How to play

Choosing a crossword

The Crosswords menu lists all of the crosswords in the volume. The progress bar next to each crossword's title shows how far along in each puzzle you are. Tap on the crossword entry to go to the puzzle. The app will automatically save your progress, so don't worry if you have to answer the phone in the middle of a tricky clue!

Entering words

To type your answer into the grid, just tap on a clue in the clue list, or on a square in the crossword. This will bring up the keyboard. Then simply type in the answer to the clue. That word in the grid will stay selected, and the cursor will wrap around from the last letter of the word to the first, if you keep typing. To change the active word in the grid, either hit 'Return' and browse through the clue list, or tap on a position in the grid.

You can work through the grid without having to switch between the clue list and keyboard. The clue for each position in the grid is revealed simply by tapping on the grid. Hitting Return will make the keyboard disappear.

Once a correct letter has been entered into the grid, you can choose for it to be 'set in digital stone', so cannot be written over. This option can be set under the Settings menu (Lock correct letters). It means if you want to move over those letters, you can type any character in, and the cursor will move over the set letters without changing them. Back/Delete will always erase a letter, though, even if they are locked.

If you make a mistake, simply type in the new letter into the square. It will overwrite the wrong letter. You can also use the Back/Delete key, or Space Bar, if you want to.

Hints

To reveal a letter, type in "?". Revealed letters have a red triangle in the corner of their square.

The 'wrong letters red' option under Settings can also provide some help. This option makes any incorrect letters red as you type them in.

Scoring

To score 100% on a crossword, don't use any hints! Revealing letters (using the "?" key) will reduce your score.

So, if you don't use any hints, you will score 100%. If you use hints for half of the letters, you will score 50%, and so on, all the way down to 0%, if you really want to disappoint your mother.

Resetting crosswords

You can reset all completed, or all crosswords in the volume, under the Settings menu. Resetting a crossword is the only way to delete the 'Hint' marks from a grid.

Settings

Under the Settings menu you can change the:

• fonts
• background colour
• grid colour
• letter colour
• highlight colour

You can also choose whether you want a timer, red for wrong letters (which allows you to tell whether you've made a mistake as soon as you type it), correct letters to be locked, or auto zooming of the screen.

About us

Our apps are developed by husband and wife team, Dr Ralph Sutherland (the code monkey) and Denise Sutherland (professional puzzle writer and author). Denise is the author of many puzzle books, including Solving Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies. Her puzzles have appeared in a wide range of newspapers and magazines around the world. She is also a graphic designer, editor, and indexer. Ralph is a theoretical astrophysicist, who enjoys iOS programming in his leisure time. We are based in Canberra, Australia.

Our deep gratitude, with flowers and champagne, to Karen McLoughlin, for her expert beta-testing skills, and helpful suggestions. We were very happy to hear her say she 'couldn't make them crash' — and she tried hard!