Elements Community Newsletter: October 2014

[AbyssusDeus]

I haven't done the puzzles (They're not my thing) but my opinion on the submission options would be that the first would likely be the more effective method while the password option would be the simplest, as for the lines of characters that could get very messy as characters have different widths and would likely have misaligned characters which would cause difficulty reading submissions.

~Matty

[Aknelo]

I have a question especially for those people interested in sending in the answers to the puzzles, that may have some difficulty accomplishing this.  Maybe you don't know how to use paint and upload a picture, or maybe you have difficulties trying to determine how to type an answer to me.   

I just want to know if I need to stick to puzzles which are easier to send answers to, or if more complicated ones, such as crosswords, are fine as is.  For example, if you type the answer, one could answer this way:

Across:
1 ____
2 ____
4 ____

Down:
1 ____
2 ____
3 ____

Or one could simply type the first line of letters followed by the next, (no need of spaces if you wish), etc., such as:

nextslot
eeoo
wtwo

etc.  One needn't type the puzzle exactly as it is shown.  I would only need the answers.

Or if that is too complicated, should puzzles like that be passworded, where, for example, you need only return certain marked letters to me.  Of those who wish to send answers, would the full type of puzzle be a problem?  Do I need to think about ease of replying, before making new puzzles?  I thought puzzles such as this would be easy enough to answer, but maybe I should ask those who would do the sending. 

I also believe, from what people have pmed me, that they would like a variety of puzzles.  I have been making a medley of puzzles, but maybe such diversity may make it harder for some people to answer.

Really, of those that I have thought of making, the most difficult puzzles to send an answer for, are word searches.  Without uploading a picture, I would think that this would be really hard to accomplish.

Of course, if anyone ever has a problem with sending me an answer, they are always welcome to pm me to ask how to accomplish such.  I am happy to give any help I can.

(FYI, I have had no problem reading any answers that I have received.)

(I placed this in October's Newsletter as I think more people may have had a greater chance of difficulty with sending in the answer to Sudoku than November's phrase puzzle.)

Anyways, if there are concerns that I need to address when making puzzles, please let me know.  (I have two nearly ready, but this would certainly affect the subsequent ones I make.)

Janice

Well, October's newsletter is the first one I ever opened and realised has a puzzle.  I chose to re-create this one in an Excel grid, but I'd just as easily complete it in paint.

I am puzzle fan, so please continue to make them as long as you feel up to them! 

[CrockettRocket]

so please continue them as long as you feel up to them.

No.. continue them much longer than that. xD

[J617]

I actually enjoy making puzzles (which is easier to do so online now that I am improving in making them in Writer).  So as long as people wish for me to make puzzles, I will.  I used to make puzzles for my friends when I was a teenager, so this would not be surprising to those who knew me.

I don't know either ASCII or gimp.  I am gathering from what I read, that most people would be able to get something like crossword answers to me, in one form or another, so passwords shouldn't be needed there.  But for something like a Word Find, would the options only be paint / uploading or gimp?  Is gimp something which would be easy to describe for someone to do?  Of course, I don't know if using gimp, one could circle words. Also remember that words can overlap in those puzzles.  I know I can't count on everyone being able to print out the puzzle to upload the answer (even my printer doesn't work currently, lol).  I do know that I received a wider variety of ways that people answered the sudoku then have even mentioned here as yet.  It was a nice rainbow of answers.

So does anyone know of an easy way to answer such a puzzle as a word find, one where I could easily describe to someone how to do such?  If it is actually easy, I may choose to spoiler that in all my puzzles, for those less computer savvy.  I know that it took me awhile to figure out how to paint and upload here.  I wish I could find the posts again which described how to upload, as that is how I got my rose picture.   And when I did these puzzles and failed to again find that information, I used the information from that picture to help me.  Now I know how to do so, as having done it over and over again, I learned.

So, to sum up, are any thoughts on how someone who is not computer savvy could answer puzzles too difficult to just type, such as a Word Find?

Janice

[CrockettRocket]

BBC code! Use Bold tags.

[UTAlan]

Use Numbers and Letters for columns and rows. Then you could answer something like "Aether starts at B3 and ends at B8" or "DejaVu starts at A2 and ends at F7".

[Aknelo]

Use Numbers and Letters for columns and rows. Then you could answer something like "Aether starts at B3 and ends at B8" or "DejaVu starts at A2 and ends at F7".

Actually, I agree.  This would make a lot of sense, and be really easy to check up on.

[J617]

From what I can tell, BBCode looks complicated, so it would be much too arduous to easily tell someone else how to post with that.

That is a great idea for a basic Word Find, UTAlan, and I may end up having other puzzles where that might be useful.  I will need to keep that idea in mind.

But actually, I already have a different puzzle made, which is even more complicated than a basic word find to answer except in a picture.  It is sounding like there is no easier option to get a picture, than the one I already know.  So either I need to describe how to upload a picture, the way I have been doing, or I need to accept a password style, for that puzzle (or perhaps some generalization regarding the answer - too hard to explain here without giving anything away).  But I think that it will be a fun puzzle, so I do need to do something on that order; I don't want to skip posting it.  I will attempt to make a semi - easy description for uploading/posting a picture.  But regardless, I can definitely do a password with that puzzle, luckily.

Janice