Any tutorials on modern crossword construction?

[ibynx]

All the definitive resources I can find are from the era before software. I'm not sure how to best take advantage of construction software. Questions like how do I identify the most constrained part of the grid? How do I deal with the long time it sometimes takes to compute possible entries? How and when to integrate my own words that aren't (yet) in my dictionary? How often should I be scrapping my fill and starting over? How should I decide to put in black squares? Etc.

It would be helpful if there were some handbook meant for today. Does anyone know of one?

[mmcbs]

From the terminology that you're using I believe you are using Crossfire (?). I'm not familiar with that program, and I don't think there is a document that serves as a tutorial for the use of it. However, I'd suggest you access one or both of these Facebook groups: Cruciverb or Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory - and inquire if there is an experienced user of the your software that would be willing to do some mentoring for you.

Those issues (grid design, fill strategy, word list management) are very important, and frankly there are no cookie-cutter answers. Each puzzle/theme/grid is unique, and a lot of trial and error goes into developing a construction process that works.

[ibynx]

From the terminology that you're using I believe you are using Crossfire (?). I'm not familiar with that program, and I don't think there is a document that serves as a tutorial for the use of it. However, I'd suggest you access one or both of these Facebook groups: Cruciverb or Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory - and inquire if there is an experienced user of the your software that would be willing to do some mentoring for you.

Those issues (grid design, fill strategy, word list management) are very important, and frankly there are no cookie-cutter answers. Each puzzle/theme/grid is unique, and a lot of trial and error goes into developing a construction process that works.

Yes, I'm using CrossFire — that's kinda amazing that you guessed it! And thank you for the Facebook recommendations.
However, the things I'm needing help with are, I think, cross-platform. Why do you think I should contact someone who uses the same software as me?
If anything, even listening to others' construction processes would help a lot. I have zero conception of what's the right way to do things.

[mmcbs]

The reason I suggested you get hooked up with someone who uses Crossfire is that the answers to many of your questions are different with that app than they are with Crossword Compiler, the other major construction app. Even for those general questions, you'll find a lot more people will be chiming in on the Facebook groups than on this forum.

[axlrosen]

I watched a livestream on Twitch of someone creating a crossword with Crossword Compiler, and one of the comments was "wow, the workflow for that and CrossFire is so different!"

If you've got some spare time, you could watch a CrossFire user in action. For example https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxcTK4On3dLgcICWP5pC21A

[Glenn9999]

All the definitive resources I can find are from the era before software.

That's weird.  I had the opposite problem.  Problem I ran into with all the resources is that they assume too much of the software and really don't teach you anything (kind of analogous to the whole "calculators exist so you don't need to know how to do arithmetic" issue that's out there).  For example, really haven't seen a good guide on setting out a grid that doesn't pull a "now draw the rest of the owl", especially in terms of how you know where to put the black squares once you lay out your theme entries.

It would be helpful if there were some handbook meant for today. Does anyone know of one?

Patrick Berry is pretty much considered the gold standard of constructors and knowledge of constructing.  Check out his book (PDF) - although he's one of them that pulls a "draw the rest of the owl" on what to do with the grid after you lay out theme entries.  It's worth a good read and then even if you're not into construction, he packages up a large number of examples (PUZ, PDF) from his book that you can solve yourself.