Online crossword puzzles?
 

Hello,

I recently purchased the N800 and have been very happy with it so far. This morning I upgraded to OS2008 and it went off without a hitch.

I like to do crossword puzzles online. One in particular is the daily crossword on boston.com.

The N800 loads the crossword (Macromedia Flash) but doesn't allow me to enter text into the puzzle, i.e. when I tap on a puzzle square the keyboard doesn't appear.

I searched these forums and found a couple of threads along these lines. One solution was to use xkbd (Xwindows keyboard?), but when I followed the link for xkbd it appears that several users are having problems with this on OS2008.

Another solution uses something call BeCrossword. It doesn't appear that this solution would work for the particular crossword puzzles I like to do (i.e. the link above).

Is there a solution that will allow me to play these Flash crossword puzzles on the N800 (using OS2008)? If not, is it possible that there will be one in the near future?

thanks,
tony (no longer an internettablettalk virgin) :D

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

so far there has been no xword puzzle solution for the NIT's. I am a BeCrossword user and the only way to use it is to have the PalmOS version and run it inside the Garnet VM for the NIT's.

i too have yet to find any way to use flash based xword puzzles either. i have yet to try using my BT keyboard tough that sorta defeats the portable aspect of just killing time working a puzzle anywhere.

i guess there is puzzle app for KDE that someone said they were going to try and port but that does not help with Flash puzzles.

I am actually pretty disappointed and surprised at this hole in the list of apps. So, I must carry both my Clie nx73v & n800 when otg... :(

EDIT: ok the iGo Stoaway works with the Flash Universal Crossword puzzles. I just now did a fast test...not idea buut
if you have one it will work. Still hard just whip out a keyboard just anywhere.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

I typically use BeCrossword with Garnet VM for my crossword puzzle fun. But I decided to try the Boston crossword with xkbd. Amazingly enough, xkbd seemed to work just fine with the flash-based crossword (on my N800 with OS2008). Granted, the flash crossword was a bit slow, but xkbd didn't go crazy and enter random characters like I have seen it do in other applications. You may want to give the latest version of xkbd a test run to see if it works for you.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Thanks for all the info/suggestions. I may give xkbd a shot, if I can figure out how to install it properly.

I have no plans on getting a bluetooth keyboard as I don't want something else to have to carry around with me.

tony

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Well I've been trying to install xkbd but am running into issues. It appears that xkbd requires libxpm4, but when I try to install libxpm4 I get "Incompatible application package".

My N800 is running OS2008. I see that there's an xterm under "Utilities" so it appears that OS2008 comes with some sort of xwindows package. I looked in /lib but didn't see a libxpm4 file.

Am I correct in assuming I need libxpm4 to get xkbd to work? If so, any hints as to how I get libxpm4 properly installed?

thanks!

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

jagerdog,

Go here and first ( http://pupnik.de/xkbd.html ) install the libxpm4 first. You might need to be in red pill first to install these lib's. Then once that is installed go ahead and install xkbd. I just installed and it works great. To test xkbd first go into x-term and type xkbd after you type in sudo gainroot. The little xkbd keyboard will pop right up and you can start typing away.

If this is all new to you do a search on these forums for x-term, sudo gainroot, becomeroot, red pill mode, etc...
Hope this helps. Dan

Edit: Just tested on boston.com website above and xkbd works flawlessly on crossword puzzles. Thanks for the tip on crossword puzzles at boston.com. I first had to activate xkbd from x-term by typing in xkbd after I typed in sudo gainroot. The above was for newbies who might not understand. :)
What we now need is an app that retrieves puzzles online for offline use and a native app that allows you to play them online. I'm thinking of something like MyTube for youtube downloads and play.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

@jagerdog

dan is right, although you will want Addison's fixed layout :)

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

there's a relatively new project in the garage that i've been keeping an eye on -- xword. no binaries yet, but it's supposed to support AcrossLite (*.puz) format files. i'd love to be able to download my NYTimes puzzles to the N800 and solve them there... just waiting for the .deb file to show up...

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

@briand

If it's in svn, someone could compile it. Not me though, my scratchbox comp is off and tbh, d be unsure anyway on the hows.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

@briand

Check your PM ;)

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Thank you, Dan!

It was the fact that I wasn't in "red pill" mode that was the reason it wouldn't install last time I tried. I had to search to find out about red pill mode. Once I changed to that mode everything installed, and worked, as planned. I now have a way of getting my crossword fix on my N800 thanks to the good folks on this forum!

By the way, I did not have to type "sudo gainroot" on my xterm. I just typed "xkbd" and it popped right up.

thanks!
tony

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Has there been any progress on porting xword?

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

dunno... I'm not on the dev team that registered the project.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

I just did a google search for "xword" and found TWO programs named "xword":

xword-0.07
Xword-1.0

The first appears to be C++ code and requires the gtk-- toolkit.
The second is written in python and requires PyGTK2.0. From looking at the xword garage project page, it is built on the python version.

If you can find PyGTK2 for OS2008, there are just a few files to be downloaded from the xword subversion repository (several .png files and one python script).

EDIT: I realized that I had PyGTK2 installed and so I would be able to test out the code. It turns out that it DOES work! However, you need to use xkbd on the N800, and it is extremely slow.

From looking at the subversion repository again, I think that some progress had been made on packaging up the whole thing (since there was an "xword.desktop" file), but I couldn't find a .deb for it.

So, if you are willing to do the hard work of downloading the files and manually installing them, AND you are okay with using xkbd, AND you can tolerate the speed, xword may satisfy your needs.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

I have taken the plunge and attempted to bundle xword at the maemo garage into a .deb using PyPackager. I have an N800 with OS2008, so I have no idea if this will work for anybody else. I apologize in advance to other tablets with other O/S versions, and I also apologize to the xword garage project maintainer if he had plans to release xword at a later date. I don't mean to step on any toes!

Anyway, you will need python2.5 and python2.5-gtk2, both of which are available from the Maemo Extras repository. Again, I didn't do a lot of baseline testing since I really just wanted to get this working for me. Hopefully others will be able to download the attached .deb and install it.

Ultimately, you can just download the files from the subversion repository and run it that way. All I did was move files to their correct location and created a program icon. For the N800, I also installed xkbd and modified "/usr/share/xkbd/en_GB.qwerty.xkbd" as suggested by Addison (i.e. change all 26 lowercase letters to uppercase, as in "default_ks d" -> "default_ks D").

UPDATE 1.0.2: Made minor updates to program and added a special xkbd layout (see post below).

UPDATE 1.0.3: Added Preferences Menu option to show/hide xkbd (rather than launch xkbd from a shell script).

UPDATE 1.0.4: Replaced xkbd with built-in keyboard "toolbar", plus several bug fixes. New .deb HERE! (I'm leaving v1.0.3 here in case you prefer to use xkbd.)

UPDATE 1.0.5: Added new option for minimum box size. The .deb files can now be downloaded from the garage file respository. Also, see the spiffy new official home page.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

can't wait to try this tonight...thanks!!!

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Okay, I made some changes to the program and uploaded a new .deb (now version 1.0.2) which you can get from the post above.

Changes to the program:

1. D-pad center button now toggles between horizontal and vertical entry.
2. The two "check" buttons now pop up a message window since the status bar doesn't seem to work.
3. Program now checks for presence of xkbd and launches it with a layout I designed for xword on the N800.

The xkbd feature is nice for my N800 since it takes up the vertical space on the left (where the launcher icons are) much like the DosBox xkbd layout. I added a few special buttons (which you can see in the screen capture below) so you don't need to press any buttons on the d-pad if you don't want to.

NOTE: If you do NOT want xkbd to launch at startup, edit the file "/usr/share/applications/hildon/xword.desktop" and change the "Exec=..." line by removing the trailing ".sh" so it looks like this:
Here's the screen capture and an explanation of the special xkbd buttons at the bottom of the layout.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

so, just to clarify (as I don't [yet] have xkbd installed on my n800): can you use, for instance, a BT keyboard for text entry and navigation, or is xkbd required?

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

terrencegf, nice work!

I compiled a version a long time back but nowhere near as good as this :)

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

xkbd is NOT required to run xword. In fact, my xword.sh script checks for the presence of the /usr/bin/xkbd binary before attempting to launch xkbd. If xkbd isn't installed, xword runs without it.

I tried xword with my iGo BT keyboard and it worked fine. I would assume you could use any keyboard (i.e. BT, USB, N810). Since I basically packaged up xword for my use, and I rarely use a BT keyboard, I selfishly made xkbd launch at the same time. Like I said in the previous post, you can easily change this behavior by editing the "xword.desktop" file and modifying the "Exec=..." line.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

gotcha... and thanks.

i had to use a crowbar (xterm as root) to get libxpm4 and your xword to install without complaint, but I have managed to get xkbd and xword both installed on my n800 (mind you, all without direct connectivity [there's no accessible wireless here], to boot!), so I'll play around with it (...some more. qwerty12 had, as he mentioned, previously compiled up the package and kindly sent it to me, but I only gave it a very rough once-over.)

anyway... on to the NYT puzzle page for a couple .puz files. thanks, again.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

terrencegf is my new hero. THANK YOU!

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Updated .deb to 1.0.3. I just can't help tinkering! ;)

Since there was some concern about xkbd, I decided to put the xkbd stuff within the python code rather than launching it separately via the xword.sh shell script. There is now a Preferences Menu option (with a check mark) to "Show xkbd". This option gets saved so that xkbd will show up (or not) when you start xword.

It still checks for the presence of /usr/bin/xkbd, and does not give you the Preference menu option if the binary isn't available.

So this really isn't a necessary update, but it makes it a bit nicer since xkbd is launched by xword. Also, this way the xkbd gets closed when the xword application exits.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Be cool if you could use some sort of Graffiti like text entry to write the letters into the cells directly. :D

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Thanks for the update!! It works well. :)

Now, there is a problem with how the application handles "Today's Crossword" from the NYT (but not the archives)... the current puzzle has the solution scrambled (it's part of the .puz file format specification), and there's no provision in xword to provide the 4-digit unscramble key (and, thus, check your solution) which is provided the following day, when the puzzle is released (in unscrambled form) to the archives.

Obviously, this is beyond the scope of what you're doing, and more along the lines of making changes to the actual xword code so that it handles these files properly. I'll have to dig through my archives and see if I can find the C routine I wrote years ago to determine the scramble code from a given *.puz file... if I can only remember which computer was my "main workstation" at that time.... ;)

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

I don't do the NYT puzzles, so I've never seen a scrambled solution. However, if you go to the main xword page, you will find this note near the bottom of the page.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

yeah, I saw that. :/

If you crack open a completed .puz file in a hex editor, you can see the layout with the user's answers and the "key" answers, laid out as the grid is laid out. If the .puz isn't scrambled (or "locked"), then it's a plain english text read. If it's scrambled, then the second ('answer') grid will be scrambled. In the actual AcrossLite application, entering the 4-digit (1-9, no 0's!) code will de-scramble the "answer key" copy in memory, and allow direct comparisons (check word, check grid, etc). After applying the 4-digit key to the puzzle, subsequent saves to disk will save an 'unlocked' version.

Anyway, several years ago, during a time I should have (no doubt) been working on something else, I fiddled around and found where (and how) the 4-digit key is stored in the .puz file, and (subsequently) how to use that key number to translate the 'scrambled' grid in the .puz file into an 'unscrambled' grid. Again, I'll snoop around and see if I can find that code snippet, and apply it to the project.

More properly, "This code is not needed by Xword, as long as the site in question offers an unscrambled version of the same puzzle for download at a later date/time."

If all the site offers is the 4-digit code and no "unlocked" puzzle, then there is no way to check your answers.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Absolutely!! I use graffiti on my Clie when running BeCrossword and it's so easy. I never thought I had become so dependent on that Graffiti for input but it really is/was very useful.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

I love you and wanna have your baby....hehehehe...seriously though thanks a bunch for getting this on the road to ported over.

I had to uninstall everything last night because something buggered screen taps in microB. And it was after xkbd just quit on me a few times. But have not had time to make sure I did the xkbd install correctly.

I think the opriginal author must have gotten bizzy with other stuff and/or nobody actually showed interest. But I the app seems to run OK for the most part on the tablet.

Can't wait to give the new setup a try tonight. thanks a bunch for all the work on it! :)

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

A couple other bugs I've noticed:

1. The touch pad is a little TOO sensitive: more often than not a letter gets printed twice when I tap it with the stylus, which results in a large amount of backspacing.

2. When you are in the lower half of a 21x21 puzzle, you can no longer go to a particular square by tapping the square -- it goes to the square that had been in the place tapped when the top half of the puzzle was showing on the screen. I do not like having to maneuver to the place I want to go with the arrow keys.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Hey, I'm glad to see other crossword-loving tablet users out there. I did a TON of searching for something that would work on my 770.
Then after I discovered x-word.org I figured that was a really good starting point and I started the maemo garage project.

I wasn't sure how to handle the text entry either, I have a version that just uses toolbar buttons for letters, but I didn't put that in subversion because it still seemed too hacky.

I didn't know about the xkbd port. Thanks terrencegf for coming up with such a nice solution.

Ironically, I probably never would have started the project if I'd known about xkbd, because there's a really slick AJAX player that does the NY Times crossword!
http://www.labpixies.com/gadget_page.php?id=48

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

I'm really enjoying this program. Thanks!

But I find it a bit awkward with xkbd on the left. As a right-hander, I find it distracting that my hand covers up the puzzle when I am pecking at the keyboard with the stylus and it seems like it would be generally more convenient as a right-hander to have xkbd on the right.

Would it be possible to have the left/right position selectable so each person could choose the side that is most convenient? Or am I missing something and this is already an option.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

I am also right-handed and agree that it is a bit odd to reach across the screen to type letters. However, that is the logical place to put the keyboard since then it doesn't cover up the puzzle at all. You could certainly move the keyboard to the right side, but you would be minimizing it all the time just to see the puzzle squares. At that point, you would be better off using the default xkbd layout (i.e. the small one in the lower right corner) which covers up only a portion of the puzzle.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

That is a symptom of xkbd. I don't know if there are any solutions. You might try searching the forums for other reports.

I agree that is VERY annoying. I don't know python or gtk+ well enough to be able to fix it quickly. (Never coded python before now, and what I did was "code by example".) However, I verified that this is a bug in the original code, not due to the N800 port. I will "file a bug" with the original Xword team and let you know if I get a response.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

They NYT puzzles are only 'locked' for the day they are released then either at midnight or whenever the next edition comes out (which will have the solution for the previous day's puzzle) you can either d/l the 'unlocked' version and/or enter the code to unlock the solutions as it is published along side the puzzle file download link.

I just have always been behind on the puzzles so I never really have to deal with 'locked' puzzles.

As far as the layout...if there is a way to reduce x-word's (or is it Xword or X-word...what is the name really? hehe) anyway, if the actual toolbar withing the software could be re-thunk it would really improve things. Something to consider is to actually rotate the display to portrait mode. While that does indeed reduce the size of the puzzle, it will provide much more room for buttons and some sort of text entry. Look at the BeCrossword layout. Not perfect but it does work easily and it not hard to follow.

I think one issue that is a problem is trying to display the clues on the same screen as the puzzle. There is simply not sufficent room for that on the tablets...just as with my nx73v.

I buggered something on my tablet last night and I suspect it was when I was trying to clean up the repository list so I might not actually even get to play with the xword software tonight at all. sniffsniff... ;)

Like GA mentioned some sort of Graffiti like entry option sure would be sweet...but is there anything even close yet? I know there is a native handwritting input option but I only have given it a cursory look. Don't know if it is even possible to add a mod to emulate something like Graffiti input with existing libraries???? Woud be nice though.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Oh, that would be nice! Just a single little line to print on, not some micro-mini-tiny-key keyboard (like the current xkbd) or some spacehogger. It would be great not just for crossword puzzles but for other xkbd-dependent apps, like the Links2 browser, which I would use sometimes but for xkbd being such a pain.

As for Graffiti versus Nokia's handwriting recognition, Graffiti is lightyears ahead. Even trying Graffiti within the Access Palm (Garnet) emulation on the N800, it was a pleasure, with virtually no practice. What comes with the Tablets, OTOH, I found to be too big a hassle, even after putting time in to train it.

I would expect that Graffiti has some sort of intellectual property protection that may make it illegal to imitate. I don't know, and I hope I'm wrong, but I wonder if they received patent protection for the entire idea of modifying the writing of the letters of the alphabet, which is a critical part of what makes it work so well.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

hey Gerald,

Thanks for the comment about comparing Graffiti with the tablet's HW input. I learned on Graffiti 2 which is apparently much different from version 1...still I never thought I would like it until I began really using my Clie. I feel lost w/o it. In fact right now I am making a list of apps I have installed on the N800 on my Clie as I might just re-flash the tablet to fix whatever I 'fixed' last night... ;) But I need to do some searches here on fixing repository list issues first, might as well learn to do it the correct way...maybe.... :D

But about input on the xword app. Something adding both rotation handwriting input would do is to eliminate the whole left/right hand issue. And a separate window for clues is fine with me as long as the current clue is displayed either across the top or bottom. Combine that with the new nav buttons terrencegf added and this thing is almost done.

Of course it's easy when sitting here in the 'cheap seats' to make suggestions. I have never used Python so I have no idea what is or is not possible. I did look at the Xword source last night in ActivePython 2.5 for Windows and it looks fairly straight forward syntax wise. But that is not the hard part...really knowing the libraries and language is the hard part and I dunno nothing there at all. So, 'suggestions' are the best I can manage these days.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

Some good news! I figured out a fix for the scroll window bug. It will be in the next release. (Yes, another release...)

Which leads to the next good news. The garage maintainer for xword has given me access, so I will be able to commit all of my mods to the garage AND put new releases there. I plan on starting a new "announce" thread once that is in place, probably sometime this weekend.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

I don't know if you're dual-booting. If you are, give a try to fsck -- see Post #2 of cloning link in my sig.

If you aren't dual-booting, you may want to consider it: it provides a way to make a real back-up. I have a couple backups now, made at, you might say, different stages of risk.

Re: Online crossword puzzles?
 

EXCELLENT NEWS!!! Thanks so much...you really have no idea just how much your wokring on this means to me. I am often pretty limited on how active I can be leaving only watching TV (eh...), reading or something like crossword puzzles as ways I can distract myself.

And the NYT puzzles, and that "rat bastage" Will Shortz often keep me busy most of the day... ;)