Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

I'm with Norah on this one. The reason we have a moderator is to keep the forum giving hints and nudges only and not turning into a "here's the answer to 10a and 7d, and the theme is_ ". Sadly there are sites which do just that, even posting images of the completed grid only days after the puzzle is published.
The other reason we have a moderator is to ensure respect for the forum and to the setters who put in a huge amount of time and effort producing these brilliant puzzles in all their amazing variety.
Keep on with the good work Norah.

Mattrom & Dodgepot, thank you both very much for your replies - all becomes clear! (By which I mean that I still haven't entered anything in the grid, but I do finally understand the point about the symmetry - phew.)

Raggedy, I don't think anyone is disagreeing that the moderator has those important functions. The issue is whether individual negative comments on aspects of a puzzle such as too easy, too hard, too mathematical, too GWIT, etc. constitute such disrespect as to require exclusion. A forum which accepted only positive comments would provide little useful feedback for setters anyway.

Post #54 expressed the issues very well, I thought.

ozzy - my view is that negative comments as you have expressed them are totally fine but when it steps into territory of a Friday night rant which setters may find offensive or rude, I think it oversteps the line

drxx's views on maths related puzzles are well-known and I respect his right to hold those views. Like others, I I have always found him 'super-helpful' and supportive of me and other users. It would be a real shame if he is barred or he decides to leave the forum.
I can't condone immoderate language in a public forum but hope this gets sorted in a respectful way. Thanks Norah for all your work....I think we all know it's not easy keeping everyone happy!

On the puzzle itself, has anyone compketed this yet? I'm assuming that the design to be drawn simply resembles the letters in the string?

I've finished it now. One has to do enough cold-solving to be able to start filling the grid, after which it's not so hard.

Any design which satisfies the requirements ought to be accepted.

Reading all the posts after a few days away is certainly illuminating! The diversity of views expressed in a forum of this kind is surely one of its strengths. The skill is to avoid crossing the line between saying "I didn't like it" (which is a statement about the poster) and "It was rubbish" (which is demonstrably not so, if the Listener vetters found it worth publishing).

I'm a sums fan, so wasn't bothered by the necessary research, but I did have a gripe about the use of "symmetrically" in the preamble. The answers are in what we sums nuts call "S-symmetry". If the symmetry is also rotated through 90 degrees it ought to be called (but isn't) "swastika-symmetry". There is also "X-symmetry", like 1, 5, 7 and 11 on a clock face. If solvers are to be told that symmetry is there we should be told which type (S-symmetry being the crossword norm).

I must get a life.

I’ve lurked here for a while, as I have on other online forums, and it’s always interesting seeing the reaction to a banning. Folks do get emotionally charged about it, as they see these places as their communities. It’s a bit like a pub - you get all sorts that wander in, but it’s always sad when one of the regulars dies.

It’s good to talk about the puzzles, good and bad, so long as you’re honest. We just have to remember that ours are the opinions of anonymous keyboard warriors. It’s not like we’ve posted our entry with an attached letter, which the setter would see and maybe respond to. So, online opinions are valid, but they’re just not particularly valuable.

So, who’s round it it?

I promise to say nothing more after this. I'm willing to withdraw my opinion that Norah's first duty is to the setters (despite the fact that she says so) if it's felt to be not necessarily true. But I stand by my second view, that arguing with the ref merits a red card even if the original infringement did not.
Yes, I too need to get a life, but then that's hard when you've got an absorbing puzzle to do first.

Grid filled, sketch sketched, but having lingering doubts on which string to highlight. Is it top left?