Results of the Festive Survey 2012
Thank you to everyone who made this what any self-respecting TV presenter (there must be some) would call "a bumper year for the Festive Survey!!!"We had 210 participants (compared to 97 last year) which, for me, is what the Olympic legacy is all about. I'm dedicating this survey to Bradley Wiggins.
As we have some potentially almost meaningful data, I'm posting only the statistical stuff on this page. At the bottom of the page you'll find a link to a separate post in my journal dealing with the 'Twitterismus' and the sponsorship suggestions which are, I've come to realise, an entirely different matter.
I'll say no more and leave the commenting to your good selves.
Happy New year,
Sotira
1. Sex
2. Your age group
Here's a different view of the same info:
3. Level of formal education
4. Where you usually live
And the same info with the 170 UK residents taken out:
5. Is English your first language?
6. Number of languages you have to proficiency, other than english
7 Status
8 If it had to be one, which would you choose?
9 Which do you have?
10 cigarettes, a pipe, cigars or none?
11 Which would you rather find in your Christmas stocking?
12 Reading preference
13 What is/was your main profession? (best description from the list)
15 Level of expertise at chess
16 Can you play a musical instrument to a reasonable level or better?
17 At what age did you start solving cryptic crosswords with some regularity?
18 What time of day do you solve best?
19 Have you ever tried setting a crossword?
20 Do you sometimes listen to music while solving?
21 Should TheTimes retain the policy of not naming setters?
22 Would you prefer a more predictable level of difficulty on specific days?
23 What is now your usual solving medium?
24 What would you estimate to be your average solving time (ignoring the 'gimmes' and 'stinkers')?
And another look at solving times:
25 If you have printed dictionaries in your home, how often do you refer to them?
26 Do you think blogs like Times for the Times influence the puzzle itself?
27 Do you spend too much time online?
28 Have you ever entered or tried to enter the Times Crossword Championships?
29 Would you like to see a return to regional qualifiers?
30 Would you consider attending a longer, 'American style' crossword convention which included the Championships?
You'll find the responses to the long answer questions - Sponsors and Twitterismus here.
I'm still hoping to run a little poll for 'Clue of the Year' and so on, but that might take a little longer and has of course been rather trumped by John Halpern's announcement of a 'Crossword Oscars' (which I really think should be called 'The Ninas').