I have accepted that newspapers won’t be with us for very much longer. My local paper is already down to Sunday, Thursday, Friday. My paper syndicates the NYT crossword. Luckily, they put an entire weeks worth into the Sunday paper…for now.
When i am forced to go digital, soon, what’s the bare minimum that i should expect to spend on a tablet?
I can’t imagine doing a puzzle on one of those $80 stocking stuffer tablets that are only slightly larger than an iPhone. I’d also hate to spend $1800 or so on what would essentially be a crossword machine.
I don’t think i can do the puzzles anymore if i can’t see the entire grid, and the entire set of clues all at once. Can you view the entire puzzle and key in letters all in one view on crossword apps? I think i would just find a new pastime if i had to constantly scroll around a page looking for clues, then having the grid disappear when i key something in.
I don’t need an answer fast. I may just buy a printer and print the dang things out everyday. If i did that, i could continue to keep them in my back pocket, like the binky that they are to me.
Its cold and very rainy out now. I can’t think of anything “essential” that i need from the store today. I may have to go without until Thursday.
Home delivery isn’t an option as i leave for work before delivery times. I’m not even sure if my paper still delivers.
Not a crossword puzzle person, but this site lists what they think are the best 10 Android crossword puzzle apps.
The NYT puzzle app is on the list. and it looks as though you can see the clues and grid at the same time. Of course that might depend on the device screen size.
There are plenty of 10-inch range tablets out there. Pretty much any of them would be adequate for crossword puzzles–it isn’t like you need massive CPU power for that. You could start by looking at a refurb Amazon Fire HD but Amazon (and other sites) have plenty of options for ~$100 new 10-ish inch tablets.
I wouldn’t even say you need a 10 inch for crosswords, which opens you up to Amazon’s smaller (and cheaper) size options. It’s not like you need the puzzle and every clue on the screen at once–you could always just have the clues scroll.
And, frankly, due to how they sell them, Amazon’s tablets are the best cheap tablets out there. They subsidize the parts by trying to get you to buy into the Amazon ecosystem. Anything else at a comparable price is far slower. And, if you can get a refurb, it can be even cheaper. (Also, look out for sales.)
And I do note that, while they don’t come with the Google Play Store, you can easily Google how to install the Play Store if you don’t find the selection of Apps on Amazon’s App Store to be sufficient. If you can install a program on a PC, you can install the Play Store on your Amazon Fire tablet.
A 10 inch is about the size of a normal sheet of paper or many magazines, while the 7 inch is more like the size of a page in a normal book, with the 8 inch somewhere in between. And remember that you can scroll the clues, so they don’t all have to fit on the page at once. So consider that in your size choice.