🧩 9-Letter Word Puzzle Generator

A Python-based tool designed to automatically generate "Scrambled Word" puzzles from a text file and export them into print-ready PDF documents.

Example with the german word "Hauskatze"

Features

• Batch Generation: Automatically pulls words from a local word list file.
• Centralized Configuration: Manage all settings (colors, files, layouts) via a single config.toml file.
• Custom Layouts: Define exactly how many puzzles appear per page and how they are arranged.
• Custom Styling: Easily change fonts, text colors, and the "special" square highlight color.
• Multi-Page PDFs: Generate documents with any number of pages in a single run.
• Visual Grids: Creates the classic "9-letter" look found in newspapers and magazines.
• Randomized Shuffling: Each puzzle is automatically scrambled to ensure a challenge.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• tomllib for configuration file (built-in library)
• ReportLab as PDF generation library

Installation

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

How to Use

1. Prepare your Wordlist: Create a file for word list (default list.txt) in the root directory. Add one 9-letter word per line.
2. Adjust settings: Open config.toml to set your desired file paths, page number, colors, page margins, and grid size.
3. Run the Generator: Launch the script with the specified settings:

   python py-9letters.py

4. Output: Your generated PDF will be saved, ready for printing or sharing.

Input Format Example

Ensure your words are exactly 9 letters long for the best visual result:

ALGORITHM
BLUEPRINT
CHALLENGE
DASHBOARD
...

Configuration (config.toml)

Before running the script, customize your output in the config.toml file:

[files]
input_word_list = "list.txt"
output_pdf = "9letters.pdf"

[page]
total_pages = 3
grid_columns = 1
grid_rows = 2
margin_inches = 1.0

[style]
font_name = "Helvetica-Bold"
text_color = "black"
special_bg_color = "red"
special_text_color = "white"