Crossword-Arabic

Make crossword puzzles in Arabic script (can be Arabic, Persian, Urdu, or other languages using Arabic script)

Based on my earlier Unicode crossword https://github.com/mapmeld/crossword-unicode

Problems with regular crosswords

Most Arabic crossword puzzles (like this one) separate out the letters so that they can be read in horizontal (right-to-left) and vertical (top-to-bottom) directions. If instead the words were connected horizontally, it would still be awkward to write a vertical word over it and attempt to connect the letter at an angle.

A new way to intersect

I started thinking that words should intersect on the blank space or cut in certain Arabic words. As an example, the word 'Al-Arabiya' is like this: العَرَبِيَّة‎‎ There are two gaps, one between the A and L, and then the between the R[a] and B. These gaps are common enough that words can intersect often, and it gives the puzzle-solver some hints about what letters should be in the words.

These cuts are marked with a light grey square, regardless of whether another word intersects over it or not.

Usage

Client-side javascript

var game = new Crossword(HTML5canvas, columns, rows);
game.clearCanvas(true);

var clue = 'Arabic in Arabic';
var answer = 'العَرَبِيَّة‎‎';

game.addWord(answer, function(error, clueAnchor, direction) {
  // error is null or an error (answer is too small, too big, cannot be placed etc)
  // clueAnchor is the number used by the system (for example "2" for "2 across")
  // direction is "across" or "down"
});

// advanced language options
game.setNumberTransform(function (n) {
  // use another numeral
  return persianNumbers(n);
});

Node module

Using the crossword module in NodeJS requires node-canvas.

Installation pre-requisites:

• Amazon Linux EC2
• Fedora
• OSX
• Solaris / Illumos / SmartOS
• Ubuntu / Debian
• Windows
• Heroku
• Centos

npm install canvas crossword --save

var Canvas = require('canvas');
var Crossword = require('crossword');

var width = 20;
var height = 15;
var canv = new Canvas(40 * width, 40 * height);

var game = new Crossword(canv, width, height);
game.clearCanvas(true);

game.addWord(answer, function(err, clueAnchor, direction) {
  //
});

Command Line

Make crosswords from a word list using command line.

Prerequisites: NodeJS and fonts which support your language (preferably Noto Sans Kufi Arabic)

npm install crossword -g
crosswordar wordlist.txt output.png

# more custom setup
# 20 columns wide, 15 rows high
crosswordar wordlist.txt output.png -w 20 -h 15

License

Open source, MIT license