Achievements and Accomplishments Thread

[bwt1213]

When I was a kid, I read encylopedias and dictionaries, too. Even read the Oxford Unabridged dictionary once -- took me years. As a young adult, bought my very own copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica so I could read it at home at my leisure, and then did so. Every year, when they had their annual update edition, I was sure to buy that and read it, too. I didn't stop that practice until perhaps 20 years ago. I can't claim I can remember everything I've read, but I sometimes surprise myself.

[lalatan]

Saw a Weatherchannel program on mountains, which included Mauna Loa. Interesting how we determine the actual height of a mountain and the factors involved--such as the center bulge of the planet which makes things further from the Earth's center point.

I chose Mauna Loa because it's the world's largest active volcano by mass and volume. They estimate its volume as 18k cubic miles. Most of its height is underwater: 16.4k ft of its total 30.1k ft from base to summit. And of course most of its volume is underwater as well. What I didn't know before was this: "its mass depresses the crust beneath it by another 8 km (5 mi), in the shape of an inverse mountain, meaning the total height of Mauna Loa from the start of its eruptive history is about 17,170 m (56,000 ft)."

Working with kindergarteners has increased my fascination with learning and proficiency. How do we actually learn? And why are some more inclined to absorb information and improve their skills? We've had plenty of very smart kids who just weren't really interested in learning. They learned. But, only a fraction of what their ability would have predicted. Then some kids just light up with pleasure when they learn.

I always find your kindergarten observations interesting, maybe even more so now that my wife works part-time as a teacher assistant.

The idea of 10,000 hours to mastery is misleading. Ten thousand hours of what? Efficient practise and analysis of the skills and knowledge required, coupled with a continuous examination of results leading to corrections of those elements which are least effective and a continuous reinforcement of those elements which are most effective? Or just going through the motions and making adjustments by default rather than focused analysis and correction?

Agreed.

For some people, learning is almost an addiction. All of us feel a degree of pleasure from understanding. But the pleasure feedback differs from individual to individual. For some it's like a candle in a cave, for others it's like stadium lighting at the World Series...

Why are some driven to maximize their talents and others aren't? Got no clue.

When I was a kid I voluntarily read encyclopedias and the dictionary. Haha, I never heard of anyone else in my 70 years who did that, although I'd venture a guess that there are others on this forum who have. I don't know why I have been a lifelong learner because nobody else in my family was. All my life I read articles and watched documentaries. I found it has helped a lot with my living skills.

But people who maximize their skill sets realize that it takes lots and lots and lots of practise and work. It's not accidental or God given. But reaching those goals, no matter how painful and tedious the journey, makes it all worthwhile.

Though, there are many ways to reach the top of a mountain, it's probably more satisfying to have climbed it than taking a helicopter ride. Though, there are those who catch a ride to the top and pretend they actually made the climb.

I scrambled (climbing with no ropes) to the top of a mountain twice, 1 of them 3 times. I have to admit it's an almost godlike experience, looking down on people and cars that looked like ants 3,300 ft below. I had an opportunity to fly to the top of mountain in a chopper but my wife said it was too expensive. I regret not doing it. I hiked on 2 different glaciers; 1 I took a bus to get on it. The other I climbed onto. The solo climb was more satisfying but I enjoyed the ease of riding a bus.

I could go on and on with this stuff: 30 pages, 100, 500. There's just so much to know and understand, so much to examine.

But...

Back to playing the game of What Word Did Lalaten Find.

lol

[Naboka]

Definitely a noteworthy achievement. Congrats!! I compare it with Mauna Loa. This peak is visible and impressive but there is a gigantic base of knowledge and study that supports it and is unseen.

Thanks. Appreciate that. Takes someone who's actually made the journey to understand the efforts involved. The work you've done to reach the longword peaks you have is definitely underappreciated.

Saw a Weatherchannel program on mountains, which included Mauna Loa. Interesting how we determine the actual height of a mountain and the factors involved--such as the center bulge of the planet which makes things further from the Earth's center point.

Working with kindergarteners has increased my fascination with learning and proficiency. How do we actually learn? And why are some more inclined to absorb information and improve their skills? We've had plenty of very smart kids who just weren't really interested in learning. They learned. But, only a fraction of what their ability would have predicted. Then some kids just light up with pleasure when they learn.

The idea of 10,000 hours to mastery is misleading. Ten thousand hours of what? Efficient practise and analysis of the skills and knowledge required, coupled with a continuous examination of results leading to corrections of those elements which are least effective and a continuous reinforcement of those elements which are most effective? Or just going through the motions and making adjustments by default rather than focused analysis and correction?

Most people don't absorb much of what they read. You have them read a page and test them on its contents only to discover they didn't really get it all. Others can read that page and repeat back nearly every detail. So, 10,000 hours of reading will produce dramatically different outcomes in gained knowledge.

For some people, learning is almost an addiction. All of us feel a degree of pleasure from understanding. But the pleasure feedback differs from individual to individual. For some it's like a candle in a cave, for others it's like stadium lighting at the World Series.

For some, learning is almost an addiction: all that pleasurable feedback.

Of course, with computers thinking for us, letting programs perform our tasks and thinking has become more and more tempting. Why do the work when you can have a program do it for you? Computers probably have an adverse affect on our ability and willingness to think for ourselves.

Most people don't realize that thinking is a skill like any other. We can all move our bodies, we can walk and get up from a chair. But we can't do the things Simone Biles does, or the crazy things parkour athletes do. Most of us think at a rudimentary level, where others think at the equivalent of elite athletes.

Why are some driven to maximize their talents and others aren't? Got no clue.

But people who maximize their skill sets realize that it takes lots and lots and lots of practise and work. It's not accidental or God given. But reaching those goals, no matter how painful and tedious the journey, makes it all worthwhile.

Though, there are many ways to reach the top of a mountain, it's probably more satisfying to have climbed it than taking a helicopter ride. Though, there are those who catch a ride to the top and pretend they actually made the climb.

I could go on and on with this stuff: 30 pages, 100, 500. There's just so much to know and understand, so much to examine.

But...

Back to playing the game of What Word Did Lalaten Find.

[lalatan]

As for me I'm still playing a little (I was elected president of a nearly 50 year old volunteer based 501C3 and that has kept me quite busy and was one of the main reasons I had to pull back from the competition) (so much for retirement ) and still looking only for big words.
I also read the Word Twist related forums and occasionally look in on the big word competitions to keep track of (hope I'm not being presumptuous) all my Word Twist friends including lalatan,( I still love playing "what word did lalatan get) spike1007, dasan, youself (kjambur), crazykate, bwt1213, DrPlacebo, Naboka, 2cute, and too many more for my sore fingers to list.

I'm glad you are still in the game! I also enjoy playing what word will lalatan find. Congrats on your presidency.

[lalatan]

Think this is the first time I've gotten over a hundred UR words while getting a 16/30 and a 15/28.

Screen Shot 2024-10-17 at 4.05.29 PM.png

Definitely a noteworthy achievement. Congrats!! I compare it with Mauna Loa. This peak is visible and impressive but there is a gigantic base of knowledge and study that supports it and is unseen.

[folkslinger]

Finally, finally, finally I won the first place in APPW in 5x5 board.
Thanks to the cryptogram keeper for not competing this time. Otherwise I would have to wait god knows for how long.
And what an honor it is to play alongside lalatan spike1007, folkslinger, dasan and other legends here.
Congrats to you all guys.

Kjambur,

Sorry It took me so long to post this-- A Big Hearty Congratulations!--. That was a well deserved big word win.

As for me I'm still playing a little (I was elected president of a nearly 50 year old volunteer based 501C3 and that has kept me quite busy and was one of the main reasons I had to pull back from the competition) (so much for retirement ) and still looking only for big words.
I also read the Word Twist related forums and occasionally look in on the big word competitions to keep track of (hope I'm not being presumptuous) all my Word Twist friends including lalatan,( I still love playing "what word did lalatan get) spike1007, dasan, youself (kjambur), crazykate, bwt1213, DrPlacebo, Naboka, 2cute, and too many more for my sore fingers to list.

[Naboka]

Thanks Naboka.

16/30 and 15/28 while scoring 847 is mind boggling! You have become a certified WordTwist butt-kicker.

If the plants you mentioned are garlic mustard, they can spread rapidly, especially in disturbed ground such as flower beds. You must have had one plant flower and drop seeds. Seeds will usually sprout one or two years after being introduced to the soil, but they can stay dormant and active for maybe a decade. Since you only have dozens of plants they can be controlled by hand pulling for the next several years until all of the dormant seeds have sprouted and the plants removed. Just don't let the plants flower and seed.

Thanks right back atcha.

Being a Wordtwist butt-kicker is getting harder and harder. The rebellion of the neural networks between brain and fingers has intensified. We really take for granted how amazing and miraculous it is for a brain to communicate to typing fingers in a precise letter order. One reason I haven't abandoned the game is trying to keep the brain's cells productive. Fascinating seeing video of neural cells trying to reach out and make connections. Trying to make more new connections than those lost seems to be an increasingly steep slope.

As for the plants, fortunately, it's sinapis alba rather than garlic mustard. Yellow flowers. Which makes it such a mystery. From whence did the seeds from a cultivated plant suddenly appear. Unlike seeds spread by weeds.

Yikes! on the thought of garlic mustard getting a foothold.

I've been harvesting the mustard leaves for salads. Pretty tasty. And extremely healthy. If I were able to get it at the healthfood store, it would cost a small grocery fortune for what's sitting there free. Supposedly good for a lot of things that ail us. Studies have shown that a chemical in the plant can help build muscle tissue in older folk.

(Learning the chemicals might be worth 16/30. buuuuut shhh.)

Gonna also harvest the seeds and perpetuate the good fortune nature has been kind enough to bestow. It's always a good idea to appreciate our fortunes and foster their perpetuation.

So many kinds of seeds in life. Always a consideration as to what we cultivate in the gardens of our heart, mind and soul --as well as the backyard.

[dannyb]

Thanks Naboka.

16/30 and 15/28 while scoring 847 is mind boggling! You have become a certified WordTwist butt-kicker.

If the plants you mentioned are garlic mustard, they can spread rapidly, especially in disturbed ground such as flower beds. You must have had one plant flower and drop seeds. Seeds will usually sprout one or two years after being introduced to the soil, but they can stay dormant and active for maybe a decade. Since you only have dozens of plants they can be controlled by hand pulling for the next several years until all of the dormant seeds have sprouted and the plants removed. Just don't let the plants flower and seed.

[Naboka]

Think this is the first time I've gotten over a hundred UR words while getting a 16/30 and a 15/28.

Screen Shot 2024-10-17 at 4.05.29 PM.png


Would have been 112 UR's but mistyped sains as sans.

Not gonna post the long word because it's ultra-ultra rare. Though it has to do with a weird thing that happened in our yard. Out of nowhere, dozens of mustard plants started growing in the flower beds. Good eating, but have absolutely no idea where they came from. The wife claims birds pooped the seeds, but it would require a squadron of of B52 robins carpet-bombing the place there were so many.

Wouldn't have known the word if the plants hadn't grown where they shouldn't have.

Sometimes, the connections of the universe...

ps: Happy Birthday dannyb

[dannyb]

In roughly two hours and twenty minutes I will have completed another trip around the sun. That cookie jar better look out tonight. Those chocolate chips are calling my name!!

[Naboka]

Sometimes when I get frustrated by failing to meet expectations, I try to step back and be pragmatic. Instead of dumping half of the games started, I play them through just to readjust my inflated expectations back to reality.

Self-delusion's a bitch.

Life is just easier when you don't beat yourself up for not being able to do what you really can't.

Started this game and figured with 182 UR words I should easily get in the upper 600's.

Nope. Couldn't get traction.

And that's really par for the course.

(or coarse as we hoi polloi are oft considered).

Screen Shot 2024-10-05 at 5.27.51 PM.png

I sometimes imagine Wordtwist having an apples-to-apples contest for high averages where a given set of 50 boards is available for that month's result. A board can only be played once, and can't be dumped. Be interestng to add a timer where a player entering over 4-5 words (20-25 letters) in a second would be disqualified. That should weed out anyone running some sort of computer assist. But, I also realize having such a contest probably has limited and diminishing value where most players are just having fun rather than obsessing over what mountain must be climbed or which trophy must be won.

[lalatan]

kjambur, congrats! To achieve an APPW like you did is akin to running an ultramarathon. Not only does it take a lot of long word knowledge but also requires a willingness to filter through hundreds or thousands of games to find high scoring words. Well done.

Nice find you made with BROMOCHLOROFLUOROMETHANES. I never saw it in a puzzle or in the best words list (although I don't always read that list so may have missed it).

the cryptogram keeper, congrats on your recent string of gold trophies in 5x5 APPW!

[Spike1007]

kjambur, congrats to you!

[kjambur]

Finally, finally, finally I won the first place in APPW in 5x5 board.
Thanks to the cryptogram keeper for not competing this time. Otherwise I would have to wait god knows for how long.
And what an honor it is to play alongside lalatan spike1007, folkslinger, dasan and other legends here.
Congrats to you all guys.

[crazykate]

Finally broke the into the 1100s!!

All the more impressive to me since you're a fellow swiper! I think fast typists generally have an advantage in this game, but you're definitely the fastest big-league swiper!