Best size for 7-by-many puzzle

[Alan W]

Given the level of interest in the new 7-by-many type of puzzle I'm planning to introduce it as a fourth daily puzzle. But I'm uncertain how big these puzzles ought to be - that is, how many common words to find.

Looking at the puzzles created so far under "Your Puzzles", the numbers of puzzles players have made in each size bracket are:

298 small (15 to 25 common words)
167 medium (21 to 40 common words)
336 large (41 to 60 common words)
141 jumbo (61+ common words)

(You won't have seen all these puzzles. Most of them weren't published.)

The existing daily puzzles are:

Standard 24 to 62 common words
Challenge 40 to 85 common words
Ten letters 40 to 100 common words

I experimented for a while with 7-by-many puzzles in the same range as the Challenge puzzles, but I felt that puzzles with over 70 common words could get a bit tedious. They tended to be ones with a lot of -ED or -ING words. I'm tending to think now that the Standard range, 24 to 62, is about right.

Any thoughts?

[yelnats]

I would vote for up to 60/70. As I've mentioned I think I'm addicted and another (large) puzzle may push me to Chi anonymous!

[Valerie]

I'm more into the smaller targets.  When I play "Your Puzzles", I usually choose the small 15-25 option.  I think it's possibly because I tend to lose interest and/or patience if the target is too big.  Short attention span!

[2dognight]

  I am with Valerie on this point

  Anything over 70 and I lose interest, or perhaps I just don't have the patients

   


 

 

[2dognight]

  Whoops spelling went a bit haywire and I am not channeling Hobbit

  I did mean 'patience'

  Is 2 glasses Chardonnay 1 to many?

[cmh]

I also find too high a target "outfacing" so medium sized would get my vote. Ironically on the normal Chi games I like high targets even if I don't usually achieve them. I think Allen is right about the tedium factor with the new style game but perhaps more practice is required on my part.

[Hobbit]

  Whoops spelling went a bit haywire and I am not channeling Hobbit

  I did mean 'patience'

  Is 2 glasses Chardonnay 1 to many?

Having a manic morning at work & took 5 minutes out to look at the forum.  Your post made me laugh! Sadly our patients are not very patient.
Of course 2 glasses of Chardonnay is not 1 to many   About right I reckon
pen

[Maudland]

I prefer the smaller targets too.

[Hobbit]

In answer to what the original topic of this thread is all about I prefer the puzzles with smaller targets.  I like to see all the words I've played!

[pat]

I guess we could have three each day, a small, a medium and a large. 

Failing that, why not vary it from day to day?

[anonsi]

I like the larger ones. The puzzle type is more difficult for me than the standard Chi games. With the smaller targets I feel like I never make any progress. 

[rogue_mother]

I often go for the smallest size when I am playing in the Your Puzzles section, but this is in order to do as many puzzles as possible. On a one-per-day regimen I think I would prefer the medium or large. When the 10-letter gets into the larger end of its range, it feels like a real slog.

Alan, I hope you will be prepared for the increase of word reclassification requests that I foresee coming in when you institute a daily 7-letter. In the course of trying out the new 7-letters, I have encountered numerous previously unseen "common" words that are certain to be questioned by the usual suspects.

[Alan W]

Perhaps the best I can do with puzzle sizes is to set up a fairly broad range, say 20 to 65 words, so that those who prefer a smaller puzzle will at least sometimes be satisfied, while those looking for a bigger puzzle will also sometimes be accommodated. I don't detect much enthusiasm for puzzles in the 70 plus range.

I'm also going to tweak the selection process so that puzzles with -ED words or -ING words will be less frequent.

RM, the debatable "common" words is something I had noticed very quickly. Beforehand I'd envisaged issues affecting words longer than 10 letters. But such words appear infrequently. The words that people are likely to query are shorter ones that haven't happened to come up in the other puzzle types.