Crossword Help Forum
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When it comes to the prize crossword, I do the Times I will not submit a completed grid unless I have solved it for myself. I use the crossword solver on this site regularly when I get completely stuck just so I can find out what the answer could be. I would get no joy out of winning a prize I hadn't won completely on my own merit. I am not knocking this site. I'm happy to do a little google research for answers and I don't consider that to be "cheating" however I actually typed an entire clue into Google and I found a site called Danword, and I later discovered that it just gives you the answer. I'm assuming this must be some kind of bot site as this person has every answer to every clue and to be honest it makes a mockery out of prize crosswords. Hopefully most people are like me and prefer to submit their own work!

Scribelle - I am completely on your side.

Don't submit for a prize if you have used a cheat site. I am particularly annoyed by the fact that the solutions to The Times Monthly puzzle (prize £100) are freely availalable online. It's a stinker and requires a lot of word searches, but satisfying to get to the full solution under your own steam.

On the plus side, the Viz Craptic gets these sites Bothered.

Danword, and indeed most of the online solvers, have been known to be completely wrong in their answers, so it’s best not to use them. Having said that, I personally think it’s okay to submit an entry to a crossword competition if you’ve used a solver because winning the prize at all costs should be everyone’s priority, and once every entry is in the “hat” then everyone is equal anyway. Using a solver for a non-prize puzzle is self-defeating though, I agree with that.

On the subject of Viz, I sometimes put the clues through a solver app, and sometimes it’s spot on. This is a source of great amusement to me…

Back in my climbing days there were endless discussions about what was (rather grandiosely and hence slightly ridiculously) known as “ethics” - could you claim to have completed a route if you used chalk or if you’d recce’d it on a top rope, etc, etc, etc. I feel rather the same about this discussion as I did back then: it’s between you and the man in the mirror.

gawdelpus, are you serious?

bobbycollins, I’m assuming you mean the first part of my answer, so yes I’m serious. (Although the Viz thing is true too haha)

I once saw someone ask for the answers to more than a dozen clues in that week’s Private Eye crossword on the Answerbank site; there were only about 22 clues in the whole puzzle. It struck me then that this person has as much chance of winning as I or anyone who slogged through it properly, so why bother?

Personally I only resort to this site when I have one or two clues left and need a pointer. I’m completely fine with entering prize puzzles afterwards.

One thing I do find odd is how some puzzlers consider solver apps as “cheating”, yet somehow posting on here isn’t…I’ll never understand that.

Each to his/her/their own.

I have been alerted to this thread by several emails but decided to let it remain as it seems a genuine discussion on Solver Bots.

A gentle warning though, the thread will be deleted if it veers towards a discussion of the rights and wrongs of asking for answers on the Crossword Forum.

Please stick to a discussion on Solver Bots.

Norah, I'm treading on eggshells here, but for me jack aubrey's "man in the mirror" analogy sums up my own view.

I wouldn't like to wear the moderator's shoes.

Sincere best regards - "bobby"

I'm sure everybody will take a (slightly) different approach. It is a case of each to their own and I respect that. If I need help to get over the line - and it's almost invariably with EV - I won't submit an entry.