Creative Crosswords

8/3/2019 Creative Crosswords

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38 Spreadsheets

Creative Crosswords

STEP 1: Select Columns A-K and adjust width to 20 pixels

Here are two ways to adjust a column

width:

1. Mouse: Hover the mouse curserover the column letter until you

see a vertical line with ahorizontal line with arrows at

each end, then click and slide

until the popup displays the

desired width.

2. Home Ribbon: From Cells Menu,select Format, then Column

Width.

Change the column width value

to character width i.e. 20 pixels =

2.14 characters.


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39 Written by Tanya Duffy 2010

STEP 2: Select Rows 110 and adjust height to 20 pixels

There are two ways to adjust a Row

Height:

3. Mouse: Hover the mouse curserover the row number as you didpreviously to adjust the column

width.

4. Home Ribbon: From the Cellsmenu, select Format, then Row

Height and change the row height

accordingly.

You should now have a grid of 11 columns and 10 rows evenly spaced.

STEP 3: Add words to your grid.

Using capital letters, type the words

below into the cell range allocated:

Spreadsheet A6:K6

Pixel G1:G6

Range C6:C10

STEP 4: Formatting

Home Ribbon: Under Editing, select

Go To Special

Select Constants, then deselect

Numbers, Logicals & Errors so that

only Text is selected. Then select OK.

This action then selects all cells on

the worksheet containing text.


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Right Click over one of the cells

containing a letter, then select

Format Cells.

Under Alignment, change Horizontal

and Vertical Alignment to Centre.

Under Font Tab, you may change the

colour and Font.

Under Border, select Outside and

Inside under the heading Presets.

Under Protection, deselect Locked.

STEP 5: Prepare for formulas

Type the words from this crossword

in column M beginning with cell M1.

Then using Data Ribbon, under Sort &

Filter, select

This will sort the words in the list

alphabetically.

Then, using the mouse curser

double click on the join between

columns M & N to widen column M,

which allows all contents to fit within

each cell.


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STEP 6: New Formula Concatenate

In column N, use the concatenate

function to calculate the values of the

cells in the crossword puzzle.

The symbol & is used to represent the

concatenate function and in effect

replaces the + symbol when text is

involved.

You will notice, when a cell reference

is made the colour is the same as that

surrounding the cell it is referenced

to.

The symbol is located on thekeyboard number Seven key in

conjunction with the Shift key.

STEP 7: Adding the crossword quiz questions

Select the first letter of the first word

in your list, and then Right Click with

the mouse to select Insert Comment.

Then add a definition of the word.

You will notice a small red triangle

appear in the top right hand corner

of the cell.

STEP 8: Using the IF Function

Word definition of the IF Function in this instance:

This cell equals IF the cell two cells to the left equal the cell

one cell to the left, if this is correct then display the word

correct, otherwise display the word wrong.

The object here is the IF function is to

work out if the user has typed in the

correct word.

Then copy this formula down using

the Fill command under the Home

Ribbon and Editing


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You should now have 3 instances of

the word correct in column O.

STEP 9: Using the COUNTIF Function

Using the COUNTIF function allows us

to count the number of correct

answers.

STEP 10: Creating a Thermometer Chart

Make cell O1 and P1 the active cells,

then from the Insert Ribbon, under

Charts, select 2-D Column chart.

Select the X Axis and Right click to

reveal Format Axis

In the Format Axis Dialogue box,

change the Axis Options to reflect the

number of questions.

With questions in this case, the

Maximum should be fixed at 3, Major

units should be 1 and so on.

Right click on the blue area of

the graph and select Format

Data Point from the menu.

Then slide the Gap Width down

to 00

and click on Close.


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Select and delete the Legend

and

Chart Title

Then, grab the right side of the

chart and resize it as shown.

Select the X Axis, then delete.

Repeat for Y Axis.

Delete the word Pixel so that you

have one question shown as

wrong and reveal thebackground of the thermometer.

Right click on Blue Data Fill then

select Format Data Series.

Under Fill, select Gradient Fill,

Linear and under Gradient

Stops, select Stop 3, then clickon Remove.

With Gradient Stop 2 Selected,

From the Colour dropdown Icon,

select Red. Adjust the Stop

position to 25%.

Next, Select Stop 1, then slide

the Stop position slider to 0%.

Then, choose a lighter shade of

red i.e. orange.


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Right click on the Plot Area, and

then select Format Plot Area.

Select Solid fill, then close.

Using the Insert Ribbon, draw a

circle at the base of the

thermometer.

Right click on the circle to edit

the colour fill and line.

STEP 11: Finishing Touches

Right click on border of chart,

select Format Chart Area, then

for Border Colour, choose No

line.

Select Row 1, then right click

and Insert to a new row above

the crossword puzzle.

Adjust the height of row 1 to

approximately 60 pixels to lower

the puzzle.

Then insert a column to the left

of column A.

Select and drag the thermometer up to cover the cell with the COUNTIF formula.


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Select columns N, 0 and P, then right click and

select Hide.

Delete all the words from

the crossword grid.

Then, from the View

Ribbon, under Show/Hide

remove the tick from

Headings, Gridlines and

formula Bar if it is selected.

Under Review Ribbon,

changes, select Protect

Sheet. Then deselect Select

Locked cells, and then click

on OK.

Right click on the Main

Ribbon, and then selectMinimise the Ribbon.

Congratulations you have finished. When you hover your mouse over the first cell of a word, you willbe prompted by the question.


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Extension Ideas:

Create a command button which, when clicked on runs a voice recorded set of instructions OR

displays a textbox with instructions OR a message box. Note: Each of these extension ideas willrequire VBA coding.

Also, think about adding an image to the worksheet background to enhance the GUI [Graphical User

Interface]

To Add Sound:

From the Insert Ribbon, select Object, then under the Create New Tab, select Wave Sound and click

OK.

When you are ready, click on the red circle and speak into your microphone. If you are happy with

the recording, close this dialogue box, then double click on the speaker icon when you wish to playthe recording. Alternatively if this option is not available in your version of MS Excel, you can use

another program such as Audacity to record your voice instructions as a wave file and import it into

your project.

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Creative Crosswords