Achievements and Accomplishments Thread

[2cute]

OOH! I hit one of my goals! I like playing long words and also playing for points. I pretty much never beat Lalatan or the other big word players, but I can *match* them sometimes. So, to give myself a target, I want to at least match the big word AND get the high points. I finally got one today! woohoo!

Wow, that's amazing! I had to look back @ your board 3 times to follow your demarginalization Rose. I know your 400+ points was your goal & congrats. I'm just amazed how someone can follow the letters like a maze around the puzzle.

[jbud1980]

Naboka

Hey Naboka, hope all is well, and happy playing! This was one of those grids where I felt there was a high scoring word and spent more time trying to find the longest word as opposed to the most points. You had the highest score and most words. Congrats!


Total points: 306
Total words: 58 (22 common,10 wide,4 rare,22 ultra rare)
Best word: BRAVEHEARTEDNESS (30 pts.) New record!
Longest word: BRAVEHEARTEDNESS (16 letters) New record!

[Naboka]

Naboka

Hey Naboka, hope all is well, and happy playing! This was one of those grids where I felt there was a high scoring word and spent more time trying to find the longest word as opposed to the most points. You had the highest score and most words. Congrats!


Total points: 306
Total words: 58 (22 common,10 wide,4 rare,22 ultra rare)
Best word: BRAVEHEARTEDNESS (30 pts.) New record!
Longest word: BRAVEHEARTEDNESS (16 letters) New record!

Good find.

Just after I read this, another of your best words showed up on a board.

Screen Shot 2021-12-20 at 8.51.10 AM.png

[jbud1980]

Thanks, Naboka.

Haha, how about that? I hope all is well, and Happy Holidays to you and your family.

[Naboka]

image_678.png Screen Shot 2021-12-20 at 9.42.57 PM.png

Sooooo close. Would have been my third 600 pointer this month.

And the saddest thing is I know I typed in the following words. No doubt. Saw them and typed them and ignored them when I saw them again. Wisses, sweel, rostis.

Screen Shot 2021-12-20 at 9.43.28 PM.png Screen Shot 2021-12-20 at 9.43.54 PM.png

Not to mention a couple of 3 pointers.

Curses fingers! A pox upon you!

Oh wait. Belay that! Uncurse you!

I need them to eat.

And pick my nose.

[jbud1980]

image_678.png Screen Shot 2021-12-20 at 9.42.57 PM.png

Sooooo close. Would have been my third 600 pointer this month.

And the saddest thing is I know I typed in the following words. No doubt. Saw them and typed them and ignored them when I saw them again. Wisses, sweel, rostis.

Screen Shot 2021-12-20 at 9.43.28 PM.png Screen Shot 2021-12-20 at 9.43.54 PM.png

Not to mention a couple of 3 pointers.

Curses fingers! A pox upon you!

Oh wait. Belay that! Uncurse you!

I need them to eat.

And pick my nose.

Ahh shucks, that's a great score, nonetheless. I haven't hit 600 this month, but I haven't been playing as much. I've also been grappling with trying to find the longest word vs. the most points/highest score more than usual. I don't ever expect to see a gold star at the end of the game, but I try.

[Naboka]

Ahh shucks, that's a great score, nonetheless. I haven't hit 600 this month, but I haven't been playing as much. I've also been grappling with trying to find the longest word vs. the most points/highest score more than usual. I don't ever expect to see a gold star at the end of the game, but I try.

Playing the long ones can definitely throw a wrench into getting high scores.

Just played one yesterday where I was near the end and realized that the "under" and the "accelerate" went together. Plus there was an s. Unfortunately, I tried to type "underaccelerates" 3 different times and failed on each. Would have been a 16 letter word worth 30 or so points. Had I just grabbed one of the common 3 point words I would have beaten the high score of a player I seldom match. Ended up tied for high score.

I've gravitated to playing the games I used to avoid. Used to click through to find one that promised lots of points. If that game didn't gain traction, I'd dump it. Inflated the impression of what I could do in general vs what I could do in ideal conditions.

In sports you'll see some team beat a far superior team. If they played 25 games, the inferior team would lose 24. If you took the one game as representative, you'd think the poorer team was far better than it is, and the better team much worse.

I've been mediocre, playing under ideal conditions. If the game wasn't a winner, I could quit. Which created an illusion of skills not possessed because the win/loss ratio was distorted.

Coaches/trainers will tell players to work on things they hate. We tend to hate our weaknesses and concentrate on our strengths. You'll see guys at the gym with bulging chests and biceps, wearing sweat pants to disguise normal legs. Actually, their legs might even be better than average, but in comparison with their upper body... Leg work is hard.

By dumping the games that were failures, I could avoid the weaknesses that produced those failure. And nothing unsettles grand self-delusion like failing.

If you have a limited core vocabulary of constantly repeating high-point words, you can play enough games to build up an impressive "average." But, you're also limited to doing well only on those games with those words.

Now, I'm failing in order to succeed. Success always follows failures. No one ever succeeded in anything without failing. And failing a lot.

It's paying off. I'm beating players now that I've never beaten before. Not in games that demand 140-200 words, but in more modest conditions, where a 100 excellent words will beat 120 more common ones.

Of course, I'm stinking up the place on other games. On the above game where you found phytotoxicity, I only scored about 140 points vs the high which was in the mid 300's. But...

[jbud1980]

Playing the long ones can definitely throw a wrench into getting high scores.

Just played one yesterday where I was near the end and realized that the "under" and the "accelerate" went together. Plus there was an s. Unfortunately, I tried to type "underaccelerates" 3 different times and failed on each. Would have been a 16 letter word worth 30 or so points. Had I just grabbed one of the common 3 point words I would have beaten the high score of a player I seldom match. Ended up tied for high score.

I've gravitated to playing the games I used to avoid. Used to click through to find one that promised lots of points. If that game didn't gain traction, I'd dump it. Inflated the impression of what I could do in general vs what I could do in ideal conditions.

In sports you'll see some team beat a far superior team. If they played 25 games, the inferior team would lose 24. If you took the one game as representative, you'd think the poorer team was far better than it is, and the better team much worse.

I've been mediocre, playing under ideal conditions. If the game wasn't a winner, I could quit. Which created an illusion of skills not possessed because the win/loss ratio was distorted.

Coaches/trainers will tell players to work on things they hate. We tend to hate our weaknesses and concentrate on our strengths. You'll see guys at the gym with bulging chests and biceps, wearing sweat pants to disguise normal legs. Actually, their legs might even be better than average, but in comparison with their upper body... Leg work is hard.

By dumping the games that were failures, I could avoid the weaknesses that produced those failure. And nothing unsettles grand self-delusion like failing.

If you have a limited core vocabulary of constantly repeating high-point words, you can play enough games to build up an impressive "average." But, you're also limited to doing well only on those games with those words.

Now, I'm failing in order to succeed. Success always follows failures. No one ever succeeded in anything without failing. And failing a lot.

It's paying off. I'm beating players now that I've never beaten before. Not in games that demand 140-200 words, but in more modest conditions, where a 100 excellent words will beat 120 more common ones.

Of course, I'm stinking up the place on other games. On the above game where you found phytotoxicity, I only scored about 140 points vs the high which was in the mid 300's. But...

Hi there. Underaccelerates was underscored red, so....

Thank you for the reply and, and I hope all is well. Nobody is a failure here; we are here to have fun (at least I am). If you dump a game, so what? If anything, I look at dumping games as a strategic move. I'm not the best player here by far, but I've been dumping games left and right in order to maintain a high score. I may go back to playing every grid regardless like when I first started, but who knows? You are a great player; just have fun with it.

[mdyak]

Hi there. Underaccelerates was underscored red, so....

Thank you for the reply and, and I hope all is well. Nobody is a failure here; we are here to have fun (at least I am). If you dump a game, so what? If anything, I look at dumping games as a strategic move. I'm not the best player here by far, but I've been dumping games left and right in order to maintain a high score. I may go back to playing every grid regardless like when I first started, but who knows? You are a great player; just have fun with it.

I love how everyone here plays the "same" game entirely differently from each other! I play a lot of games to match high scoring words other players have found. If I'm not getting it and the time is up, I let it submit because I want to find out what it was that they got. I've learned so much that way, but it does keep my scores a lot lower, and... if I don't care, does anyone else give a hoot? We're all and each doing our own thing.

[Naboka]

I love how everyone here plays the "same" game entirely differently from each other! I play a lot of games to match high scoring words other players have found. If I'm not getting it and the time is up, I let it submit because I want to find out what it was that they got. I've learned so much that way, but it does keep my scores a lot lower, and... if I don't care, does anyone else give a hoot? We're all and each doing our own thing.

All and each...

Learning more is usually a very good thing.

So many imaginary hoot-givers can occupy one's brain. Like a termite infestation. Unseen and digging away.

The magic and mystery of each game is lost to us if we don't wait for the results. All those unknown words remaining unknown. Comes a point you either wait and learn or remain a hootless accountant.

"Why aren't accounts receivable improving?"

"Don't know, don't give a hoot."

Ever wonder about the history of each game? About all the people who played it, spending their 2-3 minutes absorbed with the puzzle--not to mention all the unrecorded players who bailed out? All that mental activity represented in those dry puzzle stats.

[bwt1213]

When I first started playing, I was really interested in all the words others found in the game. But I observed that the great majority of points I didn't score were for words I knew. In fact, I knew them well. Why didn't I enter them? I dunno, I still have no idea. I didn't see them. Period. The next time I played the same board, I would get some of those words and miss others I'd entered the first time. Why? I dunno. And then there are words others have learned to enter, words I have never seen before and never used before and have no idea what they mean. If I were younger, perhaps I'd remember those words and use them myself. But I'm not younger and I don't remember, and perhaps even if I were I wouldn't see those words and they'd be like the others I didn't enter, because I dunno. So, let's cut to the chase: I discard games because I have learned that I won't learn anything useful from them. I play those games because I enjoy playing them, and if they don't meet my points requirements I will toss them and lose nothing at all. I especially don't lose anything when my fingers simply can't type any more and look more like claws than anything flexible, when I have mistyped the same six-letter word wrong eight times in a row, and I want to pound my head into the keyboard at high velocity. By the end of most of my games, I barely have two fingers that will still function. The rest are locked up. If all of my fingers still work at the end of the game, I will score at least 600. But that rarely happens.

So, please, administrator, create a version of WordTwist that simply demands that the player enter a valid scoring word at least once every ten seconds or so. No more flailing at the keyboard, no more claw hands and frozen fingers. Something more analytical, calmer. A mix between the "highest scoring word" challenger and the "I can type 200 wpm" flogger.

[Naboka]

When I first started playing, I was really interested in all the words others found in the game. But I observed that the great majority of points I didn't score were for words I knew. In fact, I knew them well. Why didn't I enter them? I dunno, I still have no idea. I didn't see them. Period. The next time I played the same board, I would get some of those words and miss others I'd entered the first time. Why? I dunno. And then there are words others have learned to enter, words I have never seen before and never used before and have no idea what they mean. If I were younger, perhaps I'd remember those words and use them myself. But I'm not younger and I don't remember, and perhaps even if I were I wouldn't see those words and they'd be like the others I didn't enter, because I dunno. So, let's cut to the chase: I discard games because I have learned that I won't learn anything useful from them. I play those games because I enjoy playing them, and if they don't meet my points requirements I will toss them and lose nothing at all. I especially don't lose anything when my fingers simply can't type any more and look more like claws than anything flexible, when I have mistyped the same six-letter word wrong eight times in a row, and I want to pound my head into the keyboard at high velocity. By the end of most of my games, I barely have two fingers that will still function. The rest are locked up. If all of my fingers still work at the end of the game, I will score at least 600. But that rarely happens.

So, please, administrator, create a version of WordTwist that simply demands that the player enter a valid scoring word at least once every ten seconds or so. No more flailing at the keyboard, no more claw hands and frozen fingers. Something more analytical, calmer. A mix between the "highest scoring word" challenger and the "I can type 200 wpm" flogger.

Sorry about the fingers. Not fun.

I dunno either.

I'd like to know, so I'm doing what I've always done: study the issue.

For some reason, it seems that my comment is being misunderstood as anti-dumping. Not what was intended at all. No moral imperative against dumping. Just a practical consideration to achieve a desired understanding and ability--for me--at this time. But people interpret words how they interpret words, regardless of intent.

I'm a big fan of dumping when that supports your goal. For the moment it doesn't support mine.

Slowing down what you're doing allows you to study it and gain greater control. Done it in lots of things to great effect. Practicing a roundhouse kick in slow motion gives you incredible control. Or drawing a circle in slow motion gives you precise control. Or practicing singing with each note drawn out and studied.

Slowing things down allows metacognition more time to examine sequences, discover imperfections and correct the broken links in a sequence that momentum allows us to bypass.

That probably makes no sense but...

I've been playing games much slower. Watching how my mind approaches the board, trying to figure out why I'm not seeing what's in front of my eyes. Finding all sorts of gaps in my processing sequence. Dunno if those gaps are correctible or not. Working out methods to attempt that correction.

Playing games to conclusion also allows me to find the words that I'm missing that make dumping necessary. Just played a game where 42 of the 101 of the found words were ones I'd never seen before starting Wordtwist.

I'm not a fan of randomly typing letter sequences hoping for the best. Knowing the intended word makes more sense. Who wants to "accidentally" win?

So far, the new approach is producing the desired results--when I switch out of slow motion/study mode. Gone over 600 several times with a few 590's. Been beating people I hadn't before. Or coming closer.

So, if the proof is in the pudding...

[bwt1213]

Naboka, I was not at all concerned that you were criticizing dumping. I understood you to be saying why you didn't and what benefits you saw to that.

If I play a game and can't possibly do my best, or even close to it -- because my fingers won't work, or I start reversing letters again and again, or the phone rings, or my wife calls, or whatever -- then I dump the game. I play a lot of games, though, and when I'm done I'll usually look over the list of words to see what I didn't get. But rarely will I remember an odd word well enough to use it in a subsequent game. In more than five years, I've added perhaps one new word a month that way. And when I study the words I missed, I cannot find a pattern to them. In fact, looking at the board after the game, I'm much more likely to find words that no one has yet played and sometimes words for a whole lot of points.

I think part of the problem with my fingers is that I often press far too hard on the keys. If I try to be more gentle and smooth, I will quite often fail to press hard enough for the key to register. I have had this laptop for a little more than four years now, and the A, S, and E keys have no trace of any lettering on them any more. The C and D keys are about half gone. On the right side, only the N key is missing anything at all. I am half-expecting to hear from someone saying: "Aha! You have Mxypltk's Syndrome" or something else I've never heard of.

[Naboka]

Naboka, I was not at all concerned that you were criticizing dumping. I understood you to be saying why you didn't and what benefits you saw to that.

If I play a game and can't possibly do my best, or even close to it -- because my fingers won't work, or I start reversing letters again and again, or the phone rings, or my wife calls, or whatever -- then I dump the game. I play a lot of games, though, and when I'm done I'll usually look over the list of words to see what I didn't get. But rarely will I remember an odd word well enough to use it in a subsequent game. In more than five years, I've added perhaps one new word a month that way. And when I study the words I missed, I cannot find a pattern to them. In fact, looking at the board after the game, I'm much more likely to find words that no one has yet played and sometimes words for a whole lot of points.

I think part of the problem with my fingers is that I often press far too hard on the keys. If I try to be more gentle and smooth, I will quite often fail to press hard enough for the key to register. I have had this laptop for a little more than four years now, and the A, S, and E keys have no trace of any lettering on them any more. The C and D keys are about half gone. On the right side, only the N key is missing anything at all. I am half-expecting to hear from someone saying: "Aha! You have Mxypltk's Syndrome" or something else I've never heard of.

Can't remember them well either. Most have no meaning even after I look them up. That's why I keep a notebook to study while I'm munching breakfast or sitting on the pot.

Over half my points come from the rare and ultra rare words. Without them...?

And I keep adding more almost every game. Added sozin and sozins, shog and shogs from the last game. A game I played this morning had rost, rosts, rosit, rosits, rosti, rostis, roist, roists, zoist, zoists. All words I hadn't known before Wordtwist. Think they're worth just over 90 p0ints--points I wouldn't have if I used my normal vocabulary.

As for keystrokes, I feel your frustration. I've yet to figure it out consistently game to game--or even 10 second bursts during a game. I get excited and the train goes over the rails.

Sorry the image is sideways. The words have point values above them. I'm finding that learning the point values helps me avoid typing in low-point-value words, which is essential with limited typing speed.

Screen Shot 2021-12-23 at 7.50.44 PM.png

[bwt1213]

Congratulations on your writing. Mine was once something to envy. I can't write any more, really can't write normal handwriting. I have trouble printing, and can write reasonably normal text only left-handed and as a mirror-image (and then slowly). I used to keep notebooks, too. I think what's really bothering me is the thought that I'm close to not being able to type any more, either. Of the new words you mentioned, I didn't know "rosit, rosits, rosti, rostis" but I knew the rest. My problem is not that I don't know enough words, it's being able to see them -- and then to type them. I think my problems are motor-type problems, but I'm scared to death that they're early indications of something more serious. Welcome to being 75, I guess.