How to set up word lists for word puzzles
This tutorial shows how to create Word Scramble puzzles with Puzzle Maker Pro - Word Scramble.
This tutorial applies to:
Simple Word File Format
For simple puzzles like Word Search, you can use a list of words without any embellishments. However, for the puzzles we call "Word Puzzles" - puzzles consisting of a single word, it's often needed to add a description or other information. Especially Word Guess puzzles are impossible to solve without a clue, and for Cryptograms it's usually required as well.
The easiest way to do that is to add a description for each word:
word 1: description for word 1
word 2: description for word 2
In this case the word and the description are separated by a colon (:).
This is sufficient for generating puzzles and creating an Instant Puzzle Book.
Extended Word File Format
There are additional options for the word files, that will help you to create better puzzle books or activity pages. These options are available when you use the Time Saver for Word Puzzles. Without this, you cannot use the automatic way of adding custom titles and descriptions, but you can still easily edit the created puzzle books.
The extended format:
#title: the title for a set of words
#description: the description for a set of words
word 1: description for word 1
word 2: description for word 2
For example:
#title: Garden
#description: Things that grow in a garden
tulip: flower
cauliflower: vegetable
tomato: fruit
Note: Without the Time Saver, the additional options #title and #description will be ignored.