xword-dl 2021.9.27

a download tool for online crossword puzzles

xword-dl

xword-dl is a command-line tool to download .puz files for online crossword puzzles from supported outlets or arbitrary URLs. For a supported outlet, you can easily download the latest puzzle, or specify one from the archives.

Currently, xword-dl supports:

• Atlantic
• Daily Beast
• LA Times
• New Yorker
• New York Times
• Newsday
• USA Today
• Universal
• Wall Street Journal
• Washington Post
• Vox

To download a puzzle, install xword-dl and run it on the command line.

Installation

The easiest way to install xword-dl is through pip. Install the latest version with:

pip install xword-dl

You can also install xword-dl by downloading or cloning this repository from Github. From a terminal, simply running

python setup.py install

in the downloaded directory may be enough.

But in either case, you probably want to install xword-dl and its dependencies in a dedicated virtual environment. I use virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper personally, but that's a matter of preference. If you're already feeling overwhelmed by the thought of managing Python packages, know you're not alone. The official documentation is pretty good, but it's a hard problem, and it's not just you. If it's any consolation, learning how to use virtual environments today on something sort of frivolous like a crossword puzzle downloader will probably save you from serious headaches in the future when the stakes are higher.

Usage

Once installed, you can invoke xword-dl, providing the short code of the site from which to download. If you run xword-dl without providing a site keyword, it will print some usage instructions and then exit.

For example, to download the latest Newsday puzzle, you could run:

xword-dl nd --latest

or simply

xword-dl nd

You can also download puzzles that are embedded in AmuseLabs solvers or on supported sites by providing a URL, such as:

xword-dl https://rosswordpuzzles.com/2021/01/03/cover-up/

In either case, the resulting .puz file can be opened with cursewords or any other puz file reader.

Specifying puzzle date

Some outlets allow specification of a puzzle to download by date using the --date or -d flag. For example, to download the Universal puzzle from September 22, 2021, you could run:

xword-dl uni --date 9/22/21

The argument provided after the flag is parsed pretty liberally, and you can use relative descriptors such as "yesterday" or "monday".

New York Times authentication

New York Times puzzles are only available to subscribers. Attempting to download with the nyt keyword without authentication will fail. To authenticate, run:

xword-dl nyt --authenticate

and you will be prompted for your New York Times username and password. (Those credentials can also be passed at runtime with the --username and --password flags.)

If authentication is successful, an authentication token will be stored in a config file. Once that token is stored, you can download puzzles with xword-dl nyt.