With the future of XWord Info still uncertain, I need to make some changes to control costs. It’s an expensive site to run, which was fine while it was more active, but now that there’s no more commentary and updates are spotty, activity is way down and so is income from ads and subscriptions.
Rather than pull the plug completely, I’m making some changes to see if I can balance my budget.
I’m no longer offering $10 “Casual Level” accounts. These were mostly used by people wanting to solve Variety puzzles, and since it’s not clear if I can continue with that, most of those people have already requested and received refunds. If you have an existing Casual Level account, it’s still valid with the same capabilities and restrictions as before including access to old Variety puzzles, but if you renew it or want to create a new account, the minimum cost is $20. Sorry about that.
The first cost-cutting step is to move to a smaller web server. Azure is great because it offers many tools for debugging and analytics. I can use a staging server to test changes and then quickly incorporate them without the site going down for a couple of minutes each time. But it’s expensive. A smaller Azure server will be cheaper but if it’s still too expensive, I’ll move to a normal cheap web-hosting environment. Each step slows things down. I’m hoping most users most of the time won’t notice a difference.
The other step I’m considering is putting ads back on pages, even for Angel-level users. Clicking on ads is an effective way to support sites you care about at no cost to you. Each time you click, a few pennies flow my way. A small site like mine never makes a lot on ads but every bit helps.
What’s next?
More changes are coming, and they’ll be announced in this very blog. All the constructor tools will continue as before, and there will even be some improvements, so constructors with Angel accounts should still be happy.
Updates to the data depend on NYT’s willingness to continue providing access to some of their internal files, and my ability to carve out time to integrate them. I cannot guarantee any updates will happen after whatever date is mentioned on the home page.
Thank you!
I’m incredibly grateful to all the people who have supported XWord Info over the years, and I hope many of you will find the information useful enough to continue to support the site.
Hi Jim! I am SO SO SAD that Xword is having such difficulties. I fault the New York Times for making the terrible decision to discontinue offering acrostics and all the variety puzzles online. The NYT spends money on stupid articles like “Should you wear a bra to work?” What a waste of space!
The acrostics and other variety puzzles actually make people think AND learn stuff! Does any other puzzle have quotes from Rachel Carson or Ambrose Bierce or Jane Goodall? NO!! Seems like the NYT is content with dumbing us down. SO SO SAD!!!
But thank you for trying to maintain access to as many puzzles as you have. Maybe someone will win the lottery and fund Xword forever! Fingers crossed!
Gratefully,
Liana Smith
As a constructor, I just want to thank you for this site – it has been an invaluable resource for me over the years, and I really appreciate all the work that goes into it.
I’m just listening to the Fill Me In podcast where you guested in September. I’m sorry to hear that you weren’t able to sell the site. As a puzzle solver only (not into analysis, construction, trends, etc.), I’ve come to rely on your site for access to the Variety puzzles I used to download, print & solve every week from my NYT Puzzles subscription. I came upon your site only recently, and I’m so grateful for its existence, but I guess I came too late to the party. The site looks like it was a labor of love, and it’s an incredible resource for puzzle aficionados. Thanks for providing this resource, I only wish that I’d known about it before 2023. Please enjoy your future endeavors.