For the unqualified, computer terminology is at once without logical meaning and puzzling. What when you have to "cut" a file to make it appear on the screen or work in "Foxplus" to build your database. The first task in any computer course is thus to make the new User familiar with all the terms used in the field. To this end the Training Division at NIC's Western Regional Centre has come out with a software named CROSSWORD which combines the pleasure of solving a crossword puzzle with the process of learning.
Developed under the Xenix operating system, CROSSWORD is a training aid designed to test and increase the computer vocabulary of the User. CROSSWORD consists of two components — the Crossword Player and the Crossword Database Manager.
The Crossword Player generates a crossword puzzle on the screen which the User then tries to solve on the screen itself. Succinct clues are given for each word. Moreover, if the clues are not sufficient for the User, he can invoke CROSSWORD's help facility at any point to get a few additional characters of the required word. The Crossword Player allows the User to redraw the screen, save the game and print the game with or without answers.
The Crossword Database Manager is used to build databases with words and clues. Being menu driven, the Database Manager enables guided execution of operations such as adding and deleting words and clues to and from a database, changing and listing subjects and changing words.