Hey terrencegf, I just realized that the -/+ keys would be even more perfect to use for previous/next clue, so go ahead with your center-key change.

Some comments about some of the "suggestions".

Re: handwriting recognition. I also love Graffiti 1, so much so that I hacked my Palm TX to use it instead of Graffiti 2. However, I do not have the time nor the desire to figure it out for the NIT. I bundled xkbd with xword since it was a quick-and-dirty solution. Nothing more. If you don't like it, don't use it (since it is an option), or come up with an alternate xkbd layout or input method that works better.

Re: screen rotation. I have that on my NIT as well, but rarely use it. I would argue that the vast majority of people don't have it installed. I feel that rewriting the code to handle that special case is over-the-top. The original garage maintainer specifically moved the toolbar buttons to the side to give more vertical room for the default layout. It would be easy enough to remove the toolbar buttons completely since those are actually available from the "Puzzle" menu anyway. But it would only help with super-wide puzzles since the 21x21 puzzle I'm testing fits without horizontal scrolling.

Re: displaying the clues. The default "word list layout" is "only puzzle" which gives enough room to fit the puzzle horizontally. The current word's clue is always displayed just above the puzzle. It's not ideal but it is workable.

truly? I'll admit to 15-30 minutes on a Friday (or Saturday) on occasion, but otherwise I can usually finish the puzzle during my morning coffee break.

do let me know if you run across one of mine and it gives you fits, now, won't you?

A couple other ideas for your next release: Try to show the title of the puzzle and the AcrossLite Notepad (in the preferences box). Both of them often offer valuable clues to a solver. (I am more experienced in the ways of crossword constructors than I am software developers.)

The title of the puzzle can be seen when you select "File->Properties..."

I'm not sure about the "Across Lite Notepad". There's certainly no code in the xword python script to read that info from the puzzle file, and I don't have any puzzles with that kind of data, so I wouldn't know what to look for. Do you have some .puz files with Notepad data? If so, do they read okay with the xword python script?

I was just trying to figure out if there was a way to get a lot of different .puz files for testing (not quite ready to buy myself a subscription at NY Times i guess) and this worked verrry nicely: http://www.google.com/search?&q=filetype%3Apuz

Thank you google

heh. yeah, it might not get you the best quality puzzles, necessarily, but it'll get you puzzles.

15-20 mins ON A FRIDAY OR SATURAY puzzle? All I can say is YOU SUCK!!! hehehehe...

Around here the better half, she is the puzzle vet, me? i've just been at it regularly for a year or so. But, I have become hooked, and in a horrible fashion...I loved watching 'Word Play'. I found it a fun movie/documentary and just amazing how good some folks are at solving puzzles!! i'm happy with a leisurely pace. I use them to reduce stress and have enough other competitive sources. That is the beauty, everyone can work them any way it makes a happy.

and whaddayamean "...do let me know if you run across one of mine and it gives you fits, now, won't you?..." hmmmmm...a clue for us? Ya *wood*nt be one of those sadstic puzzle creators? If so, thanks for contributing to the fun.

When I first started, I could do the Monday & Tuesday puzzles in under an hour (correctly), finish a Wednesday in about the same time (and correctly about 10% of the time); Thursdays and Fridays were "all day affairs", and I would rarely fill the grid (much less worry about what percentage of the grid was correct!!); Saturdays were skipped altogether, and Sunday puzzles were carted along with me to brunch, the bookstore, etc until I finished them. Anyway, my point being -- after about a year or so, I had improved to the point where I could dash out a Mon or Tue in less than 5 minutes (my personal record, when I was actually keeping track with the AcrossLite timer, is 2:38 for a Tuesday NYT), and the rest of the week saw similar improvements (and I started doing/enjoying the Saturday puzzle, too! ).

Moi? A cruciverbalist?

okay, yes... but not one of the sadistic ones. (or, for that matter, one of the particularly prolific ones, either! ...but, there's a few of mine buried in the mix out there)

This port is quite terrific!

Just a couple of quick questions.

Does this run really chunky for anyone else besides me?

It takes about a second for the letter to appear after typing one in.

When I first did that vertical keyboard layout, I had it on the left side because Xkbd wouldn't work in full screen mode some time back so that was really the only place to put it.

Also, since I'm right handed like most of us here, the unnatural flexion of the wrist to stay bent while typing on the right side started to become a little painful after awhile.

Anyway, I'm running XWord in full screen mode and I agree that it seems like it would have a better appearance if it went on the right side.

Oh, and terrencegf, that keyboard design is very impressive!

How did you make those image files in .xpm format? I'm very curious as to how you got that done.

Thanks!