It seems to me that the current experiment ought to satisfy the full range of requirements if used as intended.
If users of the Listener threads want to ask for, or give, explicit answers, then go to the “answers” thread, and do so at your own peril (by which I mean go there in the knowledge that there will be answers) (call these “A users”).
Other users who are just looking for a subtle hint to spur them on if they’ve ground to a halt, or are happy to give that gentle nudge to others, should use the “hints only” thread (call these “B users”).
I think the issue previously has been that the “may contain answers” thread has really been used as the main thread for the B’s who then occasionally get upset by the A’s who have “spoiled it” for them. Meanwhile the A’s have quite rightly used that same thread and got irritated by the B’s complaining about “spoilers” when “may contain answers” has been very explicit.
I think norah’s experiment ought to solve this and work for both the A’s and the B’s, because there will be a thread to suit each type of user. It will be interesting to see what the volume of posts settles out at on each thread. The “B thread” certainly appears most popular so far. In practice (I think) a lot people will persevere as a B until they’ve completed the crossword, but may get stumped or timed out once in a while, in which case thread A may help.
Roll on No. 4771.