… I would like to express a few words of gratitude.
Firstly I would like to say thank you to the Fifteensquared team members who have all taken time out of their busy schedules to post blogs during the past twelve months. I’m sure your efforts have been much appreciated, particularly by those new, or relatively new, to cryptic puzzles.
Also, I would also like offer a word of thanks to all those who have contributed to the site by adding comments. I hope you continue to do so (though please try not to stray too far off-topic if you can 😉 ).
Finally I would like to thank all the setters, and their crossword editors, for the many hours of enjoyment (and perhaps a little frustration or even annoyance at times) they have provided during the last year. Please continue the good work by giving us yet more challenges next year.
Seasonal felicitations to all bloggers, commenters, lurkers, setters and solvers everywhere. May you have every cruciverbal success during the coming year.
Gaufrid (aka Admin)
You’ve left one person out of that list, Gaufrid, – yourself. Thanks for all the work you put in to ensuring the site runs so smoothly, the mind boggles at the commitment in time etc that all that involves for you.
Here, here – I can only echo nmsindy’s comment.
Oops – that should of course be “Hear, hear!”
You and your team do a great job, even though I’m not going to agree always with all the comments on my own puzzles. You are focused on crosswords pretty well exclusively and countenance none of the moaning and groaning of a non-cruciverbal nature that bedevils the Crossword Centre Message Board. Well done — keep it going. For those newcomwers who discover you, you must be especially welcome. Don Manley
And I’d just like to say thank you Gaufrid for letting me join this merry band. Anyway merry wotnots to you all being as it’s that time of year, let’s hope we get some more visitors/commenters next year. A year ago I wasn’t aware of this place, funny old world. I keep getting asked “do you set them?” If only! So please casual guests, please make yourselves known.
Incredibly, it`s only a few months since I dipped my cryptic toe in the water, only to have it bitten off by Tupu in a feeding frenzy. The shoals of basking sharks regularly cruising on 15sq. are generally of a benign disposition unless you do the equivalent of poking them with a stick (like getting an apostrophe in the wrong place).
But, Gaufrid, much and many thanks to you for liberating my selfish habit into the wider arena of cruciverbalists everywhere….even from the non-English speaking world!
The Seasonal Tidings to you all.
Hello from one of those “new, or relatively new to cryptic puzzles” who has benefited enormously from this site. Can I add my thanks and appreciation to all setters, bloggers and commenters here? And my agreement with Don Manley @4 that for newcomers you are especially welcome. When I discovered the site in roughly May or June, I was at the stage when completing Everyman in The Observer was a major achievement for me; since then, following the comments on this site has been, literally, an education, and has greatly enhanced my ability to solve and understand crosswords, and so to enjoy and appreciate them. And on top of that, you have managed to transform the crossword into something of a social occasion! Many thanks to all concerned.
A big thank you to all the people who give up so much of their time compiling the entertaining and informative blogs.
Also to all the setters that have given so many delightful challenges during the past year.
I would also like to thank all of you who comment here.I really like the way that,even when there are differences of opinion,they are (nearly always) conducted in a friendly manner.No cross words here. 🙂
Most especially I would like to thank Gaufrid,as nms says in his comment,the work involved in the admin. of the site must be immense – never mind being always ready to step in with a blog if one of the regulars is not available.
My thanks too to Gaufrid for all the hard work. And it is very encouraging to read that people find our efforts so helpful. Just be warned, newcomers — cruciverbalism is seriously addictive!
I also enjoy the Crossword Centre’s message board, by the way. It’s different from a blog site, and none the worse for that.
Have a lovely Christmas, everyone, and I wish you successful solving in 2011.
I “tenth” the comments above 😉
Many thanks to Gaufrid for putting so much into keeping the site up and running, and his efforts to keep the discussions friendly and on topic – merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
It was my pleasure too to join the blogging team in 2010. And having had a little glimpse ‘behind the scenes’ at 225 I also will confirm the enormous amount of work that Gaufrid does in running it. It’s clear the site gives a lot of pleasure to a lot of people and while it is a team effort (including the commenters of course) it simply wouldn’t happen without Gaufrid’s input, so I’ll add my thanks to those of others.
I am a rare writer but a fequent reader of this site. Thanks to all of you who explain and review all the crosswords. Those of us who are users but not contributors are especially grateful to Gaufrid.
Thanks, Gaufrid and Seasonal Good Wishes. I think you do a brilliant job here.
Just back from a weekend in Copenhagen, to find it’s all been said, really, but I can’t not add my thanks for all the great puzzles [we really are spoilt] from the setters, and the nice comments from all and, of course, a huge ‘thank you’ to Gaufrid for his excellent housekeeping of the site and his genial oversight of comments, which ensures that, as mhl says, we do, generally, keep on track in a friendly and amiable way.
A very Happy Christmas, everyone!
Happy Christmas all, and huge thanks to Gaufrid and the rest of the blogging team for their magnificent work, and of course to the commenters who have contributed so much to often lively (and thus very welcome) debate. It’s great to know that the lonely task of writing puzzles has the reward of online enthusiasm.
I can only add my thanks, Gaufrid – 15sqd feels like a friend.
A Big Thank You to you, Gaufrid, and all the bloggers.
You really did a F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C job!
And to everyone involved in this site, I’d wish to say:
“Why is any preacher man’s dream party outrageous?” (5,9,3,1,5,3,4)
As a newcomer, and regular reader/infrequent poster, a big thanks to all for helping me improve my completions.
it is an excellent, well-run, friendly site.
Dunno, do fear a little that sometimes the blogs are sometimes too aimed at experienced solvers and newcomers will still wonder what’s going on and I’m probably guilty of that too. We don’t bite unless you ask 🙂 so please don’t be afraid to ask, we’re here to help. Honest.
Here’s to a new year of inventive, downright misleading crosswords with great wordplay.
Nothing to say that has not already been said, which is not to say that I don’t echo enthusiatically the praise and thanks that have already been lavished on Gaufrid.
Rather a lot of negatives there. However, my experience of 225 is nothing but positive. Just nice if the Indy could attract a few more readers, and therefore a few more commenters on its excellent crosswords.
Many thanks Gaufrid. I greatly enjoy the site and use it regularly – but I rarely have time to solve a puzzle on the day it is published and so it always seems a bit redundant to add a comment some days after the event. But I am there anyway, lurking if you will, and greatly appreciate your efforts and those of the bloggers and setters
Lurking mainly, I too am grateful for this site.
I discovered this site accidentally about 2-3 years ago. Stuck on an Indy crossword entry; there seemed to be only one possible answer but it was something I’d never heard of and seemed highly improbable (I think it was a person’s name if I remember rightly) so I googled it on the offchance. And there it was; the first link on the page was to Fifteensquared!
So, many thanks Gaufrid for all your hard work.
And a merry Christmas to one and all!
Allan_C
I had a similar serendipitous experience nearly three years ago. [I didn’t even realise there were crossword forums!] A Guardian puzzle included the [only possible] answer RONTE [a word I hadn’t heard of but it fitted the definition] and a reference in the clue to ‘Bramwell’ [Bronte]. Since I knew his name was Branwell, I googled the two words and, like you, found a query on Fifteensquared as the first link. From that day, I was hooked!
Thanks to all the Indy bloggers and to Wil for his kind comment @21 (a wish I share, obviously).
And thanks especially to Gaufrid for his hard work and for tipping me off when the Indy online crossword wasn’t what it should be.
And a very merry Christmas and happy new year to all bloggers, commenters, lurkers and other solvers.
Thank you to Gaufrid, the bloggers, setters and responders.
One thing I love about this site is the evidence, from bloggers and responders, that it is accessed around the world.
Allan_C and Eileen, I found fifteensquared in exactly the same way. I can’t remember the obscure word which Googled me here. Unlike you I didn’t appreciate what I’d found and only rediscovered the site at the beginning of the year.
Seasons greetings to all.
Sil (@18), if that is what I think it is it’s a lovely anagram – well done.
Like Allan and Eileen, I too stumbled on this site, just over a year ago, and it’s been such a help to me since then. The supportive and collegiate nature of the site is great: never (well, seldom) a cross word and someone always on hand to help with a query or comment. I too would like to encourage more people to contribute; no-one bites and it’s always interesting to hear beginners’ perspectives.
I can only repeat what’s been said so far – many thanks to Gaufrid and his team for their hard work. This really is the “must have” site for both solvers and setters. As a solver it’s not only invaluable for looking up unsolved clues, but the blogs and comments from fellow solvers are always interesting to read in their own right. In my Alberich/Klingsor role as a setter I have found the feedback extremely useful and very generous too. The other excellent attribute of this site is that posters are always polite and respectful to each other and about the puzzles even when being critical.
So congratulations on an excellent job and a Merry Christmas to all.
Thanks, Gaufrid. I’ve only recently tried to do the Guardian cryptics after spending too much time on doing the Everyman cryptic each week. The site is a godsend for a beginner like me, and has helped enormously in both my understanding and enjoyment of the puzzles. Well done, and Seasons Greetings!
I always turn straight to the site – well, straight after downloading the Listener puzzle – on a Saturday morning to see what the exegesis on my Friday appearance has been, and I have even started putting in Ninas (and occasionally part-Ninas) specifically to tease you all. That’s mischievous, I know, but it wouldn’t have happened had it not been for the enthusiasm and engagement on the site.
Thanks and merry Christmas to everyone.
I am a newbie to this forum. Yet whenever I have solved a puzzle and looked up this site for anno, I have a great deal of satisfaction. Almost always the bloggers are verbose with the annotations and comments for the answers, which is essential for a greenhorn. In the cases where the above statement was untrue, the solvers in the comments section readily offer a helping hand. Thanks to all the gentlemen involved in this forum. Hope to contribute more towards this blog in future (perhaps become a blogger as well? :D)
A character in the 1975 film Night Moves says, “Stick with me, kid. lt ain’t much fun, but it’s educational.”
Not true of this site. I’ve had a great deal of enjoyment as well as learning a lot, since discovering 225 in May this year.
Thanks and best wishes to all.
Many thanks to Gaufrid and the team for providing an interesting corner in my life. You do a great job.
I get Fifteensquared through one of the RSS feeds. As an experienced solver of Guardian cryptics, I read the Monday-Friday entries when I’ve either finished or gone as far as my mood and skill will take me. (I tend not to bother with the blogs of the Saturday prize puzzle because my entry is long gone, so they feel rather stale.) My ability to parse and evaluate clues is definitely improving as a result of this place.
I also read a few non-crossword blogs but usually can’t bear to read the comments and am even less inclined to contribute. Vitriol and ignorance are big turn-offs and I can only salute the able bloggers who persist in such a hostile environment. Fifteensquared is different, thank goodness. Here, it’s all – well, almost all – worth reading. It also feels safe and worth making the occasional comment. Long may this friendly and stimulating community continue!
Have a good break, everyone, but not from crosswords. 🙂
Great site. I’ve had lotsa fun, and ejoyed in particular the comments of the contributors as opposed to my own boring ones! Thanks to site ownwer Gaufrid, all the setters and bloggers too. Happy Xmas and thanks a million.
And my computer thanks you. Many is the time I might have put my fist through its screen, had not Fifteensquared provided enlightenment.
Happy holidays to all.
As a sometimes enforced lurker, thanks to everyone for their work on the site and keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for setting up and running a brilliant site, and to all those who continue to contribute with such intelligence, and with such enthusiasm for our beautiful art.
Paul – The Guardian crossword
Neo, Paul B and me thank all who blog and comment on this great site, plus the editors and other setters out there in Crossworld. Long may 225 continue but meanwhile, a very happy year’s end to each ‘n’ every.
I too came across 225 quite by accident through Google.
It’s a brilliant site.
Many, many thanks, and long may it continue!
Best wishes to all from a blogger turned setter – great work by Gaufrid/Admin – “managing a twisted mind” – as well as all the team and commenters-at-large.
Merry Christmas to Gaufrid and the rest of the team – setters, bloggers, commentaters and all.
It’s been an instructive year for me, too, as I’ve gone from improving my solving skills – an ongoing process – to becoming a junior member of the bloggers. My New Year’s resolution is going to be to improve my blogging skills, to make them more readable and give Gaufrid less work 🙂
Best wishes to all for the festive season and the year to come.
I doff my cap to Gaufrid, all the bloggers and anyone else involved in running this excellent website. No greater testimony is needed now that the likes of Quixote, Paul and Phi have added their respective tuppences. Big holiday crosswords coming up no doubt – I know they will be made more fun by the community that has developed here. Merry Christmas all.
May I add my thanks. After years of solving in a group at work, I miss the company and the “ideas bouncing” now I am retired. I am in awe of the bloggers and grateful for the help in explaining why an answer is correct. Happy festivities. Mike
Congratulations on a fantastic site, which has not only helped improve my solving skills out of all recognition, but also made me aware of the great puzzles in the FT. Only wish I had more time to do more puzzles.
Congratulations on keeping this superb site running so smoothly, presumably on the shortest of shoestrings. Not only have a lot of solvers improved their skills but so, I can assure you, has this setter and, I wouldn’t be surprised, many others. A happy festive period to Santa Gaufrid and all his little helpers.
As an ex-blogger but continuing reader and commenter I’d also like to thank Gaufrid and his team for his and their work over this year. I know how time consuming it is to solve and then write up a blog but can’t begin to imagine the time commitment from Gaufrid, so thanks to everyone for giving their time so generously.
Having just spent the last week in Philadelphia I wish everyone a “happy holidays”!
Colin
May I be the 50th to 2nd all the thanks and congrats? Tiny Tim speaks for us all.
Nearly twice the comments over last year’s message, clearly Gaufrid and the rest of us are doing something right. An appeal to especially the lurkers, do we explain enough? or are we insulting your lack of knowledge/intelligence. Don’t know about the other bloggers – this is purely a personal thing and want to know how to pitch them. Thanks G for all the help over the year.
Thanks Gaufrid for giving so much pleasure to someone living so far away. I’m looking forward to another great year.
Season’s Greetings !
Having just got back from hols, I’m a little late in conveying Best Wishes For The New Year to Gaufried and all connected with 225.
I first came across 225 about 6 months ago while looking for answers to the Indy crosseword the day after it appeared, which was when I had time to finish (or not finish) it. So, here were not only the answers, but explanations as well, and comments as well! Since then, I’ve been hooked and have rescheduled my “routine” so that I make it a point of completing the Indy, and, if possible, before the blog comes out. It’s been fun and educational in many ways. Keep on keeping on everyone!
And Happy Holidays!!
My thanks to Gaufrid and his team for all their sterling work in 2010, Seasons Greetings to setters, solvers and bloggers everywhere and best wishes for a happy, healthy (and if possible, warmer) New Year.
I saved my comment for number ‘E V’ (which was a revelation to me when it appeared in one crossword).
Can’t beat what has already been said but keep up the great work everyone !
Thanks to Gaufrid and all bloggers and commentators for making this site the joy that it is. Like others, I found it by accident a couple of years ago, while desperately googling to find an answer to an Araucaria clue. Since then, my solving has got so much better and I’ve even been able to tackle AZEDs, which had been a closed book to me before. Special thanks to Gaufrid for keeping everything running so smoothly.
A very Happy Christmas to everyone and all the best for 2011.
Thanks to all for this marvellous site. And a Happy Christmas and a good New Year to you all.
OK, it’s now close enough to the day for me get round to this thread, I’m not an early Xmas fan.
The news from the class dummy is that the immune system will be stable enough for me to be allowed out in a crowd just in time to coincide with those days when everything will be closed. And just to add to the cheer, Her Ladyship broke her wrist on the snow on Saturday. All adds to the festive fun.
Whatever, a Merry Xmas to one and all.