Excalibur Electronics Touch-Screen Crossword Puzzle Deluxe Edition www.ExcaliburElectronics.com Model No. 455D-B C ongratulations on your purchase of Excalibur Electronics' New York Times Touch-Screen Crossword Puzzle, Deluxe Edition! Now you can take the best crosswords in English with you anywhere! You don't need paper, pencil, or eraser. The included stylus and The New York Times Deluxe Crossword's technology do it all. To get the most out of your new purchase, please read the complete manual carefully, especially noting the safety, care and battery information. Keep your manual for future reference. Table of Contents words & puzzle (7), Deleting or erasing (7), Using the check function (7), Completing the puzzle (8), Starting a new puzzle (8), ON/OFF button (8), Auto power-off (8), Light button (8), Contrast (8), Sound on/off (8), Competing against friends (9) Installing Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 Layout of the Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Layout of the Onscreen Keyboard . . . 4 Functions of the Icons . . . . . . . . . . .. 4 Locating & Using Your Stylus . . . . . . 5 Using Your NY Times Crossword . . . .5 Getting started (5), Choosing the level (5), Choosing the puzzle (6), Working a puzzle (6), Viewing clues (6), Solving letters, Batteries should always be installed by an adult. Your unit requires 2 AAA batteries, not included. Be sure to review "Battery Information" on page 10. Carefully turn the unit over so that the LCD screen side is facedown on a soft surface, such as a towel or magazine. You'll find the battery compartment on the unit's back. Slide off the battery compartment lid. Install 2 AAA bat- Installing Batteries teries, making sure to match the polarity (+ and -) with the diagram inside the battery compartment. (See diagram below.) Place the battery compartment lid's tabs in their slots and snap the compartment door back on. Layout of The New York Times Deluxe Crossword Special Care & Handling . . . . . . . . .10 Battery Information . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 90-Day Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . 11 The legendary King Arthur brandished a magic sword, Excalibur, from which we take our company name. With this unique weapon in his hands, he could not be vanquished. A l t h o u g h E x c a l i b u r E l e c t r o n i c s c a n 't claim the magical secrets of Merlin, King Arthur 's court wizard, sometimes our patented technology may make it seem as if we could. The New York Times Touch-Screen Crossword Puzzle, Deluxe Edition is another unmatched innovation of Excalibur Electronics. We make you think. ©2003 The New York Times Company. The New York Times logo is a registered trademark of The New York Times Company. RESET Button (on back) Crossword Puzzle QWERTY Keyboard Clues LIGHT Button 3 Layout of Onscreen Keyboard SOUND Key ON/OFF Key NEW GAME Solve PUZZLE Key "QWERTY" Keyboard DEL Key CONTRAST Key CHECK Key Solve LETTER Key Solve WORD Key Your unit uses a touch-screen "QWERTY" keyboard. A "QWERTY" keyboard arranges the letter-keys just like your home, school, or work computer keyboard does. Your stylus is the key to communicating with your New York Times Touch-Screen Crossword Puzzle, Deluxe Edition. On the back, left-hand side of your unit, you'll find a recessed cradle. Inside is the stylus. Carefully remove the stylus by pressing gently on the tab near its top and pushing it up until you can hold Locating & Using Your Stylus the stylus easily and pull it out completely. Note: Remove the stylus by pulling away from its cradle until its tip clears the brace at the top of the indentation. When you want to store your stylus again, just slide it back into its cradle, pointed-end first. Your unit's buttons are easy to use. Always use your stylus to gently touch the onscreen buttons. ON/OFF: Touch this key to turn the unit on and off. NEW GAME: Touch to start a new puzzle. SOUND: Touch to turn the sound on or off. Functions of the Icons (Onscreen Buttons) in on the selected letter, a whole word, or all letters filled in on the entire puzzle. PUZZLE: Press this key to solve the entire puzzle. WORD: Press this key to solve the selected word. CHECK: Once you've filled in one or more letters, tap and hold this key to check your answers. Any letter that is incorrect will be marked with a spell-check icon. Once you release this key, the original letters will return. DEL: Press to delete letters filled 4 CONTRAST: Touch to adjust the contrast of the screen. Other buttons RESET: Press this button if your unit functions improperly. LIGHT: Press and hold for one sec- A-Z: Use these keys to enter your answers. LETTER: Press this key to solve the selected letter. Getting started Gently touch the pointed end of the stylus to the ON/OFF icon at the bottom left of the keyboard. The first time you do this after installing batteries or pushing the RESET button, your screen will display: NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE Choosing the level Next, use your stylus to press the NEW GAME button. Your display will show the screen at right. Use your stylus to touch the box BY EXCALIBUR Using Your New York Times Crossword ond to turn backlighting on to use the game in low-light areas. Press and hold again to turn it off. corresponding to the level of challenge you want. (Selecting "MIXED" will give you a variety of puzzles, from easy to hard. We suggest, unless you are a very experienced crossword player, that you choose the "EASY" level to get started.) 5 Choosing the puzzle When you select a level, the numbers of the puzzles corresponding to your selected level will appear on the screen. Your display will look like this: This feature allows you to select favorites, or avoid selecting puzzles you've already worked. It also allows you to compete with others, by seeing who can work the same puzzle the fastest. (Note: there are 1,000 puzzles in your New York Times Touch-Screen Crossword Puzzle, Deluxe Edition, so it requires more than one screen "page" to list the puzzles. Touch "NEXT PAGE" to move through the screens. The screen will display "LAST PAGE" when the final page of choices has been displayed. 6 Touch any of the numbers to display a puzzle. You'll see the cursor flashing in the first blank "box" at the top left of the puzzle. You can move the cursor to any open square you want simply by touching that square. You can't move the cursor to a blocked-out (black) square. You can fill in any blank "box" by touching one of the letters on your onscreen QWERTY keyboard. Viewing clues Immediately below the onscreen puzzle you've selected, you'll see the clue for the word you've selected (by touching the word with your stylus). The ACROSS clue will display first. If you want to see the DOWN clue, just touch the right arrow displayed before the clue with your stylus. The Working a puzzle As soon as you touch a number with the stylus, your display will fill with the chosen crossword puzzle. Naturally, all "boxes" (each indicating a single letter) are blank. Blanks between words are indicated by a solid black "box," just as in the puzzles printed in The New York Times. Touch "PREVIOUS PAGE" at the top of the screen to move backward through the pages.) icon will change to a downward arrow. Touching the downward arrow will change the icon back to a right arrow and the ACROSS clue. Solving letters, words & puzzle If you're stumped about a word on the puzzle you're working, you can ask for a specific letter, word--or even the whole puzzle--to be solved. With your stylus, just press LETTER, WORD or PUZZLE under the SOLVE heading. Suppose you touched WORD. Your screen would look like this: SOLVE WORD? Y/N By asking you this question, your unit is safeguarding against giving you an answer you do not want. If we confirm that we want the answer by tapping "Y" with our stylus, the word will be solved. If the right-hand arrow was displayed before the clue, the ACROSS word will be solved. If the downward arrow was displayed before the clue, the 7 If you want to see the clues to a different word of the puzzle, simply touch a letter in the word you choose. The corresponding clues will be instantly displayed. Using the check function Touch and hold the CHECK key with your stylus to check all your answers in the puzzle. All of the incorrect letters will be replaced by a spell-check icon, alerting you that you've made a mistake, without giving you the answer. (Even wrong answers that are spelled correctly will be indicated.) When you release the CHECK key, the spell-check icons will disap- Deleting or erasing This function is just like erasing an answer you've made in a paper-and-pencil crossword. Place the cursor on the letter you want to delete, and touch the DEL key with the stylus. Three options will appear on screen: "DELETE LETTER," "DELETE WORD," and "DELETE PUZZLE." Simply touch the option you want with your stylus. Note: When you select "DELETE WORD," the word deleted will be the ACROSS word when the right arrow appears to the left of the clue. The DOWN word will be deleted when the downward arrow appears to the left of the clue. DOWN word will be solved. pear and the original letters will be displayed. Completing the puzzle A puzzle is completed when all of the squares have been filled with the correct letters. Whether you complete the puzzle by using the solve keys or by figuring each word out, when you're finished, the clue screen will display: PUZZLE COMPLETED TIME 045M025S The third line tells you how long it took to solve the puzzle, in total minutes and seconds. This information allows you to compete against others, or against yourself. Auto power-off To save batteries, your unit will automatically turn off after three minutes of inactivity. (If you are using the light, it will turn off as well.) If this happens while you are still playing, touch the ON/OFF key to wake up the game. You will continue playing the current game. None of your answers will be lost. Light button Press and hold the LIGHT button for one second to turn on your game's backlighting to use your unit in the dark. Press the button again to turn it off. OFF" will show on the screen. Competing against friends By remembering the level and number of the puzzle you select, you can compete against others. The one who solves the puzzle in the least time wins! adds, for example, 10 seconds to your time and each use of the solve word adds a minute. You'll still want to establish a maximum number of uses of each, however. You can allow a specific number of letter and word auto-solutions per player--the more experienced the players, the fewer the autosolutions. Or you can make a rule that each use of the solve letter You can even compete against players that are much more or less experienced than you by selecting puzzles at different levels. As the more experienced player, you may have to solve a puzzle in the "MEDIUM" category, while your less expert opponent gets to choose from the "EASY" level. Starting a new puzzle You can begin a new puzzle anytime by touching the NEW GAME key. Your display will ask you to confirm your choice--so that you don't lose your current game by accident. Then the display will give you the choice of levels. button Touch the ON/OFF key at any time during game play to turn the game off. Touch the ON/OFF key again to turn the game on, and you will continue playing the current game. ON/OFF Contrast If you want to adjust your LCD's contrast to make it readable at varying light levels, just use your stylus to touch the CONTRAST key at the right bottom of the unit. The message "CONTRAST ADJUSTMENT L H" will show on the screen. You can touch the letter "L" to reduce the contrast or touch the "H" to increase the contrast. IF NO BUTTONS ARE PRESSED FOR THREE MINUTES, YOUR NEW YORK TIMES DELUXE CROSSWORD WILL AUTOMATICALLY SHUT OFF TO SAVE BATTERIES. Sound on/off Touch the SOUND key to toggle the sound on and off. The message "SOUND ON" or "SOUND 8 SIMPLY TOUCH "ON/OFF" WITH YOUR STYLUS TO RESUME THE PUZZLE YOU WERE WORKING ON. 9 · Avoid rough handling such as bumping or dropping. Special Care & Handling · Avoid moisture and extreme temperatures. For best results, use between the temperatures of 39ºF and 100ºF (4º C and 38º C). · Clean using only a slightly damp cloth. Do not use cleaners with chemical agents. · Batteries should be installed or replaced only by an adult. · Your New York Times Touch-Screen Crossword Puzzle, Deluxe Edition uses 2 AAA batteries, not included. · Do not mix alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc) or rechargeable (nickel- cadmium) batteries. · Do not mix old and new batteries. · Do not use rechargeable batteries. · Remove exhausted batteries from the unit. · Do not short circuit battery terminals. · Remove batteries and store them in a cool, dry place when not in use. · To avoid explosion or leakage, do not dispose of batteries in a fire or attempt to recharge alkalin ...