diff --git a/dic/csv_helper.cpp b/dic/csv_helper.cpp
index 13f56df..1188fbc 100644
--- a/dic/csv_helper.cpp
+++ b/dic/csv_helper.cpp
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ vector<CsvHelper::DataRow> CsvHelper::readStream(istream &input)
             maxLength = row.size();
     }
 
-    // Normalization (to be tolerant to faulty inputs)
-    if (minLength != maxLength)
+    // Make sure we have a constant number of fields on the lines
+    if (!data.empty() && minLength != maxLength)
     {
         boost::format fmt(_("Invalid CSV file (variable number of fields, from %1% to %2%)"));
         throw CsvException((fmt % minLength % maxLength).str());
diff --git a/game/board.cpp b/game/board.cpp
index aff50ec..78084e5 100644
--- a/game/board.cpp
+++ b/game/board.cpp
@@ -514,10 +514,10 @@ void Board::checkDouble()
     {
         for (int col = BOARD_MIN; col <= BOARD_MAX; col++)
         {
-            if (m_tilesRow[row][col] != m_tilesCol[col][row])
-                printf("tiles diff %d %d\n", row, col);
-            if (m_jokerRow[row][col] != m_jokerCol[col][row])
-                printf("joker diff %d %d\n", row, col);
+            ASSERT(m_tilesRow[row][col] == m_tilesCol[col][row],
+                   "Tiles inconsistency at " << row << "x" << col);
+            ASSERT(m_jokerRow[row][col] == m_jokerCol[col][row],
+                   "Jokers inconsistency at " << row << "x" << col);
             // The crossckecks and the points have no reason to be the same
             // in both directions
         }
diff --git a/game/board.h b/game/board.h
index 4d1c1e3..249c7a2 100644
--- a/game/board.h
+++ b/game/board.h
@@ -76,11 +76,6 @@ public:
     void search(const Dictionary &iDic, const Rack &iRack, Results &oResults) const;
     void searchFirst(const Dictionary &iDic, const Rack &iRack, Results &oResults) const;
 
-    /**
-     * board_cross.c
-     */
-    void buildCross(const Dictionary &iDic);
-
     /**
      *
      */
@@ -117,6 +112,11 @@ private:
     static const int m_tileMultipliers[BOARD_REALDIM][BOARD_REALDIM];
     static const int m_wordMultipliers[BOARD_REALDIM][BOARD_REALDIM];
 
+    /**
+     * board_cross.c
+     */
+    void buildCross(const Dictionary &iDic);
+
     int checkRoundAux(const Matrix<Tile> &iTilesMx,
                       const Matrix<Cross> &iCrossMx,
                       const Matrix<int> &iPointsMx,
diff --git a/game/board_cross.cpp b/game/board_cross.cpp
index ba55a1d..2ef2fce 100644
--- a/game/board_cross.cpp
+++ b/game/board_cross.cpp
@@ -46,21 +46,18 @@ static void Board_checkout_tile(const Dictionary &iDic,
     }
 
     // FIXME: create temporary strings until the dictionary uses Tile objects
-    wchar_t leftTiles [BOARD_DIM + 1];
-    wchar_t rightTiles[BOARD_DIM + 1];
+    wstring leftTiles;
+    wstring rightTiles;
 
     for (int i = left; i < index; i++)
-        leftTiles[i - left] = towupper(iTiles[i].toChar());
-    leftTiles[index - left] = 0;
+        leftTiles.push_back(towupper(iTiles[i].toChar()));
 
-    int i;
-    for (i = index + 1; !iTiles[i].isEmpty(); i++)
-        rightTiles[i - index - 1] = towupper(iTiles[i].toChar());
-    rightTiles[i - index - 1] = 0;
+    for (int i = index + 1; !iTiles[i].isEmpty(); i++)
+        rightTiles.push_back(towupper(iTiles[i].toChar()));
 
     /* Tiles that can be played */
     unsigned int node, succ;
-    node = iDic.charLookup(iDic.getRoot(), leftTiles);
+    node = iDic.charLookup(iDic.getRoot(), leftTiles.c_str());
     if (node == 0)
     {
         oCross.setNone();
@@ -69,7 +66,7 @@ static void Board_checkout_tile(const Dictionary &iDic,
 
     for (succ = iDic.getSucc(node); succ; succ = iDic.getNext(succ))
     {
-        if (iDic.isEndOfWord(iDic.charLookup(succ, rightTiles)))
+        if (iDic.isEndOfWord(iDic.charLookup(succ, rightTiles.c_str())))
             oCross.insert(Tile(iDic.getChar(succ)));
         if (iDic.isLast(succ))
             break;
diff --git a/game/board_search.cpp b/game/board_search.cpp
index ad7b882..bb43f12 100644
--- a/game/board_search.cpp
+++ b/game/board_search.cpp
@@ -83,13 +83,13 @@ void BoardSearch::search(Rack &iRack, Results &oResults, Coord::Direction iDir)
                 {
                     partialWord.accessCoord().setCol(lastanchor + 1);
                     extendRight(iRack, partialWord, oResults,
-                                Dic_root(m_dic), row, lastanchor + 1, col);
+                                m_dic.getRoot(), row, lastanchor + 1, col);
                 }
                 else
                 {
                     partialWord.accessCoord().setCol(col);
                     leftPart(iRack, partialWord, oResults,
-                             Dic_root(m_dic), row, col, col - lastanchor - 1);
+                             m_dic.getRoot(), row, col, col - lastanchor - 1);
                 }
                 lastanchor = col;
 #else