mfAcrostic READ ME

A Javascript app for solving acrostics in a browser.

View demo here
Easy install and set-up
Requires jQuery 3.5.x or higher
Seems to work in most browsers (tested on Chrome/Firefox on Win/Mac/iOS; Edge on Win; Safari on Mac/iOS; NOT tested on Android)
Generally responsive; keyboard, mouse, touch
Auto-saves solver's progress
End-user preferences for colors and auto-checking

Installation

Download latest version here (v1.0.2, January 2021)

Stylesheet <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/path/to/mfacrostic.css"> Scripts

<script src="/path/to/jquery-3.5.1.min.js"></script>
<script src="/path/to/mfacrostic.js"></script>

Optional; may improve mobile browser experience (add to <head>) <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">

Basic Usage

$(element).mfAcrostic({...settings});

Create acrostic after document loaded/ready. For example, using a jQuery "ready" function:

$(function() {
    $("#my-acrostic-container").mfAcrostic({
        puzzle:     '/path/to/MyAcrostic.json',
        print:      '/path/to/MyAcrostic.pdf',
        solution:   '/path/to/MyAcrostic_Solution.pdf',
        maxCols:    30,
        hideHeader: true,
    });
});

NOTE: More than one mfAcrostic per web page has not been well-tested.

Settings

Key	Description	Type	Default	Examples
puzzle	REQUIRED* URL or path to puzzle JSON file; or a valid puzzle object.	String or Object	*	`puzzle: '/path/puz.json'` `puzzle: {...puz_object}`
print	URL or path for link to printable puzzle (pdf, png, etc.).	String	null	`print: '/path/puz.pdf'`
solution	URL or path for link to printable puzzle solution (pdf, png, etc.).	String	null	`solution: '/path/puz_solution.pdf'`
defaultEm	Base font size in pixels. Minimum of 16 is highly recommended to prevent auto-zooming in certain browsers.	Integer	18	`defaultEm: 21`
maxCols	Maximum number of grid columns.	Integer	null	`maxCols: 30`
minWidth	Minimum app width in pixels.	Integer	240	`minWidth: 500`
maxWidth	Maximum app width in pixels.	Integer	null	`maxWidth: 1190`
hideHeader	Hide title, constructor, date above puzzle.	Boolean	false	`hideHeader: true`
showGridPad	Show trailing black squares on grids. Valid values are 'none', 'all', 'author', or 'grid'.	String	'grid'	`showGridPad: 'none'` `showGridPad: 'all'` `showGridPad: 'author'` `showGridPad: 'grid'`
colorScheme	Default color scheme for game board.	String	'mfa-colors-default'	`colorScheme: 'mfa-colors-pastels'`
disableStorage	Disables saves of app progress/settings to localStorage.	Boolean	false	`disableStorage: true`
disableAutoFocus	Disables auto-focus on game board when puzzle loads.	Boolean	false	`disableAutoFocus: true`

Puzzle Object

The mfAcrostic app creates a new puzzle instance from a puzzle object with its own compact, proprietary format. The object may be passed into the app either inline or in a JSON file (see the puzzle key in Settings).

Example of a puzzle object

{
  "title": "Acrostic 136",
  "constructor": "Dave Murchie",
  "publishDate": "2020-12-28",
  "friendlyauthor": "A.A. Milne, \"Not That It Matters\"",
  "friendlyquote": "Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.",
  "quote": "ALMOST ANYONE CAN BE AN AUTHOR THE BUSINESS IS TO COLLECT MONEY AND FAME FROM THIS STATE OF BEING",
  "clues": [
    {
      "clue": "\"I agree completely!\"", // Labelled as clue 'A.' in the app
      "answer": [
        "7",   // A, the 8th character in 'quote'
        "58",  // M, the 59th character in 'quote'
        "54",  // E, the 55th character in 'quote'
        "22"   // N, the 23rd character in 'quote'
      ]
    },
    {
      "clue": "Back at sea", // Labelled as clue 'B.' in the app
      "answer": [
        "24",  // A, the 25th character in 'quote'
        "90",  // F, the 91st character in 'quote'
        "47"   // T, the 48th character in 'quote'
      ]
    },
    {...more clues}
  ]
}

Required object elements:

title
A title for this puzzle.
constructor
The name of the puzzle maker.
publishDate
A date for this puzzle.
friendlyauthor and friendlyquote
These are displayed to the end-user on completion of a puzzle.
quote
This is the acrostic quote: uppercase alphabetic characters (A-Z) only, no punctuation, no double-spaces, no leading/trailing spaces.
clues
An array of clues/answers, in order starting with the clue/answer that will be automatically labelled 'A' by the app. This array must not exceed 26 members. Each item in clues contains the following:
- clue
  The clue for this word.
- answer
  An array of numeric indices for each letter in this answer. These indices are NOT the numbers that appear in the end-user interface (the numbering/lettering displayed in the puzzle app is generated automatically).
  
  Each index number corresponds to a character position counting both letters and spaces in quote (where the first character of quote is at position 0). See comments in object example for illustration of usage.
  
  Note that each alphabetic character in quote should correspond to one (and only one) entry across all answer values for all of the puzzle's clues.

License

mfAcrostic is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Support

Support requests - including bug reports, usage/installation question, and feature requests - should be sent to the contact information found at the bottom of this page.

Donate

Support mfAcrostic with a donation to the developer - any amount is appreciated!