For
example, if you wanted to find all words that started with STUP then the wildcard would be
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~ Arctan Computer Ventures' WordPuzzle Pro ~
Tell me about... Masks
| Sections |
|
| Single-letter (?) | To find a missing letter, use a ?
in place of the letter you wish to find. E.g. M?SK would find MASK and MUSK |
| Asterisk (*) - Starting | To find words starting with some
given text, suffix the text with an asterisk (*). E.g. STUP* would find STUPENDOUS, STUPID and STUPOR |
| Asterisk (*) - Ending | To find words ending with some
given text, prefix the text with an asterisk (*). E.g. *STING would find ADJUSTING, HOSTING, STING, and WASTING. |
| Asterisk (*) - Containing | To find words that contain some
given text, prefix and suffix the text with an asterisk (*). Eg. *STAR* would find STAR, STARTING, POLE-STAR, and CUSTARD. |
| Vowel (^) | To find a missing letter that can
only be a vowel (or a Y), use a ^ in place of the letter you wish to find. E.g. A^* would find AARDVARK, AARONIC, AEROPLANE, AIDS, AIR, AUBURN, and AYRSHIRE. |
| Extended Vowel (>) | To find a missing letter that can
only be one of AEIOUYH or R, use an > in place of the letter you wish to find. E.g. P*>ED would find PALED, PELTED, PHOTOGRAPHED, PIED, POKED, PRESSED, and PUNISHED. |
| Consonant (@) | To find a missing letter that can
only be a consonant (non-vowel), use an @ in place of the letter you wish to find. E.g. P@*ED would find PHOTOGRAPHED, PLAIN-HEARTED, PLUNGED, PRAISED, and PRONGED. |
| First Letters (<) | Certain letters (ETAOINS) are good
first letters. To find a missing letter that is one of these letters, use a <. E.g. <A*ED would find EAGLE-EYED, NAILED, NARROW-MINDED, OARED, SAVED, and TATTOOED |
Both the word list and clue pool make use of masks in order to find a selection of words from the available list.
A mask is a way of expressing that you wish the computer to fill-in the gaps in a word.
For example, if lets say you have a word in your crossword that crosses other crosswords, and you can't think of a word to fill it. That space is made up as follows: <space> a <space> g <space> <space> n <space>
In mask terms, you would replace each <space> with a question mark. Thus the space you are trying to fill becomes ?A?G??N?
If you were to fill this in as your search word, then the computer would show a list of words that would fill this space, which would include:-
BARGAINS, DANGLING, GANGRENE, GARGLING, JANGLING, LAUGHING, SANGUINE, VARGUENO
Would you have though of all of those without the computer's help?
A question mark finds letters to fill single-letter holes in the word.
It is also possible to ask the computer to search for holes that are bigger than a letter. For this, you would use the asterisk or star symbol - *
For
example, if you wanted to find all words that started with STUP then the wildcard would be
STUP*
The * refers to the hole you wish to find letters for - in this case, the hole is at the end of the word, so some example words that were returned would include:-
STUPEFACTION, STUPEFIED, STUPENDOUS, STUPEOUS, STUPID, STUPIDITY, STUPIFY, STUPOR, STUPRATION...
If
you wanted to find all words that end with STING then the wildcard would be *STING - some
example words returned:
ADJUSTING, CONTRASTING, HOSTING, NONRESISTING, STING, SUGGESTING, WASTING, WATER-CASTING...
If
you wanted to find all words that have STAR somewhere within the word, you would use two
asterisks, one before and one after the word. This tells the computer that letters should
be found both at the start and finish of the word - *STAR* yields the following words and
more:-
ASTART, BESTAR, CUSTARD, DASTARDLY, MUSTARD, MUSTARD GAS, POLE STAR, STAR, STAR TREK, STARLING...
You
can combine the use of both question marks and asterisks. For example, if you wanted to
find all words that start with an S, end with an E, and have a A followed by another
letter followed by an E within the word, you would use: S*A?E*E as a wildcard. Results
might include:-
SALEABLE, SAREE, SCAVENGE, SIAMESE, SNAKE-EYE, STALEMATE, STINGAREE, SURCEASEANCE...
It is
possible to find a word with a letter that has to be a vowel - rather like the ? wildcard,
but with the restriction that the letters can only be one of A, E, I, O, U or Y. For
example, if you want to find all words that start with A but a vowel follows, and then any
other letters after that vowel, you would use: A^* as a wildcard. Results might include:-
AARDVARK, AARONIC, AEGEAN, AEROPLANE, AIDS, AIR, AORTIC, AUBURN, AUDIOMETER, AYE, AYRSHIRE...
It is
possible to find a word with a letter that has to be a vowel or a letter that might easily
be next to a consonant - rather like the ? wildcard, but with the restriction that the
letters can only be one of A, E, I, O, U, Y or H or R. For example, if you wanted to find
all words that start with P, but then either a vowel or H or R could follow, and then any
letters in the middle, but ending ED to give a past tense, you would use: P>*ED as a
wildcard. Results might include:-
PALED, PAINED, PEAR-SHAPED, PELTED, PHOTOGRAPHED, PIED, PIGEON-CHESTED, POKED, PRESSED, PUNISHED...
It is
possible to find a word with a letter that has to be a consonant (non-vowel) - rather like
the ? wildcard, but with the restriction that the letters can only be one of
BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXYZ. For example, if you wanted to find all words that start with P,
followed by a non-vowel, and then any letters in the middle, but ending ED to give a past
tense, you would use: P@*ED as a wildcard. Results might include:-
PHOTOGRAPHED, PHYLACTERED, PLACED, PLAIN-HEARTED, PLEASED, PLUNGED, PRAISED, PRONGED, PRUNED...
The
letters ETAOINS are the first letters on a typesetting machine, and refer to the most
commonly used letters in the english language. Consequently, they make good first letters
to words, and are good to search for if you have a difficult space - e.g. near an unusual
word.
It is possible to find a word with one of these letters - rather like the ? wildcard, but
with the restriction that the letters can only be one of ETAOINS. For example, if you
wanted to find all words that start with two common letters, and with a K somewhere in the
word, but ending ED to give a past tense, you would use: <<*K*ED as a wildcard.
Results might include:-
ASKED, NAKED, NICKED, NICK-NAMED, SICKENED, STACKED, STINKWEED, STREAKED, TICKLED, TICKSEED...
When using the mask edit box for either word list or clue pool, there are a few useful tips that are worth knowing:-
If you are manually adding a number of entries, right-click over the Add
button to make it the default button and just press 
after typing each new word.
If you want to search for a number of entries, right-click over the Find List
button to make it the default button and just press
after typing each new word.
The mask edit box has an drop-down arrow next to it, which keeps a history of
the entries you have made since you opened this session of the application. If
you want to refer back to another search (perhaps to slightly amend it), click
on the drop-down arrow, and select the required entry. Once you use that entry,
it will be brought back up to the top of the history list. Thus, the list has
the most recent entries at the top of the list.
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Arctan Computer Ventures
Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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This Page was last updated: 06 July 2001 23:31