The Online Library of Acrostic Puzzles Home About Us About Acrostic Puzzles Tutorial Privacy Crostix on the iPhone CrosticView Tech Support Links Buy a Book Contact Us

Crostix on the iPhone If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can get your puzzles to go! Crostix is available on the App Store. Download it in iTunes, or buy it right on your phone (search for "Crostix"), and start solving acrostics on the subway, in the checkout line, while listening to conference calls without a clear agenda -- you name it. Give it a spin and let us know what you think. If you want to kick the tires, a free version with a handful of sample puzzles is also available. Frequently Asked Questions How do the free and full versions differ? How do acrostic puzzles work? Why are the puzzles so hard? How do I change the font size? Why does the backspace key work that way? Sometimes the puzzle list doesn't rotate immediately. If you have other questions, feel free to contact us. How do the free and full versions differ? The free version has just handful of puzzles, while the full version includes over a hundred. Other than that, the versions are basically identical. How do acrostic puzzles work? See our short introduction to acrostic puzzles, or the more complete tutorial. Why are the puzzles so hard? Well, we wanted to give you your money's worth! Seriously, though, one reason newcomers to acrostics find them hard is that they approach them only one way: by filling in answers to the clues. That's a good start, but remember that you have other weapons in your arsenal: Once you have filled in a few answers, look at the quote. You may be able to guess some of the words, which will in turn give you hints to additional answers. Check the first column of the answers. They will spell out the author and (usually) title of the work from which the quote is taken. You may recognize the author from some of the letters in the name. Check the title of the puzzle (displayed at the top when you press the menu button in the navigation bar). It often gives you a cryptic clue to what the quote is about. For instance, if the puzzle is titled "Crostic Instructions", you might guess that the word "puzzle" appears in the quote, and that the author is a luminary in the field of acrostic puzzles. Just a guess. By trying all these approaches, you will find that even seemingly inscrutable puzzles eventually yield up their secrets. And of course, if you need a little nudge, try getting a hint for a single letter or a whole word, though each letter you reveal will lower your score a little. How do I change the font size? The standard iPhone pinching gestures switch between small, medium and large font sizes. The default is medium size. Why does the backspace key work that way? Ah, the backspace/delete controversy. Many people have asked about this. The key on the lower right of the keyboard is a delete key, which you can use to erase a letter you just mistyped. After using the tiny keyboard for a while, we think you'll agree that it's a necessity. However, sometimes you want to highlight a letter and clear it out, and the delete key doesn't do that, which can be frustrating at first. Just remember to use the space key at the lower left of the keyboard for this, and you'll be fine. If you want to erase an entire word, press the little button to the right of the word. We experimented with having both a backspace and a delete, but it was even more confusing that way. Of course, if you have any ideas for a better arrangement, we're open to suggestions. Sometimes the puzzle list doesn't rotate immediately. We are particularly proud of our nifty puzzle rotation effect. However, despite our best efforts, we haven't been able to solve one problem: When you rotate a puzzle, then switch back to the puzzle list in landscape mode, then rotate the device back to portrait mode, the display may not change immediately. You can solve the problem by turning the device sideways and back again. We apologize for this glitch, and we are looking for ways to fix it, but hopefully it won't inconvenience you too much.