I've studied drafting, have done a bit of it, and would rather print in block letters than write in cursive. For day-to-day printing, I much prefer gel ink over pencil.
WSJ Puzzle's online app for completing crosswords appeals to my need for speed (I solve puzzles much, much faster using it) and to my neat-freakishness, in that corrections are quickly & cleanly made, with no pencil (shudder) erasures on newsprint. I do subscribe to the online & paper WSJ.
I also use Excel daily and am comfortable with it.
Given the above, I use the online app & Excel to solve the puzzles & to work out metas. I offer it for consideration.
Routine:
- Open new spreadsheet page.
- Format all Row Heights to 17.3 (46 pixels), Columns A-E Widths to 15.3 (236 pixels), and Columns F+ Widths to 25.0.
- SAVE this spreadsheet as a blank for future puzzles.
- Open the Friday contest puzzle in PDF form.
- Copy the grid & clues of the PDF to the upper left corner of an Excel page using the Snippet Tool.
- Downsize PDF Snippet by dragging SE corner to make grid rows match Rows 1 through 15.
- Solve the grid using the WSJ online app.
- Copy the solved grid to the upper left corner of the puzzle PDF and downsize Snippet to match PDF grid.
- Highlight theme answers:
--- (in Excel) INSERT - ILLUSTRATIONS - SHAPES - RECTANGLES
--- Click & drag rectangle over a theme answer.
--- Format Shape: Fill @
50% Transparency & select color.
No Line for shape border.
--- Copy & paste rectangle to other themed and useful answers. Change colors as desired.
- Use Columns F & beyond as scratch pad for rabbit holes, brainstorming, etc. Highlight & format cells as desired.
These seem like a lot of steps, but the beauty of Excel is the ability to copy & paste, once the basic spreadsheet, PDF, grid, & highlighting shapes are established, even from week to week. Also, erasures are clean & simple with a couple of right & left mouse or mouse-pad clicks.
Paper Chase was a relatively simple solve, so the spreadsheet, below, is much too clean. Other weeks can look as if a clown vomited confetti all over them.