Software:Lyriq Crosswords

From HandWiki
Short description: 1991 video game
Lyriq Crosswords
Developer(s)Lyriq International
Platform(s)Windows
Macintosh
Release1991[1]

Lyriq Crosswords is a 1991 puzzle video game from Lyriq International. It consists of puzzles from The Washington Post, Penny Press and Crossword Magazine[1][2]

Gameplay

Lyriq Crosswords is a puzzle program offering crosswords sourced from various publications. With four difficulty levels—children, easy, medium, and hard—it features an intuitive menu system for selecting puzzles by size and estimated completion time. Players can request hints, either by revealing a tough clue or checking the accuracy of their entries, though doing so reduces their final score. Scoring is based on puzzle difficulty, completion time, and correctness, with top performances recorded in a Top 10 list. The interface allows direct letter input by clicking squares, and while large puzzles can be viewed in full, clue numbers may be obscured unless the Zoom feature is used—though zooming sacrifices the full-grid view.[2]

Development

The game was developed by Lyriq International, a company founded in 1991 in Cheshire.[3][4] It was distributed in Canada and Japan.[5] In April 1995, Lyriq shipped The Washington Post Edition of the game.[3]

Lyriq Crosswords was later bundled with HandWriter for Windows.[6]

Reception

The Houston Post praised the game's ease of use and configuration options.[7]

The game sold 35,000 copies in the first year, according to Randal Hujar, Lyriq's co-founder.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "What's a 4-Byte Word for Puzzlers' Friend?". August 19, 1996. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150526165215/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/19/business/what-s-a-4-byte-word-for-puzzlers-friend.html?pagewanted=2. Retrieved October 2, 2025. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "The Ideal Computer Puzzler: Crosswords For Windows". January 1995. p. 20. https://archive.org/details/pc-novice-1995-02/pc-novice-1995-02/page/19/mode/2up. Retrieved October 2, 2025. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "The Washington Post Edition of Lyriq Crosswords ships; includes over 100 world class, expert puzzles". April 28, 1995. Archived from the original on May 24, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130524192735/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Washington+Post+Edition+of+Lyriq(TM)+Crosswords+ships%3b+includes...-a016873610. Retrieved October 2, 2025. 
  4. Dick, Ira (May 1, 1995). "Light bulbs go off for young Cheshire company". p. 43. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230118164218/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116720671/hartford-courant/. Retrieved October 2, 2025. 
  5. "Game spells success for Cheshire firm". January 13, 1994. p. 136. Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20251001095929/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/182122843/. Retrieved October 2, 2025. 
  6. Stone, David (April 1994). "Can HandWriter for Windows point you in the write direction?". Archived from the original on September 30, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250930160607/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA15043997&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-GPS&asid=44f4b531. Retrieved October 2, 2025. 
  7. Hume, Brit (November 21, 1994). "There are only two choises for crossword puzzzle fans". p. 59. Archived from the original on September 30, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250930162417/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-post/182072389/. Retrieved October 2, 2025.