Crossword Help Forum
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Cheers K will try, but can I say that we Newbies to Mephisto appreciate it when we get stuck and you give the answer! Haven't been doing this one for bery long as it alays seemed too daunting.

Why bother?
Try an easier crossword!!

Hello FAC.

It's not a bad thing to bother to try the challenge of a harder than usual crossword. I think it's a pity you don't support someone when they do attempt the challenge.

Asking for help here isn't cheating as no Mephisto rules are being broken. Similarly, several people doing the crossword together in their front room wouldn't be cheating either.

I wonder if you also think using a dictionary is cheating?

JimC

There is another way of looking at this. There is a difference between asking for help with a clue, or expecting to get the crossword done for you. Anyone following these threads today could have got a lot of the puzzle done for them. We have all seen postings where someone asks for 6, 7, 8 or so answers, with no letters at all. If I've spent a couple of hours comlpeting Mephisto, or any other "advanced" puzzle I'm not about to give the answers - help, yes that's different. Give an easier clue, or point in the direction of the answer, but to give someone the whole answer isn't helping them to learn how to do the crossword, it's showing them how to fill in the grid.

HI AJT.

Someone learning how to do crosswords could learn a lot on how the twisted mind of the compiler works either from being given a clue towards the answer (as you suggest) or by being given the complete answer (with or without and explanation). Either way, if help is given, the intention is that they should arrive at and understand the correct answer. Personally, I learn a lot from seeing the complete answers and explanations given on this site.

I can understand the reluctance to give answers if the crossword is for an outstanding prize. However, I think that the number of people who may use this site to 'freeload' on all the answers for a given crossword and send off the complete, correct solution and are then randomly chosen to win the prize (when they otherwise would not have been able to) is probably a tiny percentage of those that submit correct answers. If this is so, the freeloaders don't significantly alter the chance of winning for someone who has worked it all out for themselves.

If someone asks for most or all solutions to a given crossword, then that's what I would call 'freeloading'. Otherwise it seems to me friendly to give them what they ask for ('a clue' or 'an answer', as they wish).

JimC

Day 1 of this Mephisto & it doesn't need posting till Saturday. Even a beginner could persist for longer before asking for 'answers'.
Hints or explanations of wordplay were not even asked for!

Absolutely FAC Fan. A large proportion of the words in this puzzle needed recourse to a dictionary - and mostly Chambers. In a lot of cases - I'm not saying all - it's easier to post a question than try to find an answer. With this Forum it's probably quicker to post a question and get an answer than working at it - and thereby learning how to do it - than looking in the dictionary.

I do share your concern about how soon after publication questions pop up here but as people work during the week and may not have (or be able to reach) a Saturday postal collection any more, I can sympathise with their sense of urgency from day 1.

I think that looking in a dictionary to get an answer is no more proper than asking for answer on this site - and won't necessarily lead to greater learning. This site is another resource to be used (but not abused) and it is each individual's choice as to if and how they respond to requests.

JimC

I'm more convinced by what you say, JimC, and was thinking of making the point about the full answer being a help in working back to the clue.
I also think that your analysis of chances of winning a prize was right.
I do sympathise a bit with the hard-working and talented AJT, but felt that FAC was unpeasantly isolationist and spuriously purist.

When we all made our first tentative steps from a standard grid crossword to an advanced we needed a lot of help and guidance.
Because of the difficulty, the barred grid puzzles only attract a minority of solvers and I think we should do all we can to help them along even it that means giving full answers, and explanations.
It is easy to spot the free loaders who, in any case are only fooling themselves.
A tyro learns more from an answer & explanation than being told to go and look in a dictionary & I will continue to give answers in a way that I believe is beneficial to the questioner and to the site. If this is deemed unacceptable then I will of course cease contributing.

Some people seem to forget it is just a crossword we are talking about, with a prize hardly worth 'cheating' for.