The Stickler for this week is now available. Please select your preferred solving format.
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Clue Hints for The Stickler Weekly 172 |
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Solution to The Stickler Weekly 171 |
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Please include comments or discussion about this crossword below.
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It’s a weekly crossword, so please don’t give/discuss any full answers until the solution is posted (such posts will be deleted/edited).
Enjoy!
Hi David
I don’t know which diet you are on, but it has had a marked effect on your ‘Sticklers’,
either that or my grey cells are getting feebler. You are getting harder to master, although we still manage, but with more rude words here and there. Keep up the great work.
As they say in the classics, Peter, it’s me, not you. One of the pitfalls of operating without test solvers and an editor is I have no real idea of how hard a complete crossword is. Sure, I roughly know how hard each clue is, and what a solver will have to work out to get the answer. I can throw in a few gimmes to open up different sections or include some obvious anagrams to help people make inroads. Trouble is, no-one solves a crossword in exactly the same way and everyone’s vocab is different, so it’s not an exact science.
For this reason I rely heavily on feedback via email and here to keep me in check. I’ll make a conscious effort to ease up in coming weeks unless the rest of you say otherwise.
Hi Peter
Have you tried visiting the “Clue Hints” Section?
…..Sure I can speak for Arthur M.
Pose any questions you may have there about Clues that are giving you difficulty.
We will do our very best to assist (in a non solution-revealing way – of course).
Been with you since the get-go David & occasionally in Courier Mail before that.
All Good with me. It is a progressive thing, learning as I go, gathering new words, becoming more adept at identifying indicators. PARSING – re-learning it. Had forgotten the principles, they’ve just always been there in the background. If I get well into a second day, become a bit concerned. But there’s always a way & the developing Forum really help with those pesky final “four-worders” (Thank You, Arthur) & more.
For my part everything is just fine as it it.
Meant four-letters Words…. of course.
How’s this for Deep & Meaningful………..
“As You Sow, so shall We Grow”.
Again I have been blissfully unaware of some of the issues of setting puzzles. I knew you needed a good vocabulary. (I think David must read 3 pages of the dictionary every night while I am reading Jeffrey Archer). Without a tester and an editor, there will be ups and downs, and I remain impressed with how David produces puzzles which are difficult but solvable by people with a variety of education life style and experiences.
I consider the forum to be an essential element. Contributors are generally to the point, and tend to send our thoughts into appropriate channels without giving the definition away.
I check the forum regularly, even when I have completed the puzzle, as I may be able to shine new light on a clue, or learn from somebody’s experience. I note that David learns from the forum, which helps everybody. So please contribute to the forum, (and to David’s coffers).
This week I spent a lot of time in the dictionary, and I regularly have to check google. I enjoy the challenge, and the opportunity to expand my vocabulary and perhaps keep dementia at bay for another week or two.
Agree with ALL of this Arthur – Wholeheartedly………
& ESPECIALLY – The Bit about …………….CONTRIBUTIONS/SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Everyone can be doing their bit to cultivate this very enjoyable activity.