Clue Properties

Select Clue Properties... from the Clue menu to change the way in which the clues are arranged and printed. There are three pages of settings, Format, which has general settings, Language specifics, which is useful if you want to create non-English crosswords, and Printout, where you can change how the clues are spaced on the page when you print them.

Select the Font... button at the bottom of the dialog to specify the font used for the clues.

Spacings

The Number-clue space is the distance between the clue number and the clue itself. The Between clues space is the vertical separation between clues. A separation of zero will have the effect that the space between clue lines is the same as the space between clues.

Number format

Check the boxes here to specify how you want the clue numbers to appear.

Clue Headings

The Across and Down boxes contain the text which will head the across and down clues. You might want to change these so that they are in capital letters, or to translate them to a different language. You can also specify some option for how the heading is formatted.

Clue Numbering

This setting determines the method used for numbering the clues. Normal is the standard numbering scheme. By first letter gives the clues sorted alphabetically by the starting letter of the clue word, with each clue 'numbered' by the starting letter. By position numbers the clues by row and column. If there is more than one clue on a row or column the clues are placed next to each other on the same line. Random order sorts the clues randomly, and gives each clue an alphabetical letter instead of a number. Random by direction is similar to Random order, but keeps the clues in separate Across/Down groups.

Clue one letter words

In most American and British puzzles there are no one letter words. However, in other countries one-letter words are often clued. Select this box if you want to write clues for one-letter words.

Solution lengths after clues

Check this box if you want to automatically add the word format in brackets at the end of the clue. Select Only if compound if you don't want to show the format for single words, only for compounds and phrases. Note that if selected, solution lengths only appear when printed or exporting.

Language Specifics

Alphabet

List here the alphabet of whichever language you want to use. The setting is used for various Crossword Compiler features, for instance for pangrammatic grid filling , clue numbering by first letter (above) and grid side numbering.

Linked clue text

This text appears when a word for a given clue is linked to another word. For example if 1 across is linked to 10 across, the clue for 10 across would read 'See 1', or whatever text you use instead of 'See'. You can use “%s” as a placeholder for the number being linked to. You can include different text for linking across and down clues by separating the text by “|”.

E.g. use “See %sac|See %sdn” to show “See 1ac” in the above example.

Text for fill-in words

This is used for heading the words in the crossword when you print the words in the crossword by word length for fill-in puzzles. Use %u as a placeholder for the number of letters in the word, and put brackets around any letter that should only occur if there is more than one word of that word length. E.g. '%u letter word(s)'.

Single letter Across and Down

Select a letter that is used in clue linking to stand for across and down.

Printout

Change the clue spacings to effect how the clues are printed out. These spacings are used when printing any crosswords that you create. You can use them every time you start the program by clicking the Save these settings as default box. The spacings are given as a percentage of the total width, that is the width between the left and right margins.