A question I have been pondering for some considerable time is why it is necessary to record the times taken by Gold Members to solve crosswords? I strongly feel this has a negative effect and generally detracts from any enjoyment in solving them, and almost certainly dissuades many from attempting the more difficult puzzles.

I’ve taken samples of results from a number of recent puzzles which indicate approximately 18% of ‘plays’ on smaller/easier puzzles are from Gold members, whilst only 7% are recorded for the more difficult puzzles. From personal experience, I suggest that there is far more to be gained by carefully solving clues and absorbing any interesting information, rather than racing through at breakneck speed.

There are no additional FT awards to be gained by completing a puzzle quickly, although there are no doubt some who take great satisfaction from completion in super fast times. Unfortunately, some of the times I’ve seen recorded in the past indicate an ‘impossible’ time in my view, scores as low as one minute have been listed!

I would be interested to know the views of others members.

The times are actually meaningless, as far as I can tell. Sometimes I print out the crossword and do it the old-fashioned way on paper after backing out and then reeenter the game later and just fill in the answers. When I do this, it only shows I took 2 or 3 minutes to do the crossword, when it actually took longer.

There's really no design goal there... I think when I was making the "scoreboard", I just wanted to put SOME sort of data there. Afterall, everyone that completes the puzzle has 100% correct. So, instead of just listing a bunch of names, I added times.

For those who don't want to rush they can take their time and their total time is not displayed. I think it says "Was not in a rush" or something like that.

Yes and many thanks for the feedback Terry, I fully appreciate why it was originally decided to introduce the system, although I remain convinced it dissuades some Gold Members from attempting the more difficult crosswords to avoid their times being published.