Paper
- "Only on paper has humanity yet achieved glory, beauty, truth, knowledge, virtue, and abiding love." ~George Bernard Shaw
- "It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper." ~Jerry Seinfeld
- "Newspapers: dead trees with information smeared on them." ~Horizon, "Electronic Frontier"
- newspapers, magazines, puzzle books
also, printing, .pdf from Applications, Web Sites [below]- + no training; familiar
- + portable
- + no batteries required
- + recyclable
- - reading glasses, lamp, pen(cil) and/or eraser may be needed
- - dead trees, delivery trucks
Kindle Touch breakthrough: Startup debuts handwriting recognition in puzzle e-book 2/14/2012- Why crosswords will save newspapers 3/27/2009
- "Since You Asked" (SYA) (Mail Tribune):
What's an 11-letter word for 'crossword puzzle search'? (puzzle syndication); 8/1/2009;
Misprinted crossword clue leaves her puzzled 11/10/2005;
There's always the option of not peeking 7/21/2005;
How to get back crossword answers 4/1/2005;
Finding the solution is a puzzler 10/28/1998;
Puzzles should be easier soon 12/19/1997 - Simon and Schuster; Dell Crosswords
- Crossword Books For Kids; Easy Crossword Books
- Pop Culture Crosswords; Will Shortz's Favorite Crossword Puzzles
- Challenging Crossword Puzzles; Crossword Puzzle Books from The New York Times
- The Total Brain Workout: 450 Puzzles to Sharpen Your Mind, Improve Your Memory and Keep Your Brain Fit By Marcel Danesi
Web Sites
- "Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach that person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks." ~Anonymous
- "The Internet? Is that thing still around?" ~Homer Simpson
- "I just became one with my browser software." ~Bill Griffith (Zippy)
- web browser with an interactive, embedded player and/or downloadable files
- + largest number & widest variety of puzzles;
many newspaper puzzles appear online, e.g., Mail Tribune (Universal); SF Chronicle#1 (LA Times);
Oregonian #1 (Williams Square), #2 (NYT); Daily Tidings, SF Chronicle#2 (Tulsa World);
these print puzzles may differ from those offered on newspaper's web site (if any) - + save or download puzzle for later?
- + printing, .pdf files?
- - different user interfaces for sites & embedded players; less customizable
- - advertising
- - online connection
- - Flash or Java plugin often used -- security risk/updates
- [section: Web Sites]
Applications
- "To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer." ~Paul Ehrlich
- "A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other invention in human history, with the possible exception of handguns and tequila." ~Mitch Radcliffe
- desktop and mobile apps to access and solve puzzles
- + download, import, sync puzzles from variety of sources
- + offline use, save progress
+ consistent, customizable user interface (vs. multiple web sites)- + grid size/layout, font size?
- + linked clues; timers; fastest solvers?
- + pen/pencil mode
- + hints; dictionary/search integration?
- + printing?
- - something new to learn
- - cost
- [section: Applications]
Which to Use?
It will depend, of course, on the number, variety and difficulty of puzzles that you'd like to solve, places where you do puzzles, convenience, features desired, comfort level with computers and web sites, etc.
Here's what I (Steve) am currently using ("Your mileage may vary"):
Apps
- (daily/weekly) Crosswords (iPad): Brendan Quiqley; Chron. of Higher Ed.; Cox&Ravthon; Crossword Nation; Ink Well; Jonesin'; MacNamara's Band; LA Times*; Newsday; Onion; NYT ($); Wash. Post; iPad stores 1000s of puzzles, large screen, portable, excellent battery life
- (occasionally) authoring: Crossword Compiler (Windows app via CrossOver on Mac); export .puz; generate interactive & .pdf
Web
- (weekly) download LA Times [.puz] on iPad; save in Crosswords (app) which doesn't access them directly; or download to desktop and print with Across Lite
- (monthly) download Reagle (4 current puzzles) [.pdf], print
- (occasionally) download and print CodeWords
Paper
- (weekly/monthly) Mail Tribune: Sun (NYT); magazines: AARP; The Week
- Mail Tribune daily -- after first pass by spouse
- print puzzles (LAT, Reagle crosswords; Codewords; Sudoku; Numbrix) to keep in gym bag, car and breakfast table