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 Note th
5 comments
Read more

Crosswords in other languages

The crossword was invented nearly exactly 100 years ago — yes, 2103 is its centenary! We all know that in that time it's spread throughout all English-speaking countries. But what about other countries? The answer is a resounding yes! In almost every country that I researched, they have crosswords. The forms are often a bit different from what we're used to — the grids are often non-symmetrical, 2-letter words are allowed, accented characters are often ignored, and sometimes the clues are written into the black squares. Here are some links to crossword sites from other countries, for your enjoyment. Afrikaans blokkieraaisel Part of a Chinese crossword Chinese   填字游戏 Danish  kryds og tværs Dutch  kruiswoordraadsel Finnish crosswords often include picture clues Finnish  Sanaristikko   French grids use a different numbering system French mots croises A German crossword German Kreuzworträtsel Greek  σταυρόλεξο   Part of a He
2 comments
Read more

Cryptic Clue Competition

It's clue writing competition time again!  Griff is eagerly awaiting your entries! Write a cryptic clue of your very own, using an anagram, for the answer word INTERCHANGE.  Write your clue, and then post it in a comment below this post. Don't be scared, you can do it. It's even fun (honest)! Your clue can be silly, weird, funny, serious, whatever you like. It needs to read well, like a mini phrase or sentence (not just a random assortment of words stuck together). Creativity and clue accuracy are what I will be looking for. Here are some tips to help you get started.  Remember that the basic anatomy of a cryptic clue is: Wordplay + Definition = Answer or Definition + Wordplay = Answer So — (a bit of wordplay) (definition) (rest of wordplay) is  not  allowed. The definition has to sit at the start or end of the clue, and not be interrupted by the wordplay. In an anagram clue, the Wordplay = the fodder + the anagram indicator  (or indicator + fodder
40 comments
Read more