Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

My thanks to those who have made kind comments.

To be honest, the threads that used to attract my attention were typically the ones that related not to a specific clue but to words, dictionaries, clueing, setting, or crosswords in general, and the new rules seem to have put a stop to those (the last such thread was back in July). Since I only do one puzzle a week (Azed), reading through a long thread on a specific puzzle doesn't appeal.

I will, though, keep an eye on the forum, and will throw in my two penn'orth where I think it might usefully add to a discussion.

Spoffy, I cannot see how the new rules have put a stop to the threads you mention. As far as I am aware, I have done nothing to bar a properly headed thread dealing with the world of Crosswords,

Today, for instance, Jazzgirl has resurrected a thread on the OED, which is fine as far as I am concerned.

She suggests I might like to alter the heading but I'll need to take advice on that one. However the thread itself is fine.

Spoffy, I too would miss your valuable input.

Your post at 11.58 mentioned threads discussing words, dictionaries, setting etc. The Pedants United thread features those topics, not all the time as contributors can and do digress. I skip past any cricket threads, other people probably skip past some of my ramblings. It can be interesting to see the different viewpoints on various aspects of crosswords.

Thanks, Malone. I think I'm a little too pedantic (or Ximenean) for that thread - pretty much any Guardian clue is likely to send me over the edge...not to mention the new, 'improved' Everyman...

Norah - I wasn't suggesting that there was an explicit prohibition in place on threads not related to a specific puzzle/quiz, but the posting guidelines make no provision for them. I feel there must be a reason why there were 14 such threads initiated between January and March this year (admittedly a couple of them were a bit weird!) while since the start of August there has not been one. I'm not saying that this is an issue or that anything should be changed, simply explaining why there is less on the forum these days to engage me.

Spoffy, you certainly cannot blame the new Posting Guidelines for the lack of these threads as they only appeared last week. It could just be a seasonal thing, everyone was bored in the winter between January and March and posted these threads on the Forum.

I don't think that anything I've done can be held responsible for the lack of these threads, around January I started banning duplicate and the "I'm Stuck" threads but that has nothing to do with the type of thread you mention.

The Posting Guidelines make no specific mention of the type of thread to which you refer BUT the wording above the Subject Box reads "If about a crossword or quiz, use the name of the crossword" which gives a certain amount of leeway.

Fair enough, it just seemed coincidental that the last 'Please help/Stuck' thread was on August 1st, so I assumed that they'd been being deleted or renamed since then.

We are talking two different things here, I thought you were talking about threads such as the OED which has just been resurrected and had a proper heading, as does Brendan's Barred Puzzles thread of today. You did refer to "words, dictionaries, clueing, setting, or crosswords in general" but these wouldn't come under 'I'm Stuck'.

I have not barred any Crossword relevant threads, such as the two mentioned above, as these could be of interest to all Forum Users.

Yes, I have deleted a few "I'm Stuck" threads but not many, the majority have been renamed with the name of the Crossword once it has been ascertained. It is a Crossword Help Forum and the majority of our Users prefer to have the name of the Crossword in the heading rather than 'I'm stuck'.

I'm not sure we're at cross purposes, but I don't think anything more needs to be said. I was very pleased to see Brendan's thread.

Yea, Spoffy, I think we've exhausted the topic.

Please feel free to post threads yourself, it all adds interest to the Forum. They won't be deleted providing they have 'proper' headings and are Crossword\Quiz related, they will likely be of interest to everyone.