Cheaters

[Spike1007]

bwt, I should try that test. (I'm pretty sure that that abandoned games don't count on the monthly scores. I'd have noticed that.)

While disappearing posts can be annoying (I assume while they're checked for spam), I guess the filter is better than what we had before. I have to admit though, that I kind of miss the old posts offering undetectable counterfeit currency, black-market weapons (up to & including tanks), essay writing (by people who apparently have less of a grasp of the English language than anyone here)., and at least one x-rated gif. Those were kind of entertaining.

[bwt1213]

60 Minutes ran a report a while back about the North Koreans. It seems they have duplicated the recipe for the paper used in US currency, duplicated all the plates and the presses used to produce currency, and have duplicated all of the security features. Their bills are actually of higher quality than those the US Mint produces. The NK government was, at least as of about two years ago, creating and distributing counterfeit US $100 bills in ton lots. This is actually KNOWN, and it is an act of war for ANY government to do that to any other.

[Spike1007]

I hadn't read anything about that, but I'll have to look it up. (Of course if we did the same thing to them, it could be the best thing that ever happened to their economy.) I do kind of doubt if they (or anybody else with great counterfeit currencies) would really advertise on WordTwist though.

[Brisul]

For what it's worth, this has been an especially difficult month for me to maintain a 900 average. I had a few months where I was racking up scores in the mid to high 900s and now I feel lucky if I just get over the 900 point marker. It's possible that I'm getting slower in my old age or that these games are offering up new algorithms that are throwing me for a bit of a loop. Has anyone else noticed this?

[RussDNails]

Brian, I noticed this too--since the server change the boards with higher scoring potential are harder to come by. My average is down this month by quite a bit too--I don't worry too much about average anyway so I don't mind playing the more challenging boards because I learn new words this way but I do see a definite trend of fewer high word count boards being available.......I spend way too much time here : )

Best,

Russ

[bwt1213]

I'd hesitated to say the same thing, but I've noticed that it seems the high scoring boards are taking longer to recycle, and that therefore I have had to look at more boards to find ones I'm willing to play. This is anecdotal evidence, nothing more. But my scores have been down, too. Just not as much as you guys, because I'm not as good -- no false modesty, plain fact.

[Brisul]

It's so great to hear pros like you two having similar issues. I've been scoring in the 800's lately and it's so frustrating. I just got my first 1000 point game of the month and it was 1000 on the dot. I've never hit an even 1000 before. Kinda neat

[Razorflame]

Troglodyte...what you need to understand is that there will always be players who will be better than you at this game. If you keep letting this get in the way of your play, you yourself will never improve past the point you are at currently. Stop focusing on the players who are better than you, which I can guarantee you is less than 1% of the actual players on this site, and focus on the 99% of players who are not as good as the top players on this site and then focus on trying to better yourself instead of focusing on the top players. This will lead to improvement for both yourself and anyone else who helps you play this game.

[Naboka]

I have to agree with kate (especially the part where she says that she's good at long-word hunting). In my first response, I pretty much deliberately ignored what I saw as Troglodyte's implied accusation of us using a boggle solver of sorts. (I wasn't going to defend us (lalatan, and by extension, me & a lot of others here) from that since it wasn't explicitly stated.) Anyway, with some practice (and, as erakis17 & mdyak stated, some observation of previously-found long words), you get the feel for what kind of words they hide in here. I'd never find a lot of short to intermediate-length ultra-rare words. The long ones though, are often built from recognizable pieces. You learn to look for those parts, and try to assemble them into a word you know, or what at least seems word-like. (I'm sure that we've all been surprised when something weird works.) Going for long words, you think first & type later. If you find a decent word, you look for what can be added, or if you find disconnected parts, you try to fill in the blanks. When you're fairly satisfied, you start typing. Sometimes you type the plural first (maybe twice, if your typing skills are like mine & things don't always come out like you think) , and if that doesn't work, you back off to the singular. (Generally, you type the possibilities, going from long to short until something works.) Sometimes you jump the gun, and type a word before realizing you could have added a prefix or suffix. If you have time, you add the new word. If you're happy with the average, you accept the game.

Anyway, as others have noted, it's a different way to play. Like mdyak, I'll never set records for most words or points, but I have found (with time & practice) that I can get big words.

By the way, this is really in defense of lalatan (not that he needs it). I've learned a lot about this from him and playing along side of him for the last few years.

Curious about a couple of "players" who always got every word on every board, I thought I'd search the forums to see what was said about what was obviously cheating. What serendipity! I'm fascinated by the intricate and simple strategies different players use. It's like games within games. I admire success in whatever form it takes. Thank you for the strategic information on long word finding. Gratifying to see the admiration for "legends" of this game.

[flops]

Curious about a couple of "players" who always got every word on every board, I thought I'd search the forums to see what was said about what was obviously cheating. What serendipity! I'm fascinated by the intricate and simple strategies different players use. It's like games within games. I admire success in whatever form it takes. Thank you for the strategic information on long word finding. Gratifying to see the admiration for "legends" of this game.

Yaaay, Naboka, totally with you on this, and so pleased to see that some read the subjects in their entirety. It leaves room for me too, because I play every board, love seeing what my favourite players have achieved, and have a bit of fun with it (my kids play the occasional board too ....love seeing them two finger type!). And my loves, when you spend your working days with three, four and five year olds, sometimes using "big" words is just a lovely reminder of what is still left in your head (I read somewhere that you lose 2 IQ points for every child you have, so I'm testing whether I can get those eight points back). Hope you have all avoided the roni. xxx

[Naboka]

Yaaay, Naboka, totally with you on this, and so pleased to see that some read the subjects in their entirety. It leaves room for me too, because I play every board, love seeing what my favourite players have achieved, and have a bit of fun with it (my kids play the occasional board too ....love seeing them two finger type!). And my loves, when you spend your working days with three, four and five year olds, sometimes using "big" words is just a lovely reminder of what is still left in your head (I read somewhere that you lose 2 IQ points for every child you have, so I'm testing whether I can get those eight points back). Hope you have all avoided the roni. xxx

Made me laugh, Flops. Assume you mean COVID-19 when you wrote "avoided the roni." Who knows. You can have it and not show symptoms. I was self quarantining long before the government stepped in because my heart and lungs are messed up from agent orange. But, I'm otherwise inordinately healthy, and when I was inadvertently exposed to people who tested positive, my temperature went up mildly for several days. I'll never know. You have to be very symptomatic here to get tested.
My wife loves this game but isn't a member. I took it up after I retired, trying to stave off mental decline. Having kids probably raised my IQ, the things I learned about life having them. I help my wife now in her kindergarten class, working one on one with the kids. I've learned a lot about learning from them. I started taking art classes and realized I wasn't absorbing the material as quickly as I wanted, so I studied how the 5 year olds learned. Helped a lot.
Back to my wife: she gets really annoyed when I run up big scores (to us, not to the good players) using "cheat" word combos like ean, ane, nae. I just shrug. It's part of the game. I love finding interesting and unusual words like oont and suk. Who comes up with a word for a lovely camel? Or thinks the marketplace sucks? Just kidding. My fingers are too clumsy, and my mind too slow, so I'm not overly surprised when I look at a finished game and discover I missed a middle section with the letters etsa staring me in the face. When I read comments from a player who consistently scores 500 plus saying they're a slow typist, I can only smile and admire their aspirations. All things are apparently relative.
Though this is getting too long, we're stuck at home so ... Full disclosure: I used to play every game and let it count. Scoring 300 was happy time. But one month I found an honorable mention medal in my basket and thought WTF. Like any good dog, I respond to rewards and started playing the 4x4 tournament. As I played and watched and analyzed it occurred to me that some averages were impossible without controlled and selective methods. I didn't think they were cheating, just that they had different goals, like different events in the Olympics require different approaches. I admire the strategies and the intelligence required to implement a particular approach to get a desired result. I finally discovered that I could play a game and dump it if I didn't like the looming results. Helped my averages tremendously so I could get medals for averages. Woof! Woof! Winning a trophy was fun, but there's so much more to do in life, and other players deserve trophies, so...
Now, I spend more time looking for longer words to increase that ability, but dump 3 or 4 games for every one I complete.

[flops]

Sooo, cool, Naboka, yes "the roni" is Corona (for some reason my keyboard cant type the letter after u, today, and offspring one is "attending" a friends Minecraft birthday...it's a 24th birthday, btw). I hae four offspring, number four turning 18 just a few weeks too late to hae a party (again please excuse my inability to type the letter after U). CO(the letter before W)ID 19 is known here as, Miss Rona, or the Roni within the 18 to 24 set...whilst I ha(sigh) elderley parents, and work in kindergarten....I should remind all that I li(x)e in Wictoria, Australia, yesterday we had one confirmed case, and today 17 mostly from people in quarantine haing returned from o/s....I hae to go now, coz the Minecraft party is commencing....Peace Out,..stay well

[flops]

So, it's Sunday here now, and it would seem the "party" was a success, so before I walk Mud, Moose and Obi Wan, I will play some boards, continue to not dump them, particularly because the letter V has returned!!!

[Naboka]

So, it's Sunday here now, and it would seem the "party" was a success, so before I walk Mud, Moose and Obi Wan, I will play some boards, continue to not dump them, particularly because the letter V has returned!!!

Well, here's how dumping and strategy can backfire. I've been opening games, studying them to train my eyes to see longer word patterns then dumping them so they don't hurt my average. Except. I found a great word, jumped up to go tell my wife then came back and realized I hadn't closed the game so got zero points, zero words. Oops!

[Spike1007]

I'm only in this for long words, so technically I don't care about 0 word/0 point games. If I don't find something I want though, I prefer to dump the board & end up with at least one word per game. Lately though, I seem to get distracted & wander off before it times out.

flops, it's good to hear from you again & I'm glad you're OK these days.