? Feel free to post questions / comments below!
Date written: 26 Apr 2015
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