Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Mamya - I agree with you 100%. If it were the occasional piece of nonsense it wouldn't be so offensive, but the ratio of ego-based unpleasantness to an exchange of interest to crossword lovers is completely out of line. So many of the old names don't contribute any longer, and I find this so sad. The essence of this site has changed so much from what it was a couple of years ago.

Yesterday (Monday) was such a good day here on the forum. I felt good; everyone was calm, in good humour, a little banter and I felt as though things had started to change.
Why then, Sally, in the early hours, do you suddenly have another dig at someone, for no reason, when you know it will invite an argument? Apologies have been made on both sides. Please, listen to Mamya (the voice of reason)enjoy answering questions and inject a little humour. It will do your health good and mine.

I'm sorry that last post was a bit strong, but I felt so worked up, my annoyance just came out. I am usually quite calm. sorry

jazzgirl, I wasn't having a dig, and didn't think it came across as one.

Sally, I am not very calm at the moment and apologised in my last post. It wasn't exactly a dig you made, but more of a "start it up again" with rusty. And you and everyone else knows that it will attract more bad comments. Let's leave all that behind, no more silly arguments about nothing in particular. More crossword questions/conversations/discussions and with a gentle bit of humour. :)

I think that it's worth adopting a convention I've seen used to good effect on other sites: if you want to go off-piste (as in this thread) you simply put (say) NC:in front of the thread title. This tells everyone that the content is Non-Crossword and if they're likely to be upset by such content, they can stay clear. Simples!

Bullfrog,

In principle, I totally agree however, am not certain that the letters NC would let others know it's just general chat and non-crossword related.

It's your idea - which I'm sure is a good one, but think perhaps we should make it clearer.

Over to you.

It needs a consensus to work -- whatever the code, it has to be simple and clearly understood. Obviously the more it's used, the easier it becomes to scan down the list and pick out the crossword-related threads.

Agreed, Bullfrog.

What is all this "code" business about?
One could just say "non-crossword".
However, raising subjects beyond the nature of this forum can and probably will lead to heated debates, and possibly intervention by people annoyed about it, causing more arguments. It's fine to just send a quick jokey message to a friend on here which should be acceptable.
I really do feel that if you wish to discuss politics, religion, sex, or the price of bananas, it should be done on Chatterbank.
Any of us can join each other over there and feel happy that we are not upsetting the serious crucibalists. Quite a few of us are there already. J