Question 1

How to create Reverse Word Search puzzles?

Accepted Answer

This tutorial shows how to create Reverse Word Search puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro - Reverse Word Search.

This tutorial is for:

Puzzle Maker Pro - Reverse Word Search

What is Reverse Word Search

Reverse Word Search is a puzzle where a list of words must be placed in an almost empty grid, instead of Standard Word Search where you have to find words that are already placed in the grid.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/AvNQwkSm0O/0-20240925072051786-1-W-P.png (0-20240925072051786-1-W-P)

In this example you can see that some words are already placed in the grid. For each unplaced word, one or more letters will be shown. With each puzzle you also get the complete list of words for that puzzle, in this case:

Astonishing, Blessing, Compelling, Delight, Discovery, Dream, Energetic, Enrich, Exclusive, Ferocious, Hero, Life-Changing, Now, Overwhelm, Passion, Pleasure, Power, Quality, Renewal, Results, Sensational, Service, Sexy, Soul, Thriving, Transforming, Unlimited, Whole.

If you already know Puzzle Maker Pro - Standard Word Search, or Zig Zag Word Search, the options and features of this module will be familiar to you.

Set up the Word List

Every word puzzle starts with your word list. You can either type / copy the words, or select a txt file with the words. Each word should be on a separate line.

The screenshot shows that a word list file was selected, and also shows a preview of a puzzle and solution that were generated from the word list:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/yzP6rYhoLb/Reverse%20Word%20Search%20-%20Overview%201.png (Reverse Word Search - Overview 1)

Reverse Word Search Complexity

The complexity / difficulty of Reverse Word Search depends on several settings, such as:

The words in your word list
The size of the grid
The number of clues in the grid
The number of words that are already shown

The number of clues and the number of words can be set on the Advanced tab:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/ntp6Scjq9B/Reverse%20Word%20Search%20-%20Overview%202%20Clues.png (Reverse Word Search - Overview 2 Clues)

There are five settings for the number of Clues:

Very Easy (1 clue for each 3 letters) - a 9 letter word will show 3 letters
Easy (1 clue for each 5 letters) - a 9 letter word will show 2 letters
Normal (1 clue for each 6 letters) - a 12 letter word will show 2 letters
Hard (1 clue for each word)
Very Hard (1 clue for each two words)

The letters will be selected randomly. Because of overlapping words, it's possible that more than the number of clues are shown for a specific word.

It's best to play with these options after setting the grid size and the word list, to determine which number of clues works best.

Puzzles for Kids

There are several features that allow you to create puzzles specifically for kids. Of course it starts with selecting a suitable word list and grid size. Additionally there are options for:

Limiting the number of diagonals
Switch off Reversed words
Kids Diagonal: An option to enforce that diagonal words are always printed from top left to bottom right.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/hmq0ZGymUO/Reverse%20Word%20Search%20-%2002%20Kids%20Diagonals.png (Reverse Word Search - 02 Kids Diagonals)

(The word list in this example is obviously not a great fit for younger kids, it's just used to demonstrate the Kid's Diagonal feature).

Solution Options

In contrast to Standard Word Search there are no options to set the 'noise' letters to fill the grid, since empty square will be shown as black squares. (Otherwise the puzzle would be unsolvable).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/Jzq4h7531k/Reverse%20Word%20Search%20-%2005%20Solution%20Style.png (Reverse Word Search - 05 Solution Style)

You can set the style of the lines that indicate the words in the solution, along with the line color and thickness.

Puzzle Styling Options

You can customize the styling of the puzzle by selecting your own font (and font color) and setting the colors for the lines and squares. For Reverse Word Search Puzzles it's necessary to print the lines in the grid, otherwise it will become really hard to solve.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/6EG56rtVfv/Reverse%20Word%20Search%20-%2006%20Style.png (Reverse Word Search - 06 Style)

You can change the font by clicking on the white panel that shows the font name (it also shows the text "Click to Edit Font Settings").

Word List Styling Options

Additionally there are some options to control the way the word list is displayed in Instant Puzzle Books.

If your word list has hints / descriptions in addition to the words, you can choose to display those. That adds a significant bit of complexity. This feature can also be used to create language translation puzzles. (instead of just typing a word on each line, type the word and description, separated by a colon, like this "word:description")
Words can be aligned left, center or right.
Words can be sorted in several ways

Here's an example of a Reverse Word Search page in an Instant Puzzle Book (this example uses the Time Saver features):

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/1ddRcvonnD/Reverse%20Word%20Search%20-%2007%20Output%202%20Per%20Page.png (Reverse Word Search - 07 Output 2 Per Page)

Time Saver Explained

Each Time Saver (add-on) consists of two parts:

Options to create more puzzles a bit faster, in a flexible way
Additional layout options

Faster Puzzle Creation

These options can be found under the "Time Saver" tab in Puzzle Maker Pro. The actual features depend on the puzzle type, for example for Sudoku you can select different sudoku types and difficulty levels, while for Word Search you can also add your own Word Lists.

To use the Time Saver to create puzzles, you'll have to make sure the "Use Time Saver" checkbox is enabled. This will also change the text of the "Create" button to "Create (TS)".

Layout Options

The "Page Layout" tab (can be found on the "Instant Puzzle Books tab" in Puzzle Maker Pro) is enabled by the Time Saver Add-on.

Conclusion

Whenever the term Time Saver is used, we refer to the functionality described here.

Question 3

Can I get an overview of what Puzzle Maker Pro can do for me?

Accepted Answer

This is a short overview video of the features and functions of Puzzle Maker Pro.

Question 4

How to use the Layout Options in Time Saver

Accepted Answer

Layout Options for Time Saver

This tutorial presents a short overview of the Layout Options in Time Saver. Currently this feature is available in:

Time Saver for Sudoku

Using the Layout Options

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/rfFO6lmpgA/Layout%20Options%20for%20Time%20Saver%20Overview.jpg (Layout Options for Time Saver Overview)

Click "Show Layout Options" to show the Layout Options section. By default, the main Layout settings for Puzzle Maker Pro will be shown.

There are four different options:

Layout: the actual Page Layout for the puzzles. This can change for each row in the table with puzzles. The value shown at the top (in the Layout Options section) will be used when you add a new row
Collate: Print puzzles first, and solutions later
New Page for Section (Puzzle / Solution): start puzzles and/or solutions for the new puzzle type (row in the table) on a new page. This allows you to add pages, e.g. with a chapter heading or with a short tutorial for the puzzle type

Editing the Page Layout

The Layout will be shown as P:3x2, S3x2 or P/S:3x2. P stands for Puzzle pages, S for Solution pages. If you don't use collation, the code "P/S" will be used - in that case puzzles and solutions will be printed using the same layout.

To change the default layout (in the Layout Options section), click "Edit Layout". To change the layout for a single row in the table, click the cell containing the layout. (In the example that would be the last cell in each row, containing the text "P:3x2, S3x2".

This will display the window to edit the layout:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/3vMAnBq5Iv/Page%20Layout%20Setup.jpg (Page Layout Setup)

In this window you can set the layout for puzzle pages by setting the number of rows and columns on the page. A schematic image will update when you change the settings. If you use collation, you can also set the page layout for the solution pages.

Question 5

Can I use Arial (font) in my puzzle books?

Accepted Answer

Puzzle Maker Pro selects Arial as the default font to use for puzzles and puzzle books. A very relevant question is: Can you sell puzzle books where you use Arial to print all the letters and numbers?

Microsoft has a F.A.Q. section about this: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/fonts/font-faq.

Long story short: You can use Arial in your puzzle books "Unless you are using an application that is specifically licensed for home, student, or non-commercial use, we do not restrict you from selling the things you print and make using the Windows-supplied fonts"

If you choose to use another font, always check with the creator of the font (Microsoft, for most standard fonts) if you have the right to publish books with this font.

Question 6

Puzzle Maker Pro - Tutorial Overview

Accepted Answer

Puzzle Maker Pro Tutorials

Welcome to the Puzzle Maker Pro - Tutorials page: This page lists the tutorials for Puzzle Maker Pro. Please use search if you don't see here what you're looking for.

Getting Started

Puzzle Maker Pro - Getting Started

Puzzle Maker Pro Tabs

Output Settings - Puzzle Files

Output Settings - Additional Output

Output Settings - Page format

Page Layout

Time Saver

Tools

Puzzle Specific Tutorials

Word Star

Generic FAQ's

Drag and Drop Images

Color and Font Selection

Mask Editor

Question 7

Getting Started with Puzzle Maker Pro

Accepted Answer

Introduction to Puzzle Maker Pro

Welcome to Puzzle Maker Pro - the world's best puzzle maker. We've tried our best to make the software as easy and intuitive to use as possible. However, because we want you to be able to create something unique to you, we still offer a lot of options.

In this tutorial we'll show you the basics. Your first puzzle (or even puzzle book) is just one click away.

Puzzle Maker Pro - Main window.

When you start Puzzle Maker Pro, you'll see a window looking a lot like this:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/V3P2w4AK32/Puzzle%20Maker%20Pro%20Main%20Window.jpg (Puzzle Maker Pro Main Window)

It currently shows Sudoku, but if you purchased a different puzzle, it'll show that instead.

Puzzle Maker Pro is a framework for puzzle modules - some parts will be different for each puzzle, other parts are standard options available to all puzzles.

Let's start the tour:

Preview

Now go on and press preview, maybe change some of the settings, colors or numbers, and see what happens when you click preview again.

To find out where your puzzle files are saved, continue to Output Settings. For all other topics, go back to Tutorial Overview

Question 8

Can you create puzzles with numbers using Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search

Accepted Answer

This tutorial shows you how you can easily create word search puzzles with numbers, using Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Search.

The steps in this tutorial apply to all versions of Word Search.

Step 1 - Select a file with numbers or paste the list of numbers

First of all, you need a list of numbers instead of words. The process is the same as for word search puzzles:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/uI92RPKg8h/Word%20Search%20with%20Numbers.jpg (Word Search with Numbers)

As you can see, the numbers are in the puzzle, but the "filler", or empty squares are still using letters. You can easily fix that.

Step 2 - Enter the numbers for the empty squares

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/eNftVPmd6S/Word%20Search%20with%20Numbers%202.jpg (Word Search with Numbers 2)

Find the 'Hidden Word' section on the Solution tab, make sure 'Random Characters' is selected, and enter all the numbers you want as filler in the text field. Click 'New Preview' again to verify that the result is what you want it to be.

Right now the puzzle is correct, but there's one more step to make sure the PDF or PPT output looks good too:

Step 3 - Set the sort order

By default, words will be sorted in alphabetical (dictionary) order. You can do that for numbers too, but especially if you use numbers of different lengths, like 11 and 90210, you may want to use the numerical sort order. You can find this on the 'Style' tab, below the color settings.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/wuGqS3zSeN/resources/89vI8kQz01/Word%20Search%20-%20Number%20puzzles%203.png (Word Search - Number puzzles 3.png)