Another year has passed and again we have reached the anniversary of the first blog being posted on Fifteensquared – this time it’s the 10th.
So, what has been achieved during the last ten years? Well, we’ve solved, parsed and blogged over 12,500 cryptic puzzles which have attracted well over 170,000 comments (most of them relevant to the puzzle under discussion or to a preceding comment!).
We have, I hope, helped some people to better understand the dark, and sometimes devious, art of the cryptic and to become more proficient solvers. I also hope that along the way we have provided some amusement and entertainment as well as the clue analyses.
My thanks go to all bloggers, past and present, to all those who have posted (relevant) comments and also to the lurkers for making the site the success it is.
I’ve mentioned ‘relevant’ twice now and I think it is, well, relevant. I have been pleased to read, on a number of occasions during the last twelve months, comments to the effect that the site is a peaceful oasis, or haven (or words to that effect) on the Web where, for the most part, people are polite and courteous, unlike some other fora (or forums if you prefer). Please, let’s keep it that way.
Geoff (aka Gaufrid)
Thanks Gaufrid!
Also thank all the bloggers for their dedication.
Congratulations on the first 10 years. I am sure that the daily analyses have helped a lot of solvers understand the principles of cryptic clues. The comments reveal a spectrum of attitudes regarding fairness, levels of difficulty, etc., but they are generally good-tempered. Keep going!
Fifteensquared is a great site, thank you Gaufrid for all you do, and thank you to all the bloggers.
Thank you so much Gaufrid, and all the wonderful bloggers. Great job. Here’s to the next ten years.
John (Paul)
Happy Anniversary and thank you to all who make this site so great
Happy Anniversary, 225!
And many, many thanks to Geoff for keeping order, to the indefatigable bloggers and to the (usually) insightful contributors to the discussions.
Congratulations, Gaufrid and all the bloggers. My age on this site is about 2 years (I think), and in that time I have enjoyed reading the blogs for all the right reaons: the analyses, the range of opinions, the grown-up exchange of views and all the extra knowledge I have gained.
I think you have the format just right, Gaufrid, and woud like to see more of the same for the next n years.
Excellent site. Happy anniversary from a lurker and very occasional blogger.
I agree entirely with what the preceding commenters have said. Long may you continue.
Definitely a landmark to celebrate – here’s to the next ten. Thanks for all the hard work Gaufrid, and to all the bloggers and commenters who make this such a wonderful place.
May I add my congratulations and thanks. This site gives me huge pleasure and its friendly tone is a joy.
Amen to all the above.
It is no exaggeration to say that this site changed my life, so thanks to all who contribute, bloggers, posters, and even the occasional troll. But especially to Gaufrid, our bellwether.
Congratulations and thanks, Gaufrid! I know it’s no easy job keeping an interactive website functioning well. I’m one of those who appreciates the civilised, helpful and intelligent nature of the place. Thanks, also, to the bloggers and many commenters – I’ve learned a lot through your efforts. Long may all this continue.
Congratulations on the anniversary, and thanks to all the contributors for creating an excellent and instructive forum. Proud to be a lurker here.
cracking effort Gaufrid; well done to you, and thanks to all the bloggers for the enlightenment!
This is one of my favourite sites and I can’t thank Gaufrid enough for keeping it ticking over. Thanks also to the many bloggers whose chatty blogs make them feel like personal friends although I’ve only met a few of them.
Happy Anniversary with hopes that I’m still around for the twentieth! 🙂
It’s all been said, but must add my thanks to Gaufrid, bloggers, and all the contributors who make this such an excellent site. Long may it continue!
Many thanks to Gaufrid and the contributors to this blog who have helped me here in the US learn what at times seems a second language – and in the process add to the fun.
Congratulations, Gaufrid. And thanks, too.
Also to all bloggers and commenters.
Since discovering 225, there’s been an extra dimension to the enjoyment in solving crosswords.
As h.eckler says, since discovering 225, there’s been an extra dimension to the enjoyment in solving crosswords – not least the enjoyable S&B gatherings.
And I discovered it quite by chance. Struggling to complete an Indy one day I ended up with what was obviously an anagram but the only sensible word I could make wasn’t in the dictionary. So I googled it and the first thing to come up was that day’s 225 blog!
Thanks to all concerned.
Congratulations, and thanks, Gaufrid. Thanks also to all the bloggers and contributors.
(My cat – Captain Jack Sparrow – apologises for the digressions of a few days ago!)
The crossword world without fifteensquared is unthinkable. Congratulations to Gaufrid and to all the bloggers and commenters who have helped to make the site such a success.
Raising a glass as I write this! What a wonderful site. And, of course, many thanks to Gaufrid for his work.
Many happy returns to Fifteensquared and all who work to keep it going and make up its community. Long may the site continue to enlighten, amuse and provide a friendly venue for crossword folk new and old to come together. Cheers! 🙂
Many thanks, as ever, to Gaufrid, who gallantly and courteously manages to keep us all in some sort of order and to all contributors to this great site.
Gaufrid says, “So, what has been achieved during the last ten years?”. I’m glad that Allan @20 has mentioned the S and B gatherings: without this site it would have been impossible for various people to arrange get-togethers at various venues – Derby, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, London, Cambridge, Macclesfield and York – an opportunity for setters and solvers to meet and put faces to names and make new friends. Highly recommended if you haven’t tried one yet. 😉
Happy Anniversary! It was almost two years ago that I first started trying to solve those cryptic crosswords that I’d seen in the paper with their odd and impenetrable clues. Thanks to 225 my solving ability has improved immensely (still much room for improvement). More importantly, as others have mentioned above, it’s a forum where we mostly treat each other with respect and what few digressions there are are amusing and thought provoking. Here’s to the next 10 years!
Yes, well done everyone. This site has added to my enjoyment of crosswords. I’m not sure when I first came across fifteensquared, but I think my first comment was on a blog of a Terry Pratchett themed crossword in the Indie in 2011. Seems like only yesterday.
The two main aspects of the 225 blogs that I appreciate are politeness and intellect, which sadly are often lacking in some other places on the internet. I have learned so much from this site, have become a more competent solver, and have made lots of new friends through the S&B get-togethers. So I’ll add my thanks to Geoff, the bloggers, the contributors (and of course the setters) for putting a smile on my face most mornings.
(And also to remind Gaufrid that we must be all due to put another tenner in the kitty soon to pay for the costs of hosting the site …)
I can only echo the preceding comments. Thank you to Gaufrid, all bloggers and positive-minded contributors (the vast majority). A pleasure to visit, and occasionally chip in. The Guardian cryptic has been a daily delight for about 45 years so far; 225 has made it even better.
Very pleasing to see these appreciative comments here. NMS was in there from the start, with first blog (of a Dac puzzle) appearing on the day (2 November 2006) after the first one by Neil Dubya that has been linked here. At one point, had written more blogs than anyone else, I think. Many thanks, as others have so rightly said, are due to Gaufrid, who has been a superb administrator of the site. Special thanks also to Neil Dubya who got it all rolling in the first place.
Another one to add their thanks to you Gaufrid and to all the rest of the bloggers. I learn so much from you and from those who contribute comments. It’s reassuring to know that this is a site where, to use the words of another website with a similar philosophy, “decorum and civility” reign. Long may they continue to do so.
Thank you very much again.
225 is terrific. A great source of enlightenment and enjoyment. Thanks to all who make it what it is, especially Gaufrid.
Thank you Gaufrid for doing a great job maintaining this site.
And a little off-topic – muffin@21 what a marvellous name for a cat!
Many thanks to Gaufrid and all the bloggers for this wonderful site. It has been a great help to me over the years and enabled me to fully appreciate the crosswords, explaining nuances I may otherwise have missed.
Rather belated congratulations from me as well. Here’s to many multiples of ten more.
Congratulations from me, too. As others have commented, Fifteen Squared is so often an oasis of calm and positivity. Bloggers relish our puzzles and, from a personal point of view, I have got to know many new friends and, as Eileen mentions, have enjoyed various get-together around the country.
My thanks to all of you have blogged my puzzles — PeeDee seems to be lumbered with my FT thematics on Wednesdays! Thanks to Gaufrid for overseeing us all so fairly which is in stark contrast to another place which I could mention.
Tom Johnson aka Gozo and Maskarade
We have only just noticed the announcement so are late to the party!
It’s all been said so can we just add our names to all the comments above?
A special thanks though to Gaufrid.
My thanks too. I have found this site immensely helpful and am in awe of Pete who does the FT Saturday, which is the only crossword `i do. Hence i usually skip straight to that site, and this is the first time `i have noticed that other things go on, like occasional gatherings!
Not sure it’s made me a more proficient solver, but it’s greatly enhanced the satisfaction of solving, or failing to solve, my crossword of choice. Many thanks to all who contribute and long may it last.