CancelReport This Post

Please fill out the form below with your name, e-mail address and the reason(s) you wish to report this post.

 

Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

syzygy

16th May 2015, 08:01
I keep seeing certain names, e.g. lecrack cropping up on threads dealing with prize puzzles.
It's always the same, a list of clues with answers that have only one or two letters filled in, e.g. ???A???E?
Why? Obviously someone wants to win a prize without working for it.
Pathetic! These people aren't even trying, just mining for answers.

The above-mentioned flips back & forth between this site & Answer Bank, filling in the blanks. There, the pseudonym is Matakari.

At one time, on threads like the Spectator, people asked for hints. Fair help.
Now, it's a free-for-all to provide answers; never mind the parsing. Enablers are tripping over each other to be the first to reply. Check the posting times.
I won't delve into the psychology of that.
Perhaps they should just post completed grids so the poor lazy souls don't have to go to the trouble of typing those long lists.

Bottom line: It's hardly fair to those who actually work out a puzzle & have to compete against someone who has been handed the answers.
What happened to sportsmanship? Has the UK sunk to the level of some other cultures which have either eschewed that principle, or never adopted it?

Shame on you.

Latest examples:
14th May 2015, 13:24
http://www.crosswordsolver.org/forum/494037/spectator-2211

10:08 Fri 15th May 2015
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Quizzes-and-Puzzles/Crosswords/Question1419739.html#answer-9738158
1 of 29  -   Report This Post

rosalind

16th May 2015, 08:44
Stand well back from blue touch paper, Syzygy!
I have long since (almost!) stopped answering quiz questions. I noticed recently someone ask 4 at a time from the same quiz.
2 of 29  -   Report This Post

jazzgirl

16th May 2015, 08:59
Well.... thank you Hercule Poirot.
I think it is a bit harsh to pull up just one person. There are others who post "batches" with just one or two letters and I usually do not respond to those.
Time to smell the coffee.....
3 of 29  -   Report This Post

jazzgirl

16th May 2015, 09:24
Just to add that I had no idea that a total of 19 questions had been asked on one particular crossword using two sites. Oh dear.......
4 of 29  -   Report This Post

malone

16th May 2015, 09:26
... the record is 29 clues.
5 of 29  -   Report This Post

jazzgirl

16th May 2015, 09:34
29 for the Spectator, Malone ?
6 of 29  -   Report This Post

malone

16th May 2015, 09:39
Yes, it was a while ago - I remember my feeling of indignation.
7 of 29  -   Report This Post

rusty

16th May 2015, 11:16
"Enablers are tripping over each other to be first to reply. Check the posting times."
That is something I have pondered.
I ended up thinking they must have an "alert" system on their computers.
For many people on here, this is their main hobby, and they devote time and effort to be "first" with the solution.
It does not bother me in the slightest.
Nothing wrong with a bit of healthy rivalry, as they may see it.

8 of 29  -   Report This Post

scarlett

16th May 2015, 11:21
Surely anyone needing to ask for 29 clues should NOT be doing that particular crossword, as it is surely too difficult for them. Ok to ask for last few or a few to help get going again when bogged down) Better to wait for the solution and then look how the answers worked ( ask for help then if not understanding)
I agree that it's not fair on other solvers who are entering fairly.
9 of 29  -   Report This Post

rusty

16th May 2015, 11:29
Yes, an excellent point, Scarlett, which I agree with.
But, this Forum is for "Crossword Help".
It has no rules for what is fair and what is not.
That is the problem, as I see it.
10 of 29  -   Report This Post