Heuristic crossword puzzle generation

Tomaž Kuzma (2009) Heuristic crossword puzzle generation. EngD thesis.

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Abstract

I present various approaches for crosswords generation and my own approach. I describe the crosswords puzzles and a few types of crosswords that can be generated with my algorithm. I optimize indexing database in order to searches, which are necessary in construction crosswords, are as fast as possible. In the generation I used a novel approach, where I automatically add black boxes during construction, while existing approaches require their definition in advance. I use heuristic search for the position in selection of the inserted words and I use a criterion of the minimum number of relevant words. I also use multi level back-tracking, which is necessary because it allows quick replacement of the words, which were inserted several levels before. I test the algorithm on some typical examples and analyze the results.

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