If you\u2019ve ever wanted to share a crossword online, you\u2019ve had to log into a website, agree to some terms of service, and upload your puzzle. All of the available options send your file to a remote server before turning it into an embeddable puzzle. You could of course upload the Crossword Nexus solver to your own website if you have that capability, but most people don’t. Ideally there would be a solution where you could share a puzzle without ever uploading anything or agreeing to any TOS. But that’s impossible, right?<\/p>\n
Right?<\/p>\n
Check out The Crossword Sharer from Crossword Nexus<\/a>. The Crossword Sharer runs entirely in your browser. When you select a .puz, .jpz, or .ipuz file, everything happens on your own device \u2014 no uploads, no tracking, no cookies, no storage. The tool simply reads your crossword locally, lets you pick your colors and layout options, and then creates a shareable link or iframe you can post anywhere.<\/p>\n Your puzzle never leaves your computer unless you choose to share it.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve ever read the Terms of Service for major puzzle hosts, you\u2019ll notice language like this (from Amuse Labs):<\/p>\n “When you submit content to us, you give us a fully paid, worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully and freely sublicensable, and transferable right and license to use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works based upon, publicly display, and publish your content …”<\/p>\n That\u2019s a lot of legalese to say: once you upload your puzzle, it\u2019s not really yours anymore. We’re not a huge fan of that. The Crossword Nexus Sharer doesn’t need a Terms of Service, because we don\u2019t have a service that stores or processes your data. There\u2019s nothing to license, nothing to sign away, and nothing for us to collect. Your puzzle stays yours \u2014 period.<\/p>\n One problem the Crossword Nexus Solver has had in the past is that while it’s customizable, those customizations required some tech-savviness to implement. The Sharer removes that problem by allowing you to easily choose the color scheme of your puzzle, and allowing you to convert circles to shaded squares. As ever, it supports more file formats and puzzle types than any other sharing tool. And we’re not planning on stopping here.<\/p>\n The web has been trending toward platforms that ask you to upload everything and trust them with your data. Let’s move away from that, shall we?<\/p>\n Try out The Crossword Sharer<\/a> and let us know what you think. A comment here would be great, or if you have a feature request, feel free to open an issue<\/a>. And heck, if you’re tech-savvy, feel free to fork the repo<\/a> and make some improvements! PRs welcome!<\/p>\n Now get out there and share some puzzles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve ever wanted to share a crossword online, you\u2019ve had to log into a website, agree to some terms of service, and upload your puzzle. All of the available options send your file to a remote server before turning it into an embeddable puzzle. You could of course upload the Crossword Nexus solver to…<\/p>\nWhy this matters<\/h4>\n