May I start with the last first.
I have noted that sometimes there have been some puzzles where the owner has been implored for assistance - :-(

And then, maybe I have been guilty of affording assistance just too soon. Give the community of Perplexus due credit; I note that it doesn't take long before someone has an insight, incorrect or otherwise, to assist the discussion. Sometimes there are things that the author does believe that are only going to be prompted by him/her.

This comment has arisen from the fact that in a couple of responses to pchbouhid's "Fill the Grid" problem (c. June 2005), I felt guilty that I would make comment about issues not directly about the problem. (I felt that I erred like this before and do not wish to clutter the solutions unnecessarily).


I have a feeling that so many of us put a problem on the queue, wait for some 80-90 days for it to surface, and just as eagerly like to see its very early solution.

I think that Gamer might be a good example of some one who resists that pressure. I (with at one or two others) have a solution or two, which we believe are correct, confirmation has been asked, or even clarification. Like the Rock of Gibraltar he steadfastly remains silent and immovable, but he is not static; he does wander the corridors of Perplexus.

"Ships in the Night". I think that this was the work of Lord Byron Shelley; not being a literary student, I am happy to be corrected.

Anyway, the very nature of this site allows people to drift in and out very easily. Sometimes a name is consciously visible but when you're 'on a mission', you just can't go back. Then there are names associated with a dialogue to which you don't want to engage. And others that you choose to ignore.

We cannot always engage with all of those "ships"; and again, by nature of these forums (particularly Chatterbox and Problem Comments), one can too easily remark and your foot has inadvertently, and too quickly, been "put in hot water'.

I will continue to 'captain' my 'vessel' amid the storms and the calms; i will also await a signal that confirms/rejects my claim of Byron for that piece of work.