xWord

Crossword puzzles are an excellent way of improving your vocabulary. However, the ones you find in magazines might not be to your liking. You can compile crossword puzzles with xWord.

xWord is easy to install and requires minimal resources to run. It uses several dictionaries to generate words of various lengths and their matching clues to create crossword puzzle fields which you can print. The user interface is dull, but it is clearly designed to provide functionality.

The application can be commanded to generate black fields and then find words that fit in the spaces between. You do not have control over the position of black tiles, but you can set up the number of tiles in the grid.

xWord allows you to generate custom crossword puzzles. You can set it to compile words for all the gaps or just for a particular field. You can select multiple dictionaries and the application will find and insert any given number of words. The best feature is that you can print the grid and the clues and definitions. This allows you to solve the puzzle at your convenience.

The main drawback is that you cannot play a crossword puzzle straight from the application. You can only design and print a grid. The software does not support saving your designs, so you must compile a different puzzle each time. However, you can use different dictionary files and implement them in the application's database.

XWord can be a powerful addition to users who have a knack for solving crossword puzzles. It offers excellent functionality and enables you to print the grid and corresponding clues. It is free to use and worth trying out.