| ★ AMSTRAD CPC ★ GAMESLIST ★ THE SUN COMPUTER CROSSWORD VOLUME 4 (c) AMSTRAD ACTION/AKOM LIMITED/NEWS INTERNATIONAL ★ |
8000PLUS |
'Fiery orb combines with what never passes between friends to create an intellectual challenge for a seven year old (3.9)'. If you don't know the answer to that but would like to you are probably the person to invest in the latest Sun Computer Crossword. For. strangely enough, it is probably the person who can't do crosswords who would gel the best value out of this collection of puzzles. If nothing else, the package, produced by Akom Ltd. does provide a perfect introduction to cryptic crosswords. Like computers, crosswords are not half as hard as they seem when you first tackle them. With crosswords, particularly, it is largely a matter of technique - learning the half dozen or so methods that crosswords compilers have devised to confuse you. Once you have learnt to spot the different types of clues and become used to the favourite words of the compilers, you can usually rattle through your regular crossword very professionally indeed. But where do you leam this arcane art? Who is going to introduce you to the occult mysteries of anagrams, acronymns and abbreviations? Into the compilers' brain For the beginner, the documentation accompanying the program will be as useful as the program. In the manual. Edmund Akenhead. former Editor of the Times Crossword and the compiler of these discs, has made a stab at explaining the convoluted workings of the crossword compiler's brain (now there's a frightening thought). There is a full explanation of every clue in the first puzzle on the disc and a pretty comprehensive list of abbreviations sure to be appreciated by any crossword addict. And it does provide you with around 25 real cryptic clues for each puzzle - and they're not the nasty synonym ones you get with those ‘coffee break' puzzles. The problem is that, having mastered the art. would you find the Sun crossword enough of a challenge to plough your way through all 60 puzzles on the disc? Admittedly this is volume four, which presumably means that the other volumes have sold well enough to warrant a fourth being produced. Who are these people? But it is quite difficult to work out who is actually buying them. People tackle a crossword for two reasons: either they want a challenge or they've some time to kill. Without trying to sound superior about this, it must be admitted that Sun crossword compilers seem to be aiming more for the latter than the former. It is, on the other hand, perfectly understandable that crossword addicts should flock to buy a disc like the other offering reviewed on this spread: the Times Computer Crossword (volume four). But would the person who enjoys filling in a few spare moments of a tea-break or a boring half hour on the train doing the Sun crossword, sit down of an evening in front of a PCW and put in the concentration and dedication needed to complete a puzzle at one sitting? You can't fold up your PCW and slip it in your pocket for when you get a spare moment. One of the major selling points of a computerised crossword puzzle is that it can time how long you take and give you a score for how many clues you got right. But again does this appeal to the average Sun crossword solver? You may begin Timing how long it takes to complete a puzzle is only really worthwhile if you can hope to achieve some kind of kudos from it all. If you can enter the Times crossword competition and complete each puzzle in an average four minutes 11 seconds, you will, almost certainly, find yourself being interviewed by the BBC. Go into work tommorrow and announce “Hey everybody! I completed the Sun crossword last night in 12 minutes 23 seconds” and you could get a few strange looks. Timing each puzzle also puts a strange pressure on you. quite in conflict with the whole ethos (anagram of ‘those') of Sun crosswords. You can live with taking one and a half hours to complete the Times crossword. Take the same time over a Sun version and you might well - justifiably - contemplate suicide. It means that, once started, you dare not leave your green screen for as much as a cup of coffee just in case — Heaven forbid - you should take more than half an hour to complete the puzzle. 8000PLUS |
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Page créée en 470 millisecondes et consultée 133 fois L'Amstrad CPC est une machine 8 bits à base d'un Z80 à 4MHz. Le premier de la gamme fut le CPC 464 en 1984, équipé d'un lecteur de cassettes intégré il se plaçait en concurrent du Commodore C64 beaucoup plus compliqué à utiliser et plus cher. Ce fut un réel succès et sorti cette même années le CPC 664 équipé d'un lecteur de disquettes trois pouces intégré. Sa vie fut de courte durée puisqu'en 1985 il fut remplacé par le CPC 6128 qui était plus compact, plus soigné et surtout qui avait 128Ko de RAM au lieu de 64Ko. |
