What makes an acrostic puzzle fun?

[admin]

If you'd like to see different kinds of quotes and authors, by all means, suggest them here. I'm a one-man-show on this site, so by default you're going to only get quotes from authors and sources that I personally think are worth using based on my own tastes and predilections. I'm always game for exploring new authors/titles/quotes.

[Vladimir]

Maybe I'm out of step with most folks, but I just like solving the puzzles. I swear, it's never occurred to me to like or dislike a puzzle based on what I think of the author of the quotation, or whether or not the quotation inspired me, or whether I concurred with the quotation's sentiment(s), or whether some of the clues were drawn from knowledge-bases I'm unfamiliar with. For example, I think Ayn Rand was a nitwit and I've completed multiple puzzles in which her work was quoted, but never for an instant did I consider posting a complaint about the use of her work or composing a screed about why I don't care for her writing or her philosophy.

I just like doing the puzzles. Keep 'em coming. They're a blast.

[lemon99]

I agree completely. Just having these puzzles is great. Very much appreciated, no matter the subject or the quality of the writing.

[sionnach57]

It's clear I have been both ungrateful, and ungracious.
For which I can only apologize.

[Vladimir]

It's clear I have been both ungrateful, and ungracious.
For which I can only apologize.

I edited my original post here (my first post ever) after I noticed the "Member" vs. "Premium Member" tags next to posters' screen names. I had originally led with something like, "For Pete's sake, the site is free . . ." Now that I realize some people are paying members, even if the premium membership is inexpensive, I'm less inclined to feel strongly about "complaints" from those members. But for non-paying members, like me, I'd say put up or shut up. (In my most friendly tone of voice, of course.)

[lemon99]

I'm one of those paying members, but I still enjoy doing all the puzzles, and I'm very grateful that this site exists. I think it's definitely worth the $ to eliminate distracting ads.

[christinedux]

Thank you for asking this question. I’ve been doing acrostics for many years, from wherever I can find them. And for a couple of years, I was a constructor, which was VERY fun and gave me insights into solving. I’d love to do it again.

I like literary quotes, witty quotes, funny quotes, and quirky quotes. Doesn’t matter where they’re from. And I’m fascinated by the link to the books on the Amazon website, which shows me books I would never look at twice on my own. I’ve read a few of them, and just poked around some others.

I’m a paid subscriber (can’t stand the ads), and I consider this website very inexpensive therapy.
Thank you again,
Christine

[canswp1]

I've yet to solve an acrostic that I didn't enjoy. I come for the daily brain exercise. I will often go and look up the book that the quote is from if it sounds interesting. Clues have led me to look up further information too... and sometimes sent me on a search that has left me forgetting I'm supposed to be solving a puzzle! Thanks for the puzzles and a site that is reliable and never glitches.

[sewaneesue]

I do care what the quotes contain, and I do thumbs up when I have enjoyed them. Lovely and funny quotes are my favorite. Same goes for clues; I give thumbs up for the funny clever ones.

[DoctorOctopus]

Acrostics are simply the best. A challenging brain workout and a pleasant pay off when the quote is finally solved. Regular crosswords often seem pretty thin and uninteresting in comparison.

[jugl11]

I like reading the comments from other members.

[duhmel]

I AM HOOKED. I have done over 1500 puzzles and try to limit my play to 100 or so per month to avoid losing connection to the rest of my life. About 6 months ago I made a major change in the way I go about solving the puzzles. At first I was totally focused on getting the solutions as fast as possible. As soon as I had a few words in the puzzle I would start searching online for the quote an then fill in the solution as fast as I could. If I couldn't do the puzzle quickly I would move on to the next puzzle. After doing this for many months I came to realize the the joy is to solve the puzzle and I wasn't getting to the tough part of struggling to get enough clues to have a chance of solving and then closing out the puzzle end game. Since changing my approach I have completed 99 per cent of the puzzles. I set up doing puzzles with the same number of clues throughout the month and change the range each month. I average solutions at about 1.8 x average solution and am quite happy with that result.

In another thread that I have posted, I derived the scoring algorithm that is used by the Administrator

Score = (1-0.4*(actual solution time/average solution time))*maximum score (for the number of clues).

This holds as long as the computed score is greater than 100 (I never use hints so I have never received a score less than 100 in over 1500 puzzles. If the 'computed score' via the formula is less that 100, you receive a score between 100 and 132. About 400 of my puzzles have gotten this 'adjusted' score but I see no method to how this assignment is made. Clearly it is not dependent on total time, solving percentage, number of clues or per cent of average time. Unfortunately my requests to the Administrator have gone unanswered so I can only conclude that the result is randomly assigned.

Finally I must commend the Administrator on the massive amount of puzzles that are available on this website although I only do Crostics. I used to have to wait for the monthly WSJ Crostic puzzle toget my fill and then wait another month. Here we have a bottomless set of puzzles. I am curious as to their origin as the most puzzles indicate a time frame of 1995-2010 for the Entertainment and Politician clues.

[Bullwinkle311]

After struggling to understand how to solve them as a teen, my mom sat me down and showed me how. I college, I remember making a couple acrostics for her to solve! On vacations, or when sick or in hospital, I always requested variety puzzle books, as there were no acrostics-only puzzle books. I found this site a few years ago and I love it! I love the challenge of solving them! I'm an editor, so I love almost all word puzzles, but I've grown bored with some of them. My favorite were criss-cross as a child--my older brother and I did them to pass the time--and we would fight over grandma's Modern Maturity magazines from AARP when we visited since they had mega huge difficult word searches. I still can't find any that challenging. I've also recently started doing the Word Twist puzzles on here--takes me back to when my younger brother and I spent a lot of time playing Boggle to improve his spelling skills in school.