How-to create Crossword ebooks using the free Across Lite Crossword Puzzle Player.

A good place to start is the The New York Times Free Samples (http://www.nytimes.com/premiumproducts/crosswords/index.html)

I printed out these sample crossword puzzles (with solution) to a pdf using the free Across Lite Crossword Puzzle Player and converted them using PDFRead to my reader's formats. There are many online crosswords that allow you to download the crosswords to your PC using the Across Lite player. These all can now be converted to ebooks for your personal use only.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS:


Download and install the free Across Lite Crossword Puzzle Player (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/litsoft.html).
Ensure you have a PDF printer driver installed, like PrimoPDF (http://www.primopdf.com/) - the free download.
Click on the links below to try some sample NYT puzzles:
A Monday Crossword Puzzle (easier) (http://www.nytimes.com/premiumproducts/crosswords/samples/Aug0497.puz)
A Thursday Crossword Puzzle (more challenging) (http://www.nytimes.com/premiumproducts/crosswords/samples/May2297.puz)

From the 'File Download' pop-up, click 'Open' and the Across crossword puzzle will load in the Across Lite Crossword Puzzle Player.
Print the crossword and clues onto two pages using your PDF printer driver and then print the solution as another pdf file, more specifically:
Under 'File' menu, select 'Print...' In the Choose one box, select 'Solve Items (fresh grid)', check the box 'Print using two pages' and then click OK.
Select your PDF printer, optionally choose a custom page size of 4.5' x 6' (114 mm x 152 mm) and print out the crossword and clues to a pdf file.
Repeat, 'File' menu, select 'Print...', but this time choose 'Solution Grid' and then OK. Again select your PDF printer with the optional custom page size and save the solution to another pdf file.
Optional: I used Adobe Acrobat Professional to combine the crossword and clues .pdf with the solution .pdf using the 'Create PDF_' menu item and 'From Multile files...' This allows everything to be in one ebook!
Using PDFRead (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21906) or equivalent, convert the two .pdf files separately or just the combined one to your reader's output format.

A good source of free to play crosswords can be found here (http://puzzles.about.com/od/crosswords/a/DaveCrosswords.htm). Just don't upload your results as that is currently prohibited!

Enjoy!


EDIT: Attachments removed due to copyright issues. A detailed 'How-to' is now provided in their place so that anyone can create these crosswords for their own personal use (which is allowed!).

nice, thanks !

I temporarily removed the files so we can check on the copyright.

And I'm searching for more recreational puzzles (not just crosswords) to convert.

Only thing is very few offerings are in the public domain, so I've only been able to get free samples and such.

It would be great to locate a (free) book of puzzles, just for those times when you want to unwind with a good book, minus the book. :rolleyes:

I temporarily removed the files so we can check on the copyright.

As best I can determine, the Copyright 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) link at the bottom of the Free Samples link I provide in post #1 indicates that:However, you may download material from The New York Times on the Web (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal, noncommercial use only.

It goes on further to say in Section Two of the Member Agreement (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/agree.html#sect2), 2.3 You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Service for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from The New York Times Rights and Permissions Department, or the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the Content.

Now the tricky part, the italics part above may preclude uploading to mobileread.com even though it may be for personal, noncommercial use.

Nate, if you would like to remove the attachment, I will replace it with a 'How-to' for those that wish to do the same thing I did when creating these free samples. What do you think?

What a pity: 'Personal use only' definitely forbids copying the material for others, and the italicised passage is quite definite. The 'How to' idea sounds very helpful, though, Nick.

What a pity: 'Personal use only' definitely forbids copying the material for others, and the italicised passage is quite definite. The 'How to' idea sounds very helpful, though, Nick.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Detailed 'How-to' instructions are now available in post #1 above.
Here's to holding out hope for a PD source of crosswords/puzzles! :beer:

Thanks for the instructions, Nick. I'm sure that they will be very useful.

Moved to "Other Books", since these instructions are not device-specific.