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Feedback on The Times’ changes

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Good news, crossword fans: The layout of the puzzle in the daily Calendar section is being changed so that the puzzle no longer falls across the fold. You once again will be able to fold your newspaper into quarters to do the puzzle.

The Times has heard from dozens of readers about changes to the paper that began Tuesday. A good number of their comments regarded the placement of the crossword.

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Jan Warshaw wrote: Apparently no one there does crossword puzzles. If someone did, he/she would realize the utterly awkward and uncomfortable layout that was in today’s paper. Please place the ENTIRE puzzle (grid & all clues) either entirely above the fold or entirely below the fold.

Stephen Brandt of Pasadena wrote: I have a question/suggestion about the new layout in the Calendar section. Specifically, they changed the layout the crossword puzzle, so that you can no longer fold the page into half, and half again to work on it. I realize that this might seem to be a less than serious concern, but I really hope you will take me seriously.

And Nancy Minnick, who described herself as a longtime subscriber, wrote: Just wanted to register my discontent with the appearance of the crossword puzzle today. You’ve really messed it up.... The worst offense is that now the fold lands in the middle of the crossword puzzle. So instead of a nice neat quarter-page, it’s long and cumbersome.

Jan, Stephen, Nancy and all the others who wrote, look for the new layout starting Monday.

Cuts to the Daily Market Roundup in the Business section have drawn a number of calls and e-mails as well. One specific source of puzzlement was the elimination of the British pound in the foreign currencies list.

Claudia Albert called to say, “In your new Business section, I’m not sure why you don’t think the British pound is important in the currencies.’

And Sara Lafare wrote, “How can you possibly have a section on currencies and leave out pound sterling?? Only one of the most important currencies in the world. (I’m not British.)”

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That omission is being fixed, and the pound will again be listed starting Friday.

Another feature that has been restored thanks to reader feedback is the Calendar section listing of daytime movies on TV. That returned in Thursday’s newspaper.

The new LATExtra section has been received mostly well by readers, although there was some confusion over its content.

Stephen Manes of Santa Monica spoke for several readers when he wrote to ask, “Please help me understand how this new section (LATExtra) that started this morning is in any major way different from the (daily) ‘California’ section, which was eliminated a few months back.”

LATExtra is intended to include both the California report and late-breaking news stories, as well as obituaries and the weather page. The mix of stories will change daily, based on news events.

George Mitrovich of San Diego wrote, “LATEXTRA is a great addition to the Times. When California was folded into the main section of the Times and appeared only on Sundays, the newspaper took a serious hit in quality. For the Times to add a new section when major newspapers across the nation are doing the opposite (think Washington Post) is huge.”

If you have comments on the changes to the paper, you may leave them here or submit them to latimes.com/contact, or you can call 800-88-TIMES.

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-- Deirdre Edgar

Twitter: @LATreadersrep

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