Achievements and Accomplishments Thread

[bwt1213]

The "honey pot" reference is sweet. They seem to come in unexpected place.

200 points! I'll probably have to get better to suffer that arrow. Higher point totals give more leeway as a percentage in ups and downs. 20% of a 1,000 is 200, but 20% of 500 is only 100. My meager play gives the mixed blessing of reduced point shock.

A very long time ago, I bowled on the high school bowling team. The varsity bowlers were all better than me. I had a pretty consistent average of about 146. It varied little. I had never bowled a game of 200, and never seriously threatened to. Then I went to college, and one of the other guys in the dorm needed to know how to bowl for his required PE class. So I volunteered to teach him. You take so many steps, I told him. You swing the ball in a modest arc. You don't try to toss it really hard. You observe how the ball curves as a result of your delivery and then you adjust your aim points using the dots and arrows on the lane. You try to repeat your delivery exactly, so keep it as simple as you can. I was very patient as we alternated balls. He did pretty well for a first-time bowler. I think he scored almost 100. I began with six straight strikes, then missed my aim point by one whole arrow and ended with a spare. Then three more strikes. I bowled 256, and it could have been a lot better than that. When I joined the dorm's bowling team, my average for the whole season was about 185. When you try to teach something, your own knowledge and performance both improve. I found that true in Mathematics, as well -- to really learn something, teach it.

So, maybe by giving you pointers I'm actually being selfish. Sort of.

[Naboka]

A very long time ago, I bowled on the high school bowling team. The varsity bowlers were all better than me. I had a pretty consistent average of about 146. It varied little. I had never bowled a game of 200, and never seriously threatened to. Then I went to college, and one of the other guys in the dorm needed to know how to bowl for his required PE class. So I volunteered to teach him. You take so many steps, I told him. You swing the ball in a modest arc. You don't try to toss it really hard. You observe how the ball curves as a result of your delivery and then you adjust your aim points using the dots and arrows on the lane. You try to repeat your delivery exactly, so keep it as simple as you can. I was very patient as we alternated balls. He did pretty well for a first-time bowler. I think he scored almost 100. I began with six straight strikes, then missed my aim point by one whole arrow and ended with a spare. Then three more strikes. I bowled 256, and it could have been a lot better than that. When I joined the dorm's bowling team, my average for the whole season was about 185. When you try to teach something, your own knowledge and performance both improve. I found that true in Mathematics, as well -- to really learn something, teach it.

So, maybe by giving you pointers I'm actually being selfish. Sort of.

Wow about your bowling improving with teaching.

I think the learning-better-by-teaching occurred to me in college also. Making up tests from the material being taught became second nature. Whenever I read or listened to a lecture I asked myself test questions. By test time, it was a breeze.

Then that transferred to physical activities like dance and martial arts. I think it might have something to do with taking command of the subject. Analyzing what comprises the subject so you can communicate it.

One revelation was the difference between questions and answers. It would seem that answers give you command of a subject, but in truth it's the questions. If you haven't asked the question, the answers are meaningless. Students get fed answers semester after semester and fail. Successful students are constantly asking questions.

Dictionaries are filled with answers for Wordtwist. But if you haven't asked yourself how the elements of the words come into play, you probably won't be very successful. I'm just now learning that.

Being selfish is overcriticized. Craig Malkin wrote "Rethinking Narcissism." A must read. Having a healthy regard for one's self and needs is a good thing. As long as that extends to a healthy regard for others and their needs. It's when others stop counting that the boulder starts to crumble.

[Naboka]

Good job Naboka. I have noticed you getting better over the last few months. Keep it up.

Thanks.

When I first became aware of you I was awed that anyone could average over 400 points a game. When I played one of your boards I thought I was doing pretty good to get within a hundred points. Mostly, it was closer to 150-200 points less. Hitting 400 every few days was such a high point.

Despite improving, my initial strategy for the game ran into a monumental wall recently.

I figured that I could only reliably type about 400-450 characters in 2 minutes. Just a guess. So I had to concentrate on learning an abundance short words worth high points to succeed. It was efficient. And got me able to consistently score in the high 300's through 400's.

But necessarily self-limiting.

The more I studied successful boards, the more I realized that I had to expand the length of words in my arsenal. I had to concentrate more on 5, 6, 7 letter words to get past the limitations of my approach. Since I'm a slow reader, that's problematic.

I also had to try to add the re-, -er, -ing and other word elements

I've been concentrating on drilling the speed by which I recognized letter patterns on boards. I play the board, then sit there drilling the words. Over and over so that seeing certain combinations is second nature. Helps a lot.

Unless it doesn't.

With some recent games, that has been crazy successful.

If I hit the right assortment of words.

At other times, like a game I just finished, not so much. I counted 63 missed words (out of around 200 possible for that board) mostly 3-4 letters that I get consistently. My mind just went blank and none of them registered while playing. There were other missed words, but not ones I get easily and often. And I only scored in the low 300's, so it wasn't a matter of being time taxed.

Sigh.

Just one more board.

Maybe...

ps: congrats on winning gold again. It ain't easy.

pps: here's a timely example I just finished that demonstrates using longer words to get more points. Total words was less, but total points much better.

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[jbud1980]

All of those who are posting on this thread are incredible players. I have been playing less than a year and what has become a problem for me is whether I shoot for the high score or the longest word when playing a grid. A part of me says to focus on one or the other, but another part of me says both can be done; however, I am by no means there, yet. I would like to be proficient at the latter, which means I need to practice more. Thanks for sharing your journey, Naboka, and happy playing everyone.

[Naboka]

All of those who are posting on this thread are incredible players. I have been playing less than a year and what has become a problem for me is whether I shoot for the high score or the longest word when playing a grid. A part of me says to focus on one or the other, but another part of me says both can be done; however, I am by no means there, yet. I would like to be proficient at the latter, which means I need to practice more. Thanks for sharing your journey, Naboka, and happy playing everyone.

You're welcome.

I tend to be a bit talkative. On the basis of a broken clock being twice right, I figure this monkey will eventually type by accident "e=mc squared." Someone will understand it, even when this monkey doesn't.

Listen to the part telling you to concentrate on one or the other. But mostly for each game. You've probably already discovered how much information exists for that board before you even start it.

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I uploaded the first game that came up. You know that there are 4 words which are 7+ letters so it's an opportunity to get longer than 7. But, playing for most points would be a losing battle for almost all of us. Boysmom is really really good at high scores. Looking at the information given (who played and what's available the word distribution for each category) I'd be pushing it to score 300. (just to test this after I wrote that, I played it and dumped it with 7 seconds left only scoring 263 in that time.)

That the game had been played 20 times may or may not be significant. I've been pretty successful lately getting high score on games played 15-29 times. Just depends on who's played it. If the game had only been played once by megaword or boysmom or a few dozen others...

You're certainly doing better than I am. I wasn't anywhere near scoring 500 points after a year. I remember jumping from low 400's to something like 462, and just assumed that big of a jump would put getting a new high score out of reach. And it did, for a while.

Lot of study and practice went into getting beyond it.

I just played a game where you had the high score and lost by 20, so pat yourself on the back. I'm certainly in no position to give you pointers on strategy or skill. Just pragmatic pointers on how to handle the slings and arrows of Wordtwist.

As for high score or high points, they theoretically aren't mutually exclusive, but few players can do both consistently. You scan through boards and realize that the high point players usually have highest words and points, but not the longest or best word. And vice versa. Longest word hunters almost never have most words or points. Some games don't have words longer than 6 letters, so whoever plays earliest is most likely to get and keep the longest, and often the best word, regardless of their skill level.

I was off doing home improvement projects from Nov through June so I missed the recent golden era of new boards. Sure must have been sweet accumulating all those opportunities.

Happy playing to you also.

[jbud1980]

Thank you for your insight; I appreciate the reply. I feel that boysmom may be the best of both as she has the highest scores and can consistently find 16-letter words. However, I am nowhere near that level. Maybe one day, haha.

I felt somewhat ambivalent playing the new boards during the era you mentioned as on one hand I "may" have scored the highest early on; however, I knew the score wouldn't last long once the veteran players played the grid. BTW, how often do we receive completely new grids?

Thanks for the advice.

[Naboka]

[QUOTE=jbud1980;n28192]Thank you for your insight; I appreciate the reply. I feel that boysmom may be the best of both as she has the highest scores and can consistently find 16-letter words. However, I am nowhere near that level. Maybe one day, haha.

I felt somewhat ambivalent playing the new boards during the era you mentioned as on one hand I "may" have scored the highest early on; however, I knew the score wouldn't last long once the veteran players played the grid. BTW, how often do we receive completely new grids?

Thanks for the advice.



[/QUOTE

In an odd twist, boysmom is actually mom's boy. His mother had the account years ago, and he used to play with her. For convenience, he simply took up the mantle. To make his accomplishments even more impressive, he plays the game swiping on his phone--I think with his thumbs.

Losing records? Some of the most surprising ones last. You're almost guaranteed to lose your records playing the boards with large numbers of words possible. A lot of good players click through games to find one that meets their interest. Lots of possible points attracts the bigger sharks. I've run across lots of my records in the 2-400 range, but can't remember finding one above 450.

I usually add 5-12 records a day when I'm playing, but lose 3-10, so getting eaten by bigger fish is just part of the process. You play to play and don't worry about the small stuff.

I tend to dump lots of games if I can't get my brain and fingers to agree. They have a longstanding love/hate relationship. Dumping bad games provides a stress release when things don't go well. Then you have more time to try a new one.

Since you're a bit more skilled than me, you've probably eaten a few of my records yourself. No big deal. You'll take some of mine, I'll take some of yours. Most of us find our games to be inconsistent. We can play a game, return to it and do either much better or much worse--playing the exact same game!

You've probably run across games you know you've played because the info has your name registered. So that surprising success or failure probably isn't new.

In magical times, you'll beat people you normally can't beat. In the doldrums you'll play games where you can't touch the score of people you normally beat convincingly. I've beaten people who normally have an advantage over me of 50-150 points. I've failed to beat people I normally beat by 50-100 points. I imagine some of the better players beat my worse games convincingly then run across one where I was in the zone and wonder WTF. I've replayed games that I have no idea how I was able to do so well before and so poorly on the replay.

It's just a game.

Like the wife says in reference to herself "I never lose--I either win or learn."

[jbud1980]

Smart wife! If I played to win I probably wouldn't be playing anymore; I play to have fun. That is an interesting tidbit about boysmom, thanks for sharing.

I played a grid a short time ago that made me laugh as I'm still trying to juggle gunning for the high score or finding the longest word. I scored an abysmal 150 points, but found the best/highest scoring word (paleobiochemist/28 pts). It turns out that it was a grid I had played before as I had the highest score and most words. What are the chances?

Happy playing.

[Naboka]

Smart wife! If I played to win I probably wouldn't be playing anymore; I play to have fun. That is an interesting tidbit about boysmom, thanks for sharing.

I played a grid a short time ago that made me laugh as I'm still trying to juggle gunning for the high score or finding the longest word. I scored an abysmal 150 points, but found the best/highest scoring word (paleobiochemist/28 pts). It turns out that it was a grid I had played before as I had the highest score and most words. What are the chances?

Happy playing.

Great word. Now you have all 4 categories on that board.

As for the chances? 100%. Depending on how you figure it. That you accomplished it means that it was 100% attainable.

Sometimes, when you score a lot of long, interesting words in a month, it's disappointing that all of them can't be recorded. You score some commonplace 16 point word that holds its place despite you scoring a bunch of fascinating 16 pointers. Sometimes higher point value words aren't nearly as unique and interesting as lower valued ones.

So... Best word? Guess we just have to take it with a grain of salt.

Preferably, pink Himalayan salt.

[dannyb]

Ah, Naboka: Maldon sea salt. Use it as a finishing salt. Great on seared sea scallops.

[Naboka]

Ah, Naboka: Maldon sea salt. Use it as a finishing salt. Great on seared sea scallops.

Thanks.

Never heard of it. Looked it up and ordered some. Always in the market to try new things.

[Naboka]

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I think this is the best game I've every played. Gotten far more points and words on other games. Gotten much better best and longest words on games. But, rarely put it together into a balanced package.

[2cute]

I tried following megaword's videos frame by frame to see his strategy, but...

soon got distracted

and figured out nothing.

I know he approaches the game completely differently than I do. I rely on memorized pattern groups, where he does something like what you suggest. I have no clue how he maintains the discipline and order to return to new lines of attack without wondering if he's typed that word already or not.

My attention bounces around the board like crazy. I notice a new possibility and immediate get pulled off what I'm working on before clearing it. Then, if I come back, I can't remember which of the 8 words I had planned to type were actually typed.

My guess is that even knowing his strategy, I would be incapable of maintaining the discipline to implement it.

LOL Yeah, he's like a speed demon & how does he remember all the words he's already typed... that some amazing memory too. I guess you & I are the same in that way, I know the games' only 2 or 3 minutes old & I've already forgotten what I've already typed. I wonder what this is called ... word dementia?

[2cute]

All of those who are posting on this thread are incredible players. I have been playing less than a year and what has become a problem for me is whether I shoot for the high score or the longest word when playing a grid. A part of me says to focus on one or the other, but another part of me says both can be done; however, I am by no means there, yet. I would like to be proficient at the latter, which means I need to practice more. Thanks for sharing your journey, Naboka, and happy playing everyone.

Well you're doing pretty great in the forum, you've already earned your ten red bars from only being here a year. Congrats! I've really been here more than 5 years (just ignore my join date) & only just this year did I earn it. So you're doing something right. Just find the part of the game you enjoy playing the most & focus on that. If you like both, try for both. Remember, this site is supposed to be fun & as long as it is, you've already won.

[jbud1980]

Well you're doing pretty great in the forum, you've already earned your ten red bars from only being here a year. Congrats! I've really been here more than 5 years (just ignore my join date) & only just this year did I earn it. So you're doing something right. Just find the part of the game you enjoy playing the most & focus on that. If you like both, try for both. Remember, this site is supposed to be fun & as long as it is, you've already won.

Thank you 2cute, and happy playing. Your last sentence said it all.