Across and Down Constructor

Supply a word list; the words are placed to intersect one another, across and down.
For example, the following input words produce the following output result.
(The red color in this example shows where the process starts.)

 Input: Word list    Output: words crossed
contra dance wavy-line becket allemande circle hands-four balance swing hey star chain  --> 
  STAR          
  W    BECKET  
  I      I     
HANDS-FOUR     
  G      C     
    H    L B   
 ALLEMANDE A   
    Y   A  L   
 C    CONTRA    
 H      C  N   
WAVY-LINE  C   
 I         E   
 N            

Step 1: Word list (the only required step)
Enter your list (or space-separated string) in the text area below.

Hints:

  • My example word list is above (contra dance wavy-line becket allemande circle hands-four balance swing hey star chain).
  • Word lists can come from any dictionary, but I like words from a unique vocabulary such as a hobby, culture, place, or association.
  • Names work, too.
  • Hyphenate phrases you wish to keep together.
  • This process takes longer for longer word lists, but works better for longer words with comon letters.
  • If some of your input word list do not appear in the output, try the shuffle option below, and also request the additional-output option below.

Click here to see results at any time.

You can return here by pressing your browser's "Back" button.
Other options are below.

Step 2: Colors list (optional)
Enter your corresponding list of Colors for the words in the text area below.
 

Hints:

  • Choose from the following list of 16 colors: 
      Red,Green,Blue,Yellow,Purple,
      Fuschia,Navy,Teal,Aqua,Olive,
      Lime,Black,Silver,Gray,White
  • If you enter no colors here , then only the default color is used (black, see options below).
  • If you enter fewer colors here than words in your words list, then your last color is repeated to fill out the colors list. For example "Red Red Blue" makes the first 2 words red, and the rest of the words blue.
  • If you use the shuffle option below, you can also elect to shuffle the colors.

Step 3: Sizing, spacing, and coloring output (optional)
Default values are suggested.
   Text font size
   Text letter-spacing
   Text line-height
 Text font color
 Background color

Step 4: Shuffle words (optional)
Shuffling your word list produces different results. If you want the computer to shuffle your list for you, enter a non-0 value below. Later, if you re-enter the same non-0 value, you can get back the exact same result.

 Shuffle number A number to shuffle your list
 Fixed words You can keep the first few words in your word list from being shuffled in order to anchor their positions. To do so, alter the number in this field. For example, 0, 1, 2 ... .
 Color shuffle checkbox Click to shuffle your colors with your word list

Step 5: Additional output (optional)

Supply a title if you want one.

   Verbose output If you want to see more output and the settings with your output, click this box.
(This can be useful for seeing details and for sharing results with others via email--hint, hint; notice my email address below.)

Finish: Press the Submit button to see results


Details:

Your list will be sequentially placed into a rectangular grid, alternating the across and down orientation of words. Word order in the list makes a difference. If at least one intersection is possible, each word is placed where it crosses the most words; ties are broken by placing the word near the original center of the grid. If no intersection is possible for a word, it is put at the end of your list and tried again later.

The photograph at the right shows a counted cross stitch square I designed using this system. The word "swing" is purposely not perfectly vertical in the cross stitch, though.


bschott@gsu.edu

Thank you to so many people who have helped with this project. The folks in the forum at jsoftware.com have made this possible, especially Oleg Kobchenko and David Ness. I dedicate this work to my wife, Joan, who has been my inspiration and my guide.