Anita wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 1:05 pm
Interesting stats at the end there - especially about audience size. I assume "without helpers" means pre-hints. But folks may have helped each other. I'm starting to see lots of posts where someone took a nudge immediately on the first day.
Thanks for your comments,
@Anita.
First, I think a little background info on Crosshare might help you and others better understand the statistics. In addition to being an awesome crossword/meta construction tool, Crosshare is also a community of both constructors (some meta, but mostly not) and solvers. There is some overlap with our Muggle community, but I'm not sure how much. They "seem" to be a relatively younger group of people, but again, I'm not exactly sure. They feature a variety of puzzle types on their site each day (5x5 minis, 11x11 midis, and 15x15 themed, themeless, and meta, etc.). I've been trying to interpret the Crosshare stats vis-a-vis our Muggle meta puzzles for a while now, and here's my quick summary of the parameters and my interpretations:
- Total completions: Total number of people who completed the grid only (not the meta)
- Average completion time: Average time to complete the grid only
- Completions without helpers: Total number of people who completed the grid only without checking or revealing any squares, words, or the puzzle itself
- Average time without helpers: Average time to complete the grid only without revealing any squares, words, or the puzzle
- Correct contest submissions: Number of correct meta answer submissions
- Total contest submissions: Total number of meta answer submissions
Interestingly, these stats have been pretty consistent (for me, at least) from puzzle to puzzle. The number of grid "Completions without helpers" is usually about half the number of "Total completions". "Average completion time" usually runs around 10 minutes, and "Average time without helpers" is usually between 8-10 minutes. "Total contest submissions" (for meta answers) usually end up averaging between 1/3 and 1/2 of "Total completions" (for the grid), which is interesting because there are a lot of solvers out there (mostly from the Crosshare community, I'm guessing) who only complete the grid without submitting answers to the metas. "Correct contest submissions" usually averages between 85%-95% of "Total contest submissions".
As most Muggles already know, Crosshare allows multiple submissions of meta answers, and it will instantly indicate when a correct meta answer is submitted (a very handy feature for both solvers and constructors!). At publishing time, Crosshare constructors can set an option that prevents solvers from being able to reveal meta answers for 7 days. I virtually always set this option, so the only early help that solvers receive is either from me directly or from their solving friends.
I'm "copying"
@miked who manages Crosshare, and I'd ask him to please correct me if any of my definitions and/or interpretations are incorrect. He can also offer up his descriptions and/or views of the Crosshare and Muggle communities if he'd like.
I hope some of my ramblings above helped to clarify a few things for you,
@Anita.
Cap'n Rick