Crossword Layout Generator - Open Source

Introduction

A crossword consists of clues, answers, and a layout:

• The answers are the hidden words that the player is trying to guess.
• Each answer has a clue which is a sentence or phrase that helps the player to guess the associated answer.
• The crossword layout describes where the answers are located in a two-dimensional grid.

This crossword layout generator takes in a list of answers and outputs a crossword layout. Our program does not generate the answers or the clues.

Input and Output Format

An input is a list of answers in a JSON format. The clues can optionally be included with the input.

Here is an example input:

[{"clue":"that which is established as a rule or model by authority, custom, or general consent","answer":"standard"},{"clue":"a machine that computes","answer":"computer"},{"clue":"the collective designation of items for a particular purpose","answer":"equipment"},{"clue":"an opening or entrance to an inclosed place","answer":"port"},{"clue":"a point where two things can connect and interact","answer":"interface"}]

The output is a crossword layout. That is, we associate a position, startx, starty, and orientation with each answer.

Here is an example output:

[{"clue":"the collective designation of items for a particular purpose","answer":"equipment","startx":1,"starty":4,"position":1,"orientation":"across"},{"clue":"an opening or entrance to an inclosed place","answer":"port","startx":5,"starty":4,"position":2,"orientation":"down"},{"clue":"that which is established as a rule or model by authority, custom, or general consent","answer":"standard","startx":8,"starty":1,"position":3,"orientation":"down"},{"clue":"a machine that computes","answer":"computer","startx":3,"starty":2,"position":4,"orientation":"across"},{"clue":"a point where two things can connect and interact","answer":"interface","startx":1,"starty":1,"position":5,"orientation":"down"}]

One can visualize the output as follows:

Getting Started

Step 1: Add the following line to the head of your html document:

<script src="layout_generator.js"></script>

Step 2: In the body of your html document, you can add the following JavaScript:

<script>
...
var layout = generateLayout(input_json);
var rows = layout.rows;
var cols = layout.cols;
var table = layout.table; // table as two-dimensional array
var output_html = layout.table_string; // table as plain text (with HTML line breaks)
var output_json = layout.result; // words along with orientation, position, startx, and starty
...
</script>

Update: Our crossword layout generator is now available as a package for Node.js applications. For more information, see the Node.js version of our README here: https://github.com/MichaelWehar/Crossword-Layout-Generator/blob/npm/README.md

Also, see our package's npm listing here: https://www.npmjs.com/package/crossword-layout-generator

Demo Website

The demo website's source code can be found in index.html.

The demo website shows:

• how to generate the crossword layout in a JSON format

• how to generate the crossword layout in a plain text grid format (using HTML line breaks).

• how to turn your crossword layout into a word search puzzle with horizontal and vertical answers.

Demo: http://michaelwehar.com/crosswords

Short Article: https://makeprojects.com/project/crossword-layout-generator---open-source

Information for Advanced Users

• The generated layouts don't always contain all of the input words. If a word does not appear in the layout, then its orientation attribute will be set to "none".

• The generated crossword layouts are not always connected. Occasionally, there will be islands of disconnected words.

• The program is efficient on small word lists, but it runs noticably slower when the list contains more than 100 words.

• We are still exploring potential ways to evaluate the quality of the generated crossword layouts. See Issue #2.

License

• MIT

Credits

• Michael Wehar
• Itay Livni
• Michael Blättler

External Projects That Use Our Library

• WoordSchaap

• Collaboration with TapNotion at PyCon 2018