If you repeat this procedure over a square that is already an 'out', it will change back to a normal non-out square.

If you perform this procedure over a square with a letter in, the letter will be deleted.

Note the ratio between outs and non-outs should be about 1:6 (1 out square for every 6 non-outs) if you wish to work to the generally accepted standard, and if you are produce American-style crosswords. The ratio will be much smaller (perhaps about 1:3) for British-style crosswords.

If you wish to 'draw' outs on the square, when you Ctrl+right-click on a square to turn it to an out (or normal square), keep the right hand mouse button held down, and drag the cursor through the squares you wish to be the same colour, and let go of the right-hand mouse button when you have finished drawing that colour. This also works for deleting letters from the grid.

To start drawing at another position, just click in another square, and repeat the procedure.

Keypad: Note that you can use the + key on the numeric keypad to make the currently selected grid square an 'out', or press the - key on the numeric keypad to make the  currently selected grid square a normal square. Press the [Delete] button to remove the letter from the currently selected square.

To start reflecting outs horizontally (i.e. if you draw on the left of the grid, this is reflected on the right of the grid and vice versa), click on the button or click on the Edit menu, and click on the Reflect Horizontally menu option.

To start reflecting outs vertically (i.e. if you draw on the top of the grid, this is reflected on the bottom of the grid and vice versa), click on the button or click on the Edit menu, and click on the Reflect Vertically menu option.

To start reflecting outs diagonally (i.e. if you draw in the top-left corner of the grid, this is reflected on the bottom-right of the grid and vice versa), click on the button or click on the Edit menu, and click on the Reflect Diagonally menu option.

Keypad: You can press the * key on the numeric keypad to switch between different combinations of Horizontal, Vertical and Diagonal Reflections.

The following options are available. They are divided into the boxed categories within the pop-up:-

Background Use standard grid colours / pictures. Click on this to make it checked if you want to use a different colour or picture to go into the cell. Grid Image. Click on this to change the image that you wish to appear in the currently selected grid square. Select the required image using the image organizer, and then click on the Ok button, or No Image button to have no image in the square, and to use the colour property for the square instead. Grid Color Click on this to select a colour to use for the grid cell. Note that this is overriden by the image property. You will need to remove any existing image first as described above, before any colour you choose becomes visible. Transparent Click on this to make the current grid cell transparent - i.e. with no background. This is useful if you wish to place an image behind a portion of the grid, perhaps partially hiding it with some squares, and letting other squares show through to make it a little harder to guess what the picture is - see the section on GridPics for more information. 'Out' This indicates whether the square is an out. Click on it to switch between turning its 'Out' status on and off. Across Bar This indicates if this cell contains the last letter in an across clue, and has a vertical bar to separate it from any other clues. Down Bar This indicates if this cell contains the last letter in a down clue, and has a horizontal bar to separate it from any other clues. Grid Clues This only works in squares that have been designated as an 'out'. A word that starts or finishes somewhere next to this square can have its clue placed inside the square using this facility. Any number of clues can be included in the square, space permitting. For example, to put the clue of the word to the left in the space, you would click on the left-hand-arrow button. This will stay down to indicate the grid cell now contains the clue text, and an arrow will appear fom the out to indicate the direction of the word that is relevant to the clue. You can remove the arrow and the clue text by clicking on the arrow again. There are twelve possible directions that can be used, as arrows can point 'around corners' to show clues that pass beside the out.

	Border Use Standard Border This indicates whether the size and colour of the border is taken from the globally set value that appears in the puzzle's Properties section. Border Color... Click on this to select a colour to use for the border. % of grid size in thickness Type into this box to change the width of the border in respect to the size of the square. E.g. to change it to 10% of the size of the entire square, you would type 10 into the box. Generally, 4-6% is fine.
	Number Inherit 'Own Numbering' Status This indicates whether the style of numbering is inherited from the globally set values that appear in the puzzle's Properties section. Own Numbering This is ticked if the user should type in a specific number or letters for the square. The user would type this into the text box next to this option. This is useful when the automatic numbering schemes are not appropriate for a specialised puzzle, or part of a puzzle.
	Visibility Letter visible in 'empty' grid This means that when an 'empty' grid is shown when someone is trying to complete the crossword, or print it out, the letter will show. This is useful in puzzles where you wish to give the puzzler a head start. Inherit 'Hide if Empty' status This indicates whether the next option should be inherited from the globally set value in the puzzle's Properties section. Hide if Empty This indicates that the square should be hidden if it has not letter in it. This is useful for 'free-form' puzzles etc. to give the appearance that the words are not restricted by a grid.

Clue Matching Inherit 'AutoMatch to Clues' status This indicates whether the matching of clues to the square should be inherited from the globally set value in the puzzle's Properties section. AutoMatch to Clues If this is ticked on a square which represents the start of a word on the grid, then when the user clicks on the Refresh button, it will make no attempt at trying to match the word to any clues, and will not create a blank space for the clue to be type into. In short, this should be used when a word on the grid does not have an equivalent clue.

Clue... button Click on this to open the Clue editing window at the location of the currently selected clue. This assumes that you are currently clicked on the first letter of the word for which you wish to edit the clue.

You can drag the Properties box around the screen by its title bar, and carry on working on the grid. The box will always appear above the grid. To close the box, if you feel that it is getting in the way, just click on the cross at the top right hand corner of the box. You can always open it again at any time by simply right-clicking on the appropriate grid cell.

Bars separate one word from another. See sample puzzle no. 5 for an example of the use of bars.

To indicate that the currently selected grid cell has the last letter in the clue, and to place separating bar in the right of the cell, hold down the Alt button, and click on the right-hand mouse button. Ensure that the direction indicator is in the correct direction - e.g. for across or for down. You can remove the indicator again by repeating the procedure.

To switch to Down mode, click on the button or click on the Edit menu and click on the Across menu option.
To switch back to Across mode, click on the button or click on the Edit menu, and click on the Down menu option.

When clicking on squares, if you click on the start of a clue, the clue is automatically highlighted. If a square has a clue in both across and down directions, the one that is selected is determined by which mode is currently selected.

Also, the HOME and END keys go to the left and right hand side of the grid respectively when in Across mode, and top and bottom of the grid respectively when in Down mode.

Keypad: You can press the / key on the numeric keypad to switch between Across and Down mode.

The direction that the cursor advances to after each letter depends on whether you are in Across or Down mode (see previous section).

You can use the cursor arrow keys to move around the grid, or just click on the square that you want to start typing in.

You can use the normal Delete (delete the current cell and leave the cursor there), and backspace (delete current cell and move back a cell) keys to deleted letters you have typed, or use the SPACE bar to clear a cell and advance to the next cell.

Click on the left-most (for across clues) or top-most (for down clues) empty square of the clue on the grid, and either click on the Word List menu and click on the Find to Fit menu option, or alternatively press the F7 key. Alternatively, you can just hold down the Alt key, and left-click on the starting square of the word you wish to fill.

If the computer finds anything to fit the space, it will show the clues screen with a list of suggested words.

You can then click on one of these words, and either press Enter to fill it into the space you selected, or drag it on to first letter of the clue to fill that clue in automatically.

Alternatively, you can manually type the clue into the grid.

This is the equivalent of selecting Word List and View, and then typing a mask (i.e. ? for missing letters) in the Word edit box, and then clicking on the Find List button.

To close the clue screen when you have finished with it, click on the X at the top right hand corner of the clue screen, click on the Close button or just press the Esc key (top left hand corner of the keyboard)

Click on the left-most (for across clues) or top-most (for down clues) empty square of the clue on the grid, and either click on the Pool menu and click on the Find to Fit menu option, or alternatively press the F6 key. Alternatively, you can just hold down both the Ctrl and Alt keys, and left-click on the starting square of the word you wish to fill.

If the computer finds anything to fit the space, it will show the clues screen with a list of suggested Clues.

You can then click on one of these clues, and either press Enter to fill it into the space you selected, or drag it on to first letter of the clue to fill that clue in automatically. This will also copy the details of the clue - i.e. the clue itself, answer, alternative clue, hint, explanation, and categories - to the crossword from the pool file.

This is the equivalent of selecting Pool and View, and then typing a mask (i.e. ? for missing letters) in the Mask edit box, and then clicking on the Find List button.

To close the clue screen when you have finished with it, click on the X at the top right hand corner of the clue screen, click on the Close button or just press the Esc key (top left hand corner of the keyboard)

Keypad: You can press the F8 key to view the currently selected clue.

Left arrow

Nb. If you hold down the Ctrl key at the same time, the grid will scroll to keep the cursor in the same position. This is useful if only a portion of a large puzzle is visible at one time.

If you hold down the Alt key at the same time, and the currently selected square is an out, then a GridClue for the clue directly to the left of the out will be shown in the out. Repeat this to remove the GridClue again.

Right arrow

Nb. If you hold down the Ctrl key at the same time, the grid will scroll to keep the cursor in the same position. This is useful if only a portion of a large puzzle is visible at one time.

If you hold down the Alt key at the same time, and the currently selected square is an out, then a GridClue for the clue directly to the right of the out will be shown in the out. Repeat this to remove the GridClue again.

Up arrow

Nb. If you hold down the Ctrl key at the same time, the grid will scroll to keep the cursor in the same position. This is useful if only a portion of a large puzzle is visible at one time.

If you hold down the Alt key at the same time, and the currently selected square is an out, then a GridClue for the clue directly above the out will be shown in the out. Repeat this to remove the GridClue again.

Down arrow

Nb. If you hold down the Ctrl key at the same time, the grid will scroll to keep the cursor in the same position. This is useful if only a portion of a large puzzle is visible at one time.

If you hold down the Alt key at the same time, and the currently selected square is an out, then a GridClue for the clue directly below the out will be shown in the out. Repeat this to remove the GridClue again.

Home

End

Enter (<-')

<--- (Backspace)

Delete

PgUp / Page Up

PgDn / Page Down

+

-

/

*

Alt+R or F5

F6

F7

F8

F9

F12

Ctrl-T

Ctrl-M

Ctrl-1