Ah, the brick wall...
Micky - apologies, I subscribed to this thread but I've been quite busy & haven't been able to come back until now.
Granted, I did miss the earlier thread. However, I believe my points stand.
Re - "on occasion - explanation" -an explanation is never asked for, just answers." -
If you re-read my post, you'll see that I said - "One will learn nothing by not asking questions at all and explanations are, more often than not, proffered here."
Answered, no? (Sidebar for Ed - being able to use the the 'bold', 'underline' & italic' features would be quite handy here...)
The OP ended the day having posted 3 threads, asking for a total of 9 answers. I maintain - indeed, hope - that they solved the rest of the puzzle themselves & that any help they may have gleaned from previous answers here was instrumental in that result.
I'm afraid that I simply don't understand your "dog-in-a-manger" attitude.
You're obviously capable of solving cryptic puzzles - an innate talent, or did you have to learn along the way? I wouldn't have thought the solving of them possible had it not been for the influence of my mother & her skill in being able to show & describe the intricacies involved in solving. She & a battered Chambers were my AB...
Your opinion is of course as valid as anyone else's - on this occasion however, I don't think you've grasped what I was trying (perhaps poorly) to put across - that AB can & should be a valuable resource for everyone, regardless of ability.
I know of several AB'ers whose circumstances do not allow them to interact socially in a manner that might - incorrectly, IMO - be considered "normal".
We don't always know why someone asks for an answer - nor do we need to know, but that they do ask should be reason enough to just answer, to the best of our ability.
No more & no less - see a question, proffer an answer. That's AB.
Come on, Micky - join in, don't be one of the boring naysayers that peek in & post simply because they're in a bad mood...
I like AB, I think it's valuable & that there is FAR more good than harm done here.
Ok, that's me done on this thread - hopefully I'll see you around on a few others :-)