Rescaling environment

Question

I'm creating a crossword puzzle using the cwpuzzle package (http://www.gerd-neugebauer.de/software/TeX/cwpuzzle/en/).

I need the solution to be displayed in a much smaller format (say, 50% the original size).

I tried to use scalebox:

\scalebox{.5}{
\begin{Puzzle}{5}{5}%
|[][Sf]S|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]R|.
|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]P|[][Sf]O|.
|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]N|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]T|.
|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]P|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]A|.
|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]S|.
\end{Puzzle}
}

However, this does not produce the desired effect, as, instead of the puzzle, one basically sees a sequence of internal cwpuzzle options.

What is the proper way to rescale the puzzle to a smaller size?

Answer 1

See REVISION below, added after answer accepted.

You need to set the puzzle in a \vbox. Of course, then, if you wish to treat it as a horizontal object, the only way to control the width is to set the \vbox inside a minipage.

With this combination, one can, for example, place the reduced size puzzle in the upper left, as if it were an \hbox.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[pass,showframe]{geometry}
\usepackage{cwpuzzle,graphicx}
\begin{document}
\noindent\begin{minipage}{.7in}
\setbox0=\vbox{
\begin{Puzzle}{5}{5}%
|[][Sf]S|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]R|.
|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]P|[][Sf]O|.
|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]N|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]T|.
|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]P|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]A|.
|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]S|.
\end{Puzzle}
}
\scalebox{.5}{\copy0}
\end{minipage}
Normal text
\end{document}

---

REVISION:

egreg asks why \vbox and minipage. My initial attempts with \hbox failed and so I resorted to the \vbox approach above. However, I must have erred in my original approach. Here, an \hbox approach works:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[pass,showframe]{geometry}
\usepackage{cwpuzzle,graphicx}
\begin{document}
\noindent
\setbox0=\hbox{%
\begin{Puzzle}{5}{5}%
|[][Sf]S|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]R|.
|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]P|[][Sf]O|.
|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]N|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]T|.
|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]P|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]A|.
|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]S|.
\end{Puzzle}
}%
\scalebox{.5}{\copy0}
Normal text
\end{document}

Answer 2

The standard Puzzle environment produces a centered object, because it executes \PuzzlePre and \PuzzlePost, defined as

\newcommand\PuzzlePre{%
    \par\noindent\mbox{}\hfill
}
\newcommand\PuzzlePost{%
    \hfill\null\par\noindent
}

The environment cannot be used in the argument of another command, because it relies on changing category codes.

You can exploit the \PuzzlePre and \PuzzlePost macros to define a Puzzle* environment that just produces a scalable box that you can then place at your pleasure. The leading optional argument is the scale factor (default 1 for no scaling).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{cwpuzzle,graphicx}

\newsavebox{\puzzlebox}

\newenvironment{Puzzle*}[3][1]
 {%
  \def\PuzzlePre{\begin{lrbox}{\puzzlebox}}%
  \def\PuzzlePost{\end{lrbox}\scalebox{#1}{\usebox{\puzzlebox}}}%
  \Puzzle{#2}{#3}%
 }
 {\endPuzzle}

\begin{document}

x\begin{Puzzle*}[0.5]{5}{5}%
|[][Sf]S|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]R|.
|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]P|[][Sf]O|.
|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]N|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]T|.
|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]P|[][Sf]E|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]A|.
|[][Sf]R|[][Sf]O|[][Sf]T|[][Sf]A|[][Sf]S|.
\end{Puzzle*}y

\end{document}

I added x and y just to show what the reference point of the box will be.