NAME

       xword - do crossword puzzles in the Across Lite format

SYNOPSIS

       xword [puzzlefile.puz]...

DESCRIPTION

       Xword is a GTK program for doing crossword puzzles. It can read and write puzzles in the Across Lite file
       format.  Consequently,  it  works  well for doing puzzles from The New York Times. As well as a clock, it
       supports printing. It also auto-saves puzzles as you solve them so  that  you  can  return  to  partially
       completed puzzles.

USAGE

       First,  locate  a puzzle on the web. The best place to go is the web site of The New York Times. However,
       it costs money to access these puzzles. Free puzzles are available from The Houston Chronicle.

       After you have found a puzzle, click on it in your web browser. Xword will open the puzzle  and  you  can
       start  solving.  You  can  also choose to save the puzzle on your hard disk. Then you can open the puzzle
       using Xword later.

       After you have worked on a puzzle for a while, you may want to save your work.  There  are  two  ways  to
       save.  The  easiest  way  is  to  close Xword without any further action. The next time you open the same
       puzzle (either by opening the .puz file or by clicking the same link on  the  web),  you  will  be  asked
       whether  you  want  to  continue  where  you  left  off.  If you choose to continue, all your correct and
       incorrect answers will be saved, as well as the time on the clock.

       However, this technique only works for opening the puzzle on the same computer.  If you need to open  the
       saved puzzle on a different computer, then you can choose "Save" from the "File" menu. The saved file can
       be  opened  with  Xword on any computer. However, incorrect answers and the time on the clock will not be
       saved.

       To print a puzzle, select "Print" from the "File" menu. You can see what the  printed  puzzle  will  look
       like  by  clicking  "Print  Preview".  You  can  select the paper size and orientation by clicking on the
       "Paper" tab (puzzles are usually easier to read in landscape mode).

       Sometimes a puzzle will be locked so that the answers are unavailable.   Unfortunately,  Xword's  support
       for  locked puzzles is somewhat flaky. When using a locked puzzle, you should not click on the "Check" or
       "Solve" buttons, since they will give incorrect information. However, you can still use  Xword  to  enter
       answers  for a locked puzzle. Later, when an unlocked version of the puzzle is released (usually the next
       day), open it using Xword. When asked, choose to continue where you left off. Now you can use the "Check"
       and "Solve" buttons to see how well you did. Sometimes crosswords will come with  a  four-digit  code  to
       unlock a locked puzzle file. This code is not needed by Xword ...

       For more information, see the project home page at <https://alioth.debian.org/projects/xword/>.

AUTHOR

       xword was originally written by Bill McCloskey <bill.mccloskey@gmail.com>.

       This manual page was written by John Sullivan <johns@debian.org>, for the Debian project (but may be used
       by others).

BUGS

       Please report bugs to <https://alioth.debian.org/tracker/?atid=413106&group_id=100419&func=browse>.

                                                December 3, 2007                                        XWORD(1)