TESTIMONIALS

Your program is easily the best thing that has ever happened for crossword constructors.

- Nancy Salomon

..it's brilliant. As a teacher I use it at least a couple of times a week and the kids I teach love the crosswords.

- Shaun Donnelly

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Information

-Vocabulary puzzles

-Newspaper puzzles

-Other puzzle styles

-Web publishing

-User support/updates

-About us

Extras

-Dictionary/thesaurus

-Professional Grid Filler

-Additional word lists

Other sites

-Crossword Puzzles

-WordWeb Pro

Crossword Compiler 8 update History

24th March 2012

• Updated puzzle file icon to work around issues in with Windows icon corruption

6th November 2011

• Applet Properties, Action option whether to skip existing letters when typing (now off by default)
• Fixed bug opening non-square non-standard .puz files
• Fixed bug printing worksheets for puzzles with certain types of non-standard clue formatting

22nd March 2011

• Many minor solving applet improvements and bug fixes
• Fixed export of static web pages with clues numbered by position in one paragraph

22nd May 2010

• Added Print/Export Worksheet option to print out separate across/down fill-in grids
• Fixed applet bugs solving word searches without solution information
• Fixed bug printing side-numbered puzzles with roman numerals

16th February 2010

• Fixed export of non-square puzzles with clues numbered by position
• Applet completion message now shows if initial error is corrected

12th December 2009

• Added applet export option not to enforce alphabet characters
  (so alphabet under grids can show just accented letters)
• Added warning and switch for right-aligned clue printing problems
  (due to bugs in some editions of Windows)

25th October 2009

• Added warning for clue squares with more arrows than clues
• Applet fix for clue hint URLs
• Fixed grid numbering after inserting a bar
• Fixed export of PDF containing only clues
• Minor fix to import of text files with no numbers

17th May 2009

• Fixed PDF export of word search puzzles with words
• Fixed web/XML export of formatted clues with left and right quotes
• Fixed import of plain text clues with Across/Down in clues
• Fixed export of plain text with backslash separators
• Fixed issue making small medium-hard sudokus
• Fixed issue changing colors of multiple mixed squares

28th September 2008

• Applet export option to set maximum applet size (grid shown in scroll box)
• Word List Manager's Duplicate/Filter List has options to show and filter by word length
• Clue number shown in Clue Editor and can be edited for custom number
• Added Rich Text to Sudoku export formats
• Anagram window remembers size and position

18th August 2008

• New grid-filling menu button option for non-stop generation of multiple possible fills
• Added File, Information option for puzzle solving instructions
• Can now open .puz files with rebus, circled squares, and solving Note
• Review/Edit Clues now lets you edit linked-clue link text
• Word Search puzzle Words menu option to change font size
• Applet supports alphabetical jigsaw and showing linked-clue text
• Applet shows lines between clues in clue squares
• Various applet tweaks, including clue list dragging
• Fixed bugs in XML import and export

3rd July 2008

• Applet display improved (uses antialiasing when possible)
• Added Ctrl+L shortcut to Clue Editor to show custom lookups menu
• Fixed problem saving clues with superscripts
• Fixed applet Save URL loading and bug clicking on alphabet
• Fixed applet bug when including custom copyright and no timer
• Fixed problem exporting Metafiles with hint letters

17th June 2008

• Added All Equivalent Words option to Word List Manager, Remove Words
• Accidental words check now checks for up and left-running words
• Clue Properties option to hide clue numbers
• Export option to set separator for clues on same line using numbering by position
• Added clue character count to statistics
• Applet works with custom continued word arrows
• Various applet fixes/minor improvements
• MS Word export/print now works with Word 2007
• Fixed bug exporting un-numbered clues in one paragraph
• Fixed bugs editing word lists in the Word List Manager
• Fixed Chinese clue export to solving applet/xml
• Fixed saving of word search line style option
• Fixed bug using clue database manager Merge
• Fixed bug adding bars to clue squares

Version 8.1: 31st March 2008

• New Grid Properties page to customize clue square arrows
• Resize now preserves clues in squares
• Background circles now have a break if square also has a number
• Paste image sets default position and size from any square selection
• Added auto-detect for Shorter Oxford English Dictionary version 3
• Added auto-detect for Collins dictionary (9th edition pro)
• Fixed various issues with PDF export
• Fixed applet display of clues below narrow grids and hint URLs
• Fixed showing bar separators in collocations for 1-letter-ending phrases
• Fixed export of non-interactive html for word searches
• Fixed rich text export of consecutive linked clues
• Fixed drawing of borders around grid pictures at right and bottom of grid

16th December 2007

• Changing grid symmetry selects any violating squares
• Database managers, Tidy file keeps most recent of duplicate clues
• Fixed bug converting multiple text word list files
• Fixed printout of clues numbered by position
• Fixed export of rich text with key word grid/key word grid solution
• Other minor fixes

17th November 2007

• New option in New Puzzle window to list grid sizes available in grid library
• AutoFind (any length) now works within selected squares
• AutoFind (any length) shows selected word in the grid like AutoFind
• New supplied clues-in-squares grid pattern library
• Delete all clues now also deletes all clues in clue squares
• Fixed bug exporting EPS files in groups
• Other minor bug fixes

17th September 2007

• Added Clue Properties option to align clues left
• Word search solution PDF export now uses lines to avoid diplay bug with circles
• Fixed applet clue-draw bug and JavaScript function availability
• Puzzle information can be applied from template if current settings blank
• Fixed bug saving/loading bars around clue squares

7th August 2007

• Various tweaks/fixes to print/export in columns
• Duplicate/Filter Wordlist 'include only words in' box now allows multiple list selections
• Word list text file import has option to convert from UTF8 and choose character set
• Added option to add bars around clue squares (Grid menu)
• Change to enable sequence: Create Vocabulary Puzzle, Delete All Blocks, Create Vocabulary Puzzle (fill around existing)
• Fixes for word list export when word search edited after build
• Letters in un-numbered puzzles now centred even if a few custom numbers

21st July 2007

• Word search duplicate substring check now includes hidden phrase and seed words
• Fix for editing database clues from the Clue Editor
• Fixes for crosswords with only across clues

10th July 2007

• New Export interface; save export formats and export groups for quick re-use
• Added word search and vocabulary puzzle option to avoid duplicate substrings
• Applet submit and completion fixes
• Seeded word search grids now fill allowing seed word intersections
• Editing grid updates key word solutions
• Added Database Manager menu item to browse folder in Explorer
• Web hosting update to add custom headers and colors
• Fixed auto-character set detection making vocabulary puzzles
• Fixed issue with duplicate forced words in Manual Word Selection
• Fixed applet export with background circles in solution
• Fixed saving puzzle as .cc4 format file
• Fixed saving of theme word lists modified using buttons in Word List Manager

3rd June 2007

• Web Publish window now has button to save settings
• Fixes for applet coded puzzles

3rd June 2007: consolidated update

• Pro Grid Filler option to avoid duplicating substrings when filling a grid
• Vocabulary puzzle and word search option to avoid using words and sub-words
  (e.g. only one of Britain and Great Britain, cat and cats)
• Applet supports clues-in-squares puzzles (all clues must have arrows)
• Manual word selection window can be resized; state saved
• Preferences option to always export to puzzle folder by default
• New Word List Usage option to set AutoFind lists for all puzzles
• Renamed 'Remove Blanks' to 'Convert to outline/shape'; now removes blocks too
• 'Changing grid does not delete clue' fixed to no longer keep wrong solution words if no clue
• Bug fixes, including applet compatibility issues