Re Listener: and the crosswords were fiendish, and, if I understood correctly, like a Harper's puzzle with answers all over the place. The Saturday Times publishes what I think of as the Listener Crossword (it may even be called that).
I do them in ballpoint, in caps, sometimes put them in lightly if I know it's the answer but can't close off all the references.
I will resort to looking things up, but only to extend my knowledge, or sometimes help out my failing memory. But I agree, in those cases I don't claim to have "finished" the crossword.
There is a very annoying TV commercial running currently (-what's the name for that construction? curro=I run) in UK, showing a man looking uncomfortable in an aircraft seat. The stewardess leans over his shoulder and says "Could it be haemorrhoids?" At which point you see it is the answer to the crossword clue he is struggling with. I consider anyone who "helps" without asking is a pain in the bum, and might likely get one of their own.
Rod Ward
