Online or Offline?

[AB Editor]

The Internet has become a standard part of almost everyone's life in one way or another. We at The AnswerBank wondered if crosswords have become online as standard, or if the old offline format still has a strong following.

 

This poll is closed.

Where do you fill in your crossword?

• Offline - 252 votes
• 94%
• On-line - 17 votes
• 6%

See final stats

Stats until: 00:59 Thu 19th Dec 2024 (Refreshed every 5 minutes)

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[society]

offline of course! nothing like a good book.

[mazie]

Does anyone else suffer with the Post Office's times?


Not really, I do the crosswords but never send them off. I think the chances of winning are about as long as the odds on the lottery

[teacher1]

I always send them off ....... lucky enough to win almost £1000 in 2009 ! ;o)

[teacher1]

..... and that's about £500 profit after taking out the cost of the papers and postage ......... long may it continue ! lol

[JoolsTwo]

Like Maizie I rarely send them in these days - I've had a couple of wins, Telegraph and Generalist. But I don't send in the Telegraph any more but do the Generalist. I would enter them if I could enter them online. But I like to sit and do them on paper.

[whitehill]

Crossword/puzzle magazines like Take a Break and Chat have the facility for entering online which is good; saves postage, envelopes etc. But like most of the above comments, I still like to sit down with pen and paper to solve puzzles

[birdie05]

I voted for offline. I do look forward to doing all the crosswords on a Sunday and during the week.

[tenflags]

Online works;
- to provide access to the crossword straight away,
- to make it easier to provide a legible entry (no misinterpretation of characters)
- to save on postage and ensure the submission gets there and in a timely manner
Although I do print it off to work on and then fill it in online to submit.

Offline is still required for
- secialist crossword entries such as the Listener (which often require additional markings, colurings, or even 'actions' to be made to the submission before it can be completed and thus submitted.

Save for these specialist entries I see no logic to not using online via the internerd.

[starmack]

The big advantage of online - many crosswords I do are for UK with (very) short postal deadlines.

However I have voted for offline because I love the smell of the 'warpaint'

[marval]

I voted offline, I have done them online but prefer a book.

[chokkie]

It's offline for me... I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have my weekend crosswords on paper ....

[mazie]

Nothing like snuggling down in bed with a good book. Online seems so clinical. I love the web for so many things, reading and crosswords are not two of them. I do charity quizzes as well and I love to buy them online and download them, but very rarely send them in. More setters should sell on e-bay, I always buy them but never (well I did once) send them in.

[Christiana]

I live in Portugal so the logistics of getting them there on time are even worse for me. I prefer to wrestle with them off-line but use the on-line submission facility, where available, for instance The Week crossword. Most of the ones I do don't have an on-line option. I've still managed two or three wins this year ( I submit around 3 crosswords a week by post so not bad) but there is always the nasty feeling that quite a few don't arrive in time. I would send them all on-line if I could and if I could be sure they stood an equal chance. I haven't won The Week yet. Has anyone out there submitted it on-line and won?

[Puzzled001]

always off-line, nothing like relaxing with one AWAY from the confounded PC.

[twinklepandora]

Offline always. I enjoy doing the Express crosswords on a Sunday and Monday. Although if they increase post

[twinklepandora]

Sorry pressed submit answer before I was ready. I was about to say if they increase postal charges then I may rethink and do them online instead.

[CLOTHEAD]

Offline for me too although some days when staring blankly at the paper I have often thought it would be far easier to just scan the crossword and upload it to your site for the clever dudes to fill in!

I don't like the charges that online papers make for their puzzle section either..

[poodledoo]

offline for me please, and it drives me mad when someone is allowed to post their completed crossword answers before the closing date.OK I don,t have to look, but I would like the idea of a crossword to be for people to use their brains (I admit you'll never get round people using google to help, or asking for some missing answers!), but please, not the whole completed answer on screen.

[AB Editor]

Interesting stuff. The world of puzzles is trickier than outsiders like myself could have imagined!

Do any of you pay for your online crossword content? Any thoughts on paying for online content at all?

All the best,

Spare Ed

[poodledoo]

I pay my newspaper bill, and I assume the newspaper includes a crossword.I wouldn,t pay extra just to get a crossword on line, unless further dischord among the postal workers makes entering by a closing date impossible.