100 percenters anonymous

[imported_Tilottama2003]

Are any of you spies???

I see a quote the size of a page, and somebody did it in like 10 seconds, how does it happen???????????????????????????

You people should apply for your country's secret service and become code breaking spies!

And when i become a actress/director i will make movies about you all, and, you can star in there!!

https://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/71383488.jpg

[maradnu]

Staying at 100%

When I've played, I've stayed at 100% except the first month the site was back, when I was fighting for a speed trophy (my #3 and the only time I've really done well on speed). There was one other time when the site was down for longer than it saved the puzzles for retry, and I missed one that month.

I do them as fast as I can and still stay at 100%. I do have my own little cheats though. When I hit a really difficult puzzle, I save it to an Excel file by author and how many letters in each of the first five words. If I get stuck, I check my file to see if it gave me problems before.

I also have a key word list in MS Word, organized by pattern - it has 108,000 words in it and helps at times too.

I probably do need help

I can't compete with the highest and fastest yet but I have 3 100% trophies and now I'm addicted to being a 100%'er. I was devastated when I found one this month I could not solve. I just spent 5 days on the quote from Michel de Montaigne that Annamariah mentioned in this thread. MS updated and rebooted my computer overnight and I lost the ability to retry it or I would probably still be trying to solve it.

I'm not sure why it was so hard but now that I see the answer I feel even worse. The only consolation is that Annamariah had problems with it also.

[marnita]

Yes, the dreaded lost connection has hit me a few times this month. It's one reason I don't worry about trying for a fast time, although I don't think I'm capable of fast solving anyway. Right now I'm in first place for solve rate, but only because poor Gryhnd got cheated out of her 100% record. I will feel really lucky if I get through the rest of the month without the same thing happening to me!

[ddph]

If I get far enough into a month to still have 100% rating, I will take much longer than normal to solve. It's nice to occasionally get that ribbon. OTOH, if we get far enough into the month and I'm like 14-16 on the fastest time, I won't do a 10 minute solve.

Silly me, just today I had a 20 minute solve even though I had already missed six puzzles. Actually. I had it solved in about 50 seconds and lost connection to the server. But I just had the urge to get the solve posted even though I severely hit my average time. Just checked the leaderboard and I'm still at 16th despite the 20 minute solve. I hope I can avoid that dreaded lost connection for a while.

[gryhnd51]

DMVJDCPA is missing from this thread! Having started playing in 2008, his/her solve rate has always been 100% until this month!! Quite an astounding accomplishment!!!
Perhaps I got this wrong, but I'm pretty sure that it's true. Wish that he/she would add a comment to this thread.

[mikehallbackhoe]

watch out carpelanum, denial is a sure sign of addiction

[abra]

I have said it before in comments, and in chat, but maybe not here, I am SO impressed by the 100%ers. All of them. Those who always finish in the top 20, to those who don't but just need to do keep 100%. You all do great solving.

[CarpeLanam]

Problem? No problem here! I quickly figured out it would always bother me if I didn't solve every puzzle I started. When I first found the site I wasn't very fast at all, so having a high percentage was the only way I could get in the top 20 every month and get that little trophy. Sometimes I'll find a puzzle hours later that must have been a double-load... I'm compelled to solve it even if it totally wrecks my time for the month. It's particularly galling if it's a stupid quote, but I solve it anyway.

[mikehallbackhoe]

well said puzzleme, that's what makes this site so great. if you aren't into speed, that's just fine, and if you aren't into solving 100 %, that's fine too. the main objective is to have a great time. If you enjoy competition, or just find puzzles relaxing, there is something here for everybody

[puzzleme]

Hi, Everyone!
I'm totally amazed by the speed-solvers and totally mystified by the 100%-ers. You all are amazing to me. I like to solve quotes quickly just to see how close I can come to the champions and I like to solve as many as possible only because my favorite part of the game is reading everyone's comments. Sometimes they really do make me LOL. I don't get bummed about solving slowly; mostly I just slap my forehead and groan for being so dense once I finally figure out some incredibly easy quote. If I'm in the mood to spend some time on a quote, well, okay; If I'm not, well, that's okay, too; I can let it go, move on, and never look back. Guess I'm not going to make it to the Crypto-Olympics but I'm having a great time!

[abra]

I'm sure we will be seeing some records for Zach, soon. If you've been around for a while. They're probably already there.

I guess I don't go for speed and I'm definitely not a 100%er.

I feel bad if my average goes below 95%, so I try to solve most of them. I'm not very fast either. I'm thrilled that every once in a while, I make it into the top 20 for speed. Because I really do spend a lot of time here, I'm usually able to place in the top 10 for points.

I really enjoy doing what I can do.

[mikehallbackhoe]

Hi, Zach, welcome to the forum. you're feelings about spending an hour on a single puzzle is how I feel trying to go fast. I have a slow internet provider, and can't type fast even if I wanted to, so trying to go fast frustrates me. not having to worry about my speed frees me up to spend time on solving the difficult quotes. I get a lot of satisfaction when I solve a puzzle with very low solve rate. I guess it boils down to being competitive, I'm not the fastest, don't have the time to have the most points, but nobody can beat 100 %. so, regardless if I solve 50, or 1000 puzzles this month, I have done my best.

[imported_Lurker]

Hi, Zach. Welcome to the show!

The first couple of months I did 100%, my time tanked. But then you're solving puzzles you had been skipping because they took too long when you were only going for speed. The next time you see them, they're not as hard, and you can solve them quickly. Within six months, my time had mostly recovered. Now, I'm only a couple of seconds slower than non-100%. Of course, if I lose it for technical reasons, I speed through the rest of the month, and it's definitely a relief not to have to check my percentage every few puzzles.

[imported_Zachman285]

Greetings all,

This is my first post - I figure I have been around the community long enough to introduce myself.

I have to say I have a great deal of respect for all of the 100%ers out there. Anyone who has seen me on here knows I am quite the opposite. I go for speed and if I think my time is going to be over 35 seconds I usually ditch the puzzle. On some of the hardest - I don't think I've even found a letter. I couldn't imagine the frustration of poring over a puzzle for close to an hour looking for the crack to solve it. Kudos to all of you who do it - it is an admirable goal and I'm always impressed when I see someone achieve it!