Site feedback

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This page is where you can provide feedback relating to Fifteensquared or raise issues regarding the website itself.

Comments posted before 17/11/2022 can be found here.

New comments can be posted here.

 

130 comments on “Site feedback”

  1. Hi there, I mainly search for Everyman crosswords. But I have trouble with the search box. If I type Everyman 3929 I get no result, but if I insert a comma (3,929), it seems to work. Is that as intended? It seems very specific, or is it me being a bit over fussy?

  4. Phil Lyddon @1

    Firstly, sorry for the delay.

    I’m afraid that in this case it’s purely down to the individual bloggers whether they include a comma. I think that Guardian (Everyman, for example), displays a comma on publication so the bloggers follow suit.

    I’ll take a look into adding a searchable tag but don’t hold your breath.

  5. I tried to post here a couple of days ago, but was blocked by Cloudflare (maybe to do with opening a new comments page?). I would have reported the problem on Site Feedback at the time, but …

    Anyway, I wanted to ask why I have to give my postcode in order to ‘buy Ken a coffee’? I don’t see how it helps transfer funds.

  6. Phil@1, I think the point is that searches are searches to find specified character strings and the numerical nature of a string of digits is not recognised. Since the puzzle titles in the papers include the comma, the bloggers are right to follow suit.

  7. Tony @5

    Up until today I hadn’t actually used the link, myself.

    However, to test out what you said, I just bought a doughnut and all I had to provide was email address and card number. At no stage was I asked for postcode.

    If you have any proof and want me to investigate further then please send to admin (at) fifteensquared (dot) net

  8. I’m looking for the blog for the puzzle I’ve just completed which is given as:

    “Sun 27 Nov 2022 00.00 GMT
    Everyman crossword No 3,972”

    Instead, I find the blog for a completely different crossword headlined (wrongly, as admitted):

    Everyman 3,937
    November 27, 2022 by flashling

    What’s going on, please?

  9. Tony @8 , 3972 is today, it is a Prize , blog is next Sunday.
    3937 is wrongly numbered , it is 3971 from last Sunday.

  11. Ah, thanks, Roz. I did it online on my phone and it doesn’t say anything about any prizes. As you may know, it’s not one of my regular puzzles, but Alan Connor, who writes the Guardian’s Crossword Blog (which I follow closely), has just owned up to being the current Everyman setter and noted that today’s (yesterday’s, now, actually) is his 200th.

    Annoying really because I have a query about one of the lights. Without giving anything away did you notice anything you would want to question (not including just being finickily Ximenean?).

    I suppose I’ll just have to wait till next week.

  12. Tony@10 I did not notice anything in particular , a couple of things I do not really like, will wait for the blog next week.
    I do not really know who Alan Connor is, he writes for the Guardian occasionally , the setter is my enemy , that is all I need to know.

  13. Roz, I will explain what my problem is when the blog appears next week. No doubt it is actually just a problem in my head, due to me getting something wrong, although it looks to me like possibly the result of a last-minute edit.

    The setter is my entertainer and AC himself is also my master of ceremonies, as the person who sets the fortnightly cluing challenge in the Guardian blog.

    It must be tough for you having to fight all those battles every week while I’m being entertained 🙂

  14. If only there were battles to fight , the Guardian seems to have given up since Bunthorne died. The stated policy is two hard crosswords per week, in practice we are lucky to get two per year.

  15. [Roz, are you sure it’s not just you getting better at solving them? I suggest a series of double-blind tests to resolve the issue.

    Btw, I’ve solved the ‘problem in my head’ now. Looking back at the clue in question, I have now understood the parsing properly, instead of in a way leading to a letter clash. I’ll explain next week.]

  16. [ Join the blog next Sunday it is always a good blog, I am no longer getting better at solving, I only time myself for Azed and my times have reached a plateau for the last 10 years . Enigmatist is a good control variable for the Guardian, easily the hardest setter but gets very few puzzles now, in the past he was not even in the top 5 for difficulty. I think this should be on General Discussion if you want to reply, sorry KenMac ]

  17. Hi – just a bit of feedback on the placement of the new “Site Funding” button, which on my ageing 12.9” iPad Pro appears above the “Today’s Cryptics “ header in the side bar and spans over to partly obscure the main page header (eg Site Feedback). Sorry I can’t attach a photo, but hope that description is clear. On my other devices it renders ok – on the IPhone 12 Pro it renders beneath the main page rather than in a sidebar and on the Mac is fits neatly in the sidebar.

  18. Hello Ken,

    I can’t seem to find a blog for Julius’s excellent FT crossword number 17,287. Am I missing something?

  20. My apologies for bothering you unnecessarily, Ken. I hadn’t dated my printout of the puzzle and didn’t realize that it was the weekend crossword.

  21. Is there a fifteen squared solution to the Observer Giant crossword set by James Brydon 18/12/2022? I have only recently started to solve cryptic crosswords and would welcome any help or links to useful guides.

  22. ^ Doesn’t look like there was a blog for that one – possibly because it was a one-off surprise puzzle that couldn’t be scheduled. Perhaps I’m not looking in the right place though.
    If you have any parsing queries for the clues I’m sure people here will help you.

    James Brydon is aka Picaroon, but perhaps you know that.

  25. Hi Kenmac, don’t know if this is your domain, but we need to update the Setters list to include Pangapaku’s alter ego Phi.
    Confirmed on his website. phionline.net.nz

  26. Paddymelon, Phi is listed as an Indy setter. You probably mean that Pangapaku and Phi should be cross-referenced?

  28. Ken, although you have noted that Phi in the Indy is also Pangapaku in the Guardian, you haven’t noted that Pangapaku in the Guardian is also Phi in the Indy :- (

  30. Tony @28 you seem to have missed something out? You have colon , hyphen and open brackets so I assume you intended to write a list but it is not there.

  31. In case you weren’t joking, Roz, Tony has accidentally put a space after the hyphen. Otherwise it would appear as 🙁

  33. I’ve been wondering why the Times crosswords are not blogged here. In particular, the Listener crosswords would be very welcome. The highlight of the week for me here is the Inquisitor crossword, and I would love to see Listener crosswords given a similar treatment. Is it a case of The Times not granting permission?

  37. I had to use a proxy to access this site. If I don’t then the connection times out. This has been going on for a few days. No other websites are affected. Any ideas what’s going on?

  38. No Azed blog today ? I am not complaining, I always appreciate the efforts of the bloggers but if it is just a simple technical glitch ….

  41. Hi, Why can’t I find i-news crosswords under their number in the newspaper? eg I have just been looking for i cryptic 3766 by Tees , 3 March 2023. In the end a search on one of the clues revealed it as Independent 10.075
    Thank you

  42. Pip @41

    The i cryptics are reprints of Independent puzzles from 4 years ago. https://idothei.wordpress.com/ publish a daily blog which links back to Fifteensquared, together with a brief commentary, if you want to let somebody else do the searching, or comment on the day’s puzzle.

  43. Pip, 15² doesn’t cover the repeat puzzles published in the i. However, there is another blog, idothei, which gives the blogger’s personal experience with the puzzle and a link to the 15² blog of the original online puzzle.

  45. I am trying to find the solutions to previous puzzles to see how they arrived at their answer, I have just been granted access to their website, and every time I try to access a solution to the puzzle a subscription offer prevents me from going further. I can Print the puzzles to play but not the solution to see how it is parsed, I have contacted The Spectator but in the meantime does someone have a solution?
    TIA Worworcrossol

  46. The blog post for Cyclops 749 includes an auto-loading link to a Twitter post about a YouTube video. Even if one does not play the video the link eats up a lot of data, which is annnoying if one is using a form of metered internet access.

  47. John E@46, what do you mean by an “auto-loading link”. Nothing loads if you don’t click the link, does it? If that is right, the solution is perhaps for the blogger to warn that that the linked tweet contains video {although ‘pic.twitter’ in the link indicates it’s more than just text, doesn’t it?)?

    Are all the other videos in the thread containing the linked tweet (replies and earlier tweets by the same twit, I think?) also loaded automatically?

  48. John E@46

    I agree with Tony Collman. As far as I can see, the blog post merely points to the Twitter link. Perhaps your browser is set to preload links and, if so, you must be suffering similar problems on multiple websites.

    I don’t feel that it’s a problem with this site or beermagnet’s post unless you can prove otherwise – in which case, I will investigate further.

  51. What happened to Slormgorm’s puzzle in the FT yesterday? I really enjoyed it and was looking forward to the blog. If there’s no one else I could try to blog it but others would be better than me.

  54. Will you blog FT 17,374 (April Fool’s Day) Set by Gozo and published in the print FT, but not included in the app? I have solved it, I think but there is an error in the Crossword. There are 18 Unnumbered Clues. One of these is split into two giving us 19 answers. However there are 20 lights to be filled, so one light is unclued.

  57. Have the quick links to today’s puzzles been removed from the home page as a policy or is this oversight? I have to say I find them very helpful – it’s my normal way into Indy and FT.

  58. I have also found the Guardian/Independent/FT links useful, though I’ve often wished they were higher up the page. I like to see who’s setting from the 225 homepage then decide where to go and get there with a single click. But as they’ve gone from both desktop and mobile versions I suspect it’s policy. I guess there’s a reason. The links are in their own “links” section now. Not really a time-saver anymore but probably better than nothing.

  59. @57 & @58

    It’s not deliberate. I made a small change yesterday then I realised something looked different but I couldn’t work out what it was. The small change was reversed but, clearly, something was still affected. I’ll take a look soon once I can get to a real computer.

  61. Just a minor comment on the layout on my iPad. I normally remember how many posts there were in, for example, Site Feedback and only scroll down to the bottom when I see there are new additions. I can’t do this now because the number of posts is obliterated by the Site Funding. Is there any way of making this smaller so that it no longer intrudes?

  62. No worries, Hovis @61.

    I hadn’t viewed the site on an iPad but I have now and I see what you mean.

    I’ve moved the “Site Funding” widget to the right hand side now.

  63. Hi Kenmac/Admin and thanks for the tweaks. FYI, the link from the homepage to the Indy did not work this morning – took me to a 404 – but the link from the Links section was fine.

  64. @63

    I’ve fixed the link. I’ve also taken the liberty of forcing the “Today’s Cryptics” to open in a new tab. I hope that this proves a popular amendment but I’m sure the 15^2 community will soon let me know.

  67. No FT blog today ? not complaining , there may be an issue for the blogger , but if it is simply a glitch and press a button ?

  68. Deja vu all over again, thanks to Widdersbel for stepping in for the FT blog yesterday.
    No FT today? Pete is normally so reliable, this must be a press the button glitch ?

  70. Also the blog for Guardian Prize 29,063 is not headlined as a Prize puzzle and is uncategorised.

  71. Re my comment @1. I just fell into that ‘no comma’ trap again! I realise why now. I print out my copy of the crossword and it just says Everyman crossword No. xxxx, without a comma on the title line.

  72. Coverage of weekend FT crosswords here is getting a little confusing – at least to me. I expected the jumbo Rosa Klebb to appear last weekend, when it came out and the Falcon crossword, also last weekend, to appear today but no sign of it so far.

  73. Kenmac or other Admin , you might like to look at comment 16 for the FT IO blog today. I do not like to tell tales but….

  74. Roz @73
    I have moved the offending comment to “spam”. Thanks for letting me know.

    [as a side, could you confirm your email address by sending a message to admin (at) fifteensquared (dot) net]

  75. Thanks Kenmac’
    [ I do not actually use email , someone set up this Chromebook for me, I open it and click on a picture of this site. This is my only interaction with the Internet/IT. I do not even have a mobile phone ]

  77. Kenmac sorry to be a pest , no FT blog today ? If it is just a glitch can you be the genie of the lamp ?

  78. Hi, kenmac. Well done for getting the site back – we missed it!

    However, I’ve noticed something that no longer works: the RSS feed. I normally access Fifteensquared via a feed reader and it has been fine for years. My memory is that the last items I obtained that way were the blogs on two S&B puzzles by Dalibor a few days ago. Since then, nothing has come through automatically and I can’t get anything when I click ‘Update feed’.

    I’d be grateful if you would look into this.

  79. Re me @78, I’ve just checked and the two blogs I referred to were about S&B puzzles by PostMark. Sorry.

  80. kenmac, when I try to post a comment on today’s Picaroon, the comment doesn’t appear, but the comment box is empty. If I try again, I get the message that I’m posting something twice, but the post doesn’t appear. What’s up?

    And thanks for restoring the site.

  82. I’d heard of people campaigning for Real Ale (though I’m not quite sure what it is), but not of the name CAMRA.

    How come R = rule?

    The articles on the LEVELLERS and BEVERIDGE were an education. Thanks, Eileen..

    I’m with Gladys@39 on stud and DrW@40 on CR.

    Thanks to Picaroon for a super puzzle and Eileen for the delightful accompaniment.

  83. Oops, sorry, I posted my puzzle comment here. Now I’ll go to the fifteensquared site and do it right.

  85. love the site.

    however, just fyi:

    since the crash, for me, pages load correctly styled for an instant, then revert to a rough text version with no comments, and these weird advertisements sprinkled throughout. the core solve post is still there, but the whole thing looks weird and wrong.

    i am using safari on an iphone13 pro.

    cheers

  86. Hi Kenmac
    I bought you a cup of coffee last month. I was a little surprised (though not upset!) to find on my credit card bill a non-sterling transaction surcharge. Are you based in Ireland?

  87. muffin @86

    Yes I am.

    I’m also surprised to hear that there is an FX surcharge. I thought you were allowed to pay in your local currency. I shall investigate.

  88. Hi kenmac
    Announcements — A milestone for Fifteensquared – 1000th individual blog — Nutmeg Tributes
    both give these messages: “WordPress > Error” & “Unauthorised. You may remove the customize_messenger_channel param to preview as front end.”
    https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/07/23/a-milestone-for-fifteensquared-1000th-individual-blog/?customize_changeset_uuid=78aff9c3-a985-40df-88e3-c6e5c0350bf8&customize_messenger_channel=preview-0&customize_autosaved=on
    https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/07/23/nutmeg-tributes/?customize_changeset_uuid=205c459d-145e-436f-9fd0-588e80307707&customize_messenger_channel=preview-0&customize_autosaved=on
    F

  89. Nutmeg Tributes works now, but
    A milestone for Fifteensquared – 1000th individual blog still doesn’t.

  96. I’ve tried several browsers and computers. I just get a landing page of this account is suspended. Long before it might be my account that’s broken at bigdave44.com

  97. Flashling, you possibly know this by now but everyone had that message for a while yesterday while the site’s hosting arrangement was changed. The ‘account suspended’ referred to the site rather than us users.

  98. Just learned today that Jack in the Guardian is the same setter as Serpent/Basilisk. Could the list of Setters be updated to include this?

  102. No, same as. Just copy all the text of the link and paste it into a browser. You’ll be taken to a Guardian page, “The ten best football dives”.

  103. FrankieG @99 (& Tony @ 101)

    I think if you use alternate text for your link, it will work.

    So put text like “The ten best football dives”, then highlight the text and click the “link” button and paste in the URL – like I’ve done below (hopefully).

    The ten best football dives

  105. Yes, that works – I’ll bear it in mind in future. But I would prefer to post links where people can see exactly what they’re clicking on.

  106. Yeah, I understand but it’s probably the commas that are confusing the issue. I just had another thought, what about putting the URL in quotes?

  107. These links are misbehaving just like the ones referred to @88-91:
    Announcements
    RIP Mike Holman
    S&B York 2023 – Friday 27th & Saturday 28th October 2023

  108. FrankieG@107. Yes, I just tried clicking on that S&B link and got this error message:

    Unauthorised. You may remove the customize_messenger_channel param to preview as front end.

  109. OK, I’ve figured it out. The links I am using are specific to me and, of course, no-one else is authorised to see them.

    I’ve (hopefully) amended it to be universal. Please let me know.

    And thank you for bringing this to my attention, it shouldn’t happen again.

  113. Thank you. I always searched for guardian cryptic as that’s the header in the paper and never found it amongst the resulting weekday listings, even a week later. So that explains it. 🙂

  114. @113

    There are several ways to navigate to a day’s puzzles.

    Search, as you described, is probably the least efficient.

    If you’re using a traditional computer screen or a tablet then you can see a “categories” dropdown on the right-hand-side. On a phone, you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to find it.

    Again, on a computer or tablet, you will find “recent posts” on the left hand side whereas on a phone, you can chose “home” from the menu and you will see the most recent posts, with one exception. If there are “sticky” posts then they’ll always appear first.

  115. Not sure if anything can (or should) be done about this. The print version of the News Puzzle by Basilisk only appeared today but the blog for this has already disappeared from the ‘recent posts’ list, so had to find it through ‘search’. I appreciate this is really the FT’s fault. It also means solvers such as myself don’t really get to comment being a week out of date.

  116. fyi: “style sheet” problem workaround:

    when i load a puzzle page in safari on my iphone 13, the page loads correctly for an instant, but then is immediately replaced with a kind of “plain text” version that does not contain any of the user comments at the end.

    however, if i erase the final “/” character from the url address, and then reload the page, it then loads correctly.

    cheers, and thanks for the great site.

  117. I’ve only just noticed that posts now have their time stamp replicated. For example, the previous post says ‘5:06 pm at 5:06 pm’.

  119. Thank you for the update to the setter section. Very comprehensive. Hope that the setters who haven’t appeared for a year or more are alright.

  120. Often when we get stuck on a crossword, we use 15^2 to check one answer in order to unblock us. However it’s hard to avoid accidentally looking at the other answers while doing this and spoiling them. We would really appreciate a feature that, say, blurs the answers until you click/tap on one to deliberately reveal it. Also, we’re software developers, so happy to discuss implementation… Thanks for the great website ?

  121. Suzie @120

    Many of the people who use this site are very much non-technical so I’d be worried that such a change would cause me more problems than it would solve.

    Thanks very much for the offer but I feel I must turn it down at this stage.

    SORRY!

  122. Is there a way to get a notification on an android smart phone for replies in discussion threads? I occassionally comment but am often a bit late completing a puzzle (I binge solve every few days rather than solve daily) and its difficult to see the answers to comments. I’ve tried a name search but it doesn’t work.

  124. Sorry about the bad link. I’ve tried (twicel to spell out the correct link but nothing gets published. No idea why. Anyway, just Google feedly and you’ll get there.

  128. Hi Ken
    Just posting here that 225 seems to be running very slow today. Slow to open, slow to refresh. I’ve tried shutting down and re-opening the site. It does not feel like a ‘clear your cache’ type problem. Interesting to see if it’s just me or whether it’s a system thing. Thought you should know.
    PM

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