Dear Reader | Solving the puzzles and other challenges

Attention puzzle lovers: New brain-teaser options are coming your way.

A change forced upon us by the syndicate that provides some of our puzzles means we will replace the diagramless crossword that appears on the Sunday comics page with a new puzzle.

The syndicate is discontinuing the diagramless and the Crostic puzzle, which appears inside our Sunday Coasting section. Turns out, they were supplying those puzzles free to us as a package with the Los Angeles Times crossword on Sunday.

That left us with an opportunity to find something new. But, as most of the bargain hunters among you know, free is a pretty tough deal to duplicate. We are able to add one puzzle however. Starting Sunday a Boggle word game will be paired with the Los Angeles Times crossword on the comics page.

Other new features

Who cares about stupid puzzles, I sense some of you saying. Relax, we’re adding a few non-brainteaser features, too.

For example, we are now carrying a column by Pam Stone, who gained fame as a co-star on the Coach TV series and now runs a horse training barn in South Carolina. Her work runs inside Coasting on Sunday, but don’t be fooled into thinking just because it’s in a features section that only women will enjoy it. Anyone who has worked a farm, loves animals and has tried to train them should check out her take on the rural life.

Share your views

Starting Wednesday we will unveil some changes on Page 2A, including questions for the online poll of the day and results from the previous day’s query. We’ll also tell you which topics are getting the most activity on Facebook.

We’re also kicking off a Readers Gallery on that page, which will feature a photo submitted by a reader. All of the photos will be compiled into a gallery online so you can share them with your friends and family .

That online thing

The astute among you will notice that some of these features are designed to provide a bridge to myrtlebeachonline.com. I’ve talked with many readers who have shared some version of this sentiment, give or take a profanity or two: “Quit telling me to go online for something. I don’t want to go to a computer. I want it in my dang newspaper.”

Once upon a time, that’s all we aspired to as well: a one-stop shop with a little something for everyone. And even though it’s not as fat as it once was, and costs a bit more, our print edition still provides more news, entertainment, advertising and useful information than any other source every single day.

But (you knew one was coming, right?) like it or not, online is the way of the world. And while I believe there will be a market for a printed hold-in-your-hands product for some time to come, the world of journalism in general, and The Sun News in particular, must not only adapt but excel in that venue.

It’s not unlike, say, the buggy company that pooh-poohed the coming of the car, or the telephone company that pooh-poohed the coming of the cell phone. Not to shine our own apple, as my grandmother used to say, but the work we do as an independent watchdog of your tax dollars, and the actions of elected officials and others is too critical to maintaining our system of civic involvement to back off because learning and adapting to all this new stuff is (insert whining voice here) too hard.

The next generation of leaders doesn’t have a “newspaper habit.” But they are desperate for information and it becomes more important every day for them to know where to go online for a credible account of what’s happening in their world.

I anticipate the commenters will jump on that “credible” line, but that’s another component of sharing information online. People can post their thoughts about what they’ve read, and well thought-out comments, even when they are critical of our work, are also critical to our improvement.

As always, thanks for reading.