Crossword Help Forum
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Thanks teenieleek...

any discussion is good...

p@x

I may be one considered 'not to contribute enough'. I do visit regularly and much prefer it to other 'similar' sites. I do always try to remember to say thank you for help received. I don't like to keep asking though, think you will all be frustrated with my paltry knowledge. Whenever I post to help, someone has usually got there before me.
Please keep the banter going.

Wendy, you are of course correct, pointless comments are just that. I must have been on the site on a particularly quiet day. The crosswords I do used to have lots of queries and comments but maybe, as someone else suggested, everyone is solving them more easily these days.

I would fall into the same category as Chummy Mummy - I don't manage to get an answer in first very often but I do try. Could anyone suggest why it's OK to give help for any number of prize crosswords but it's frowned upon to ask for help for the charity quizzes?

Surely you don't want people posting to say they don't know the answer. That would drive away the people who look for questions with no answers- you won'r know which have already been answered.

Fit like Maisie quine, and others. As far as giving STRAIGHT answers to Charity Quiz questions is concerned it is not a good idea to do so at the beginning when the quiz has just been newly released because it is known to put people off donating to the charity if they see loads of answers "out there" already. They think it's almost over and they're not going bother making a donation if they think they're not going to have the fun of working it out for themselves. However, if the quiz has been going for a while and is getting near the closing date, surely there's no problem in giving and getting clues after all their hard work. They're often better than the original clues ! Don't let's forget the unpaid hard work of the compiler.
The difference between charity quizzes and newspaper "prize" crosswords (I think) is some newspaper crosswords have thousands of contributors every week - they're commercial organisations-ish and in the case of our/your local paper, many years ago, the subscribers envelopes went into a "falling apart cardboard box under a desk and whatever was on the top was picked out by an office junior".
Cheers
Julie

Good point teenieleek! I feel that I am in agreement with chummymummy and Maisie.In my case the 'cryptic' clues are worth asking for help, but general knowledge I use books and PC first.I check to see if anyone has 'no replies,' but am usually too late!Also, since joining a writing group it takes up a fair amount of time.This week we are writing a sonnet...

Chavvin awa Julie! I like your reasoning behind giving help for charity quizzes/crosswords. One person in particular seems to ask all the time. On another crossword site Richard has asked people not to give help for the latest MacMillan quiz until 1 April but I don't know if that's mentioned anywhere on this site.

A subtle pointer in the right direction is always preferable. Sometimes it may be too subtle. 'I still don't get it, just tell me the answer now!'
Morally speaking, if I have had help from here in solving any prize crossword I would not send in the solution. Is this just me?

chummy mummy, I have wondered about the ethics of sending in 'assisted' prize crosswords, but also wonder if asking for pointers on a site like this is any different from using Google - or for that matter, reference books, etc? What do others think?