tag:standalone.tenderapp.com,2010-01-29:/discussions/questions/283649-top-solversStand Alone, Inc.: Discussion 2018-10-18T20:19:09Ztag:standalone.tenderapp.com,2010-01-29:Comment/410558712016-10-22T18:59:25Z2016-10-22T18:59:25ZTop Solvers<div><p>David,</p>
<p>You can turn off leaderboard scores via the Settings gear on the
puzzle list pane.</p>
<p>If you have any additional questions or comments, please reply
to this email. Thanks!</p></div>SAI Technical Supporttag:standalone.tenderapp.com,2010-01-29:Comment/410558712016-10-22T19:18:46Z2016-10-22T19:18:46ZTop Solvers<div><p>David,<br>
Which puzzle are you referring to here?</p>
<p>Ben</p></div>bentag:standalone.tenderapp.com,2010-01-29:Comment/410558712016-10-22T19:22:47Z2016-10-22T19:22:47ZTop Solvers<div><p>Ben,</p>
<p>Essentially ALL of them. No one solves these that quickly, even
if given a list of words to simply type in the spaces. Typical
solution times for 15 x 15 puzzles is on the order of 4-5
minutes…impossible.</p>
<p>David</p></div>David Nelsontag:standalone.tenderapp.com,2010-01-29:Comment/410558712016-10-22T19:27:33Z2016-10-22T19:27:33ZTop Solvers<div><p>David,<br>
I sympathize with you, but I have seen users do what I consider to
be unrealistic. I personally, on a good day, can do an NYT Monday
(or a Joseph) in under 5 minutes. I know there are people out there
who basically just type the clues in in order, since they know them
all so well. There are also people who complain about their times
being one or two seconds off what they think THEY measured, and
being nearly inconsolable. Alas, I think Glenn's suggestion to turn
off leaderboards is probably your best bet.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Ben</p></div>bentag:standalone.tenderapp.com,2010-01-29:Comment/410558712016-10-22T20:49:48Z2016-10-22T20:49:48ZTop Solvers<div><p>Most people cannot type in a list of words in a NYT puzzle in 5
minutes much less read the clues, discern the answer and place them
in the space unless maybe they were dictated to someone who was a
flawless typist and knew the keystroke shortcuts. I can do puzzles
on paper with a pen faster than I can do them on the computer
simply because of my typing (in)ability and the occasional
mis-directed click that has me typing a down answer in an across
set of spaces and having to delete the mistake. That alone costs me
a minute or two per puzzle; glad to understand you are
flawless.</p>
<p>I do know you can group copy/paste into certain data engines and
get a complete list of answers to many of these things, but then
the words have to enter the puzzle, which takes time. I guess the
easiest way to beat the clock is to fill in a puzzle almost to the
end, copy the matrix, erase the puzzle (which restarts the timer),
paste in the matrix and spend the 5 minutes or so it really takes
to find some clues and voila — a 5-minute completion time,
and glory.</p>
<p>I at least know I’m pretty good at many of these, take
about 20 - 40 minutes to do most of them and sometimes over an
hour, especially if I leave my desk and forget to close the app. I
can at least take comfort in the fact it was me and me alone
getting them done. Just thought a score set-up without
“fraud” controls pretty much assures some casual
cheaters, and I wanted to point that out. I would suggest getting
rid of the puzzle erase feature for a week or a month, and then
seeing where the scores go. Just sayin’…</p>
<p>I’ve been doing these for some years and this is my first
commentary. Probably — to your relief — I’ll
leave it at that and get back to enjoying the puzzles. If you see
“1Coyote” on a high scorer list some day, you can at
least be sure he did it legitimately. I’m sure most of us
down in the 20+ minute pack indeed pay for our chips at
Walmart.</p>
<p>Blue Skies,</p>
<p>David</p></div>David Nelsontag:standalone.tenderapp.com,2010-01-29:Comment/410558712016-10-25T09:45:44Z2016-10-25T09:45:44ZTop Solvers<div><p>David<br>
With a keyboard hooked up to an iPad, or running on a Mac, you can
enter in clues pretty darn fast. It's certainly possible that
people are solving the puzzle on one device or medium, and then
re-entering it into Crosswords for a better time, but I can't think
of a way to catch them. If we disallow times less than a certain
value, I can guarantee that people will howl (potentially
justifiably). This is, unfortunately, why we never offered prizes,
as the system is a little too easy to, ahem, game.</p>
<p>Thanks for understanding!</p>
<p>Ben</p></div>bentag:standalone.tenderapp.com,2010-01-29:Comment/410558712016-10-25T12:25:25Z2016-10-25T12:25:25ZTop Solvers<div><p>Ben,</p>
<p>Thanks for your patience with me. I’ll live with it as it
is —puzzles are the main attraction; just thought scores
looked a bit weird.</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
<p>DAvid</p></div>David Nelson