Yes. Crossword Man retains all rights to the Sympathy software, word lists, website design, etc., but any puzzle you make, even one made with the Fill functions in Sympathy, is your original puzzle and thus you have a presumptive copyright in that puzzle. Once you write the clues, the puzzle is particularly unique to you, whether you write straight "definition" clues, or more inventive "cryptic" clues.

Two notes from our Legal Department: First, a grid created solely using the Fill functions may not actually rise to the level of original creation necessary for a copyright to attach. That's not to say that Crossword Man has some rights in such a puzzle and you would not, just that it might be thought to be unoriginal and thus uncopyrightable. Put in any amount of original material (specific entries, clues, etc.), and you're sure to have an original puzzle that is presumptively copyrighted. Second, some publications will require you to sign over the all rights in the puzzle to them at the time of sale. Check the contract language carefully if you have any questions about that. Again, Crossword Man has no rights in that puzzle, so the only question would be whether the publication buys all the rights with the puzzle, or you have retained some rights to the puzzle even after publication.

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How can I create a cell with more than one letter in?

Select the cell and use the Properties... command on the Cell menu. Click on the Text tab in the Cell Properties dialog. Click in the text box to the right of the Text: label and enter the letters you want to appear in the cell. In the following screen shot, XY has been entered as the text:

Multiple letters in cell

If you know a cell must be filled with something other than one letter, but are not sure of the exact contents, you can enter match-all characters (dots '.') in place of the letters. Then when you enter text into lights crossing the cell, as many letters will be assigned from the light text as there are dots in the cell.

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How can I create a grid as a GIF file?

Use the Export... command on the File menu. Export the Grid only using the Bitmap (BMP) grid format to the Clipboard then paste it into a graphics converter application such as IrfanView from where it can be saved as a GIF file.

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How do I use a different Internet search engine?

External Lookup supports the search engine, OneLook® dictionary and Wikipedia® encyclopedia by default. To add other search engines, use the Edit|External Lookup|Setup... command to open the Lookup Methods dialog; then enter a Name: and Address: for the search engine in an unused row of the Use web search script section.

The Address: setting is just the address used to access the search engine, with {entry} to indicate where the word or phrase should be inserted.

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