CROSSWORDS: Weyer | CommuniCrossings

Steve's Crosswords

All Crosswords -- by date (latest: AN: Eureka Moment #03; 3/28/2025) |
Articles, Interviews, Presentations | Formats and Tools | About Crosswords | RSS

Articles, Interviews, Presentations

Links below are more about Steve and crossword solving/constructing generally;
reviews of specific crosswords: NYT: Wed, 11/1/2023
Crossword Puzzle Creation (aka "Constructing Crosswords"):
Spring 2025 national OLLI course description; video: 2:21; 9/26/2024
Exploring Crosswords: Fall 2024 national OLLI course description; video: 2:25; 4/8/2024
Fun new Ashland word game (nine letters): Ashland.news Crossword weekly puzzle leaps into
action with -- what else? -- 'Oh, deer'; Ashland.news > Culture > Crossword; AN; 2/2/2024
2023's Crossword Constructor Debuts
90 puzzle makers [including Steve] will have their first NYT Crossword published; NYT; 12/11/2023
The man from #1 Across: Ashlander cranks out crosswords
The Jefferson Exchange interview with Geoffrey Riley; audio; Jefferson Public Radio (JPR); 11/28/2023
Local crossword constructor goes national; video; KOBI5; Maximus Osburn; 11/5/2023
Questionist: Oregon takes center stage in the crossworld this week; Chris King; 11/5/2023
Wordplay: Sites of Some Docs Steve Weyer makes his New York Times debut; NYT; Sam Corbin; 11/1/2023
Ashland amateur crossword puzzle creator’s work scores in the NYT Oregonian; Janet Eastman; 11/1/2023
A clue to solving crossword puzzles: Have fun, say Oregon experts: Oregonian; Janet Eastman; 3/27/2023
Rogue Valley crossword aficionado shares puzzles and skills: OLLI and my crossword courses;
The Jefferson Exchange interview with Geoffrey Riley; audio; Jefferson Public Radio (JPR); 12/6/2022
OLLI Courses, JCLS Presentations; Older articles/interviews; My bio

Crossword Formats and Tools

.pdf: printable puzzle (grid & clues) and solution pages
web: interactive JavaScript (JS) applet in browser (here, usually Nexus HTML5 Solver);
'Check' and 'Reveal' commands can help in solving; 'Print' command avail.;
check 'Note' or 'About' for tips about crossword; some sites show ads or don't work with ad blockers;
comparison of 3 applets: PuzzleMe, Crossword Compiler, Nexus HTML5 Solver
CS: a web applet page that "Crossword Scraper" browser extension
(Firefox, Chrome) can convert to .pdf, .puz, .jpz or .ipuz
For a better experience, solve on a larger screen, preferably with a physical keyboard.
Although it is possible to use a smaller device, e.g., phone or mini tablet,
seeing clues and entering answers may require more scrolling of the limited puzzle area
and hiding/showing of the on-screen keyboard.
.puz, .jpz: a crossword data file specifies grid layout, clues, solution and meta info (Title, Author, Copyright, Note).
.puz is most common; .jpz is a more open standard with more format options.
a .puz file (and sometimes .jpz) can be opened offline in a solving app,
e.g., Across Lite Mac, Win, iPad; Crosswords: Android, iOS; $ [on right]; XWord Mac, Win, Lnx
app: like a web app, it includes 'Check', 'Reveal' and 'Print' commands;
in addition to opening locally saved .puz and/or .jpz files, some apps can automatically
download crosswords. An app provides a more consistent user interface, i.e., crossword
layout and navigation commands, compared to different interfaces across multiple web sites.
reviews w/ spoilers: blogs/videos/podcasts for major crosswords discuss theme & clues,
and provide stats and often complete solutions, e.g., crosswordfiend.com

About Crosswords

Crossword formats provided here: web (CS), .pdf, .puz
RSS (Really Simple Syndication): 2 custom feeds of Steve's 10 most recent crosswords and articles
Steve's crosswords may be found below (by date) and above (alphabetically), including for these Oregon-izations:
AN: Ashland.news > Culture > Crossword: web (CS), .pdf, .puz; weekly;
FAQ: Common Questions -- Answered; list of all AN crosswords, by theme category
JCLS: Jackson County Library Services: web (CS), .pdf, .puz; quarterly
OLLI: Osher Lifelong Learning Inst. at SOU (So. OR Univ.): web (CS), .pdf, .puz;
National Resource Center for OLLI (124 OLLIs nationwide)
Newer (2018-) crosswords are symmetric and themed; 15 x 15 grid size unless otherwise noted.
Some have more than one version, e.g., larger or with later/alternate theme/fill revisions.
Oldest puzzles are free-form (aka criss-cross or vocabulary-style), or
'free-form+': free-form -- with additional filled-in words/areas
Construction apps used: CrossFire (2019-) [on right]; Crossword Compiler (2004-2018);
dictionaries: cruciverb.com $; xwordinfo.com $; spread the word(list); collaborative word list;
clue database: cluer; cruciverb.com $; xwordinfo.com $; crosswordtracker.com;
.pdf generation: puz2pdf, usually with "ink saver" mode (gray squares), 2 pages for 21 x 21