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How to play XWORDZ
It doesn't take a genius to figure out how to play XWORDZ, but for those of you too lazy to try and work it out, here's what you do.
Simply write out a cheque for five hundred big one's made payable to Lee "the sex machine" Irwin. Ha, ha, ha, only kidding, better make it a grand, ha, ha, ha... oh well, worth a try I guess.
Viewing XWORDZ
Before I start rattling on about the actual page content it is important to stress that unlike most web pages, XWORDZ do not have scrollbars. "Whoopee doo" I hear you cry, BUT without scrollbars you are unable to scroll parts of the page that are not visible within the browser window. I won't bore you with the reason why this is the case, but I will tell you that to scroll an XWORD page which is not fully visible within the web browser window, hold down Shift and the appropriate Cursor key.
Although you can play XWORDZ with grid sizes ranging from 5 x 5 up to 16 x 16, on some of the higher grid sizes the page may not be fully visible within your web browser depending on your screen resolution. In such cases you will need to hold down Shift and the appropriate Cursor key to scroll.
The following table gives an indication of the maximum grid sizes that should be fully visible within your web browser when your screen resolution is set as indicated.
| Screen resolution |
Maximum grid size |
| 640 x 480 |
6 x 6
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| 800 x 600 |
11 x 11 |
| 1024 x 768 |
16 x 16 |
| Based on XWORDZ opened in a maximised Internet Explorer window |
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The page layout
Starting from the top of the page you have the 'title bar' which displays the name of the XWORD on the left and the name of the creator on the right. If the name of the creator is underlined, you can click on it to e-mail them a comment about their XWORD.
Just below the 'title bar' we have the aptly named 'info bar' which displays, yep you guessed it, information about the XWORD.
Underneath the 'info bar' is the main game area consisting of the grid, across and down clues and the game button. More on these later.
Finally, at the bottom of the XWORD page is the 'base bar' which contains a link to the XWORDZ web site and an official XWORD ID.
Editing the XWORD grid
We're getting to the juicy stuff now. Just follow these simple steps to fill in the XWORD grid.
STEP 1
Moving your mouse over a numbered cell turns the mouse pointer into a hand and highlights the cell to indicate that it can be clicked. |
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STEP 2
Clicking on the cell will highlight the clue and corresponding cells (the track) on the XWORD grid indicating that you are in edit mode. The dark green cell shows the position of the cursor within the track. |
STEP 3
Pressing any alpha key (A-Z) on your keyboard will insert a character into the cell and move the cursor to the next position in the track. When you insert a character in the last cell of the track the cursor position will jump back to the beginning of the track. |
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STEP 4
If a cell already contains a character and you press an alpha key, the old character will be replaced by the new one. |
STEP 5
When you are happy with the word entered, press the Return/Enter key on your keyboard to exit edit mode. Alternatively, click on another numbered cell and the track being edited will move to the selected position. |
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NOTE
You may encounter some numbered cells that have an across clue and a down clue. Clicking on the numbered cell will initially highlight the across clue and a further click will highlight the down clue. |
There are a number of other keyboard inputs available whilst you are in edit mode as shown in the following table.
| Key |
Action |
Cursor movement |
| A-Z |
Insert key character |
Move to the next cell |
| Return/Enter |
Exit edit mode |
N/A |
| Spacebar |
Insert a blank |
Move to the next cell |
| Backspace |
Erase previous cell |
Move to the previous cell |
| Delete |
Erase current cell |
None |
| Cursor up |
Move cursor |
Move up (down clues only) |
| Cursor down |
Move cursor |
Move down (down clues only) |
| Cursor left |
Move cursor |
Move left (across clues only) |
| Cursor right |
Move cursor |
Move right (across clues only) |
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The game buttons
When you have completed as much of the XWORD as you can you will probably want to know if all your entries were correct. The game button, located just below the XWORD grid, will tell you all you need to know. Here's a run down on the buttons.
FINISH
Clicking your left mouse button on the "Finish" button will reveal the answers to all the clues. Correct answers are shown in green and incorrect answers are shown in red. |
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STATS
Once the "Finish" button has been clicked it will change into a button labelled "Stats". Click this with the left mouse button to reveal the statistics of the XWORD. |
Non conventional answers
Sometimes an answer is not a conventional word, but a slang, abbreviation or initials. In such circumstances the creator of the XWORD should draw your attention to this by indicating the answer type at the end of the clue.
| Answer type |
Meaning |
Example |
| (coll) |
Colloquialism
[slang] |
Q. Clever person (coll)
A. Egghead |
| (abbr) |
Abbreviation |
Q. The very least (abbr)
A. Min [minimum] |
| (inits) |
Initials |
Q. UK measure of speed (inits)
A. MPH [miles per hour] |
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That's all folks
And that's it, simply really. In fact I bet you feel a bit stupid having read all that lot when all you had to do was play an XWORD and work it out for yourself.
I think I've covered everything, but if you need any further assistance I'll be happy to help, just drop me an e-mail.
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| XWORDZ |
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They're
FREE
They're
FAST
They're
FUN
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