Comments on: Guardian 24,439 - Paul

By: Qaos

Qaos — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:25:34 +0000

Fletch, I’m sorry you feel that way and equally sorry that you’re not reading my entries in the spirit in which they were intended. I don’t believe my post was showing off - I wrote above that I also found the Genius xword tricky. I’m not quite sure how an offer of help gets turned into an accusation of showing off … how else could I have offered?

Anyway, nay mind. For the site moderators, I won’t post any more on this subject - there’s nothing worse for a good blog to be ruined by an endless argument! I’ll keep my future posts to the daily (non-prize) xwords only.

By: Fletch

Fletch — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:31:18 +0000

OK, I can now see that Qaos, upon seeing bloggers of the calibre of Uncle Yap and Andrew were struggling with it, simply wanted to show off.

I expect he and I will do our best to avoid each other on this site in future.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:23:33 +0000

That clarifies it, Qaos, thanks. ‘Body language’ can be difficult to read on the Net. I think there’s no disagreement among anyone here.

By: Qaos

Qaos — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:06:07 +0000

Goodness me, what a lot of bother from a well intended offer of some “hints” to get Uncle Yap & Andrew going. For the record, I clearly wasn’t going to post answers or even hints to this blog - it’s clearly not fair discussing a current puzzle that others don’t want to read about. I agree about the “private discussion” comment - I have other friends who do the Genius xword and have no problem with giving them hints when they’re stuck. I think there’s a big difference between gentle hints that aid understanding of a puzzle’s theme and actual answers, anyway. There are other sites people can go to if they just want to cheat.

Also, in my defense, if Uncle Yap hadn’t made the comment about the Genius xword, I’d not have offered. Whilst I’m a stranger to him, I have read many of his well-written blog entries and so he’s slightly less of a stranger to me. I admit my inclusion of the word “people” in my original mail was a bit vague when it was intended for Uncle Yap and Andrew.

Lastly, the “cheque for a pint” comment was intended as a joke - hence the smiley. Maybe I should have been clearer and said “two pints plus a packet of crisps”.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:09:58 +0000

I’d agree with your comments under 9 above, Fletch.

By: muck

muck — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:18:35 +0000

The question of help with prize-puzzle clues online had a lot of discussion on some of the talk.guardian.co.uk/crosswords threads a few months ago. I have given up on those threads because it was often difficult to know which puzzle was being referred to, but online disucssion of prize-puzzle clues is still going on there.

By: Fletch

Fletch — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:06:30 +0000

While you can never prevent people from discussing a puzzle privately with a family member or friend, to my mind there’s a world of difference between that and emailing a stranger touting a cheat service on a website, to put it bluntly.

I’m prepared to accept though that it’s me that’s out of step on this one. It’s quite possibly the case that no-one has any compunction about cheating in comps these days with the proliferation of internet sites where one can go to obtain answers to prize puzzles. I tend to come from The Crossword Centre’s school of thought, i.e. that current competition puzzles shouldn’t be discussed prior to deadline.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:16:06 +0000

While I’m not sure it’s explicitly stated anywhere, I think the policy of this site is that answers should not be given before closing date for entries for prize puzzles (for obvious reasons).

Private emails between individuals would be another matter perhaps, akin to having a private conversation.

By: Fletch

Fletch — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:57:04 +0000

However laudable your motives in wanting people to enjoy the puzzle, what it boils down to is you’re offering to help people cheat in a competition.

By: Qaos

Qaos — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:47:58 +0000

Heh heh, true, but turning a 1-in-500 chance into a 1-in-502 chance (say) is something I’m not going to lose sleep over. I’d prefer them to enjoy the puzzle to it’s finish, win, then send me a cheque for a pint instead :-).