


                           ENTERTAINMENT FOR SOME

                        (c) by 1995   Jerome Laulicht

  We have been threatening to add a fun page for big kids from the
  beginning of our short history.  With this evaluation of The Crossword
  Wizard  and Idea Wizard by Cogix Corp.,  we begin -- and none too soon!
  We believe that  there will be a marked increase in games and  puzzles,
  including a spruce up of old favorites, with the advent of new
  multimedia tools  developed for Windows95 game programmers.

  Our first effort is Crossword Wizard,  chosen because crosswords can be
  challenging fun, are good candidates for computer treatment, and  their
  ad was so informative!  It is especially appealing if you want to learn
  how to create or solve crosswords. It also will create challenging
  puzzles for you to solve and technically it is a well-done Windows
  program.  It has interesting features and, while sometimes awkward, is
  an excellent alternative to newsprint paper and pencils.

  Like other intellectually challenging entertainment, crosswords continue
  to attract a varied audience, off and on-line. Cogix has not replaced
  the puzzle on paper so eminently useful to stave off boredom while
  waiting for doctors, dentists, children, planes, etc. They can, however,
  be an alternative to Doom  as a break from work,  while having the
  advantage of being useful in a multitasking environment. Aficionados are
  skilled at spending ten minutes at a time on a puzzle so there is no
  problem mixing it up with a bit of work , which can allow you to think
  about the remaining problems  in the puzzle in the background.

  The challenge is to use the computer to enhance the process enough to
  make it worth having a crosswords program.  The Cogix  effort meets the
  challenge sufficiently well to be a good choice.   It goes well beyond
  presenting you with interesting puzzles to solve which is about all my
  previous program did. The program does come with some ready made
  puzzles.  Children and beginners can start with easy puzzles, gradually
  building up to those creations where you can quietly curse--the epitome
  of adult entertainment. Experts will find much to like and puzzle over
  while spotting weaknesses, as they are required to do.

  Probably the most interesting and  powerful enhancement in a crossword
  program is one which helps you to learn how to create puzzles more
  easily and with less tedium. My past experience with a crossword program
  was disappointing--good puzzles but too awkward to use happily and a
  tedious and difficult help file on the construction of puzzles. With
  Cogix,  construction is easier to learn and do, with the added ability
  to easily try words out and  then quickly see results. This has the
  bonus of speeding  up learning because a surprisingly small amount of
  text suffices, along with  commands provided to show you alternatives
  and  display results.  Ive oversimplified a bit but the steps are
  really intuitive.

  There are three ways to construct new puzzles.  The easiest is to
  command the program to make an original puzzle for you and then choose
  among several possible sizes and three levels of difficulty. You can get
  a cup of coffee or a beer or even work while waiting for the words to be
  chosen and the clues to be displayed. If your computer is rather slow
  you can be patient  or limit the construction time. Or you could just
  watch the  program sift through its "database of over one million word
  associations".  Staring at and thinking about this process a few times
  and reading  a few paragraphs  gives you a rather clear idea of what is
  going on.

  Something called a "sophisticated combinatorial search algorithm" is used
  in puzzle creation. And get this, the "word associations are derived
  from WordNet, an artificial intelligence lexicon developed at a
  Cognitive Sciences Laboratory".  Information about this  is coming from
  Cogix for those who are interested in AI.

  Yet another way demands even more input from you to build a puzzle
  around your own choice of  six words with their clues.   If you watch
  the rather fast process, try several different sets of words, and think
  about any problems you encounter, you will get even more insight into
  what is involved. In a few tries, I learned that when I opted for a
  large-sized puzzle the program could not create one, even with its one
  million word associations to choose from. Politely, I was told to try
  again but to substitute a shorter word for the longest one.  Probably
  limitations of the available dictionary and some unexplained program
  restrictions.

  The last possibility is wide open and  even more demanding.  You choose
  everything, including ALL the words with clues, and fit them all
  together. This is my next fun! project.  A variety of help is provided
  by learning to use the programs tools.   For example, there is a
  sizable vocabulary of words organized alphabetically and by length. Some
  of your words will actually be two to five words. If you need a seven
  letter word starting with the letters FA, you can see a display of all
  words in the list meeting these specs and choose one, then replace it
  with other possible words to find the best one.

  Probably the second most powerful feature of a crossword program are the
  nature and variety of the hints it lets you call upon. Again the Cogix
  effort passes muster.  You can demand one letter or one word, get visual
  and/or spoken reactions to your choices, and much more.  This helps
  beginners to learn since they can gradually wean themselves from the
  help.  It is also a neat way to move toward the capability to solve many
  of the hardest puzzles Cogix presents for your frustration--and the
  hardest ones are indeed difficult.

  What Crossword Wizard lacks are full blown tutorials with practice for
  you and reactions to some of your errors to teach you how to solve
  puzzles or to completely construct your own.   Ideally this would be
  pitched at several levels including one for kids and one for adolescents
  so that even beginners could  at least get a good sense of things.

  With CD-ROM's, it is easier to provide a mixed learning experience for
  difficult tasks and Cogix has already incorporated spoken words, music
  and visual clues in the current version.  Obviously such an effort
  demands a potential for enough sales to warrant the effort.  This is one
  of those programs which many more people would probably buy if they
  could borrow it first for a week to get a sense that they could  use it.
  Cogix does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Wouldn't it be nice,
  however,  if we  could go to libraries to borrow a program like
  this--with protection for the developer so that it could not be copied?

  Orders--800-455-3388    Phone--415-454-7217      Fax--415-457-4089
  Price--$40--30 day money-back guarantee
  Requirements--386 or better; Windows 3.1, Win95, WinNT

  Jerry Laulicht is a retired professor from the University of Pittsburgh.
  A NYTimes crossword addict, his proficiency is noteable.  He also cheats!



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