Introduction

Crossword Wrangler is made up of three main pages; the Library Browser, the Edit page and the Solve page. These are described in the sections below, beginning with the Library Browser.

Terminology

If in the course of reading this documentation there is any terminology you are unfamiliar with, this section should help clarify it.

A crossword comprises a grid, some clue lists and (optionally) a preamble.
The preamble contains a description of the crossword and any additional instructions the solver needs in order to complete the crossword.
The grid is some lattice of cells. Most often, this will be a rectangle with a set number of rows and columns. The grid also owns a set of lights.
A cell is an individual site within the grid. In a rectangular grid, it is located by its row and column numbers. A cell may be open, usually coloured white, or blocked, usually coloured black. An open cell can contain a value: usually a single letter or digit. A blocked cell has no value.
A light is a continuous series of at least two open cells. These are the spaces in which the solver places their answers; normally a word or phrase indicated by a clue, though it is possible to define unclued lights, which the solver fills using information from the theme; generally the preamble will tell them how. A clued light is numbered according to the position of its first cell.
A checked cell is one that is at the intersection of two lights. An unchecked cell belongs only to one light.
A clue list is a sequence of related clues. For a simple rectangular grid, there are usually two clue lists: Across and Down. However, the setter can define additional clue lists depending on theme.
A clue is a word or phrase which leads to a solution. The solution leads to an entry, which is the text to be entered in a light. For most crosswords, the solution and entry are identical, though some advanced crosswords require the solver to modify the solution to determine its entry.
Most clues have a clue number, which is generally the number assigned to its light, though in some puzzles the clues may be un-numbered, in which case the solver must deduce where in the grid they are to be entered.
Most clues also contain a letter-count; for a normal crossword this is the length of the light, the entry and the soulution, with optional additional information about the number and/or lengths of words and/or any hyphenation in the solution. In advanced puzzles, the letter count may indicate the length of the solution or of the entry; the preamble would normally indicate which.
A template is a grid without a crossword. Some publications have a fixed set of approved grid layouts that are reused for multiple crosswords.

If that all feels a bit abstract, don’t worry! For the most part, if you know what a crossword is, you should be fine.

As mentioned before, Crossword Wrangler is made of three main pages: