Skip to main content

Quick Break


I'm very excited to announce that my first app is up for sale on the iTunes App Store!



My husband Ralph and I have been working on this for ages — he is the expert code monkey, and I've done the graphics and written all the crosswords.

My Quick Break crosswords have appeared for years in The Cairns Post. They are 13 x 13 quick crosswords (not cryptic), and mostly quite easy to solve, with the occasional tricky word.

I am no longer doing syndicated puzzles for newspapers (a rapidly dying field), so apps are the way forward.

This first volume contains 50 of my Quick Break crosswords. Volumes 2, 3 and 4 are in production.

Here are some screen shots to entice you!

 Just tap on the grid to bring up the keyboard, then start typing in your answers:
You can choose from four fonts and nine background papers, including dark papers and crumpled paper with coffee stains!
And you can choose the colours for everything - the grid, the text, and the highlight colours.

As I have vision problems, we have been very aware of accessibility issues. Some people with visual impairments find white text on a dark background easier to read, for example — with this app, you can do that. You can also zoom in on the grid, and set the app to do this automatically for you, if you wish.

Other options are marking wrong letters in red, having a timer, and locking correct letters. Typing a '?' will reveal the letter for the selected square. These 'cheated' letters have a red triangle in their corner.

It works on iPhones (including the 5), iPods, and iPads. It's waiting for you now!
ETA: Android versions coming in 2013!
Labels:

Comments

  1. KarinThursday, October 25, 2012

    Congratulations! Alas, we're into Android products rather than Apple iThings in our house, so can't use it. Still wading through your lovely Dummies books anyway ;-)

    Well done and keep up the puzzling work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DeniseThursday, October 25, 2012

      Thanks Karin! We will be putting out Android versions too, in 2013 ... hubby's onto it ;)

      Delete
    2. KarinFriday, October 26, 2012

      Cool bananas!

      Delete
  2. 2pawThursday, October 25, 2012

    My mum has an iPad and loves crosswords so I sent her the link to your app!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

American vs British crosswords

American and British crosswords. Is there a difference? The short answer is HELL YES! Now for the long answer ... There are major differences between American-style and British-style crosswords (which are seen in Commonwealth countries too).  Crosswords were started by Arthur Wynne in 1913, a British man who lived in America, so both countries claim a close connection with the development of this popular puzzle. They developed in slightly different directions in each country, which has led to the varieties we see today. American-style crosswords are almost exclusively published in America, while British-style crosswords have spread through the Commonwealth — Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and other English-speaking nations tend to prefer this variety of the puzzle, as well as the United Kingdom, of course. A quick look at these grids will show you the most obvious difference between the two varieties : British-style Not...
5 comments
Read more

Lesson 2: Anagrams

One thing it's important to do with cryptic clues is to ignore the surface reading! The surface is the sense you get when reading a clue for the first time, the mental image it brings up. Apart from some very rare clue types, this is only going to lead you astray. What's vitally important to do is to read each clue, word by word, looking for the hidden meaning. Also, there are a few important things to note with the definition part of clues. Firstly — they will always be at the start or the end of the clue, but never in the middle (ie with bits of wordplay around them). Secondly — pinning down the definition is a major part of getting success in solving cryptic clues. And of course, once you've figured out which part is the definition, the remainder of the clue has to be the wordplay! ANAGRAMS So, on to the first of the cryptic devices that you'll find in every cryptic crossword: Anagrams! Anagrams are a very popular cryptic device, and e...
3 comments
Read more

The Rude Clues

When my Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies book was being checked by the American editors at Wiley, they decided that my handful of risqué clues couldn't stay in. So I edited the offending 11 clues to tame them down. But it's a pity to see such naughtiness go to waste. So I thought you'd like to have a try of them here! I've put the puzzle reference in, too, so you can find the edited versions in the book (which should be available in bookshops in a few weeks now). As ever, my chihuahuas Petal and Griff are the Guardians of the Answers. Have a good try of the clues yourself, and scroll below the pups to see full explanations of the clues, and the answers. The (Slightly) Rude Clues 1. Rampantly sexy, without a kiss? Absolutely! (3) Crossword 5, 21 Down, pg 36 2.  Mesmerist has weird phony tits  (9) Crossword 15, 1 Across, pg 56 3.  Naughty escort's laced undergarment  (6)  Crossword 24, 24 Across, pg 74 4.  101 in advertisement for tar...
10 comments
Read more