How can I contact admin?
You’ve missed out some of the answers in one of today’s puzzles – why?
The answer to this question used to be that some of the papers had phone lines you could ring to get an answer if you were stuck and we didn’t want to be in a position where we could be accused of depriving those lines of income. However, the Independent and Guardian now make their puzzles (along with the answers) available on-line for free so this policy isn’t relevant any longer.
However, you may still find that a blogger leaves out a couple of answers here and there. This could be due to a simple oversight or it could down to the amount of time available to the blogger to write his or her post.
Why haven’t you blogged about today’s Independent/Guardian/FT puzzle?
We aim to post every day but sometimes real life gets in the way. Internet connections go down, work builds up, children need caring for or illness strikes. There’s not much we can do about that, but if someone is available to step in and provide a quick substitute blog they will.
Why do some people have different pictures by their name? And how can I get one?
These little pictures are known as avatars and you can create your own by visiting https://gravatar.com and entering your email address. The same email address you use for Fifteensquared.
There is no password requirement, instead you will be sent a code, which you are required to enter.
Alternatively, click “Sign in another way” and enter your Google, Apple or GitHub credentials – assuming that you use the same email address that you use for Fifteensquared.
Once you are connected, find “Avatars” on the left-hand-side and upload your chosen image.
Within minutes your new avatar will appear on Fifteensquared.
Can you link to my site/blog?
If it’s crossword related, has good content and you don’t mind linking back to us then yes. Send an email to the address at the top of this page.
Someone has posted a “placeholder”, what is this?
Our aim is to have a full blog of each daily puzzle published by mid-afternoon. If for any reason this is not possible, a placeholder may be posted to indicate that there has been a delay and that the blog will appear later.
What is meant by Jorum?
A Jorum. in this context, is a word that a solver works out from the clue and despite never having heard of it before, it turns out to be a real word.
This term came about on this site when a blogger described the above situation regarding the word “JORUM”. A commenter replied to the effect that he or she had often wondered if there was term for such a situation and announced that he or she would think of them as JORUMs from now on.
What is a Nina?
A Nina is a message (or theme words etc) hidden in the grid, sometimes round the perimeter, sometimes along a diagonal or sometimes in the unchecked squares in a particular row or column (or more than one of each). Its name is derived from the American cartoonist Al Hirschfeld’s habit of hiding his daughter’s name, Nina, in his cartoons.
What is a pangram?
A pangram is when the completed grid contains every letter of the alphabet at least once.
What does this abbreviation mean?
BRB Big Red Book. Chambers Dictionary; some crosswords recommend this as the standard reference work, though Collins and (for US usage) Merriam-Webster are also popular.
CAD Clue-As-Definition. Also known as &lit – “and literally”. The full text of the clue should be read in two ways, one giving the wordplay and the other giving the definition.
CD Cryptic Definition.
COTD Clue Of The Day. The commenter’s favourite.
DD Double Definition.
DNF Did Not Finish.
FOI First One In. The first clue solved, especially an easy one to get into an otherwise difficult puzzle.
LOI Last One In. The opposite of FOI – perhaps trickier or more obscure than the rest of the puzzle, needing help from the crossing letters.
PDM Penny Drop Moment. When you’ve been staring at a clue for ages, then suddenly see the answer and it’s obvious.
S&B Literally Setters and Bloggers but usually expressed as Sloggers and Betters
TILT Thing I Learned Today. A new word, meaning, or bit of background information.
How do I add a link in my comment?
There are two ways, you can either simply copy and paste the relevant URL into your comment or you can select some text in your comment, click on the ‘link‘ button and then paste the URL into the box that will have appeared (useful if the URL is rather long) This will add the appropriate HTML tags into your comment. The former will be displayed thus: https://www.fifteensquared.net/ and the latter: Fifteensquared (or whatever text you chose).
Please note that, as comments containing multiple links are often spam, any comment containing three or more links will be put in the moderation queue and it may be some time before it appears on the site.
How do I add an emoticon?
Please see here.
The autofill of my name and email address when posting a comment no longer works even though I have checked the ‘remember me’ box. Is there a fault on the site?
The ‘remember me’ option enables your name and email address to be stored in a cookie on your device, created by your browser. It would appear that, for some reason or another, the browser stops being able to find the cookie, or the cookie has become corrupted. Your browser is therefore unable to autofill the comment fields.
The ideal solution would be to delete all 15² cookies and start again but this has been found not to work in some cases. The only reliable method to resolve this issue is to clear the entire browser history/cache, including all cookies, before starting afresh.
I have a question you haven’t answered here.
Send an email to the “admin” address above. If it’s one that others are asking, I’ll add it to the FAQ. If not, I will reply directly to you.