A group of very devoted readers was very clearly unhappy about two items: the lightness of the body text type and the Cryptoquote puzzle. Editors and press operators moved fast to fix the glitches.

We did shrink the Cryptoquote puzzle by about half an inch in the initial editions. We thought the slight change would be worth it because it allowed us to group the puzzles together in one place. About 50 of you explained to us that the change didn 't give you enough room to decode your puzzle. We went to work.

Editors found a way to give the puzzle more space and determined that we 'd have to type in the letters ourselves in the newsroom rather than rely on our vendor, who sends us a pre-sized digital version.

Oops. The first day we did this, someone hit a wrong key and the Cryptoquote really got cryptic. A word at the end of the puzzle was split up making the puzzle impossible to solve. We will be more careful typing the crypto clues.

A new puzzle, Boggle, got good reviews and the larger type on the Crossword clues was appreciated.

The many comments I received made me realize the importance of the newspaper 's role as an entertaining break in the day. It was very clear in the calls and e-mails that I answered that our loyal subscribers really connect with the newspaper and want to help us tweak it.

An inking problem on our presses also needed some attention. Readers immediately noticed the type was lighter than the previous font. While both fonts are the same size, the lightness of the ink in the new version made it appear smaller to readers. By Friday, the press operators had solved most of the problems and the type was crisp on most sections. We expect all will be just fine by today 's editions.

Most callers and e-mailers identified themselves as loyal readers in their 70s. I was surprised that so many from that generation are using e-mail so efficiently. They tell me that they had to learn it to talk to their grandchildren.

Well, grandchildren, we 'd love to hear from you, too. We got very little response about our new sections on Fridays and Saturdays that are designed for the reader who uses the paper to make sense of their lives.

We will hold two listening sessions next week, and we need more volunteers from the nontraditional reader groups. So if you fit in that category or if you want to suggest a grandchild who would like to come to our newspaper office for about an hour and a half in the evening next week (with free food), we 'd love to hear from you. Please call Cindia Reyes at 252-6101.

The smattering of readers I chatted with had rather diverse reactions to several other facets of the change. Some did not like the color section headers, designed to help time-starved readers easily find the kind of content they prefer to read first. Others felt the new design elements reflected a more reader-friendly newspaper with a big city feel.

Spending most of my week talking and e-mailing with you was a lot of fun. Our research shows that we have significant readership in the 30-something group, but I didn 't hear from any of you. I suspect that you are too busy with careers and children and activities. This is of course why we redesigned parts of the newspaper to make it easier to use for busy people.

We still love to hear from readers. We tried very hard to please both customers: those who like to linger with the paper as they drink their coffee, and those who need a fast read as they tear off to life in the fast lane.

Our phone lines and e-mail boxes are still open for your comments. You can contact me by calling 252-6104 or by e-mailing me at wsjeditor@madison.com.

Foley is editor of the Wisconsin State Journal.