Bits of help for the struggling crossword fan

Surf's up - I'm sure it's heresy for dedicated crossword fans, but our weekly web tour includes a site that will help fill in the missing blanks. We'll also get advice on the best tech deals online, take a quiz on famous quartets (musical and otherwise) and - believe it or not - read the Bible.

Crossword Solver

www.crosswordsolver.org/

Life is short and so, too, is the amount of time I have available to fill in a crossword puzzle. I actually don't have the daily habit anymore, but I tend to do puzzles in batches, when a weekend afternoon suddenly clears itself up, or a sleepy holiday finally arrives. But what to do with those particular solutions that won't, well, solve themselves? Try Crossword Solver: you select the number of letters, identify the letters you've already got and, presto, you have a full list of every variation.

Acrostics

www.acrostics.org/

Now, acrostics - my kind of puzzle. (Double acrostics, so much the better.) The ones offered here are pretty straightforward. If you're a newbie, here's the deal. You try to fill in the wording of a quotation, toggling back and forth between a set of individual puzzles. This site offers a variety of free puzzles, and proves that doing them online is almost too easy. Rather than having to whip out your eraser, you just hit the delete key for the letters that aren't working!

The Brick Testament

www.thebricktestament.com/

Countless illustrations have been done over the years of the Bible, especially of particular scenes. But I've never seen anything like this: a book-by-book adaptation, with illustrations done in Lego. (Brick, incidentally, is an affectionate term for the building blocks of Lego.) The tone is a bit irreverent, here and there, but I'm very impressed by the creativity as each scene is set. I have to wonder whether a whole new audience may find the Bible ... or may find Lego, for that matter.

Famous Foursomes

www.sporcle.com/games/famousfoursomes.php

From the Beatles to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse to the cardinal directions (you know, north, south, etc.), plenty of things come in foursomes. With this quiz, you're up against the clock as you try to complete them all. An excellent way to tune up your brain while you enjoy a snack.

Cheapskate

news.cnet.com/cheapskate/

Looking for some pre-Christmas bargains, especially involving tech toys, gadgets and tools? Rick Broida of CNET does a lot of the footwork, or fingerwork, for you. Seeing as it's not fashionable to be frugal, Broida provides a pretty good guide to getting good value online. One major caveat: he's browsing U.S. sites for deals, which poses issues here in Canada. Nonetheless, you'll likely pick up some tips about brands and products that put the accent on value.

Scandoo

www.scandoo.com/

Is one click as safe as the next? Of course not, not when merely clicking on a site may wind up triggering an explosion of pop-up ads, a nasty bit of malware or a site that wants to do more than just track your cookies. You have some choices. You should use a browser that makes pop-ups a thing of the past (but bear in mind you'll want the flexibility to sometimes have those work). For online searches, try Scandoo, which runs your search terms through Google and then ranks whether sites are safe or not to visit. A green check is good, an orange question mark is questionable, and a red X is ... well, you can guess. Scandoo, unfortunately, no longer works with competing engines, like Yahoo. Pity.

John Gushue is a news writer for CBCNews.ca in St. John's. E-mail: surf@thetelegram.com. Read past Surf's Up columns and daily updates at his blog: johngushue.typepad.com.