I've just tried to avoid that something else as I kept cutting out parts that weren't working, especially with caller, and moved as much of the html stuff out of it as I could.

I went all the way to hard-coding the paths. There's only two for right now.

# crossword params
my %vars = (

  cw          => path( $path2, 'crosswords' ),
  изображение => path( $path2, 'crosswords', 'изображение', "1.атаман.jpg" ),
  подписи     => path( $path2, 'crosswords', 'подписи', "1.кгосс.txt" ),

);

if ( $vars{изображение}->is_file ) {
  say "We have a path to the image";
}

my $rvars           = \%vars;
my $ref_html_values = init_values( $title, $path2, $abs );
my %html_vars       = %$ref_html_values;

# append returned hash from init
@vars{ keys %html_vars } = values %html_vars;

If the following is init_values(), do I combine the hashes in a robust way?

sub init_values {


use strict;
use warnings;
use 5.011;
use Path::Tiny;
use utf8;
use Data::Dumper;

# initializations that must precede main data structure

my $images      = "images";
my $captions    = "captions";
my $ruscaptions = "ruscaptions";

my ($title, $path2, $abs) = (@_);

# page params
my %vars2 = (
  title        => $title,
  headline     => undef,
  place        => 'Vancouver',
  base_url     => 'http://www.merrillpjensen.com',
  css_file     => "${title}1.css",
  header       => path( $path2, "hc_input2.txt" ),
  footer       => path( $path2, "footer_center3.txt" ),
  body         => path( $path2, "rebus5.tmpl" ),
  print_script => "1",
  code_tmpl    => path( $path2, "code2.tmpl" ),
  oitop        => path( $path2, "oitop.txt" ),
  oibottom     => path( $path2, "oibottom.txt" ),
  to_images    => path( $path2, $images ),
  eng_captions => path( $path2, $captions ),
  rus_captions => path( $path2, $ruscaptions ),
  translations => path( $path2, 'translations' ),
  bottom       => path( $path2, "bottom1.txt" ),
  book         => 'Crosswords: ',
  chapter      => 'Кроссво&#
+1088;ды',
  make_puzzle  => 1,
  print_module => 0,
  script_file  => $abs,
  module_tmpl  => path( $path2, "code3.tmpl" ),
  server_dir   => 'perlmonks',
  image_dir    => 'pmimage',
  ts           => 'template_system',
  css_path     => $path2,
  ini_path     => path('/home/bob/Documents/html_template_data/3.&#109
+4;енности.ini'),
  
);


my $rvars2 = \%vars2;
#say "hash returned from init";
#say Dumper $rvars2;
return $rvars2;


}
[download]

I'm able to get the captions inputed, and the output makes sense with a few different views to it:

in make russian xword------
lines are л лесопарк
 о и о о е 
 комар р й 
 л б трасса
 ё  к   т б
 пасс   ухо
   менеджер
 фауна раки
   тоска  г
 шкант м  е
     атаман
     в т т 
     н ухаб
     игроки
     к грач
 

with Dumper------
$VAR1 = 
          "\x{43b} \x{43b}\x{435}\x{441}\x{43e}\x{43f}\x{430}\x{440}\x{43a}
",
          "\x{43e} \x{438} \x{43e} \x{43e} \x{435} 
",
          "\x{43a}\x{43e}\x{43c}\x{430}\x{440} \x{440} \x{439} 
",
          "\x{43b} \x{431} \x{442}\x{440}\x{430}\x{441}\x{441}\x{430}
",
          "\x{451}  \x{43a}   \x{442} \x{431}
",
          "\x{43f}\x{430}\x{441}\x{441}   \x{443}\x{445}\x{43e}
",
          "  \x{43c}\x{435}\x{43d}\x{435}\x{434}\x{436}\x{435}\x{440}
",
          "\x{444}\x{430}\x{443}\x{43d}\x{430} \x{440}\x{430}\x{43a}\x{438}
",
          "  \x{442}\x{43e}\x{441}\x{43a}\x{430}  \x{433}
",
          "\x{448}\x{43a}\x{430}\x{43d}\x{442} \x{43c}  \x{435}
",
          "    \x{430}\x{442}\x{430}\x{43c}\x{430}\x{43d}
",
          "    \x{432} \x{442} \x{442} 
",
          "    \x{43d} \x{443}\x{445}\x{430}\x{431}
",
          "    \x{438}\x{433}\x{440}\x{43e}\x{43a}\x{438}
",
          "    \x{43a} \x{433}\x{440}\x{430}\x{447}
",
          '
'
        ;

with Dump------

  "\x{43B} \x{43B}\x{435}\x{441}\x{43E}\x{43F}\x{430}\x{440}\x{43A}\n",
  "\x{43E} \x{438} \x{43E} \x{43E} \x{435} \n",
  "\x{43A}\x{43E}\x{43C}\x{430}\x{440} \x{440} \x{439} \n",
  "\x{43B} \x{431} \x{442}\x{440}\x{430}\x{441}\x{441}\x{430}\n",
  "\x{451}  \x{43A}   \x{442} \x{431}\n",
  "\x{43F}\x{430}\x{441}\x{441}   \x{443}\x{445}\x{43E}\n",
  "  \x{43C}\x{435}\x{43D}\x{435}\x{434}\x{436}\x{435}\x{440}\n",
  "\x{444}\x{430}\x{443}\x{43D}\x{430} \x{440}\x{430}\x{43A}\x{438}\n",
  "  \x{442}\x{43E}\x{441}\x{43A}\x{430}  \x{433}\n",
  "\x{448}\x{43A}\x{430}\x{43D}\x{442} \x{43C}  \x{435}\n",
  "    \x{430}\x{442}\x{430}\x{43C}\x{430}\x{43D}\n",
  "    \x{432} \x{442} \x{442} \n",
  "    \x{43D} \x{443}\x{445}\x{430}\x{431}\n",
  "    \x{438}\x{433}\x{440}\x{43E}\x{43A}\x{438}\n",
  "    \x{43A} \x{433}\x{440}\x{430}\x{447}\n",
  "\n",

using slurp method--------
guts are л лесопарк
о и о о е 
комар р й 
л б трасса
ё  к   т б
пасс   ухо
  менеджер
фауна раки
  тоска  г
шкант м  е
    атаман
    в т т 
    н ухаб
    игроки
    к грач

This is with the following sub:

sub make_russian_crossword {
  use 5.011;
  use warnings;
  use POSIX qw(strftime);
  use Path::Tiny;
  use Encode;
  use open OUT => ':encoding(UTF-8)', ':std';
  use Data::Dumper;
  use utf8;

  my $rvars = shift;
  my %vars  = %$rvars;

  my $munge = strftime( "p%d-%m-%Y-%H-%M-%S\.txt", localtime );
  my $in_path = path( $vars{rus_captions}, $munge )->touchpath;

  say "in make russian xword------";

  ##Let mother know that you created a file, *verb* a reference:
  $vars{log_file} = $in_path;

  
  ## input use Path::Tiny methods
  my @lines = $vars{подписи}
+->lines_utf8;
  say "lines are @lines";
  my $ref_lines = \@lines;
  vars{data} = $ref_lines;
  say "with Dumper------";
  say Dumper $ref_lines;
  say "with Dump------";
  use Data::Dump; 
  dd $ref_lines;
  #print_aoa_utf8($ref_lines);
  say "using slurp method--------";
  my $guts = $vars{подписи}-
+>slurp_utf8;
  say "guts are $guts";

  my $width = 10;

  ## trim off white space beyond ten for every line
  # trim leading or trailing whitespace

  return $rvars;
}
[download]

Where I'm at is looking for ways to get these data rectangular. In particular, I want to trim the lines to length ten and trim leading and trailing whitespace.

It seems like something that perl would do elegantly.