Magic Fill
- Learn about the Magic Fill AI based puzzle creation tool
Introduction
Magic Fill helps you create dense crossword puzzle grids. It is meant both for expert constructors who are familiar with other crossword construction programs, and for beginners constructing mini puzzles.
To use Magic Fill, start from a blank grid, or enter some starting letters and black boxes in the grid. Then, configure the options in the panel on the right and press Start. You can specify which of the built-in dictionaries to use, or upload your own dictionary.
PuzzleMe's Magic Fill is more flexible and powerful than other crossword construction tools. For example, you can specify important words that you'd definitely like to have in the puzzle grid, but without locking them into a fixed position. You can also specify a limit on the number of black boxes without fixing their positions. For example, you can configure Magic Fill to find a 5x5 grid with the words MUSIC and PIANO, along with any other words from the enabled dictionaries, and with no more than 2 black boxes in the entire grid.
PuzzleMe's Magic Fill is the first program to support crossword construction in Indic scripts. It is also the first to support barred grids, in which cell bars indicate word boundaries
Word list scoring
Magic Fill includes some built-in dictionaries that have been curated from various sources. You can also upload your own personal dictionaries for Magic Fill to use. The list of built-in dictionaries offered depends on the locale that has been set for the puzzle. For example, if the Hindi locale is set for the puzzle, then a Hindi dictionary will show in the list of built-in dictionaries, otherwise it will not.
Scoring of dictionaries
Most of the built-in dictionaries have scores provided by the curator of the word list. If a score is not specified, the default score of a word is 50. When a word is present in multiple dictionaries, its effective score is the sum total of its score in all the dictionaries.
Score cutoffs
The score cutoffs are a way to remove noise from the word lists. It removes some words from the potential solutions even before Magic Fill begins execution. Of course, you can also eliminate words from the filter panel above the list of solutions. But it is more efficient to tell Magic Fill not to consider them at all.
Browsing grids
Sorting
By default, the grids presented are sorted by the minimum word score of the solution, i.e., the solution with a higher minumum word score shows up higher in the list. (Often, the lowest score word rules out a grid, and therefore you might prefer a grid where the "worst" word is not too bad. Secondarily, if two solutions have the same minimum word score, the total grid score is used to break ties.
Filtering
There are several filters provided to help narrow down on the possible solutions. You can include or exclude grids with certain words via the "Words Out" or "Words In" filters. You can also filter grids by the number of black boxes. You can also use the "Grid Score" and the "Word Score" filters to reduce the number of grids to look at. Finally, you can use the star symbol alongside a grid to "pin" it. Use the star filter in the filter panel to look only at pinned solutions. The pin feature enables you to bookmark shortlisted grids to choose from.
Exporting a puzzle
If you need to export the clues and answers from a PuzzleMe puzzle, use the "Download Puzzle as CSV" button on the analytics page of a puzzle. This page is reachable from your dashboard for that puzzle.
You cannot export your files as PUZ or XML/JPZ format.
Indic Puzzle Creation
PuzzleMe supports autofill generation for multiple languages, and the built-in dictionaries are configured according to the language of the puzzle. You can also upload dictionaries of your own language and let Magic Fill do its magic! We have paid particular attention to supporting Indic languages in which multiple letters make up a grapheme that goes into a single box.
Using clue databases
PuzzleMe provides clueing support using Matt Ginsburg's clue database. After a grid has been created using Magic Fill, you will see an "Edit Clues" option. Clues can be edited, and you can see clues that have previously been used for that word. Note that PuzzleMe also enables you to specify media links in the clues. You can use a link to a picture, video or audio to liven up a clue.
Advanced tips
Magic Fill is currently optimized for creation of mini puzzles (5x5 or 7x7). When creating larger 15 by 15 themed puzzles, we recommend you place the themed entries and most of the black boxes directly in the grid. You can then use floating black boxes to optimize the secondary black box placement based on the suggested fills.