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I'm not sure whether I played this game several years ago and subconsciously remembered it or if I made it up just yesterday, but here are the tentative rules:
Each of the 26 letters of the alphabet is given a numeric value, two letters for each integer from 1-13 (the values I chose out of a hat). A word's total value is calculated by adding the value of each letter in the word. The object is of course to come up with the word that scores the highest number of points. Here come the hesitant rules...
The word must be at least 7 letters long. Furthermore, if the word's length exceeds 7 letters, 10 points will be deducted for each extra letter. Suffixes and prefixes [are suffices and prefices not accepted plurals of suffix and prefix?] ARE ALLOWED. Hyphenation IS NOT. The word must be an English word; archaic words are acceptable. I'm also debating implementing bonuses, e.g. +15 points for using unique letters (that is, not repeating a letter in the word), +8 for lacking a prefix and suffix, or a +15 bonus for a word that lacks r,s,t,l,n, and/or e...
The value of the letters for this round is as follows:
1 Y, G
2 Z, M
3 N, F
4 K, U
5 L, C
6 H, X
7 A, V
8 S, E
9 D, B
10 P, I
11 R, J
12 W, O
13 T, Q
Here are two examples for clarification (hopefully):
STRIPPER
8 + 13 + 11 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 8 + 11 = 81
Since it has 8 letters, which is three more than two less than seven, it takes a 10 point deduction, for a final score of . . .
71
PROWESS
10 + 11 + 12 + 12 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 69
Since there are letters in the word, there is no deduction. Final score:
69
I currently have an 81 point word, and an 84 point word if the +15 unique letter bonus is counted.
I think it will be fun.
Some people say camping is boring. I say it's in tents.
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typewriters
13+1+10+8+12+11+10+13+8+11+8=105
stewardesses
8+13+8+12+7+11+9+8+8+8+8+8=108
I think you can make the game a bit more interesting by seeking the highest average points per letter, regardless of word length. typewriter comes out with 9.5, while stewardesses comes out with an even 9.
TEd
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Furthermore, if the word's length exceeds 7 letters, 10 points will be deducted for each extra letter.
TEd - don't you need some deductions?
typewriters (11 letters-7=4x10=40)
13+1+10+8+12+11+10+13+8+11+8=105 -40=65
stewardesses (12-7=5x10=50)
8+13+8+12+7+11+9+8+8+8+8+8=108 -50=58
Or am I misunderstanding the rules?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Rules? Rules? We don't need no steenking rules... well actually we do. I missed that. But how about trotter. I get 81 from that.
TEd
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Trotter was my 81 point word  I concede it to you, though. And yes, you got the rules right, nancyk. Some people say camping is boring. I say it's in tents.
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typewriters
13+1+10+8+12+11+10+13+8+11+8=105
stewardesses
8+13+8+12+7+11+9+8+8+8+8+8=108Interesting TEd how you picked the longest word that can be typed using just the top row of a keyboard and the longest word which an be typed with just the left hand. 
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Here's my attempt:
TORQUES
13+12+11+13+4+8+8=69
+15 for unique letters and +8 for lack of prefix.
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TOTTERS - 13*3 + 12 + 8*2 + 11 = 39 + 16 + 23 = 78
k
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OBLIQUE
12+9+5+10+13+4+8=61
(or 84, if +15 for unique letters and +8 for lack of prefix.)
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6+12+13+13+8+3+13+12+13 - 20 = 73 + 8 = 81
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My suggestion was that it would be +8 if it lacks both a suffix and a prefix. That's a nice word though My 69 + 15 unique is... well, I left the slip of paper in my car which now is temporarily abandoned in a parking lot because the tire pretty much went flat without notice. Hah. Edit: I remembered it. STRIPED: 8+13+11+10+10+8+9 = 69 + 15 point unique letter bonus for 84. Some people say camping is boring. I say it's in tents.
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My suggestion was that it would be +8 if it lacks both a suffix and a prefix.
Well then, oblique still qualifies, doesn't it?
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Yes, oblique does, but torques does not.
Some people say camping is boring. I say it's in tents.
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Carpal Tunnel
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torques does not
Huh? Where's the prefix?
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My suggestion was that it would be +8 if it lacks both a suffix and a prefix. Torques does contain a suffix, and therefore does not apply for the bonus.
Some people say camping is boring. I say it's in tents.
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striped has a suffix, doesn't it?
TEd
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it lacks both a suffix and a prefix
I'm sorry. I interpreted that to mean that it did not qualify for the bonus if it was true that it had both a prefix and a suffix, but that it would qualify if it had one and not the other.
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Yes. Striped has a suffix and that's why I didn't add 8 points to it.  Some people say camping is boring. I say it's in tents.
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isn't there a distinction to be made between a suffix and an inflection of a word?
e.g., I torque, you torque, he torques, we are all torqued
(see, that's the trouble with trib.. er.. rules; you sometimes end up having to define the word "it". :)
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Sorry, I haven't got the rules sunk into the concrete that my brain has become. I saw the +15 and didn't go back to look carefully.
TEd
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The whole point of not awarding bonuses (boni?) to prefixes and suffixes is to encourage more interesting words; otherwise people will have a tendency to just tack on suffixes to boring words, especially if "s" or "ed" gives a high point value. So I think that if it exists as a suffix, it shouldn't be awarded extra points. But that's just my take on it.
Some people say camping is boring. I say it's in tents.
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Carpal Tunnel
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re:The whole point of not awarding bonuses (boni?) to prefixes and suffixes is to encourage more interesting words; otherwise people will have a tendency to just tack on suffixes to boring words, especially if "s" or "ed" gives a high point value. So I think that if it exists as a suffix, it shouldn't be awarded extra points. But that's just my take on it.
Ah but here is the rub-- when you start a game (or a thread) you are letting loose a child into the world.
no matter what YOUR dream, or hopes, the thread or game, or child will go the way its wills..
you can try to exert influence, but in the big wide worls, all alone, it will wander, perhaps far from what you envisioned.. It might exceed your expectations, it might disapoint, (worst of all, it might linger and die, unresponed to to!)
i agree (even though i most likely won't play) a game filled with worked and then the same word with an UN, or IN or ED, or an S taked on are less interesting.. *but there is a penalty for too many letters.. besides what are these 'points' good for? (can i trade them in for cash? or are the just ego points?)
If they have a cash value, i might join the game and insist on clear rules.. but if they are just ego points.. well what the harm?
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I had a few minutes so I wrote a perl script that searches the twl98 (scrabble) dictionary I downloaded from www.isc.ro and prints the highest scoring words. It doesn't include all words, of course, and some of the words in this dictionary may not be in others. Still, I ran it against your scoring criteria and the ones you guys came up with were pretty good.
I won't spoil the fun, but there were a few words that totalled higher than 85.
k
# search through the dictionary twl98.txt for scrabble
# to find words that score more than a certain number of points
# based on the scoring in the file lettercost.txt
$LIMIT = 85; # only display words meeting this criterion.
$numArgs = $#ARGV + 1;
# get name of letter cost file.
# currently only works for: lettercost.txt
#
if ($numArgs > 0) {
$fileName = $ARGV[0];
} else {
printf "Enter name of cost file: ";
$fileName = <>;
}
# parse the letter scoring data into a $cost{} hash.
#
open (FIL, "$fileName" ) || die "Unable to open file $fileName\n";
$lineCount = 0;
while (<FIL>) {
chop;
$lineCount++;
$line = $_;
$line =~ s/\s+$//;
$line =~ y/a-z/A-Z/;
if (length($line) > 0 ) {
($num, $let1, $let2) = split(" ", $line);
$num += 0;
$let1 =~ s/,$//;
$cost{$let1} = $num;
$cost{$let2} = $num;
} else {
# do nothing.
}
}
close (FIL);
# read the dictionary
#
$dictionary = "twl98.txt";
open (DICT, "$dictionary") || die "Unable to the find the dictionary $dictionary\n";
while ( <DICT> ) {
$word = <DICT>; # read a line
$word =~ s/\n$//; # ditch the end of line character
$word =~ y/a-z/A-Z/; # convert to upper case.
if (length($word) >= 7 ) { #only use words > 7 chars
$sum = &costOf($word);
$sum -= 10 * (length($word) - 7); # -10 for each letter over 7.
$usum = $sum + &unique($word); # unique letter bonus
if ($sum >= $LIMIT || $usum >= $LIMIT) {
print "$word $sum $usum\n";
}
}
}
close(DICT);
sub costOf {
local ($word) = @_;
local ($i, $letter);
local ($answer, $sum);
$sum = 0;
for ($i = 0; $i< length($word); $i++) {
$letter = substr($word, $i, 1);
$sum += $cost{$letter};
}
$answer = $sum;
}
sub unique {
local($w) = @_;
local ($i, $j);
local ($unq);
local ($letteri, $letterj);
local ($answer);
$unq = 15;
for ($i=0; $i < length($w)-1; $i++)
{
for ($j = $i+1; $j < length($w); $j++)
{
$letteri = substr($w, $i,1);
$letterj = substr($w, $j,1);
if ($letteri eq $letterj) {
$unq = 0;
}
}
}
$answer = $unq;
}
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