README.md

Running the crossword puzzle program

You need to have the PyGame library installed.

pip3 install pygame

Then clone this directory locally and type the following commands into terminal: (the first command increases the limit on the number of open files from the MacBook Air default of 256):

ulimit -n 1000

python3 -i main.py

Features that need to be added:

(1) Perhaps the clue text can be linked to the grid (i.e. clicking on a clue activates the corresponding word)
(2) clues should be bound in a box with calculations performed instead of hardcoding in the font size or length of text wrapping
(3) clue font size should adjust automatically to the size of the grid
(4) implement a button to check for correctness of the grid (instead of incorrect colors immediately displaying as red)
(5) The one crossword puzzle grid is currently hard-coded. A webscraper to obtain completed NYT-style crosswords or even a NYT-style crossword generator (very computationally intensive but challenging problem to leave as relatively few blanks!) would be a nice feature.

Currently this is what the Pygame console looks like when it loads with a sample grid [1].

** This is a work in a progress! Check back for updates **

References:

[1] https://nytcrosswordanswers.com/612009/new-york-times-crossword-february-28-2020-answers/