Questions about the site

[Elfwin]

I haven't been here long and I love doing the cryptograms and I enjoy people's comments. I have a couple of questions.
1. I have a couple of times solved the puzzle faster than the bottom of the top twenty times listed. Was my name added
to the list? Is the only way for me to see it to keep doing cryptograms until that one comes up again?
2. People have said something about the baron appearing or some other thing happening when they make the leaderboard.
I did not see that. What am I doing wrong?
3. Some comments say "how is this offensive or confusing". I see the icons I can click on for those ratings, but I never see
any ratings of that type for the quotes. Has that been eliminated from the site?
4. I am using Firefox. Is that a reason for my issues?
5. Is there somewhere on this ite when I could have found the answers to these questions?

Thanks to anyone who can explain this to me. Much appreciated!

[oddcouple]

Welcome, Elfwin. The fact you've had some very fast scores should be an encouragement to you. Let me help you understand:

1. Solving a puzzle with a score which beats one or more players in the top 20 means that the lowest ranked top 20 player will fall off and your time will be recorded in the top 20 based upon position. Let's say you solve a puzzle and your time is the 15th fastest time ever, your name and score will be listed in the 15th position for all to see who solve the same puzzle. It WILL stay there until it is no longer a top 20 time in which case it will fall off. If you get the same puzzle again, you will see your name on the top 20 list then. But not until.
2. Seeing the Baron is something that happens when you post a time that is faster than everyone else ever. I've had it happen several times and it's fun. a New Record message will appear with either the Baron or his airplane or both. Hope it happens for you. But it doesn't happen unless it's the new fastest time. Making the leaderboard such as top 20 will not generate the appearance unless it is the new fastest time. BTW, if you post a time that someone else has already posted, their time takes precedence.
3. the How is this confusing comment is because we used to be able to numerically rank the different categories from 1 to 10 stars. Now it has just been changed to the various icons.
4. I don't think you have any issues. Firefox should be just fine. The more you play, the more familiar you will get with how the site operates.
5. You might have been able to find answers elsewhere, but the puzzle forums are a great way to access the knowledge of others.

And again, welcome! Glad to have you here.

[LLapp]

Elfwin, welcome! Great questions, and I especially love that you made a numbered list.

1. Yes. And congratulations on your fast solve times!

2. You're doing nothing wrong. The Baron appears large on your screen only when you set a new first-place record for a quote (and he's preceded by a cartoon airplane that flies across too fast for you to realize what's going on, prompting some players to comment, "The plane! The plane!"). It's kind of stunning the first time it happens to you; I nearly fell out of my chair. Now, if you solve fast enough to get on the leaderboard but not fast enough to break the existing record, nothing special happens . . . except in your own heart.

3. Yes, the puzzle solution page was redesigned when Stephen (the admin) migrated the entire site to a new server in early 2019, and one of his big changes was the quote rating system. We used to be able to give a number of stars in various categories, and the degree of offensiveness, difficulty, etc., would update after each person added a new star rating -- and it's that degree of offensiveness that you see comments about. With the redesign, now you just click on an icon (no more than one) to register that you find a quote offensive, funny, or whatever, and that data goes to Stephen but it doesn't show on the page anymore.

4. No.

5. Maybe. For nearly any question, try searching for a key word in the Cryptogram Forum search box. There have been many discussions over the years. You can also ask other players in the Chat box.

Lisa

[Elfwin]

Thank you all for your kind welcome and comments! Happy solving!