We're celebrating 2022 with a new release of CrossFire. Version 1.3.2
features greater stability on all versions, but is particularly improved
for Macintoshes, with native M1 support, fixes for Big Sur and Monterey,
and better installers.
Security Note: Beekeeper Labs takes security seriously. We have
carefully examined our code to insure that there is no vulnerability (in
any CrossFire version) to the "Log4Shell" exploit. The affected
library is used nowhere in CrossFire.
Get Into the Grid with CrossFire
CrossFire is an innovative tool for creating professional quality
crossword puzzles. It has been designed from the ground up to provide all the
power you need, without any added complexity to get between you and your
creative muse. Whether you are a crossword pro looking for a new tool to
simplify your workflow, or a new convert who is ready to learn just how simple
and exciting it can be to create new puzzles, CrossFire will give you the
tools that you need to take your puzzles from concept to completion. Best of
all, you won't have to shop for a new machine or install Parallels: CrossFire
gives you the same puzzle-building power no matter what your computing
platform.
Power for the Pros
If you are an established crossword constructor, you already know what features
you need, and expect the best from your tools. CrossFire has been built with
your needs in mind. Here are just a few of the features we offer:
- Fully interactive grid fill.
- Automatic "quick grid fill" provides information on where and why
unfillable grids fail.
- Selective fill (quick or interactive) of puzzle sub-regions.
- Easy editing and manipulation of multiple custom word dictionaries.
- Fully integrated rebus support.
- Constantly updated statistics on letter counts, word lengths, and
illegal/unfillable grid configurations.
- Integration with the Matt Ginsberg clue
database.
Simple Enough for Everyone
Whether you are a novice cruciverbalist or a pro; a computer wizard or a neo;
a technophile or -phobe — CrossFire aims to make your life simple. All your
work is focused in a single location, without annoying special modes or
multiple windows. Multiple tabs ("Summary", "Word", "Fill", "Clues", and
"Lookup") help you focus on the task at hand, but let you easily jump from one
task to another without losing any work.
Whether you are designing the crossword grid, finding the perfect set of fill
words or cluing your puzzle, the information you need is always in front of
you, and extraneous information is kept to a minimum. CrossFire always
strives to help you out without getting in your way.
Cross Platform Support
From the start, CrossFire was written with the specific goal of providing
first-class support for all major OSes. It has been tested extensively on
Windows, Macintosh (OS X 10.7.3 & later), and Linux, and is ready to run
no matter what your favorite system.
Economical
CrossFire gives you the power to write professional quality puzzles for any
market. Yet at just $50 for a registered copy
(
via our e-commerce provider),
a single sale in any
major publication will pay for the software outright. You also know that your
software will always be current, because your purchase guarantees you a
lifetime of free updates.
Give CrossFire a Try
The
download page provides access to the
full current version of
CrossFire. If you've
bought a registration code,
this will give you access to
all of the latest features. (Once you've bought CrossFire, you've bought it
for life. There will be no charges for any future upgrades.) If you don't
have a registration code, it'll still run for you, but not at full strength:
your sessions will be terminated after 1 hour and you won't be able to save
your work. You will, however, have plenty of time to try CrossFire for
yourself and make sure that it suits your needs. Our goal is to have no
unsatisfied customers — this means we plan to provide great support, but
it also means that if you rely upon a feature that we cannot provide yet, we
want you to know about it up front.
Once you've got CrossFire
Now that we've convinced you to give CrossFire a try, and you've got
it installed on your machine, what's next? We've got documents in a
variety of styles to allow you to hit the ground running and start
making top quality crosswords as soon as possible. No matter how you
like to absorb information, hopefully we've got at least one doc which
matches your style. Of course, we recommend that you eventually read
them all for best results.
- Tutorial:
A step-by-step walkthrough demonstration of the puzzle creation process,
covering setup, theme selection, grid creation, filling, cluing, and more.
- FAQ: The most frequently asked questions
about CrossFire and how best to use it. Years in the making, and
worth the wait.
- The reference manual: absolutely
all the features of CrossFire,
presented menu-by-menu and tab-by-tab. If you want to know
everything, this is your best source.