---
layout: post
status: publish
published: true
title: ! 'Online crossword helper: http://ana.grammatic.org'

wordpress_id: 404
wordpress_url: http://www.martineve.com/?p=404
date: !binary |-
  MjAxMC0xMS0xNCAwODoyMjowNCArMDEwMA==
date_gmt: !binary |-
  MjAxMC0xMS0xNCAwODoyMjowNCArMDEwMA==
categories:
- Technology
- .NET
tags:
- software
- .NET
- cryptic crossword
- puzzle
comments: []
---
<p>I've been a big fan of cryptic crosswords for several years now. For those who are unaware, these are crosswords in which the clue consists of both a definition (almost always, except in the case of triple definition clues, at the beginning or end) and a subsidiary indicator. For instance:</p>
<p>Team leader led around in circles for so long (6-2)</p>
<p>The answer is: toodle-oo</p>
<p>"Team leader" = T<br />
"led around" = DLE (an anagram of "led", around being the word indicating that you should perform an anagram)<br />
"in circles" = "OO___OO" (so, put the anagram of "led" inside circles)<br />
"for so long" = the definition is: "so long" in the sense of goodbye/farewell/toodle-oo</p>
<p>As you can see, the clues can get somewhat complex and, at the end of the day -- especially when starting out -- you can get to the point where you just can't get a solution, despite having got all the intersecting letters and thought about it for days. For this reason, I created an online crossword helper.</p>
<p>There are quite a few sites that purport to help in this way, but I believe I have put together a better dictionary set than most.</p>
<p>You get three fields:</p>
<p>Clue format (so in here you can put, for example: 6,2 (always use a comma, not a hyphen))<br />
Grid pattern (example: t??dle?? (omit all punctuation))<br />
Anagram (the letters of an anagram you wish to solve (the "exact" checkbox specifies if the anagram is complete))</p>
<p>There are definitely some bugs in this because I only really ever intended it for personal use, but figured that it might be useful to somebody out there, so I'm making it public.</p>
<p>The site can be found at <a href="http://ana.grammatic.org">http://ana.grammatic.org</a></p>