The word crucimetrics was coined on the blog An Englishman Solves American Puzzles. They have graciously allowed us to use it as our domain name. 

We are Passionate for Puzzles.

If you've ever started an entire conversation by saying, "Hey, there was a clue in today's puzzle that reminded me of...", then you might just love the Crucimetrics too!

We have taken that passion and built Crucimetrics to let everyone Solve, Share, and Compare.
And this is how it happened...

It began in a coffee shop (not a garage...)
Ralph Bunker, a self-proclaimed "digital immigrant", who transitioned from the world of rotary phones and rabbit ears to the age of computers, and who still has one foot firnly in each, walked into his usual coffee shop.  He saw someone at a table with a crossword puzzle book.  They started talking, and their shared interest sparked a friendship.
Ralph was inspired to write a program that they could both use to not just solve puzzles, but that would let the two of them make notes, graph their progress, and learn.
Ralph and Dave still get together to talk, and Crucimetrics is the catalyst for lots of inspired conversation that goes well beyond the puzzle.

The Blog Side...
Mr. Bunker also realized this was awesome for blogging...New York Times puzzle fans surely know Rex Parker's blog, and Ralph is a popular contibutor there.  The notes and tags he makes while solving become fodder for posting there the next day, and the analyses help him sound really smart... ;)

Which leads in to how Tereza d'Andrade became involved.  On that blog one day, she read this post from some guy named r.alph:
"I sympathize with people battling their crossword puzzle software. I ended up writing my own program to read the puzzles. Instead of Mr. Happy Pencil, my version pops up a smiling Will Shortz if the puzzle is correct and the scowling Rex Parker avatar if it is not. And when I tire of those, I can replace them."
Well THAT sounded cool...
A diehard pencil & paper solver, she nevertheless loved the way you could tag clues and make comments as you go.  Before long, s he was asking for new features right and left that suited her particular style of solving.
What won her over from pencil & paper was her idea for the "ScratchPad", that simulates, and actually improves, how you scribble in the margins to help solve tough puzzles.

Speed matters - or not...
See, she isn't nearly as expert of a solver as Ralph and Dave, and definitely NOT a speed solver.  While most apps tell you how FAST you were, Lots of people really don't care if it took them 5 minutes or a couple of days.  Besides, if the dog needs to be walked or Aunt Trudy just called, don't ding me for those time-outs!
So while you can definitely use time as a metric, there is so much that is much more meaningful than brute speed.

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