[itachi-san]

This has been touched upon, but I think this may be a new idea in part. Take the 3 ants riddle for instance. I think everyone's seen enough of that one; I know I have. But it keeps popping up every 3 days or so. So my suggestion is to create a section like New Puzzles (user submitted) called Old Puzzles (user submitted) - or something to that effect. Old might have too much of a negative connotation to it, that's your call.

I don't see the need for the admin/moderators to make a full-scale search through the New Puzzles section to find ones suitable to be moved. Just whenever a (beating a dead horse) riddle gets bumped up in New Puzzles and is easily noticed it can then be moved to Old Puzzles like you would move a non-riddle to Others. This would keep the New Puzzles section fresher.

[Guest]

This has been touched upon, but I think this may be a new idea in part. Take the 3 ants riddle for instance. I think everyone's seen enough of that one; I know I have. But it keeps popping up every 3 days or so. So my suggestion is to create a section like New Puzzles (user submitted) called Old Puzzles (user submitted) - or something to that effect. Old might have too much of a negative connotation to it, that's your call.

I don't see the need for the admin/moderators to make a full-scale search through the New Puzzles section to find ones suitable to be moved. Just whenever a (beating a dead horse) riddle gets bumped up in New Puzzles and is easily noticed it can then be moved to Old Puzzles like you would move a non-riddle to Others. This would keep the New Puzzles section fresher.

that way i know where i can go to get one right in a hurry and make me feel good about how smart i is.......

[rookie1ja]

let's see what others think

[Guest]

I don't see the need for the admin/moderators to make a full-scale search through the New Puzzles section to find ones suitable to be moved. Just whenever a (beating a dead horse) riddle gets bumped up in New Puzzles and is easily noticed it can then be moved to Old Puzzles like you would move a non-riddle to Others. This would keep the New Puzzles section fresher.

New Puzzles is already being kept fresh by having old riddles that are repeated deleted or closed. Why have multiple conversations regarding the same riddle going on? Posters that want to set others straight about bad reasoning will just have to repeat what they've argued for all over again. Also, when one wants to read all the rationales to decide what the correct answer to a riddle is, it's much easier to have them all being given in the same thread. Let's say I figure out a solution no one has thought of- I should be able to settle it by posting in one thread regarding that riddle, not all of them. Better run message boards close duplicate thread topics.

that way i know where i can go to get one right in a hurry and make me feel good about how smart i is.......

Exactly! A forum which allows posters to re-post the same exact topic over and over again is a bad idea. Since the sticky in red has gone up, it seems more posters are getting it. I say keep it the way it is.

[itachi-san]

New Puzzles is already being kept fresh by having old riddles that are repeated deleted or closed. Why have multiple conversations regarding the same riddle going on? Posters that want to set others straight about bad reasoning will just have to repeat what they've argued for all over again. Also, when one wants to read all the rationales to decide what the correct answer to a riddle is, it's much easier to have them all being given in the same thread. Let's say I figure out a solution no one has thought of- I should be able to settle it by posting in one thread regarding that riddle, not all of them. Better run message boards close duplicate thread topics.

You certainly love to jump all over my ideas, but you should read them carefully before you do. You missed the point entirely. I never mentioned duplicate threads. Threads that have been around for about a year and have been answered 20 times in the same thread are hardly "New Puzzles". I think they should be moved to a different section outside of New Puzzles.

[Guest]

You certainly love to jump all over my ideas

Knock it off. I responded the same as I would no matter who posted it. I know nothing about you to pick on you. "I jumped all over it" because I have an opinion.

You missed the point entirely. I never mentioned duplicate threads. Threads that have been around for about a year and have been answered 20 times in the same thread are hardly "New Puzzles". I think they should be moved to a different section outside of New Puzzles.

The rule already is that old posts shouldn't be resurrected unless there's a good reason for it. If it's resurrected for no good reason, mods delete the post. If it's for a good reason, they don't have to bother with it and we can all see what it says in the same forum. The ants thread is still going because more than a month doesn't go by between comments. I think threads that have that kind of staying power deserve to stay just where they are. The majority of threads on the first page are still much newer and I don't think the occasional old one causes any problems. Why should Admin/mods have the additional task of seeing what the thread starting date of each thread on the first page is so it can be moved to the first page of another forum? If the new post is worthy of staying, I think most of us are interested in what it says and going to another forum shouldn't be necessary.

[Brandonb]

Ok, well what about a section for "original riddles/puzzles only"

Just a section for those who have sat down and come up with a riddle/puzzle themselves, not one that they heard someone else tell. That way it doesn't fall under the same old "User Submitted" section, and it brings all new freshness to the board!

[itachi-san]

Ok, well what about a section for "original riddles/puzzles only"

Just a section for those who have sat down and come up with a riddle/puzzle themselves, not one that they heard someone else tell. That way it doesn't fall under the same old "User Submitted" section, and it brings all new freshness to the board!

I like this idea a lot!

Edit: If this idea doesn't fly, I would still like to see some identification method for riddles that users make themselves.

Edited May 2, 2008 by itachi-san

[Brandonb]

I like this idea a lot!

Well, it was basically the same as yours itachi, except instead of an "old" forum, it just goes in the other direction with a "original" forum.

-It's all in the title and clarification of is being an "original-you made up the riddle yourself" Forum. So there's not as much of a need to monitor new threads as there is in the regular user submitted forum, plus it would get to split up the old from the new.

it's

Win-Win

[Guest]

Ok, well what about a section for "original riddles/puzzles only"

Just a section for those who have sat down and come up with a riddle/puzzle themselves, not one that they heard someone else tell. That way it doesn't fall under the same old "User Submitted" section, and it brings all new freshness to the board!

Too hard to enforce and "You didn't make that up; I heard that before" and "It's basically a variation of X riddle" posts are inevitable which will fuel arguments. If it's new to the board, that's all that should really matter when it come to enjoying the riddle for what it is.

[itachi-san]

Too hard to enforce and "You didn't make that up; I heard that before" and "It's basically a variation of X riddle" posts are inevitable which will fuel arguments. If it's new to the board, that's all that should really matter when it come to enjoying the riddle for what it is.

I agree with Martini; there would a lot of bickering over what is really original. What about riddles like the 3 ants one I mentioned in the OP though? What do think of moving riddles that are clearly answered several times and not at all new puzzles any more?

[Guest]

What about riddles like the 3 ants one I mentioned in the OP though? What do think of moving riddles that are clearly answered several times and not at all new puzzles any more?

I'm not a fan of that either. As Scraff mentioned, it's another responsibility to move threads every time an older thread is legitimately bumped and how much of a benefit does it really provide? Anyone that is so familiar with the site that old threads are of no longer of interest (and I don't see why they wouldn't be when posts are still new) will be familiar with what threads to ignore.

[bonanova]

Once a puzzle is solved it might be moved to a forum of Solved Puzzles.

That decision would only have to be made once, by the OP or a moderator.

Solved puzzles would still be accessible and perhaps debated. Members simply

would be pre-informed that the solution is not still being sought. The current

forum might then be called Active Puzzles.

Chestnuts would remain a problem undiminished from the current state, but no

one [including moi] seems to know of preventive measures. Leave that as a

separate issue for now.

The spate of resurrection of old threads seems to have been contemporaneous

with the sudden popularity of the Brainden Gadget - bless it for bringing many visitors

who become members to the site. But I'm wondering whether the gadget feeds a

random sample of "whatever is there" [including the ancient stuff] to new users,

who then simply respond to the OP without inspecting the entire thread to see

whether it's been solved.

If so, the gadget could be made to operate only within the Active Puzzles forum,

and some of the rehash might be avoided.

- bn

[Guest]

This has been touched upon, but I think this may be a new idea in part. Take the 3 ants riddle for instance. I think everyone's seen enough of that one; I know I have. But it keeps popping up every 3 days or so. So my suggestion is to create a section like New Puzzles (user submitted) called Old Puzzles (user submitted) - or something to that effect. Old might have too much of a negative connotation to it, that's your call.

I don't see the need for the admin/moderators to make a full-scale search through the New Puzzles section to find ones suitable to be moved. Just whenever a (beating a dead horse) riddle gets bumped up in New Puzzles and is easily noticed it can then be moved to Old Puzzles like you would move a non-riddle to Others. This would keep the New Puzzles section fresher.

1, three ants is new to a newbie

2, I thought it had been done to death when i first arrived, but still see new input

3, Why does it matter if it pops up, it only pops up cos someone tried to solve it the same way or differently. It can be ignored

I still think a tittle of new riddles is missing the target. New riddles can be very old before they arrive at brainden

[rookie1ja]

Once a puzzle is solved it might be moved to a forum of Solved Puzzles.

That decision would only have to be made once, by the OP or a moderator.

Solved puzzles would still be accessible and perhaps debated. Members simply

would be pre-informed that the solution is not still being sought. The current

forum might then be called Active Puzzles.

the OP is not able to move threads ... the moderators would have to move each and every solved thread manually ... if you are willing to do that (for all +1000 old threads and for each new solved thread coming every day), then pm me and martini

The spate of resurrection of old threads seems to have been contemporaneous

with the sudden popularity of the Brainden Gadget - bless it for bringing many visitors

who become members to the site. But I'm wondering whether the gadget feeds a

random sample of "whatever is there" [including the ancient stuff] to new users,

who then simply respond to the OP without inspecting the entire thread to see

whether it's been solved.

If so, the gadget could be made to operate only within the Active Puzzles forum,

and some of the rehash might be avoided.

- bn

both "Brain Teasers" 2nd tab and "Puzzles and Riddles" gadgets include javascript showing random puzzle from a hand-picked collection of year 2007 puzzles (278 puzzles)

the first gadget includes also RSS feed showing the latest puzzles

I could try to replace the javascript showing random, old, quality puzzles with the latest puzzle (no quality assured)