TEA Crossword Helper and Sympathy Crossword Construction allow you to look up words and phrases in the following types of external dictionary resources:

Web Search Engines
Windows Dictionary Software

This page lists some of the resources that have been tested and describes how to configure them where this is necessary.

Web Search Engines

TEA Crossword Helper and Sympathy Crossword Construction allow you to look up words and phrases on the web, as well as in the integrated dictionary/thesaurus. External lookup by default uses , which is helpful for proper names as well as unfamiliar words and phrases.

To change to a different search engine, use the Edit|External Lookup Setup... command to open the Lookup Methods dialog. Then copy one of the URLs given in the table below to the clipboard and paste it into the text entry box to the right of the URL: label. Make sure there is a check to the left of the URL: label. You can test the new setting by clicking on Test lookup.

Search Engine	Description	URL
	General purpose search engine	http://www.google.com/search?q=%22{entry}%22
OneLook®	Dictionary meta search engine	http://www.onelook.com/?w={entry}&ls=a
Wikipedia	Encyclopedia	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/{entry}
Chambers 21st Century Dictionary	Dictionary	http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/chref/chref.py/main?query={entry}&title=21st
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Subscription Site)	Dictionary	http://www.merriam-webstercollegiate.com/cgi-bin/collegiate-tb?book=Dictionary&va={entry}
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus (Subscription Site)	Thesaurus	http://www.merriam-webstercollegiate.com/cgi-bin/thesaurus?book=Thesaurus&va={entry}

With effect from TEA Crossword Helper version 2.1, the first two of the above search engines are pre-configured.

If you find any other web resources that are particularly useful, please let us know using the Feedback Form.

Windows Dictionary Software

"Electronic" versions of dictionaries have used a variety of interfaces to support lookup from other windows applications. A Clipboard Copy Interface is now the norm, but some older applications use different techniques described below.

Clipboard Copy Interface

Most dictionary software packages allow you to look up words and phrases in other applications by copying text to the clipboard. This should work in any TEA and Sympathy window that provides a clipboard copy function.

With this method, the dictionary software initiates the lookup with a button or hot key sequence. It then assumes the active window is the source application and copies the current selection. Note that you don't use the Lookup buttons in TEA and Sympathy with these applications.

Examples of dictionaries using this method are:

Microsoft Bookshelf - British Reference Collection (includes Chambers 1993)
Microsoft Bookshelf 99 - World English Edition (includes Chambers 1993)
Oxford Pop-up English Language Reference Shelf (an iFinger product)
Collins Electronic Dictionary and Thesaurus
Random House Unabridged Dictionary
The Penguin Hutchinson Reference Library

DDE Interface

With this method, the source application must initiate the lookup using DDE. TEA and Sympathy support this method and allow four different DDE signatures to be configured.

The following are configured as standard. Note that in more recent releases, the DDE Interface is switched off by default; you may need to use Edit|External Lookup Setup... to open the Lookup Methods dialog and ensure the relevant entry is checked before lookup will work with the applications below.

The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary from OUP Electronic Publishing
AND Compendium '99
Chambers Dictionary on CD-ROM (CompLex version)
The Concise Oxford Dictionary (CompLex versions only, from OUP Electronic Publishing)

Command Interface

This method also requires the source application to initiate the lookup, but using a different technique internally. TEA and Sympathy support this method and allow four different Command Interface signatures to be configured.

The following is configured as standard. Note that in more recent releases, the Command Interface is switched off by default; you may need to use Edit|External Lookup Setup... to open the Lookup Methods dialog and ensure the relevant entry is checked before lookup will work with the application below.

The American Heritage Dictionary

Application Execution

Some dictionary software packages provide a utility which, when run, will lookup a word. Since these can be installed in the directory of your choice, you must use the Lookup Setup... command in TEA and Sympathy to specify where the utility can be found.

The following table shows the software packages that use this method and the encoding option that must be selected when they are configured:

Dictionary Software Utility Encoding

Chambers English Dictionary (Liris version) Wrd2cham Hex Encoding

Cassell Concise Dictionary CassellSearch No Encoding

CAUTION: some of the above dictionaries have been issued in more than one version and publishers can change the way they support lookup without notice. If you're uncertain whether TEA and Sympathy will operate with a particular package, use the Feedback Form to ask for advice.

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