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xw

Console-based crossword solving client

WAIT JUST A SECOND (15)

Your eyes do not deceive you. Command-line cruciverbalists have finally gotten their day. xw is a console-based crossword solver that offers a fresh take on the digital solving experience. It uses vi-like key bindings and modes, can read any PUZ file (whether local or remote), and even tracks some stats as you solve. It's implemented entirely in Node.js and, for a console application, looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

HOW DO I INSTALL IT? (15)

Well, for now, the easiest way is to do sudo npm install -g jpnance/xw (you'll need Node.js and npm, of course). That'll install the latest (and greatest?) version of xw straight from this very repository.

HMM... OKAY... WHAT NEXT? (15)

The most basic way to start up xw is with xw <filename> where filename is a PUZ file you've already downloaded. Go to your favorite indie constructor's blog and grab a PUZ to give it a shot.

If you get sick of using valuable hard drive space on two-kilobyte puzzles, xw <URL> will work, too, as long as the URL links directly to a PUZ file. Unfortunately, this means that Dropbox and Google Drive links don't work (yet!). In those cases, you're better off just downloading the PUZ and opening it locally.

Finally, there's one more syntax that's a little wonky but is what I use most often. You see, I've predefined a bunch of bookmarks to the puzzles I do most often: USA Today, New York Times, among many others. For most of these services, xw <puzzle service short name> will instantly grab the latest puzzle that service has to offer. xw lat will fetch the latest Los Angeles Times puzzle and xw club72 will retrieve the latest Tim Croce concoction (yes! RSS feeds work!), and so on. You'll have to browse through the others to see what else is available.

In the case of the New York Times Crossword, though, there's a little extra work needed. First, of course, you'll have to have an NYTXW subscription. Then, you'll need to copy and paste your NYT-S cookie from your browser into a file called .xw.conf in your home directory (e.g. ~ or /home/jpnance). The only line in that file should be:

{ "nytCookie": "NYT-S=<cookie value which is pretty long and has a lot of random looking characters>" }

Then, xw nyt will work just like the other short names. (I know this part is a bit involved. I hope to improve it soon.)

Oh, yeah, and if you want to do a puzzle from a specific date, try something like xw usa-today --date 2020-09-20.

IT WON'T LET ME TYPE... (15)

Yeah, once you start it up, you may realize it acts a little strange. Think of it very much like you're in vi and, by default, you start in normal mode.

  • Use i to go into insert mode and then you'll be able to start typing
  • ESC or enter will get you out of insert mode and back into normal mode
  • h, j, k, and l will move the cursor around in normal mode
  • H, J, K, and L will do the same in insert mode (very useful so you can navigate without having to leave insert mode)
  • The arrow keys work, too
  • Spacebar switches between across and down
  • w and b in normal mode (and their uppercase counterparts in insert mode) will take you to the next and previous numerical clues, respectively
  • Start a rebus with * and commit it with enter
  • / in insert mode will drop an anchor at the current square; the next time you press enter, the cursor will automatically be warped to that anchor spot (this is a killer feature exclusive to xw)
  • In normal mode, jump directly to clue 42-down by typing /42d
  • :check will show you any errors you have in your solution
  • :reveal will reveal all of the answers, marking the squares you had wrong

There are even some other things in there but I'll document those another day. I think all that is enough to get you started.

...AND NOW I CAN'T QUIT (15)

I know! Isn't it great being able to bang through crosswords at a humble terminal? It's so primal, so nat--

NO, LIKE, LITERALLY (15)

Oh, right. Well, it wouldn't be vi-like if it were easy to exit, ha ha!

:q in normal mode will do the trick (:x works, too). The ol' tried-and-true press-ESC-a-bunch-of-times-and-then-:q strategy works great.

Look, I know the vi-like schtick won't be for everybody. I'm considering making it optional but that'd be a bit into the future. This is the hacker's crossword solver and vi's two main modes of operation actually translate very well for crossword solving, in my opinion. xw works great for me and I really hope it'll work well for you, too.

WOW! WHAT CAN'T IT DO? (15)

xw isn't perfect and it's certainly not "done". Here are some things that you might be disappointed to learn that you can't presently do:

  • See cross-referenced clues
  • Save progress on a puzzle and come back to it
  • Navigate with CTRL+<arrow> as many other solvers allow
  • Open JPZ or IPUZ files (although cryptics seem to work just fine, as long as they're PUZ files!)
  • Jump to a clue based on a search of its text
  • Construct your own puzzle

To varying degrees, I'm working on all of those, roughly in that order of priority.

WHO ARE YOU, ANYWAY? (15)

I'm Patrick. I--get this--enjoy solving crossword puzzles and I also helped make a video game called Deleveled.