I really love your solves. I was never into any puzzles before I found your channel because they all looked so intimidating, especially the big crosswords and sudoku. I always thought that I was not "smart enough" to solve them or didn't have enough trivia knowledge to solve them, but watching you has taught me that, while it is true that I don't know enough to solve it without looking things up, I can do it anyways and it will be fine. And now, I have a long list of daily puzzles I look forward to solving everyday along with the crossword and sudoku. So thank you for opening me up to this world. Wednesdays are still really hard for me and I have to rely heavily on checkers and looking things up but I'm getting there. It was a really fun theme tho. :)
One thing I've noticed that you do: you tend to put in guesses and subsequently treat the letters in those guesses as being solid. This throws you off when trying to solve other clues. A case in point was the bad guess of "diets" instead of "poets" which made it far harder to get "coney island" 🙂
I love watching your solves! I like that you try to figure out the answers by researching and learning before you default to using the checker so it tells you what you got wrong (which there is still nothing wrong with). I need to get better about just sticking to it and trying to figure it out when I’m stuck. Crosswords are supposed to be fun and imo there is no wrong way to do them. You even say it yourself that you’re still learning. Great job and thank you for the effort you put in to making your videos.
How is that a "Good Job"? Looking things up is way MORE of a cheat than getting help with the Checker is, and he just gave up entirely and looked up something that straight up spelled out the actual theme answers to him and explained how the theme works.
Great solve today! I was impressed with the way that you were able to correct without checker, especially the lower right corner. I do not yet have the confidence in my answers enough to avoid checker when I'm stuck but I'm still learning! Being a NY'er I got Coney Island right away which was massively helpful for me for that area of the puzzle. Well done 👏
I'm trying to practice how to self correct without checker as I feel like that's the next step in my personal journey of improving at solving crosswords. I feel that you'll know if and when you have the confidence to try that out!
Good solve. IMHO you have a pretty good technique and pattern of solving, never knock yourself when you research once stuck(most do it). Just be careful putting in assumptions to quick like the ING before BUNNY cuz it can give you false positives like it did with GRUB, again just my opinion , keep it up
You seem to think looking things up, both for spelling and even to get the answer, is somehow less of a cheat than the Checker. No, it is WAY, WAY, MORE of a cheat! The Checker is something the puzzle itself offers you to help you out, give you hints. Looking shit up is just straight up reading off the answers in the back of the book. And the fact that the game doesn't have the ability to tell if you're looking things up from an outside source and therefore can't exclude the puzzle from a streak as a penalty like it does with using the checker only reinforces how looking things up is MORE of a cheat than using the checker: you're deliberately evading the penalty for giving up and getting help with the answer.
www.nytimes.com/article/how-to-solve-a-crossword-puzzle.html "Let me say something that may be controversial, but it needs to be said: It’s OK to look something up when solving a crossword. Crosswords are ultimately learning tools, whether you’re learning some trivia or an interesting new word or phrase. When you look something up, you’re learning so you’ll know it for next time. Of course, some solvers may tell you that looking up the answer to a clue is “cheating,” but to us, that way lies frustration and a path to giving up. And that’s no fun. Crosswords are a game, and games are supposed to be fun. Still not sure looking things up is fair? Here is outright permission: “It’s your puzzle. Solve it any way you like.” - Will Weng, the second crosswords editor of The New York Times (1969 - 1977)" I personally don't prefer looking things up over checker because I care about a streak or whether the software "knows" if I looked it up. I like looking things up because it's practice on self-checking rather than relying on the checker. I find the checker prevents progress and learning more than self-driven methods to solve. I will also say that the crossword is traditionally done with pencil and paper, which does not include a checker or reveal answer button. Those are nice convenience features, and you can consider the reveal answer button as a simulation of having looked it up. I think it's far more powerful than looking up and also doesn't allow you to learn. All that said, I also will checker as I feel it's needed, and I will reveal answers as I feel is needed. Your attitude in general is very gatekeepy and unwelcome on my channel, so feel free to leave if you don't like it, but I don't want to hear your opinion on this topic again, unless I've managed to change your viewpoint. If you don't like that, then again feel free to leave. Your negativity is not welcome here. You don't have to announce your departure and if you do I'll delete it.
People who care about streaks will think that looking things up is a "cheat" because, like you said, the software can't know if you do so. Meanwhile, people who look at crosswords as learning tools, like Rangsk does, will look at using the in-built checkers as "cheating" because it impeads their knowledge-gathering. Neither are wrong. But calling someone wrong because they don't follow your logic, that's, to put it nicely, not kind. At all. IMO, Neither are cheats. Crosswords are something I use to gain more information about the world, be it a trivia or vocab or even correcting my own knowledge base but I also like the satisfaction of knowing if I'm right immediately, so I use both when I want to. Hell, I even use a crossword solver websites sometimes, which a lot of people in the puzzle community look as as a big no-no. The thing is, there are no strict rules to solving a crossword or any puzzle. It's a game, it's meant to be fun. Make your own rules, stick to them as much as you want, solve it in a way that's fun and satisfying for you. I know that you probably didn't mean for it to come across as snobby, but it did, not to mention unkind and rude. You are free to have your opinion and you are free to voice them, but please try and do so in a kind way if you can.
I really love your solves. I was never into any puzzles before I found your channel because they all looked so intimidating, especially the big crosswords and sudoku. I always thought that I was not "smart enough" to solve them or didn't have enough trivia knowledge to solve them, but watching you has taught me that, while it is true that I don't know enough to solve it without looking things up, I can do it anyways and it will be fine. And now, I have a long list of daily puzzles I look forward to solving everyday along with the crossword and sudoku. So thank you for opening me up to this world.
Wednesdays are still really hard for me and I have to rely heavily on checkers and looking things up but I'm getting there. It was a really fun theme tho. :)
One thing I've noticed that you do: you tend to put in guesses and subsequently treat the letters in those guesses as being solid. This throws you off when trying to solve other clues. A case in point was the bad guess of "diets" instead of "poets" which made it far harder to get "coney island" 🙂
I love watching your solves! I like that you try to figure out the answers by researching and learning before you default to using the checker so it tells you what you got wrong (which there is still nothing wrong with). I need to get better about just sticking to it and trying to figure it out when I’m stuck. Crosswords are supposed to be fun and imo there is no wrong way to do them. You even say it yourself that you’re still learning. Great job and thank you for the effort you put in to making your videos.
Thank you, I agree completely!
Things went off the rails pretty quick here but you managed to pull it all back without checker, good job.
How is that a "Good Job"? Looking things up is way MORE of a cheat than getting help with the Checker is, and he just gave up entirely and looked up something that straight up spelled out the actual theme answers to him and explained how the theme works.
Great solve today! I was impressed with the way that you were able to correct without checker, especially the lower right corner. I do not yet have the confidence in my answers enough to avoid checker when I'm stuck but I'm still learning! Being a NY'er I got Coney Island right away which was massively helpful for me for that area of the puzzle. Well done 👏
I'm trying to practice how to self correct without checker as I feel like that's the next step in my personal journey of improving at solving crosswords. I feel that you'll know if and when you have the confidence to try that out!
@Rangsk Definitely! I'm already pushing myself to not check as long as possible whereas I used to autocheck after the first Across bypass. Progress 😊
Good solve. IMHO you have a pretty good technique and pattern of solving, never knock yourself when you research once stuck(most do it). Just be careful putting in assumptions to quick like the ING before BUNNY cuz it can give you false positives like it did with GRUB, again just my opinion , keep it up
Yeah this was a tricky theme.
You seem to think looking things up, both for spelling and even to get the answer, is somehow less of a cheat than the Checker. No, it is WAY, WAY, MORE of a cheat! The Checker is something the puzzle itself offers you to help you out, give you hints. Looking shit up is just straight up reading off the answers in the back of the book. And the fact that the game doesn't have the ability to tell if you're looking things up from an outside source and therefore can't exclude the puzzle from a streak as a penalty like it does with using the checker only reinforces how looking things up is MORE of a cheat than using the checker: you're deliberately evading the penalty for giving up and getting help with the answer.
www.nytimes.com/article/how-to-solve-a-crossword-puzzle.html
"Let me say something that may be controversial, but it needs to be said: It’s OK to look something up when solving a crossword.
Crosswords are ultimately learning tools, whether you’re learning some trivia or an interesting new word or phrase. When you look something up, you’re learning so you’ll know it for next time.
Of course, some solvers may tell you that looking up the answer to a clue is “cheating,” but to us, that way lies frustration and a path to giving up. And that’s no fun. Crosswords are a game, and games are supposed to be fun.
Still not sure looking things up is fair? Here is outright permission:
“It’s your puzzle. Solve it any way you like.” - Will Weng, the second crosswords editor of The New York Times (1969 - 1977)"
I personally don't prefer looking things up over checker because I care about a streak or whether the software "knows" if I looked it up. I like looking things up because it's practice on self-checking rather than relying on the checker. I find the checker prevents progress and learning more than self-driven methods to solve.
I will also say that the crossword is traditionally done with pencil and paper, which does not include a checker or reveal answer button. Those are nice convenience features, and you can consider the reveal answer button as a simulation of having looked it up. I think it's far more powerful than looking up and also doesn't allow you to learn.
All that said, I also will checker as I feel it's needed, and I will reveal answers as I feel is needed. Your attitude in general is very gatekeepy and unwelcome on my channel, so feel free to leave if you don't like it, but I don't want to hear your opinion on this topic again, unless I've managed to change your viewpoint. If you don't like that, then again feel free to leave. Your negativity is not welcome here. You don't have to announce your departure and if you do I'll delete it.
People who care about streaks will think that looking things up is a "cheat" because, like you said, the software can't know if you do so. Meanwhile, people who look at crosswords as learning tools, like Rangsk does, will look at using the in-built checkers as "cheating" because it impeads their knowledge-gathering. Neither are wrong. But calling someone wrong because they don't follow your logic, that's, to put it nicely, not kind. At all.
IMO, Neither are cheats. Crosswords are something I use to gain more information about the world, be it a trivia or vocab or even correcting my own knowledge base but I also like the satisfaction of knowing if I'm right immediately, so I use both when I want to. Hell, I even use a crossword solver websites sometimes, which a lot of people in the puzzle community look as as a big no-no. The thing is, there are no strict rules to solving a crossword or any puzzle. It's a game, it's meant to be fun. Make your own rules, stick to them as much as you want, solve it in a way that's fun and satisfying for you.
I know that you probably didn't mean for it to come across as snobby, but it did, not to mention unkind and rude. You are free to have your opinion and you are free to voice them, but please try and do so in a kind way if you can.