The Code Lair

Crossword Puzzle Games!

If you know much about me, then you know that crossword games like Scrabble^TM and Clabbers are some of my favorite passtimes. Here are some utility programs to help your play.

The Scrabble Companion

Set up your board however you like it, set your tiles, and let the computer intelligently suggest your best moves. Great for creating or solving Scrabble-style puzzles, and a fun way to refine your game.

Uses the default ENABLE word list; versions using SOWPODS or my own RIDYHEW may be made available on request (please post in the forums if you want me to prepare them.)

Source code (C++) is available, and for the most part this is portable. It's a console application that uses some fancy conio functions (cursor position and coloring text,) so you may need to port to your own conio/curses library if your system does not offer similar functionality.

The source is a bit old, but should be fairly readable. It was not written with the idea that it would one day be distributed, unfortunately.

Built binaries are available for the DOS/Win32 platform. Yes, this should technically run under MS-DOS on an old 386, but you should have better than that if you're viewing this page.

Scrabble Companion, source distribution	download this package
Scrabble Companion, Dos/Win32 binary distribution	download this package

Clabbers Game For DOS/Win9x

This is a binary-only distribution. As far as I know this is the only implementation of the game of Clabbers available anywhere. (In case you were wondering, Clabbers is played exactly like Scrabble, only you can lay down any combination of tiles which can be anagrammed into a valid word, as opposed to laying down valid words only.) It should also play the original game as well. I've never seen a good implementation of Scrabble for DOS, so here you go, about eight years too late. This should run under Win9x or WinME, however it probably won't run under Windows NT or Windows XP. You have better games to play, anyway.

Clabbers/Scrabble, binaries for Dos/Win9x

download this package