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A must-have for crossword fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 33
Date: June 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It doesn't get much better than this. Not only do you get over 1000 New York Times crosswords, you also get a great interface and a variety of play modes.

For those who haven't tried Times crosswords before, there's a reason they're renowned-- fresh vocabulary and interesting clues. And don't be intimidated by their reputation. The difficulty varies depending on the day of the week and there are plenty of easier Monday and Tuesday puzzles for beginners as they work up to the later days of the week.

Besides a massive set of some of the best crosswords available, you get a great user interface too. The puzzles can be panned and zoomed, allowing you to fit either the entire grid or a small portion of it on the bottom screen. On the top screen, in large print, is the current clue and corresponding letter boxes. There are a number of ways to navigate around the puzzle using touch or button controls, making it easy to hop around. And best of all there's a small box on the touch screen for handwriting recognition (a pop-up keyboard is available too), allowing you to write in your answers with the stylus. The hand-writing recognition could be a little bit quicker, but other than that it functions beautifully.

There are plenty of play options too. You can pick out a crossword from any date among the several year span of puzzles in the game (roughly March 2004 to November 2006), you can play a Monday to Sunday week of randomly selected puzzles, and there are several wireless (not WFC internet) multiplayer options to play head-to-head or cooperatively with friends.

All in all this is a brilliantly executed and deep package of some of the best crossword puzzles on Earth. I consider it a must-have for any crossword fan.

Amazing!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: May 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is really incredible. Nearly three years worth of daily NYT puzzles for $30! The use of the stylus is very technologically advanced (you hand-write in all the letters). The only drawback is at times you will find yourself forced to adjust your handwriting slightly to something more uniform and normal. Before I got the hang of things, my capital H's all came out as A's. Not a big deal, but a little frustrating at first.

Really, this is a remarkable game for crossword fans. And these are pretty hard puzzles, too!

Quite simply a perfect game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 19
Date: June 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The design of this game is perfect. It has the best handwriting recognition I have ever used. It is rare that I do not have a single recommendation on how to improve a game, but this is one such instance. I never thought doing a crossword electronically could be so intuitive. Even if you have only a passing interest in crosswords, this game is a must buy.

This game is a must have for any DS owner's library!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

What a perfect translation of the gold standard of Crossword Puzzles.
The New York Times Crossword puzzles are by far the best in the world and this game has over a thousand of them!
I've already taken it on a flight to Japan and it is a wonderful time killer.

The NY Times Crosswords are not easy, but if you are up to a challenge this game is just terrific.

It's a very stylized looking game and the use of the stylus for handwriting works perfectly.
There is also a keyboard for those with handwriting issues that would also come in handy.

I am recommending this game to all my friends and colleagues.

GREAT GAME!

Great title for the older DS Lite crowd

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was really surprised how well this title is put together. It has great presentation, excellent writing recognition, multiple profiles, over 1000 puzzles, and great music. I would recommend this title for any DS Lite owner who is a crosswords lover or is simply interested in getting familiar with them.

Mindbending puzzles, great value

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you are at all a fan of crossword puzzles, this is definitely worth getting.

The handwriting recognition is much better than brain age's; there are certain letters in my handwriting that aren't recognized in capital letters (B for instance) but I can switch to lower case and have it be picked up that way. I noticed it also picks up some cursive letters as well.

You don't actually write in the boxes though; you select the box and then there's only a small box in the lower right corner that picks up your handwriting. Fortunately it's smart enough to know to skip over letters you've already filled in, so it's not really a problem. You can also use the d-pad to position the cursor where in the word you want to edit, which allows you to be a little more efficient.

My one complaint about the writing system is that you cannot tweak the setting for how long you need to stop writing before it inputs that letter and allows you to write the next letter. It's almost perfect the way it is, but I would shave off a couple fractions of a second; probably at least once a puzzle I'll accidentally input two letters into the same box because I jumped the gun a little bit.

There's also a keyboard you can use if you don't want to deal with the writing (but . that'd be kind of dumb, as it obscures a lot more of the screen than the little black handwriting box would)..

There are three zoom levels for the puzzles; I prefer to zoom all the way out to get the biggest picture (you can see a whole non-Sunday puzzle on the screen this way); the only drawback is that you can't see the numbers in this mode, but it's easy enough to zoom back in when there's a clue referencing another number.

As far as navigating the clues, you can either tap any you want, and double tap to switch from vertical to horizontal or vice versa, or you can cycle through the clues with the L and R buttons. Very good feature.

I should mention that the top screen only shows the currently selected clue and the boxes for the answer; they might have used this real estate to a slightly better use, but I can't really think how.

OK, so there are three modes: Puzzle week, which steps you through Monday through Sunday in order to unlock bonus puzzles; Quick Puzzle, which gives you a random puzzle at the difficulty you specify in the preferences; and challenge mode, where you select a puzzle from a calendar.

In all of these modes, by default, the clock is on and counting down. You get graded on your speed of completion; for instance anything under around 18 minutes on a Monday puzzle is considered an A+. If you get stuck and use a hint (which fills in the currently selected box) your score is drastically penalized; use more than one and you're all but guaranteed a poor score.
So far I haven't really noticed any real point to the scores other than to track your progress; it's not like the game requires a C for the puzzle to count as finished.

I should mention too that the music is innocuous but short so it will loop a lot; turn it off and listen to something else. The aesthetics are nice; each day of the week has a different color scheme and slightly different icons to the right of the screen (if your HUD is turned on) that allow you to do things like get a hint, delete a character, etc. without using the buttons. For instance, on Monday puzzles there's a coffee house type theme.

Finally, when you finish a puzzle, if you have any mistakes they are circled in yellow and you have a chance to rectify them. This doesn't count against you at all (e.g. you can still get an A+ even if your original submission had mistakes, as long as you fix them within the time limit).

Definitely worth the money; with over 1000 puzzles this is going to keep me occupied for a long time.

I should mention that I had an interesting family experience with this. I had my dad play it and he got the hang of it fairly quickly (and he's certainly not the most technically literate guy). My older brother joined in to help solve the puzzle. It's interesting because my dad, an avid crossword puzzle fan, prefers using pencil and paper while my brother, who had never previously expressed an interest in crossword puzzles, seemed drawn to the game simply because of the fact that it was on a piece of electronics.

Ultimately, if you or your loved one owns a Nintendo DS and likes crossword puzzles, you cannot go wrong with this game.

Outstanding adaptation

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: June 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is a must-have for crossword puzzle addicts. The interface is perfect and the puzzles are engaging. The graphics aren't so great but then again, it isn't about the graphics! You really can't go wrong with this one!

Crosswords lover

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: June 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am an avid crossword player,and this one is tops. Easy to use, a good choice of difficulty. From easy to hard. I would recommend it to all ADULT players.

A lot more fun than paper and pencil crosswords

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I enjoy crossword puzzles, but sometimes make too many mistakes to keep track of correct and incorrect answers. Doing the puzzles on the DS alleviates this problem, though. With the sheer number of puzzles (over 1,000) and great interface, this game is a keeper. It is very challenging as well, so opportunities for learning new tidbits of information are ever-present.

Finally Crossword

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have never liked Crossword puzzles, but this game is different. I have hardly played Suduko since I got this game. I can not spell, but this game can give hints and corrections. The player can also choose the day of the week from the New York Times, the later in the week the more difficult the game. I really enjoy the format and find it very stimulating.

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