Enjoyed today's, rhyming pair, Spoonerism, other usual suspects.
My CoD 20a.
Prompted by jono last week I sent some of my gripes about Everyman run by The Observer and got the following response from Caitlin the Puzzles Editor "Puzzles Observer"
I hope this is of interest to this forum.....
Thank you for taking the time to lay out each of these problems individually. It is genuinely useful to me because I believed a few of these were already fixed:
The clue numbering, returning to a partially completed puzzle and the clue sliders. Since you are still experiencing those problems, knowing your device, operating system, and browser would help me confirm whether the fix hasn’t reached everyone or if something else is going on.
The obscured START button, the missing save option, the missing postal address on the site, and the PDF with no space for name and address are things I will take on board and get those logged for remedy.
On how competition entries are managed: you have three ways to enter, digitally on the site, by post, or by emailing/scanning a photograph of your completed grid to competitions@observer.co.uk. Regardless of how you enter, the winner selection process is the same. All postal entries are numbered by pen on receipt. Once the competition closes, digital and email entries are added to the same list and assigned the next sequential numbers. Winners are drawn from that combined pool using a random number generator, so your odds are the same regardless of how you entered.
On the message board: I understand the frustration that’s built up there, but I’ll say plainly, a grievance posted on a forum doesn’t reach me and doesn’t get fixed. Writing to me directly does. I’d rather have twenty emails like yours than a thread of people agreeing something’s wrong.
On surveys and testers: I can’t run a formal survey right now, but this is exactly the direction I want to take. I’m discussing with our product manager the idea of building a group of crossword testers, readers who’d help us catch problems like these before they reach everyone. Nothing formal exists yet, but consider your interest noted, and I’ll come back to you when there’s something to join.
Emails like yours, specific and itemised, are exactly what let me build the case for what gets fixed and in what order, and I would encourage you to share that with your solving community.
Thank you again for persisting with Everyman despite all this, and for writing in.
Warmest regards,