Sent an email with screenshots to VFK a week or so ago with things that needed to be fixed in order for the crossword puzzles to be more 'user friendly'. Here are some of those things:
1) most of the numbers in the boxes become partially covered by the letters we have to type in...which makes it very hard to do the puzzle without being able to clearly see the box numbers. I suggested decreasing the font size of the letters that we type in the boxes as a solution to that problem, or not making them bold face fonts. If decreasing the fonts makes the letters too small, I suggested increasing the size of the puzzle, then decreasing the font size to offset the difference in letter size.
2) many times when we click on a box to see the corresponding clue, the clue does not show above the clue box border. This requires the player to scroll down to see the clue. This problem consumes precious seconds that are sometimes needed to win the puzzle.
3) allow the use of the 'tab' button to hop to each consecutive 'across' word..instead of using the mouse to skip to the next word. Each consecutive push of the 'tab' button would skip to the next 'across' word in numerical sequence. This would save ALOT of time for the user by not having to click in each new 'across' word box.
4) when clicking on an empty box, many times the resulting blue highlighting which appears in the empty letter boxes defaults to the 'down' word boxes (sometimes it requires a second click on the same box to highlight the 'across' word boxes). It would be nice if the highlighting (when clicking on an empty box for the first time) would default to 'across'...instead of 'down'. Big time saver there, too.
Most importantly...the less the player has to spend time reaching for, aiming and clicking with the mouse, the better...and the more friendly the game becomes.
Ironically, I did a search on crossword programs on Google the other day and came across the following on the New York Times website:
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/litsoft.htmlWow.i! You want to see what a fine crossword program looks like? Download the above and try using it. Ironically, it experiences none of the problems of the VFK puzzle...and incorporates the additions I listed above! For example:
1) The letters that are typed in the boxes are small enough so that the box numbers can be easily seen...no letters overlapping box numbers (they even place the letters a little lower in the boxes).
2) The hints scroll up depending on what number box is clicked on (with no hints remaining 'hidden' or covered up after clicking the box).
3) The 'tab' button is used to advance from one 'across' word to the next in sequence.
4) The highlighting defaults to the 'across' word whenever clicking on a numbered box. To change the highlighting to the 'down' word, a right click of the mouse is all that is necessary.
In fact, they also allow you to use the arrow keys to move to the next box in the direction you choose! So if you need to move to the next box to the right of where you're at within a specific word, you just click the right arrow key. The other arrow keys work for the other directions as necessary.
There are many other ways to move around the puzzle which are listed in the 'help' section of the software.
I sent VFK the same link as the one I inserted above. I hope they take a look at it and incorporate the nice features of the program into VFKs crosswords. Would save us all much needed time. When racing other people doing crosswords, a second can make all the difference.
Flamanar...often puzzled...
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Topic: Crossword puzzle changes needed (Read 4711 times)