Interactive Puzzle Tips & How-Tos
A Sample Puzzle by
Cory Calhoun

>>> GREETINGS! TRY BEFORE YOU SOLVE. Feel free to solve this sample puzzle to get a feel for how to use the other interactive puzzles on the blog. You can use your keyboard and mouse on a PC or laptop, or you can use the touchscreen on your mobile device.

Use the scroll buttons on the right side to scroll the clues up and down.
 

>>> HOW TO TYPE MORE THAN 1 CHARACTER IN A SQUARE (***DESKTOP ONLY***)
Sometimes a puzzle may have "rebus squares" requiring multiple characters to go into a single square.
1. Select a square. (In the sample below, select the first square in 7-Across.)
2. Press ALT+Insert.
3. Type in your characters. (In the sample below, type "ABS," which forms parts of the answers to 7-Across and 1-Down.)
4. To end typing in the square, click any other square in the puzzle. (Note: If the characters you typed are correct, an image of those letters will replaced the letters you typed.)

 

>>> BUTTONS: Here's what they do! (For visibility purposes of this sample, they're on the left of the grid. In all other puzzles, they're on the bottom.)
1. Revert resets the entire puzzle to blank
2. Check will let you see if a letter in a square is correct. If not, a red X will appear.
3. Save lets you save your progress mid-puzzle and come back to it later.
4. Reveal shows you the word you've highlighted
5. Reveal letter shows you the letter you've highlighted
6. Solution reveals the entire puzzle solution


>>> TIMER
The timer starts when you make your first entry, but does not stop ... much like my devotion to puzzles.