Tools thread

[gill216]

I'd prefer it if everyone didn't go stir crazy but "solving aids" will be posted regardless.

We may as well have them all in one place and then you won't have to trawl posts to find them.

The first is Bunny's link to the caesarian shift:


http://rumkin.com/tools/cipher/caesar.php

[Laura]

http://www.ssynth.co.uk/~gay/anagram.html

This is an anagram site I've used and found useful.

[maisie ladybird]

This is a really usefull site that I use often

http://www.purplehell.com/riddletools/

[SparkOut]

Edited by Gill: I think this qualifies as an aide to solving because it gives instructions on how to do certain things in excel.

For crosswords and grids I often paste in the picture and resize the columns and rows to match the lines in the grid, "send the image to back" and then fill in the letters (or whatever) in the spreadsheet cell which shows over the top. (Sometimes you need to set the transparency colour for the image doing that.)
It's also great for lists which you can sort and resort, trying to find the answer "index"

[MBH]

Edited by Gill: Again it contains useful info

When I type a string of answers into Notepad I can sort them by cutting and pasting, and either delete or copy redundant bits (depending on if I need to see my 'workins out' or not).

When I save the file, I know where it is when I go back to it

PAINT has a thousand uses.... ........... I can type the letters into PAINT and then drag them around like Scrabble tiles. It is also particularly handy for mirrored writing.

[gill216]

No matter what the puzzle may look like, remember there are only so many different forms a puzzle may take- but they may be disguised as something that may not seem instantly recognisable.

If you are faced with a puzzle that makes you think "YAK" -think of how it may be a sheep in wolf's clothing.

[Bunnylump]

This is a site I use all the time. It no only does words with known letters and some missing (under "toolbox") but you can also find all words which, for example, start or end with a particular set of letters, or all words which contain certain letters (even in a different order).
http://www.design215.com/toolbox/wordfind.php

[LAT]

I've used that too. But I also find this one useful
http://www.crosswordsolver.org/

[eirian]

bump - oh, and can I suggest someone make this thread a 'sticky' (unless of course this has already been considered and rejected)

[gill216]

Consider it stuck

Later today I'm going to clean the entire thread up so it is just tools.

Gill

[Scurra]

I only rejected it previously because even "information" threads tend to turn into chatty threads (no, I'm not looking at anyone )

[gill216]

I've now cleaned the entire thread but I've left the last few chat postings so you all know what has happened. I will be removing these posts in a couple of days time. At that point I will amend the first posting- requesting no chat- and only AIDES to solving to be posted- a short explanation of what the link provides would be good. There are various solvers about but I personally feel that solvers don't have a place on this site. Scurra?

Comments welcomed for a few days but they will be removed to make way for a clean tools thread eventually.

If anyone has anything they'd like to add to this thread as an article, go ahead and write it - but please run it past us before posting. I'd personally like some basic instructions on how to use paint effectively (MBH?) and I've already approached Wulfruna re an article on cryptic crosswords. Anything anyone else would like to see?

Gill

[MBH]

Just leaving work, but thrown this together.

The best thing I can do is look at some of the puzzles I've used this ON, and explain how I did it... hopefully the tools I mentioned are all I've used.

Tools In Paint

PaintIntro.JPG (47.93 KiB) Viewed 840 times

Hopefully my bit about 'screen dumps' is visible there. Sometimes the puzzle is bigger than the screen, so you have to start 2 paint sessions. Put the first part in one, then the second (and subsequent) bits in the second and copying/pasting it into the first to fit it together. [If this needs more explaination, then shout]

Asher and Issachar
Just as a notepad with the puzzle screen-dumped and pasted in place. I was able to select sections with the rectangular selection tool and move things apart or together depending on how much room I needed.

On multi-stage puzzles, different colours can separate different 'sections' of text which may or may not have been relevant for either of these puzzles

Ravioli
Took the screen dump(s) and as I found a space for a 'block' I selected it and moved it to an area I'd left on the right hand side of the puzzle grid. This meant that I was always working on the 'remaining' clues and I could roughly line up the used blocks with the line they related to.

For filling in the grid, I selected the letters in the clue individually. Copied, and Pasted (which put the letter in the top left corner of the screen) then immediately dragged it into place on the answer grid. [Control key plus 'C' to copy and Control key plus 'V' to paste makes this much less of a chore than you think]

Damsons
Below my pasting of the puzzle, I typed out the letters of the alphabet with a couple of spaces between each letter. I took care that the size of the font was right for fitting into the answer grid.

Selecting the letter 'D' from my typing I dragged it into the 1-26 box number 25, then Copied it, Pasted it, and dragged it into the first 25 I could find on the puzzle.

Repeat Paste and Drag as many times as necessary.

IF AND WHEN I find another letter I will repeat the Select, Drag to final answer grid, Copy, Past, Drag to each occurence of it.

As I progress, I'll always have the letters still to find along the bottom of the puzzle

Issue 6
1970 - Cryptic - Notepad use, moving answers around

1998 - Poetry - Similar, but able to pick out titles and riddles and poets in different colours and leave a big 'working' area at the bottom to pull things together.

2003 - Jigsaw - Swapped column words using Select and Drag until I thought I had them in the right combinations, then typed the text of the answer after the question.

THEN... Used the 'freehand select' tool (like a starburst, top left) to outline and drag the Tetris style blocks together. Crude, but effective, and it showed me what I needed to see

???? - (the hexagon one) - I used it just for the final answer grid. Used the paintbrush to hand-write the letters (poorly) then the lines in a different colour to find a path.

Issue 5
Contortionist - I used rectangles (or lines for diagonals) to find words, and circles to identify other letters I was interested in. A working area let me type words, and move them around (A LOT)

Clowns - I was using the 'select letter and drag down into place' technique for the same benefits of Damsons above (but it looks like this was one I abandoned).

Juggler - IMPORTANT ONE THIS - Tried putting the letters in paint as typed letters. FAILED (and you all know why).

Wrong tool for this puzzle entirely

Issue 4
01-King of Cups - Started by typing possible answers to clues. Then dragged blocks of puzzle around with the simple square 'selection'. Then made little ink-marks on the clues and the grid answers to make sure I had them all.

02-Magician - 3 different colour dots on the letters. Red above the letter for vertical answers. Blue above the letter for horizontal answers. Orange BELOW the letter of the 3rd in a block. Also typed the answers to the clues and scribbled the line or column number in red or blue against each clue. Typed the found phrase in orange and it all looked very pretty

08-Lovers - 8 different coloured lines to connect songs to actors. Duplicate coloured layout for film names. Too long ago - can't remember if this helped any, but that was how I approached it.

18-Devil - nice grid responded to pouring paint-pot to fill in 'blank' squares. I did this puzzle on paper first scribbling out the blank squares. Those that know, know why the 'Paint' version with Yellow as the fill colour worked.

I could detail others, but it would start to get repetitious. Take 2003-Jigsaw, 01-King Of Cups, then think Lord Vader.....

Basically Paint works for me like real PAPER. It can be cut, manipulated, typed on, dragged about, saved in 'start point' versions [not that this helped me solve the battleships ]

TWO GOOD TOOLS:

For a puzzle that is a little two big for the screen (some of the crossword-type grids), from the top 'command' line select:

IMAGE -> STRETCH/SKEW and then select figures in the stretch section of less than 100(%). Keep the two figures the same and it will shrink it down on the screen.

Values more than 100 will stretch it, but you will start to lose definition.

For things that can be twisted and turned, select:

IMAGE -> FLIP AND ROTATE

[who mentioned mirror writing? I didn't mention mirror writing]


WHY do I do this instead of using proper paper? I can save it when I want to, so it's always the 'story so far'. I can wipe out bad moves and shuffle things around. And I can switch to and from it on the computer screen without incriminating pages of puzzles lying around at work

It didn't work for Juggler. In my 'professional' oppinion the current issue jigsaw needs to be cut out and played with. But as a general purpose tool it has a lot going for it when you can use it as easy as a pen and paper - it just takes practice.

Hope this helps - MBH

[Biscuit]

not sure why this thread has to be cleared - am finding i need all the help i can with the puzzles but perhaps thats coz these puzzles might be a bit too difficult for my brain:( perhaps i should just give up gracefully!

Biscuit

[gill216]

I'm not clearing the helpful bits or the links to tool sites:D

Just removing the clutter so that it makes it easier to find what we are looking for.

[Biscuit]

thank goodness for that:)

[MBH]

My previous post extended, for those that are interested.

** This message will self-destruct.....when the clean-up person passes **

[Bunnylump]

MBH that previous post is brilliant. You're so good at explaining stuff. I'm sure I will be referring to that again. Well, and quite possibly bending your ear because I'm rubbish at computers. (You should see the Excel nightmare I've sent Scurra recently!!! )

[eirian]

MBH - for screen dumps, I thought you only needed the print scrn key, with alt added when you want to just take the window you are working in at the time - I've never used ctrl at all.

[MBH]

LOL - may well be 'habit' on my part - I'll check it out. I know laptops the button can be a 'function' key as well and an extra key is needed. [The joy of trying to write instructions that work for all occasions]

EDIT: Looks like the young lady is right. Just the screen-print button unless you have a window on top of a bigger window (which is MY usual state) in which case the ALT key pulls it to the top-window only. Looks like the CTRL key isn't needed.

When you do it for the first time NOTHING SEEMS TO HAPPEN - this is correct. The 'photograph' has been taken and it is ready to paste.

---------

The first is Bunny's link to the caesarian shift:

Just read back to the start of this thread, and realized that I'd totally skipped the first entry.

I - of course - coded up my own spreadsheet called SHIFTER a long time ago to deal with 'official hints'

Excel-lent way of reducing tedium