I play to have fun, but not necessarily to win.
My best game is Boggle. In person, I've never lost a game. I have lost a few rounds, but never a game (though I did come close to losing a game once). A while back, I discovered boggle online. I played on mIrc and on games.com. Online I've found lots of people who can cream me with tidal regularity and I love it. I still like boggle, but games.com is really irritating these days - too hard to connect. They need more and faster servers, I think. But boggle's a pretty network intensive game (not in amount of bytes, but in frequency of packets sent). You need to be a good pattern matcher to play well at this game, but you also have to know some boggle words - words that don't seem to be anywhere but in an online boggle dictionary someplace. Rare words like cwm and airn, but also suspicious words like tegs, uta, var, and hols. Some people set themselves apart by not using these kinds of words.
Recently I started playing scrabble on yahoo which is pretty fun. I never really liked scrabble all that much before. I played to make cool words and not to win. But this is pretty fun. I can't play worth a crap, yet, but it's nice. I'm coming aware of strategy. There's a big luck factor in this game, but you definitely need to know rare words, be a good and quick pattern-matcher, and also have a tenable strategy. While I do not understand them very well, I discern that the strategies of the better players (ranked red on yahoo) prescribe methods for when and how to pass, and most importantly - how to block the other player. I was vaguely aware of this before, but it wasn't until I played a few games with different players that I realized how important this is. I can't do it yet. I only note. (Interestingly, these strategies are much hated by some other players.)
They came out with another word game called text twist on yahoo which is pretty fun, too. I like that one - it's almost like solo boggle. They also have an anagram game (with some annoying bugs) and daily cryptograms (though the software lacks an important feature - clear guesses).
In general, I think the people on the Boggle group are much, much friendlier and even supportive. Very different personality types. (Although there was once a guy who came in to play with a bot, which I thought was pretty rude. I don't consider him a boggle player, per se.) In the back of my mind, I'm wondering whether there is some reason for this other than chance. Not that I mind either way. I just ignore the boneheads and play.
There are several other word games I'd like to play, but haven't yet. I've heard about upwords, but have no idea what that one's about. Oh, and there's a pretty good game on mIrc, the name of which eludes me for now, in which a bot gives you a random sequence of letters, then everyone treats it like an acronym (that's it! the game is called acro!). Everyone submits their expansions in private to the bot, after time is up (60 seconds maybe) the bot prints the expansions and people vote on the best ones. I like the ones that make meaningful sentences.
Ah, well. I can go on a while longer, but I guess this is enough rambling.
k
SIGH
I made a very good living living - for 40 years - in the word game ... i.e.media...and I am the worst at word games. If ya wanna win, don't pick me for your partner!
I have nothing but admiration for those who excell but ....those who know me well hand me paper and pencil and make me the Score-Keeper! That way they, and I, are out of harm's way.
dear FF, what is a "bot"?!
I haven't attempted to play any games online but I do like Boggle and Scrabble. I'm interested in the strategies of the latter - how DO you block players, and what does it mean to pass? My mother is the one I play Scrabble with the most, and she and I rarely keep score - we play gentlewomen's Scrabble - "O, I got the Q" - "Well, I have a U, would you like it?"!!
How well I remember the days when my sister and I would play Jotto. I guess that's another one that could translate well to computers.
One of my favourite twists in word games is this: keep a list of the words used (in Scrabble, for example). At the end of the game, each player tells a short 'story' linking the words in his or her list. It's probably a good exercise for creative thinking, and it's always a hoot - the stories end up being very silly. Even my father got into the act, and we all ended up laughing every time.
each player tells a short 'story' linking the words in his or her list
What a great idea!
I've also heard of people playing other versions of Scrabble, in which they made up words and had to concoct a feasible definition for their new creations - every word had to be one NOT found in the dictionary. I'm sure there are other variants - I might even have read them here somewhere. I'm sure some people play dirty-word Scrabble too, for example - I wonder if anyone ever plays proper-name Scrabble?
It might be fun to allow more than seven letters, too. Some country does, I think - Anu mentioned it in the AWAD a week or so ago, didn't he?
Thanks, Silk. But then how does it apply as FF mentions it here? -
(Although there was once a guy who came in to play with a bot, which I thought was pretty rude. I don't consider him a boggle player, per se.)
How does one play with a bot? it seems it would improve your game....?
edit: I mean, how does one "come in with" a bot? it sounds as though it's something that's either there or not there on a site?
Curious whether "bot" has yet been accepted in "the" dictionary. On quick scan, AHD has it but M-W does not, and I wonder what OED says.
Anyone want to take a bet a bit about a bot?
dear FF, what is a "bot"?!
I haven't attempted to play any games online but I do like Boggle and Scrabble. I'm interested in the strategies of the latter - how DO you block players, and what does it mean to pass? My mother is the one I play Scrabble with the most, and she and I rarely keep score - we play gentlewomen's Scrabble - "O, I got the Q" - "Well, I have a U, would you like it?"!!
Bot is short for robot, actually not a robot but a program that does something for a user. Some bots are good - they manage channels, moderate games, etc. Others are annoying - pestering users, taking over channels, or as in this case, playing in the place of a human.
You block players by screwing up the board in a way that screws them more than it screws you, i.e. by playing a lousy word on a choice spot - or playing a less valuable word because it might create more valuable choices for the other player. I think there's a lot of strategy among the more highly rated players.
To pass means to skip one's turn, with the option of returning some or all of one's letters and retreiving new ones. I note now that the game on yahoo is not called scrabble, but literati. Literati is slightly different than scrabble. The points for letters are different, I think, and I believe the letters are randomly generated with P(1/26) for each instead of according to a predefined number of each letter.
When I played with my grandma, I never won because I always went for long and cool words instead of maximum points. So I would play a word like orbital without a word multiplier instead of playing, say, trail on a triple word. Not like that any more, as I would like to see exactly how hard it is to learn the strategy, but that's how I used to play.
We're very fond of Boggle at home (not online of course). We can handicap the game very easily. I have to play words of 4 (sometimes 5) or more letters. Oldest daughter and wife play regular rules. Youngest daughter gets to play one and two letter words and gets to keep words even though others have them.
k
How well I remember the days when my sister and I would play Jotto. I guess that's another one that could translate well to computers.
One of my favourite twists in word games is this: keep a list of the words used (in Scrabble, for example). At the end of the game, each player tells a short 'story' linking the words in his or her list. It's probably a good exercise for creative thinking, and it's always a hoot - the stories end up being very silly. Even my father got into the act, and we all ended up laughing every time.
I'm not familiar with Jotto, but now that I'm aware of it, I'll look into it some time. I like the idea of making up a story for the list. Maybe we'll try it.
k
You block players by screwing up the board in a way that screws them more than it screws you...
It sounds strangely familiar...
and musick has the talent to play a familiar tune if you hum just a few bars
or is that FUBARs? for him.
yes musick, as Silk Muse points out in the post above yours, as with any other unregulated resource, there's always going to be someone who gets destructive and turns the technology to the disadvantage of others.
which sort of creates a case for a kind of tyrany-- either every must must knuckle under to the site administrator, (here's hoping they are fair) or every one will be forced knuckle's under to a bully.
for 2 years we've played word games here, too, and always the rule was, 'we don't need no stinkin' rules' and it was true. No admistrator, no rules, no problems that lasted more than a week, no problem that jackie or someone wasn't able to resolve, quietly, behind the scenes, almost. and many who, for a moment, glared and growled, and threatened, gave way to her wisdom, and some are close friends now. what a world it was!
maybe we need a bot of our own.
We used to play a version of Scrabble in which the players could reference a dictionary when it was NOT their turn. This encouraged learning new words, but it also encouraged participants to play faster since that meant less time for the next player to find a word in which to use his/her X and Q!
I've heard about upwords, but have no idea what that one's about.
OOOOOOOOO, Upwords! My favorite game! This one is played similarly to Scrabble, but is a great equalizer for those vocabulary challenged folks! You use common words as your base like in Scrabble, crossing words here and there, earning points for each letter used. BUT, you can also build up on the words. For example: you have the word "dog" (which earns 6 points--2 points per letter when the word is one layer high). Next someone puts an "l" on the "d" and forms the word "log"(which now scores only 4 points--1 point per letter when the word is more than one layer). The next player puts an "r" on the "l" and an "f" in front of the word, which forms the word "frog". This is now worth 6 points again--6 letters in the stack of letters forming the word. To add to this, there may be another word that crosses and is affected by the changes, and you get the points for that word as well.
The main thing is, you need to use common, fairly short (5 letters or less) words, and build up! Very good for families when the kids are learning words. They have an equal chance of coming up with good words. I bought this one when my children were young, and we still love it today.
your post is a responce to mine.. is that because you post in a flat mode? or is it directed at me, and my response to Musick?
i resonded to musicks post, because i don't respond flat, but rather threaded. you seem to know your way around BB's, but i don't know who you think is being bellicose.(because i don't know what pattern you use to post-- that is somethin most of us try to make clear.
who starts a war (bellicose is warlike isn't it?) the person who fires the first shot? or the person who defends them selves? and how does one identify the first shot? how do you know a shot has been fired? where does any one draw the line in the sand and say, this is ok, but past here is war? My questions are mostly rhetorical, and i hope they open up a discussion. in another thread (caparthian i think,) some one mentioned the 1957 hungarian uprising.. were the hungarians bellicose? they did take to the streets, and attempt to overthrow the government.. and were resoundly crushed for their efforts..
just wondering.... a ways back, we had a thread on Indian history.. (but recent discussion i had with someone on Mary Queen of Scot will work, or my ongoing discussion i have with a friend on the Spanish inquisition would work..)
which history is to be believed? the English history of Indian Mutanies? or the Indian history of The First War for Independance (going i think up to the 4th war for independance, in the 1940's )
was poor Mary Queen of Scot murdered by her trecherous cousin Elizabeth? or was Elizabeth force to defend her self from Mary's trechery, and Mary's plot to over throw her?
as a Catholic, i was taught about Good Queen Isabela of Spain, who drove the Moors out(in the late 1400's) but the Sephardic Jew have a very different view of history, --first she robbed from them, then she expelled them, or executed them... I suspect they don't think of her as "good" and knowing more history, i have to question the history that was taught to me. Its very difficult for me to see Isabella as Good!
is tyrany now a banned word on this site? or is it that the word administrator is bellicose?
i have use the word you a number of times.. at no time is this directed at SilkMuse. (or is someone else has posted, the post on top of this) i replied flat, (that is i tacked this on to the last thing posted at the time i started.) but getting back to the word you, it is a rhetorical device. i have edited out about half of them, and i know if i start rewriting everything, i will make even more typos. i sometimes end up sounding strident, when i am going for empassioned! if i have slipped over to the strident side.. i will try again..
SilkMuse: You got tubes, woman. I like the cut of your jib!
of_troy: Good for you - I can see that you are trying to be level, not inflammatory. Just....maybe not respond or bring up similarities between what's being posted and what's happened on the board?
ditto to musick.....
Just because....well....I am trying to take my cue from milum and Geoff, who....well, see my thread "Bliss" in I&A. That kinda sez what I think about wonderful milum and Geoff. We could all take a page or two from their books. And from SilkMuse's, methinks.
and from Bill....(credit where credit is due!)
and now this thread is about word games, yes? hmm....I'm pondering.....
I wish I knew its name, but I like that party game in which you randomly choose a letter - from the Bible, from the dictionary, from the newspaper - and then everyone has five minutes, or two minutes, or some similarly limited period of time, and writes down words for each of several categories. Samples include: flowers, birds, trees, states or provinces or countries, kinds of food, etc. It sounds as if this game was described by FF, above (he said something about allowing the youngest child to keep all her words, even if someone else had them).
I also quite like hangman, to while away the time if you're stuck in a bus or train station, waiting to go somewhere, and have a willing companion and a pad of paper and a writing implement. It's great fun to try to come up with a word you think they'll "never" get!
Kind of a poor man's Wheel of Fortune....only hangman came first, so there!
Speaking of hangman...
I wonder if we can play that here.
I have a word that I bet will hang all you word experts.
Five letters. Start guessing!
Robert
No bots, BTW!
When I was playing Scrabble with my beloved while on honeymoon, I managed to put down 'guava' TWICE - and they weren't connected. [/end boast]
alex
PS I also love Boggle and really look forward to playing it online... My Mum and I play Scrabble together, but she's never ever been nice to me and regularly beats me!
Ummmmm, that's not one of the games that one usually plays on their honeymoon, sweety! really?? we thought it was a great idea! (except that my computer nerd of a new husband managed to beat me!!
)
Okay, Robert, I'll bite:
E
Hey Robert, if Silk and I are both playing, how will you tell us what's right and what's not? she and I will each have an advantage in seeing what the other guessed and knowing whether or not it was right....I was going to suggest you give us the answers by PM but Silk has disabled hers, I think?
Well - you're a clever boy, you figure out how to do this fairly! or maybe Silk and I could be a team.....
Hmm. I thought maybe all of you (who are interested) could guess as a team. This is just for fun anyway, and I think my word is cool. I will try to check in often enough to respond yes or no. In the mean time, don't guess a new letter until I respond with answers from the last. Hmm... I sorta posted this on the spur of the moment when I saw someone mention hangman. Maybe we can develop a method. I'm open to suggestions.
Robert
Word play and fun isn't word games. this is not a game site. there are, as pointed out in posts above this, lots of game sites.. if i wanted to play games, i'd go there.
the word game comes to English from the old high german, and is related to gaman; amusements.
now amusements, that's an interesting word, with a wonderful history! perhaps our own SilkMuse could give us some history on amusements!--and maybe even a hint about her silk muse.
Interesting. I think I may buy this as an end of school present for my kids.
good.
k
Ok, I'm sorry. The word was myrrh.
Does anyone want to discuss this neat word?
Robert
We do hangman in the car when we travel. And, though it's not a wordgame, we do Jeopardy (and 20 questions).
k
myrrh. Does anyone want to discuss this neat word?
Love to, Robert. In fact, a friend and I were recently discussing another word which my friend surmised was related to myrrh. The surmise led me to a tangle of research.
How about starting a new myrrh-thread, telling us enough about the word to get our creative juices flowing?
we've had puns, and anagrams, and homonyms, ands synonyms, and palendromes, and the theme that was just brought up again in weekly themes, with visual images/palendromes of words..
we haven't played hang man, or game games. as pointed out, they have time limits.. and since this bb is open to, and was in the past, used round the clock it would n't work very well if someone from NZ posted a letter, and had to wait 8 or 12 hours for a responce!
There were some rounds of hogwash, but they were rather new, and not consistant
sorry i wasn't clear.
hehehe
You wrote In the immortal words of Shakespeare, the character of Marc Antony, "I come not to praise Caesar, but to bury him".
I believe the phrase is "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." (My oldest daughter was Marc Antony in the 6th grade play.) Of course, like most of the rest of what Marc A said, it was meant to be ironical (well, not from Marc's perspective, but from the author's). He says he's not going to praise Caesar when in fact he does nothing but praise Caesar. He talks about the nobility of Brutus and the others ("so are they all honorable men") when in fact he's offering evidence that they have been an altogether perfidious lot. He says that he is no orator like Brutus, all while delivering some of the most stirring words ever uttered.
k
Word play and fun isn't word games. this is not a game site.Despite the gentleman who pules,
"We don't need no steenkin' rules,"
Upon your point I must agree;
I side with you and not with he.
Your principle thus demonstrates
How rules can help forestall debates.
(Yet I confess that all the same,
I rather much enjoyed the game!
)
a further point... its not so much a rule that we can't have games here, but games need to meet the function of the board.. this is not set up as game board, and since it in theory, if not in acuality, has members who post from all points of the globe, its hardly fair or fun to have games that are unable to particapate in, or if they do, they are at a handicap.
hogwash invites suggestions for a week or so, (and has a deadline,) then has another week to vote. so everyone in the world can play, on equal footing. personally i found it boring and slow. and never joined in.. but any one who wanted too, could. a game of similar to hang man might be divised that could be fairly played across 24 time zones, and several days.. but this game wasn't.
game sites have software that responds differently.. and makes games available 24 hours a day.. this has never been a game site, (and changing to one would require new software. has any asked Anu to host a word game site? that might be an other solution.
Not to sound like a broken record, but this is another reason I like of troy: she didn't just identify a problem, she explained WHY it was a problem (thanks Helen, because I hadn't thought of the time-zone unfairness!), AND (most important of all) - she suggested a possible solution or two.
So one of us could try to come up with a way to make hangman something fair we could play here - although it might be boring and slow, like hogwash - or we could leave it (as of troy mentions, there are several game sites out there), or ask Anu about a word games site.....
For now, for those who love word games and perhaps don't know about it, might I recommend
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ and click on the "games" portion of the site? I just spent some enjoyable time there myself and can recommend it....
I'm not sure whether this is a complaint or a thank you... I've looked up the Boggle site mentioned long, long ago at the start of this thread, and it's pretty good. Thus my uncertainty over whether to complain or thank; I will be returning there, and it may be that I do so too much!
If it's the one I mentioned, I hope you have plenty of fun there.
My nick over there is "elbillaf" and hopefully we'll meet there in real time in the near future.
These are great games for expanding vocabulary - probably super boggle moreso than regular boggle, though I enjoy both games for sheer fun. I'm really surprised when I play with my kids to discover that they know words that I wasn't expecting them to know - like 'wary' and 'remit'. These two came up last night when I was doing crosswords with the kids. I wasn't so surprised that she had heard of them so much as that she read the definitions and immediately knew the words. (It's become our nightly passion instead of reading to each other to play games.) Okay, so crosswords are among the many word games I love and at which I suck, so maybe I'm overly impressed.
Still, I think the combination of activities: talking with the kids regularly, reading to them, playing various smart games with them, etc. has had a cumulative beneficial effect on their vocabularies. I'm kinda excited now about the prospect of teaching my oldest how to do cryptograms.
People set different standards as you'll discover (in scrabble as well as in boggle). For example, the words "em" and "en" mentioned in the subwords thread in the other group are very commonly played in scrabble, and "cwm" and "airn" and "airt" are often played in boggle - very, very often by people who don't know or care about the meanings. I think that the love of words and language is so deep among the better players, though, that most of them (the high red fellows) know most of the words they play. I note that the two dictionaries which the different programs resort do not always agree about what is a word.
k
Okay, so crosswords are among the many word games I love and at which I suck
You mention cryptograms - doncha love those? I feel compelled to offer, here, the shortest clue in cryptogram history:
e (13 letters)
It was in The Times (of course!) - did anyone hear about this one, a few years ago?
any guesses?!
the words "em" and "en" mentioned in the subwords thread in the other group are very commonly played in scrabble
There is a recent book on "professional" Scrabble - I forget the author - in which it becomes clear that, at that level, it's more an exercise in symbol manipulation, and words are no longer important: what matters is has the better command of the finite list of data known as the Scrabble Dictionary. Some folk with no significant command of English do a well as any and better than most.
How disillusioning! What a sterile ending to the wonders of the language. (Anyway, whom are you going to believe, me or some strange dictionary?)
the shortest clue in cryptogram history:
e (13 letters)I think you are referring to Cryptic Crosswords, full of all kinds of wordplay, rather than cryptograms, subtitution-coded phrases.
If that's your cup of tea, drop in on the NPL (National Puzzlers' League) site at
http://www.puzzlers.org and sample what they have to offer.
They pride themselves in their cleverness and word-savvy, and perhaps justifiaby so. And they have come up with bunches of phrases that they have expressed cryptically as a single letter !
P.S. "senselessness" ? No, that would apply to any nonsense collection. I'll work on it some more.
the shortest clue in cryptogram history: e (13 letters)
I hate to disagree, but my favourite clue of all time is:
(4,4,1,4)
Any guesses? Answer available if anyone wants it? I have no idea about the e one.
I'll need to think about it.
I think I'm going to have some fun this evening.
thanks!
k
Wofa wrote Some folk with no significant command of English do a well as any and better than most.
Very true. OTOH, those who do love the words set higher standards for themselves than those who don't. And while there are a lot who don't care about the words, I believe there are a great many (perhaps not most, but a great many) who do.
Regardless of how much a particular player enjoys or loves words, the games themselves are symbol manipulation, as you say.
k
tsuwm posted a link to the pro scrabble book.
Very interesting. I didn't realize there was such a thing as a professional scrabble player. Bare minimum I'm going to browse this book first time I can find a copy.
The second message in that thread, though, was great though. You just made me laugh till I had tears in my eyes (re the query concerning the hyphenation of anal retentive). Very, very cute.
k
Many very bright people fail because they are unable to express themselve well.
I think you are referring to Cryptic CrosswordsThanks, I was. Thought "cryptograms" was another name for them - oops! That'll larn me to use my dictionary.
PS: (
senselessness) Got it in one!
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
Many very bright people fail because they are unable to express themselve well.
So very true, Dr Bill. I know a fellow who fancies himself an editor. He's an orthographic machine and a relentless, punctilious grammarian. Unfortunately, he is also miraculously devoid of creative instinct. One can barely make a point in person with him, because he's wired to instantaneously correct any spoken or written venial error before the transgressor is able to complete his thought. Understandably this results in tedious and generally painful conversation. He has an alchemical ability to transmute any beautiful prose into a tidy list of words.
I was somewhat irritated the first few times my own work came under his red pen, until I learned that he often practices on great works of literature. From vibrant, lovely, and universally revered writing he produces hideous verbal corpses. "Bwahaha! Now isn't that better!"
You take a stick and poke the tidy list of words. They do not move. They do not breath. They do not quiver in response. Better than what?
Call it sour grapes, but I think it's possible to know the words and how to spell them and the rules and how to implement them and still miss the point.
k
I'm as dumb as a post, I guess, but what is this "e (13 letters)" bit? The answer was "senselessness"? Why? I guess I need to learn a new word game.
Robert
what is this "e (13 letters)" bit? The answer was "senselessness"? Why?sense, less ness, leaves only "e."
get it? get it?! (take letters from "ness" out of word "sense" and all that remains is an "e")
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
e (13 letters)
Wow. I'm glad someone did this before I started on it.
I thought the cryptogram was "e (13 letters)"
k
I thought the cryptogram was "e (13 letters)"
Sorry, FF. I prolly dint explain it very well. Shoulda said something like, "clue: e. solution is 13 letters long."
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
what is this "e (13 letters)" bit? The answer was "senselessness"? Why?
sense, less ness, leaves only "e."
Good job, mg. I had it, ten or twelve posts above, and didn't recognize it.
