ClueMaster crosswords and word puzzles diary page

April 2000

The Daily Telegraph here in the UK gave the game away a few weeks ago. I was hiding here behind my website when they went and told everyone that I was the person responsible for compiling the giant general knowledge crossword in the Telegraph's Weekend Section.

Many more British crossword addicts ended up here as a result of the Telegraph disclosure, only to discover that the site was in total disarray. The members' archive has been down for some weeks getting its first major overhaul in four years.

Michael Mepham,
The ClueMaster

New-look ClueMaster site will bring more puzzles to a wider audience

Yes---it is over four years since the ClueMaster posted his first crossword puzzle on his personal web space. The site has grown beyond all recognition since those early days. After just one year of support from subscribers ClueMaster opened all of its pages for free access. The site is now totally supported by sponsorship and advertising.

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Just as we were about to switch to a redesigned site offering faster loading crosswords and more interactivity, an Internet access price war started in the UK. In future, access to the Internet will cost little or nothing for most users. That has to be good news for you and us, but one of the implications for ClueMaster is that crossword solvers will be on-line for longer, downloading more crosswords. Good news for sponsors and advertisers, but it increases the ClueMaster's costs substantially. The result is that we have had to rethink, and we are currently negotiating with sponsors on how the site will be supported in future.

"There are more than 50,000 subscribers to the ClueMaster site and approaching 1,000,000 visitors have tried our crosswords and puzzles and keep coming back for more.

Software for crosswords includes interactive applet

As a major element of the site redesign we have introduced a new interactive Java program to display the crosswords. It was only after months of trials and tests with a number of different programs and computer languages that we eventually decided on an applet from Antony Lewis at X-Word.com A version of this neat software is just a tiny part of a suite of programs designed to take the hard work out of compiling crosswords, called, aptly, Crossword Compiler.

This is the software used by professional crossword compilers and educators everywhere. We still stick to the old method of manual grid filling, in the main, but there have been occasions when Antony Lewis's program has extracted the ClueMaster from the mire.

One of the most frequent requests is for information on how to start compiling crosswords. My standard answer includes a recommendation to visit X-Word.com and one of the oldest crossword sites on the web: Ray Hamel's comprehensive list of 400 or so links to puzzle sites.

Newspaper sites choose ClueMaster puzzles

ClueMaster puzzles are used all over the world by newspapers and magazines. Now with the introduction of interactive puzzles you can find our brainteasers on their websites. Latest to publish ClueMaster crosswords is the Northampton Chronicle and Echo. The 15x15 coffee-break puzzle and appears on their puzzles and games page and will be regularly updated. Watch that spot for a new interactive wordsearch soon.

If your website would benefit by the introduction of a puzzle, e-mail the ClueMaster today.

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Have your say "Now there's a Guestbook to check out what others have to say about the site, the puzzles, and anything else. You can have your say too. It's a public forum, so feel free to make your mark in the Guestbook.

Now that's what I call a big one! "True to his promise, the ClueMaster has come up with a giant crossword

"And it's not just big (at 25x25) but it's 2-Way: there are really difficult cryptic clues, of course, and a set of quick clues which will reveal the same answers.

"The first example was published in the guest area and a giant crossword has become something of a regular feature since August 1997. The ClueMaster would like some feedback on the subject of this crossword: are the clues hard enough? Too easy? Should the quick clues be kept apart from the cryptic clues? Your comments are appreciated."

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Frequently asked questions

One of the changes to the site links concerns the standard Web answer to all our problems: the Frequently Asked Questions page. While there may still be some links to 'FAQ', the standard link is now labelled 'Help' and it should appear on every page.If your question isn't answered here, please use the feedbackchannel to ask the ClueMaster."

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If you have already bookmarked this page or the ClueMaster home page, then you may want to look elsewhere on the web. Here are a couple of ways to find that site: