Copyright: Gegs Help ® 1995 by Dale Cotton


Contents

Introduction

Gegs is a game that takes a common word or phrase and randomly mixes its letters. You must guess the original word or phrase.

 Calculator buttons and displays

 Getting started

Puzzles

There are six different puzzle categories on the Gegs calculator, which fall into two groups:

 Single word puzzles

 Phrase puzzles

Options

To further challenge the jaded player there are three options which can be applied to any puzzle:

 De-Vowelling

 Wild Card

 Hangman

Scoring and Statistics

Gegs keeps score and keeps track of your win/loss and scoring stats for you.

 Scores and Stats

Registration

Once you become addicted to Gegs, you'll want to purchase the fully-enabled version for just $10.00.

 How to Register

 Upgrades and Support

Reference

 Keyboard and Menu

 Notes and Credits

 Reaching the Author

 License Agreement

 Index


Buttons and displays

The above legend names some of the more cryptic items on the Gegs calculator window.

This legend zooms in on the calculator control panel. Click on Contents, above, to return to Contents for more information on the options and puzzle buttons.

In addition, all the above functions and a few others are available from the pop-up menu when you right-click anywhere on the calculator.


Getting Started

There are two steps to starting a new game. (You may want to move this help window to one side and follow along.)

•	If desired, click on one of the three option buttons - [dVwl], [Wild], and [Hang] - to the left of the puzzles group.

For now, make sure these are NOT enabled, such that the word Standard appears in the option readout above the main LCD display.

•	Click on one of the six puzzle category buttons - we'll choose [6 Letter] for the following example.

Gegs responds by randomly selecting a six letter word then randomly re-arranging its letters. The letters in the scrambled clue appear as buttons on the calculator face.

Perhaps H, C, O, R, G, U appears. Click on these buttons in the order you believe will restore the original word. Use the [Backspace] button to edit your input, or the [Clear] button, to start afresh. When you restore the letters to their original order (in this case G, R, O, U, C, H), a You Win message pops up, ending the game.

To start another puzzle click on any of the six puzzle buttons. After you become comfortable with normal play, try the three option buttons [dVwl], [Wild], and [Hang] to liven things up a bit.

Once you become comfortable with all six puzzles and three options, you may want to use the [Random] button to have Gegs choose new games with randomly selected puzzle and option combinations.

See the Keyboard and Menu help topic for information on using Gegs via the keyboard.

Incidentally, all puzzles use U.S. - not British or Canadian - spellings. Noblesse oblige.


Word Puzzles
Single word puzzles

To begin a single word puzzle click on [5 Letter], [6 Letter], or [7 Letter]. Gegs starts with a common 5, 6, or 7 letter word, (but never a proper noun) then randomly swaps its letters.

For example, the word "horse" might become "sreho". Gegs then shows you the scrambled word. To guess the original: click on the letter buttons in the correct order to show your guess in the display window. When you have all letters in the correct order a You Win message will appear. Notice that you can guess a real word and still be wrong. In the example above, if you guess "shore", you will get a wrong answer response until you try "horse". This is called anagram frustration! Click on [Clear] and try again.

If at any point you know the answer and do not wish to click all the remaining letters, click [Got It!], then click on the first and last letters of the answer. [Got It!] is not available in Hangman play.


Phrase puzzles

To begin a phrase puzzle click on [Cliché], [Music], or [Movie]. Gegs starts with a cliché, musical, or movie phrase, then randomly swaps its letters. For example, the cliché "seeing is believing" might show as "isneeg is gevlniibe". Notice that each word is scrambled separately, and the letters to that word are together on one row of buttons.

To guess the original phrase, click your guess into the display window. When you have all letters in the correct order, a You Win message will appear.

Spaces between the words in your answer are optional. So are punctuation marks. Your guess will still be counted correct if you add too many or too few spaces, commas, or apostrophes, etc. For example, "seeingisbelieving" is all you need to solve the above cliché.

If at any point you know the answer and do not wish to click all the remaining letters, click [Got It!], then click on the first and last letters of the answer. [Got It!] is not available in Hangman play..


Devowel Option
De-vowel option

Start play by clicking on the [dVwl] button then on one of the six puzzle buttons. De-vowelling takes a clue like "isneeg si gevlniibe" and replaces all the vowels in it with asterisks: "*sn**g  s*  g*vln**b*". De-vowelling hides only a, e, i, o, and u - never y.

When you start a De-vowelled puzzle, the five vowels appear on the bottom row of letter buttons. To solve a De-vowelled puzzle click on consonants from the clue buttons and vowels from the vowel buttons on the bottom row in the appropriate order. (You cannot include asterisks in your answer.)

De-Vowelling can be frustrating in conjunction with the 5 and 6 letter puzzles -  many words have the same consonants but different vowels.


Wild card option

Start play by clicking on the [Wild] button then on one of the six puzzle buttons. Wildcards takes a clue like "isneeg si gevlniibe" and replaces all occurrences of one letter with question marks: "is?eeg si gevl?iibe" - here all n's have been hidden.

The hidden letter can be any letter of the alphabet - vowel or consonant.

When you choose the Wild Card option a pallet of possible letters appears on the bottom row of letter buttons. To solve a Wild Card puzzle click on letters from clue buttons - and whichever letter from the Wild Card pallet you think is correct - in the appropriate order. (You cannot include the question marks in your answer.)


Hangman option

Start play by clicking on the [Hang] button then on one of the six puzzle buttons. Instead of a scrambled version of the answer appearing as letters on on the calculator buttons, the buttons present the entire alphabet. The unscrambled clue shows in the display LCD window with all letters replaced by the # symbol. For example, "seeing is believing" would show as "###### ## #########".

Click on a letter you think may be in the answer word or phrase. If the letter is in the answer, all occurrences of that letter are revealed. Clearly, luck more than skill will be needed to get the first letter or two correct. One strategy is to start with the letters e, t, and s which are the most frequently occurring letters amongst English words in general. (The shorter the clue, the less likely this strategy will work!)

In keeping with tradition, a stick figure graphic accumulates one new body part for each wrong guess. If you guess more than seven wrong letters, game over!


Scores and Statistics

Gegs scores each game you win according to the following formulae:

•	10 points for a standard 5 letter puzzle win

•	15 points for a standard 6 letter puzzle win

•	20 points for a standard 7 letter puzzle win

•	2 points for each letter in the longest word of a phrase puzzle

•	De-vowel and Wild Card each double the points of a win if less than one third of letters were hidden, triple if from one third to two thirds, quadruple if more than two thirds.

•	Hangman scores 3 * (8 - each wrong guess) points for a win.

Your points for each win are added to the accumulating point total of the upper right numeric readout. The number of games you win is displayed in the upper left numeric readout.

Pressing F9 or choosing Statistics from the pop-up menu brings up Gegs' Statistics report. Your win count, starts count, percentage of wins to starts, highest score, and average score for each puzzle and option category is detailed.


How to Register

In evaluator mode Gegs only allows access to 25 puzzles in each of the six puzzle categories. Once you tire of playing only these sample games you may want to unlock access to the full count of 3800 puzzles waiting to be played.

If so, take a minute to sit down and write me a personal cheque on a U.S. or Canadian bank for the modest sum of $10.00 (Europeans often send cash). Then stick it in an envelope and address it to me. If you like, you can pop up the file GegOrder.txt in Notepad, fill it in and print it. Otherwise don't forget to include a return name and address - and an e-mail address if at all possible - and mention that you are registering Gegs.

When I receive your order and cheque/cash/money order, I will promptly mail (or, if possible, e-mail (if's faster!)) you a letter of registration containing your customer number and a unique registration code keyed to your name. The registration code will un-hobble Gegs and all future Gegs upgrades.

CompuServe users can register by typing GO SWREG at any ! prompt. The registration I.D. is 5540. If you register via SWREG or otherwise let me know your e-mail address I can send your registration code back by e-mail. Which means you'll usually be up and running within 24 hours.


Upgrades and support

Upgrades

From time to time I may do an upgrade to Gegs. These will be electronically posted to the major on-line services, the Internet, and all along the BBS feed chain. Shareware diskette and CD distribution services will also likely pick it up. Any time you pick up a Gegs upgrade you can un-hobble the upgrade just as you did the original version.

Support

Because you were able to evaluate Gegs before purchase, support should rarely be an issue. If a problem should arise, contact me via mail or e-mail, and I will endeavour to solve the problem.


Keyboard and menu

You may type in your answer from the keyboard rather than clicking on the letter buttons. All other buttons have keyboard shortcuts as well, as shown on the menu which pops up when you right-click anywhere on the calculator face..

To the right of each menu item is the keyboard shortcut for that action. Additionally, a few actions are available from the menu which are not available from the calculator face:

•	Play same (F2) - new game of same option and category

•	Register - un-hobble program with registration code

•	Statistics (F9) - report analysing starts, wins, and scores

•	About - copyright and registration notice.


Notes and Credits

Gegs currently contains more than 500 puzzles in each category - 3,800 puzzles in all. Its teasers range from schoolboy solvables to sheer Shakespeare stumpers.

While Gegs starts from the same basic premise as the enduring and delightful newspaper puzzles by Henri Arnold, I hope you will find it's many differences - de-vowelling, wild cards, anagram frustration, hangman play, and more - make it a worthy addition to your daily diversions regime.

Lists of words or phrases to add to the puzzle database would be most welcome, as long as they are not too erudite or obscure.

Credits

I would like to thank Steve and Kelley Schroedl for their encouragement and input. Kelley more than tripled the number of puzzles in a few blitzkrieg weeks! (Steve is the author of the superb Montana Solitaire for Windows.) I would also like to thank Reg Skelton (author of the elegant Pile It On Solitaire) and John Zornes for testing and input; and the Borland's Pascal team for finally delivering Delphi.

Finally, the author wishes to personally acknowledge his debt to Ford Prefect for the use of his exclamatory style as win witticisms in this program.


Author addresses
Author's addresses

You may reach me at the following mail and e-mail addresses for at least the following two years (through June 1997):

Mail:
Dale Cotton
1520 Alpine Lane
Pickering  ON  L1X 2G3
Canada

E-Mail:
Compuserve: 73632,703
Internet: 73632.703@Compuserve.Com


License agreement

(A) Gegs is © Copyright 1995 by Dale Cotton. All rights are reserved. You may keep your copy of the registered version of this program on more than one computer, so long as only one person at a time is using it. Please pass on the evaluator version to your friends.

(B) Gegs has been tested within the capabilities of the author and seems to be problem-free. However, please note the following disclaimer of warranty:

THIS SOFTWARE IS SOLD 'AS IS' AND WITHOUT WARRANTY AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.  BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED.  THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM.  ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE.

(C) You may not resell, charge for use, or charge for the distribution the registered version of Gegs without permission. Resellers and distributors must arrange for terms with me.

Subject to the above restrictions - enjoy!


Index

A

Anagram frustration!

Arnold, Henri

Asterisk

Author addresses

Authors addresses

B

Buttons and Displays

C

Cliché puzzles

Contents

Copyright notice

D

Delphi, Borland

Devowel Option

Distribution

E

Evaluator mode

G

Garlic breath

GegOrder.txt

Getting Started

Glossary

Got It! button (phrase puzzles)

Got It! button (word puzzles)

H

Hangman Option

Highest scores

How to Register

I

Index

K

Keyboard and Menu

Keyboard shortcuts

L

License Agreement

M

Movies puzzles

Music puzzles

N

Notes and Credits

Numeric readouts

P

Phrase Puzzles

Points calculations

Pound sign/octothorp/number sign (#)

Prefect, Ford

Punctuation marks

Q

Question mark

R

Random (die) button

Reaching the author

Registration Code Dialog

Registration code

Right-click menu

S

Schroedl, Steve and Kelley

Scores and Statistics

Support

SWREG

U

Upgrades and Support

Upgrades

Upgrading

V

Vowels

W

Wild Card Option

Wild card pallet

Wins to starts percentages

Word Puzzles


Glossary

C

category

O

option buttons

P

phrase puzzle

puzzle

W

word puzzle


Registration Code Dialog
Registration code dialog box

Once you receive a note from me containing the particular spelling of your name your registration code has been keyed to and the code itself, use this dialog box to do the following:

1 	In the upper white edit box type in your name exactly as shown in your registration note

2 	In the lower white edit box type in your registration code exactly as shown in your registration note

3 	Click on the button labelled OK

4 	If you entered both items correctly the message "Thanks for your support! Gegs is now fully enabled!" will appear. Click on it's OK button, as well.

If you entered either your name or reg. code incorrectly the registration dialog box will simply disappear, returning you to the calculator. Choose Register... from the pop-up menu again and start again from step one..

Once you have registered correctly the following will happen:

•	Every one of the hundreds of puzzle words or phrases in each category will immediately become available - not just the first 25.

•	Register... will disappear from the pop-up menu

•	The About Gegs dialog box will say "Registered to [your name]" and will no longer appear when you invoke Gegs.

However - DO NOT DISCARD YOUR REGISTRATION NOTE! Should you accidentally damage or erase your Gegs.ini file or trash your hard drive or install Gegs afresh on another machine, etc., you will need to re-do this registration process.


Upgrading

When I receive your registration request I will send you the latest version (unless you request otherwise), regardless of how old a version you are registering from.

Once registered you are entitled to electronically distributed upgrades for free or snail-mail upgrades on diskette for the cost of mailing/handling (currently $2.50). Contact me via mail or e-mail if you wish to upgrade.


address it to me

<Author addresses>


category

One of the six puzzle types: 5, 6, or 7 letter words; cliché, music, or movies phrases.


Keyboard and Menu

<Keyboard and Menu>


option buttons

De-Vowel, Wild Card, or Hangman. These options make a non-option puzzle even more difficult. De-vowelling, for example, hides the vowels in the scrambled word clue.


phrase puzzle

Cliché, Music, or Movies phrase with each word in the phrase separately scrambled.


pop-up menu

<Keyboard and Menu>


puzzle

Word or phrase the letters of which have been randomly mixed.


upgrades

<Upgrades and Support>


word puzzle

single word, five, six, or seven letters long, the letters of which have been randomly mixed.