BUILDING ACROSTIC PUZZLES

Firstly, what is an Acrostic Puzzle?
There are two parts to an Acrostic puzzle:-
  • A list of Words with the identity of each word being indicated by a Clue, just as happens in a standard crossword puzzle. These words do not interlink with each other, but the set of first letters, taken in order, spell out an additional word (or phrase or sentence) which is referred to as the Key Word.

  • A Key Paragraph which appears in a grid with the spaces between words being represented by means of black cells. This results in an appearance which is very similar to that of a traditional crossword puzzle. Typically, the Key Paragraph will be a clue to the identity of the Key Word mentioned above.
Each letter in the list of Words also appears in the Key Paragraph, and its location in the Key Paragraph is indicated by means of an identification number. Similarly, each letter in the Key Paragraph appears in the list of Words, and its location is indicated by means of both the identification number, and an identifying letter to show the Word which contains it.

Confused?
All will become clear when you make your first Acrostic.

Menu Functions
  • File Menu
    • Select a Dictionary
      When loading a new puzzle into the Build screen, you begin by selecting the dictionary which was used to build the ACROSTIC puzzle which you want to load.

    • Load a Puzzle
      Then you choose your puzzle from the pool of ACROSTIC puzzles currently available in the selected dictionary.

    • Save
      If you have done some manual editing of the puzzle, this option will save those changes under the existing file name.

    • SaveAs
      This option allows you to make an exact copy of the current puzzle using a different file name. The copy will be saved into the folder of the dictionary that was used to construct it. Alternatively, if you don't enter a new name for the puzzle, you can change the Puzzle Description, or any of the other descriptive items without changing the puzzle name.

    • Quit Construction
      Returns you to the Magnum Opus opening screen.

  • Build Menu
    Complete the following steps in the order given to build an ACROSTIC puzzle.
    • Select a Dictionary
      Use this option to select the dictionary which you want to use to build the new ACROSTIC puzzle.

    • Start a New Puzzle
      This option presents you with a dialog into which you can enter a file name for your new puzzle. You can also enter several other pieces of information such as a Puzzle Title, Author and Copyright information.

    • Build Options
      Use this option to access a Build Options dialog where you can set some rules to be followed by the puzzle building function as it builds your puzzle.

    • Start / Stop Building
      Construction of the puzzle will commence when you select the Start / Stop Building option. If puzzle building is successful you will receive a message containing the name of the puzzle file, and the location where it was saved. If it becomes necessary, you can interrupt the building process by selecting this option a second time.

    • Suggest a Word
      Manual construction of Acrostic puzzles is also possible. If you select a word by means of the arrow keys or the mouse, and then select the Suggest a Word option, you will be presented with a list of suitable words. Select a word from this list and click OK and the word will be inserted into the puzzle for you. This is the only method by which you can enter your own words into a puzzle. If you know in advance which words you would like to place into the puzzle, you should use Dictionary Maintenance to make quite sure that those words are in fact contained in the dictionary.

    • Add a Clue
      If you are using a dictionary which has clues, then the clues will be automatically added to the puzzle as you build it. If the dictionary does not have clues, or if you want to make changes to an existing clue, then selecting this option will present you with a dialog which has extensive facilities for both composing and editing the clue.

    • Extract Word Inevitably, as you manually build a puzzle, there will come a time when you will want to remove one or more of the words that you have entered. Position the red cursor over the word in question and select the Extract Word option, and the word will be removed.

  • View Menu
    • Display Options
      This leads you to a dialog box in which you can change the colors of various elements within the puzzle, and control the fonts which will be used for the puzzle's text components. You can also decide if printing of the puzzle will be done in black and white or in color.

  • Tasks Menu
    • Print this Puzzle
      This will take you to a custom print screen where you can control the details involved with printing your puzzle.

    • Solve this Puzzle
      This will take you to a Solve screen which provides a fully interactive environment for solving the puzzle.

    • Export as Applet
      This option will export a set of files which implement a fully working interactive ACROSTIC puzzle as a Java Applet. These files can be uploaded to your web server to enable you to publish interactive puzzles in your own web pages. Read the topic  Exporting an Applet  for more details.

    • Delete this Puzzle
      Use this option to eliminate unwanted ACROSTIC puzzles from your file system.

  • Help Menu
    • Acrostic Help
      Displays the Help screen which you are now reading.