Is it true that for writing crossword puzzles, authors get zero points?

If so, why not? Couldn't Terry change that? I think crossword authors deserve the same 2000 pts that quiz authors get.

That is my understanding as well, that crossword authoring currently does not award points like quiz authoring does. Assuming that's correct, I agree that it should be changed.

I think someone asked a while back whether writing crosswords could also gain ingredients and a recipe in The Author's Kitchen (again, as quiz writing does).

Correct, you get 0 points, but there are badges to get.

I'm not as big a fan of writing them as quizzes. I think they are much harder to write. I got to five to get my first badge and stopped. No way I'm getting to 75, especially with no point incentive.

Crosswords have been around since at least 2004, I'd haphazardly guess the system for them isn't changing any time soon.

It'd be nice not only to get rewards but to get them based on size, quizzes too. A 20 question quiz = 2 quizzes, really. It's not that big a deal in the long run, but still.

I could speculate re: crosswords, but it would be just that--speculation--so I won't. Let's see what Terry says, if he wants to comment on this.

That idea in mind, I would hope people aren't writing quizzes solely for the points. On one hand, I'm all for rewarding our authors (and always have been), but encouraging people that 20 or 25q quizzes are more worth it for the sheer amount of points isn't really what we want out of this. Our players tend to rate quizzes longer than 10q less favourably and they just don't tend to pan out that well. Not to mention they take longer to go through the queues.

Larger crosswords also take longer to be edited, in part because I'll deal with the smaller ones first, by which time I might be going cross-eyed. I'm not against points for crosswords, but believe the size of the puzzle shouldn't be a factor.

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Spanishliz (Editor in Movies, Brain Teasers, Geography and Crosswords)

I currently have well over 100 crosswords on-line, the vast majority being medium sized puzzles. The smaller ones are obviously much quicker to compile, and also to edit, as mentioned by spanishliz above, but I consider the smaller ones generally have too little content.

There are currently no crossword badges available for me to aim for. Whilst it would be much appreciated if crossword authors were valued in the same manner as those authoring quizzes, the main reason I compile crosswords is simply a matter of enjoying the journey!

Due to the difficulty of writing good crossword puzzles, we specifically do not want players to do it only because they want to qualify for a point or badge reward. Even more than quiz writing, creating crosswords should be something that authors do because they love doing it, not for the points / badges / levels. The existing badges are some credit and "thank you" to state that a player has learned the art of crossword creation (at 5) or is one of the most prolific crossword authors (at 75) - that's really all we need and want for it.

Not to say further reward won't be added in the future; you never know.

Okay, how about a compromise? Crosswords earn no FT Points, but they do earn Kitchen Ingredients and a Recipe (same as a quiz)?

How about crossword authors get exactly the same points and kitchen ingredients as quiz authors? Yes, we write them because we enjoy them but even Terry has said that crosswords have been neglected for years. They are a part of Fun Trivia, crossword authors labor over them, why shouldn't they get the same rewards as quiz authors?

Okay, then I vote also that crossword authors get all the Points and Kitchen Ingredients and Recipes that quiz authors do. I do agree that crossword authors deserve them. (I was simply offering a compromise based on the responses I was getting.)

But since this is a dictatorship and not a democracy, as my English teacher used to remind us 6th-graders , we would like to know what Terry thinks.... (Terry?)

There's not really any reason to offer a compromise; none of us have any say in this, and the only person who does hasn't made a response. It's almost like there's convincing that needs to go on or there's a give and take process here.

The staff has reasons for and against this (in this thread and amongst each other in the past), but there's no dialogue about our comments before 'how about a compromise'. There's not really an argument, and somehow I feel like something is unfair. Hahaha.



...ooooookay. That's where I stop commenting. I get the jest behind this, but if we're already going into this expecting that we all have no say in the process, then this is just meant to be about dissent, and no one's going to be happy until the will of the people is done, if at all.


As I said-- yes! rewards for authors!
Also, hey-- here are some issues we've brought up with this before in the past. Full disclosure!
That's my piece.

Terry has brought up possibilities for changes in the crossword section in the recent past (very recent) but I figure it's not meant to be disclosed to the general public until it's set in stone.

Gee whiz, I really hope folks take the democracy/dictatorship jest in the spirit in which it was intended. If I expected to have no say at all, I wouldn't expend any effort to make FT a better place!