Once the crossword program is open, you can press L to open the list of available crosswords. Use the up and down arrow keys to navigate the list - at the bottom of the list, you will find the tutorial puzzle. The puzzle will be called "Tutorial - Quick Start Grid". Hit Enter to load the puzzle.
Once the tutorial has loaded, you will be presented with a table. In the table, the columns are as follows:
You can use the Left and Right arrow keys to read the different columns of the table, each of which give you different information about the selected item.
You can use the Up and Down arrow keys to move up and down the list of clues.
You will notice that the entries are not ordered by day. By tapping Key 1, the entries will be ordered in different ways. Use this to order the entries by day.
Having ordered the entries by Day, you can use the Up and Down arrow keys to easily move to the entry clued on Day 15. By pressing the Right and Left arrow keys you will see that the clue reads as "Relating to the nose".
By pressing Enter, you will be able to enter your answer. Type the letters N A Z A L and hit Enter. You will notice after the letters are read back to you, that the guess you just entered was mispelled! Press Backspace to delete this incorrect guess.
Now, press Enter and type N A S A L. This time the letters are read back to you, and the spelling is correct. To check this, press V to validate (check) your answer. The program will tell you that your guess is correct, as it is!
You can use the Left and Right arrow keys to read the columns of the entry. You will find that instead of reading out "five dots" in the Guess column, the program will now read your answer out - "NASAL".
Next go to the entry clued on Day 8. You will notice by checking the Guess column, that the Guess reads as 'dot dot dot dot S'. The last letter, 'S', comes from an intersection in the crossword grid with the last clue we answered. Sighted players can see this intersection by viewing the Graphical Grid.
Read the entry clued on Day 8 and press Enter to attempt a guess. The clue reads "Units of heredity". You can now enter the answer, G E N E S. Hit V to ensure your guess was correct. Hit M to check your progress. You will find that you have two correct answers out of twenty-seven.
Go down to the entry clued on Day 27. You will notice that the program may mispronounce the word "Bart (B A R T)" in the clue. If you press the keys I and O you can make the program read the clue word by word to make the pronunciation clearer. If this is insufficient, you can hit J to cycle through the range of speech modes, and use and keys I and O to then read the clue out letter by letter. You can hit Enter and type YOMAN as the answer. You will note that this answer is a two-word answer.
You can now continue the crossword on your own. Note that all answers in this crossword are five letters long.
You should now have all the tools you need to complete the puzzle on your own. Remember you can hit S to save your progress. For more instructions consult to the main help file, which can be opened by pressing H with the program in focus.
To open an email containing the answers for your current puzzle, press E with the crossword program in focus. This will open up an email in your default email program.
You will notice that the email will already be written and have a subject and recipient. All you have to do it send the email, and your answers will be submitted.
We value your comments and strongly welcome any feedback you have on the program. You can open a feedback email by pressing F with the crossword program in focus.
Alternatively, you can contact us at: ericwestbrook@btinternet.com.
Thank you for playing the game. We hope you enjoy it!
THIS IS THE END OF THE TUTORIAL.