Finding items to fit a theme

[jadbreen]

Does anyone use coding software, e.g. Python, and write scripts to find theme entries?  I've sometimes come up with a theme idea and have what I think are one or two good entries, but then struggle to come up with a third and/or fourth.  (Maybe that's a hint that the theme isn't that great...)  I'm wondering if learning Python might be of use.

[MartinLove]

Does anyone use coding software, e.g. Python, and write scripts to find theme entries?  I've sometimes come up with a theme idea and have what I think are one or two good entries, but then try this fat burner for women struggle to come up with a third and/or fourth.  (Maybe that's a hint that the theme isn't that great...)  I'm wondering if learning Python might be of use.

yeah you are right learning Python is useful. Since it's relatively easy to learn, Python has been adopted by many non-programmers such as accountants and scientists, for a variety of everyday tasks, like organizing finances.

[Glenn9999]

Does anyone use coding software, e.g. Python, and write scripts to find theme entries?  I've sometimes come up with a theme idea and have what I think are one or two good entries, but then struggle to come up with a third and/or fourth.  (Maybe that's a hint that the theme isn't that great...)  I'm wondering if learning Python might be of use.

It would help if you wanted to find very specific things to parse through on a word list (e.g. long phrases that contain all the vowels in order).  Other than that, if you're looking for something that would just pattern match (e.g. two word phrase that contains a kind of bird inside of it that would be in circles on the final grid), there's several sites and processors you can use that are already out there.  Just depends on where your needs stand with respect to your ideas.

[jadbreen]

Glenn9999, could you share the sites and processors you're thinking of?  Are you referring, for example, to sites like OneLook?

[Margi]

OneLook and Google are my go-to's for working with themes. That being said, it is definitely the hardest part of puzzle construction...