Crosswords
- Steve Dobe
Navigating Around the Crossword
With Puzzle Domain you have the benefit of navigating the crossword using both keyboard and mouse.
As you move within the grid to a cell number, the clue(s) for this number will be shown in a pop-up window and either the across or down answer cells will be highlighted in yellow.
When all letters for an answer have been entered (correctly or incorrectly), the clue number in the clue list will be struck out.
Using the Mouse
Left click a grid cell number to enter an answer. Clicking a cell once highlights all of its answer cells. If the grid cell is a part of both across and down answers, clicking it a second time switches between the across and down answers.
Clicking on a grid cell number or hovering the mouse over the cell number will display a pop-up window showing its corresponding clue(s).
Alternatively, left click on a clue listed under the Across or Down clue list. This will take you to that answer within the grid and highlight its cells.
Using the Keyboard
Press the arrow keys within the crossword grid to jump to an adjacent answer or change the down/across direction of highlighted cells.
Your Time
Displays the time spent on a crossword. If you are logged in, your time pauses for the current crossword if a second crossword is loaded, but continues on for the first crossword when it is reloaded. Your time for a crossword is stopped when it is checked and found to be complete and correct.
When not logged in, your time always starts at 0 when loading or re-loading a crossword.
Your Score
Displays your score and the maximum possible score for the crossword. Your score is updated each time you press the Check button.
To learn more about how crosswords are scored, check out the Crossword Scoring page.
Selecting another Crossword or Level of Difficulty
Select these from the drop-down lists. Consider a registered user, logged in, with a crossword puzzle currently on the screen: If the user selects a new crossword, anything filled in for the current crossword will be automatically saved before the new crossword is loaded.
What Do the Buttons Do?
| Check | The intended use of the Check button is to see whether the grid has been solved correctly. Your score is recalculated each time you press the Check button. Only completely filled in answers are checked. If an answer has blank cells, it is left alone. Also, only correct answers are greyed out and cannot be changed. Incorrect answers will contain letters that may be correct, which are left alone, but incorrect letters will be highlighted in red. If an answer is correct, the clue turns black and is struck out. Red cells may be edited, but grey (correct) cells can not be changed. |
|---|---|
| Save | This will save the Crossword in its current state if you are logged in. All letters you have entered, as well as your time and score, will be saved. |
| Restart | Clears the grid to its empty state and resets your time but not your score. |
| Use this button to open a printable copy of what you have solved of the crossword so far. | |
| Solution | Use this button to open a printable copy of the crossword solution. |
| Help | Takes you to this Help window. |