Achievements and Accomplishments Thread

[Naboka]

and my meager contribution to this thread:

Best word: SOOTED (10 pts.)
Longest word: LESSENED (8 letters) New record!

PUZZLE STATS:
Played: 17 times

Not meager at all. If it brings you joy or satisfaction,

that's really pretty important.

Comparing ourselves to others is just self defeating. At the gym, there are guys moving ungodly amounts of weight. So much weight that the bars are bending. So much noise with that much weight clanging and banging. Very competitive, testosterine loaded individuals. Conversations with them leave you feeling they aren't especially happy. Maybe it's the roid rage.

Think I'd rather be happy than killing myself trying to impress others.

In the kindergarten class last year, we had a kid with dysgraphia. He was also barely old enough to be there. (but free babysititing, so...) And he came from a background where academic learning was just a joke. Anyways, heavily handicapped, couldn't even figure out how to draw a vertical or horizontal line. Couldn't even draw a straight line. He was in shock and overwhelmed and depressed. No fricking way was this kid passing kindergarten. No way.

But he did. A lot of extra exercises. A lot of extra work made pleasant. A lot of hugs and positive reinforcement for little successes. And by the end he could write so we could read it. (No one else would be able to, but we had learned how he made his letters.) And he could read! No one in the class made as much progress as he did.

Of course, by the end of the year, he still was nowhere near the academic level of some of the top kids on their first day. We had a boy, probably a genius, who could have been reading at 5th grade level if he had put in the effort. But he was superior, knew it, and felt put upon at the suggestion there was something he didn't know.

The point is: we were far more proud of the kid who surpassed all expectations. We were proud of the other achievers also.

All of us are different. All of us come to the plate with different resources. What matters most is how we use our own resources to meet challenges we set for ourselves. And the satisfaction that brings us.

I wish more people posted their successes. Those successes are at least as important as those who put up unreal results. Those results and success are what most of the players here can identify with. Those are the successes that the majority of the players here can appreciate-and not be left feeling "I'm no good at this."

This game is good mental exercise. And just like being at the gym, it's good to exercise. Bending the bar and making everyone's eyes pop out really isn't a standard anyone else should use for their own progress.

Being healthy. Being happy.

"Seizing the day" is often best accomplished with delicate hands and appreciative hearts.

[JedMedGrey]

Thank you, Naboka! and also bwt and crazycate.

[Naboka]

Sometimes you just have to laugh at human behaviour.

The grudges, obsessions, whatever that drive players for rational or irrational reasons.

With games being so popular, studies of game psychology must exist. Why humans do what they do. The good and the bad.

We've all seen players who just can't stand another player. Often for something best understood in therapy.

I suppose I can take it as a compliment that a player with a high score 450 points more than anything I've ever done has become preoccupied with beating my games. Clicking through hundreds of games to find that dastardly villain deserving a lesson. You don't play a quarter to a third of your games against one player by accident.

Seems there are higher goals in life than beating an arthritic guy who just turned 75 in a typing competition.

But, hey, to each their own.

Think I'll find someone in a wheelchair and challenge them to a hundred yard dash. Yeah, that's the ticket. With bad knees, I can't run, but...

When the breeze stirs the windmill, the dragon must be slain.

[mpd]

I'm not exactly sure why you're so preoccupied with this but given that this derogatory post (and others) is regarding me, I'll address it.

The primary purpose of intentionally playing 'your' games, or those of a couple other players, is not to beat your scores. Yes, they provide a challenge which I enjoy, but whether or not I outscore you isn't particularly important. This game is relatively new to me, and though I have played extensively on other sites, they generally use outdated versions of the TWL dictionary. In order to get better here I need to learn and incorporate a new, very large set of words into my existing foundation.

If the site provided a complete word list after the completion of each board I would have no real reason for singling out any particular game or player(s). The reason I choose to target your games is because you have the most extensive knowledge of the dictionary used here - something that has undoubtedly taken significant effort. I analyze the word lists of games you have played, as they are likely to contain many words unfamiliar to me, and then try to incorporate them into larger boards with the hope of achieving a personal best - I feel like this method is fairly standard. I realize I could simply study word lists, and save your ego the cost of some lost records, but I already spend enough time on Aerolith and engraining new sets and combos requires a fair bit of practice as well.

So, no, I don't see you as a "dastardly villain" though the public belittlement in your post over something so trivial has certainly tarnished my opinion of you. But hey, perhaps I need therapy.

[Naboka]

I'm not exactly sure why you're so preoccupied with this but given that this derogatory post (and others) is regarding me, I'll address it.

The primary purpose of intentionally playing 'your' games, or those of a couple other players, is not to beat your scores. Yes, they provide a challenge which I enjoy, but whether or not I outscore you isn't particularly important. This game is relatively new to me, and though I have played extensively on other sites, they generally use outdated versions of the TWL dictionary. In order to get better here I need to learn and incorporate a new, very large set of words into my existing foundation.

If the site provided a complete word list after the completion of each board I would have no real reason for singling out any particular game or player(s). The reason I choose to target your games is because you have the most extensive knowledge of the dictionary used here - something that has undoubtedly taken significant effort. I analyze the word lists of games you have played, as they are likely to contain many words unfamiliar to me, and then try to incorporate them into larger boards with the hope of achieving a personal best - I feel like this method is fairly standard. I realize I could simply study word lists, and save your ego the cost of some lost records, but I already spend enough time on Aerolith and engraining new sets and combos requires a fair bit of practice as well.

So, no, I don't see you as a "dastardly villain" though the public belittlement in your post over something so trivial has certainly tarnished my opinion of you. But hey, perhaps I need therapy.

Thanks for clearing this up.

Sometimes the best way to get an answer is provocation.

I used to (and still do) play all of Megaword's games to find words I don't know. He's got a bunch of games on YouTube that I scavenged. I'm just not inclined to search for his games anymore.

As a raving egotist, I'm often fascinated with any interest shown me. Just that craving lust for attention. Insatiable. All-absorbing. Can't get enough of it. Sort of the Gollum of pathetic need

Which becomes problematic when the laundry is soaked with slobbering need. Apparently there aren't any stain fighters for need.

Since I used to go days without losing records, the anomaly of suddently losing a couple, or six a day caught my attention.

Sometimes the game itself does weird things with records, like adding or subtracting them with no relation to games played. (Ask lalatan) So, after noticing, when I was playing and would lose a record, I'd check to see who was on line. Sometimes it was Megaword or Thunderrock, but you started to register.

A lover of puzzles, I simply found this fascinating. It's a meager whodunit. Heros and villains, detectives and criminals. A minor page turner.

And you got to admit, I figured out whodunit.

By page 50.

The only thing missing was motivation.

Finding new words is a good thing. I applaud your efforts. Decades of science and medicine and reading crap like Thomas Wolfe certainly provide a stockpile of words.

Not sure that I posted about this but once else, though the memory sometimes fails. And it didn't get a response, so the unrelenting curiosity...

As for opinions, I would have trouble finding any of my own that aren't tarnished. Have a photographer friend who's fond of capturing images of rust, peeling paint and that ilk. All the beauty in that imperfection. Just stunning images. Fascinating. How the light hits the surface and creates texture.

Perfect opinions usually turn out to be less than desirable.

Just like perfect people.

Since you're lately to Wordtwist, you probably missed the word evolution I'd processed over time. Used to keep bunches of notebooks on new words. Would study them whenever free moments arrived. Like standing in line, sitting on the throne, waiting at a stop light.

Then gravitated to ultra rare because the challenge of getting a board completely red with over a hundred words just seemed interesting. And playing the other way just wasn't.

When ultra rare words popped up I'd put their point values in a scrabble dictionary. Convenient having an alphabetized hardback.

Not that scrabble dictionaries are adequate. Just convenient for the common stuff. It certainly lacks the medical, philosophical and scientific terms. Especially anything approaching 16 letters.

That's probably more effective than studying my stuff. I've got some huge memory lapses these days. Was looking at a plant in the back yard and it took about 3 hours before I remembered it was an azalea, not a rhododendron.

(Taxonomic terminology can be really hit or miss with Wordtwist. It's kind of frustrating to waste time trying them, failing and wondering if the word simply was misspelled or not accepted.)

As for the records, not a problem. I've tried telling clerks at various stores how many records I have here, and none of them seem interested. For a while I would stand at stop lights with a sign that read "homeless vet, please donate your Wordtwist records." When my wife convinced me to stop hoarding them, I relented, but couldn't sell a single one at our last garage sale. And my kids just roll their eyes when I plead with them for admiration over my Wordtwist records. The Salvation Army didn't even want them when I tried the donation route.

Have fun with the games. Hope I at least give you a bit of a challenge now and then since your typing speed is about double mine.

As for "my" games, it's more an idiosyncrasy of pronouns rather than consideration of ownership. Just like "my" wife is really the boss with a mind of her own--over which I have little influence, and certainly no control.

[Naboka]

Almost dumped this game three words in because I'd typed ane which is a rare rather than ultra-rare so I knew immediately I'd ruined the chance for a red board.

Glad I didn't. Ended up with my 2nd highest board ever. Also second highest number of red words.

On the assumption that other players want to learn extra words for their game, here's the readout.

Screen Shot 2023-06-23 at 6.36.42 PM.png


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[Naboka]

I'm not exactly sure why you're so preoccupied with this but given that this derogatory post (and others) is regarding me, I'll address it.

The primary purpose of intentionally playing 'your' games, or those of a couple other players, is not to beat your scores. Yes, they provide a challenge which I enjoy, but whether or not I outscore you isn't particularly important. This game is relatively new to me, and though I have played extensively on other sites, they generally use outdated versions of the TWL dictionary. In order to get better here I need to learn and incorporate a new, very large set of words into my existing foundation.

If the site provided a complete word list after the completion of each board I would have no real reason for singling out any particular game or player(s). The reason I choose to target your games is because you have the most extensive knowledge of the dictionary used here - something that has undoubtedly taken significant effort. I analyze the word lists of games you have played, as they are likely to contain many words unfamiliar to me, and then try to incorporate them into larger boards with the hope of achieving a personal best - I feel like this method is fairly standard. I realize I could simply study word lists, and save your ego the cost of some lost records, but I already spend enough time on Aerolith and engraining new sets and combos requires a fair bit of practice as well.

So, no, I don't see you as a "dastardly villain" though the public belittlement in your post over something so trivial has certainly tarnished my opinion of you. But hey, perhaps I need therapy.

ps: not sure how effective your decision to learn words from boards I play will be. As demonstrated by the above post, most of the words are pretty common here. Just a few new ones. But certainly not words that you're not going to find on boards played by the top tier players. Nor words missing from scrabble dictionaries.

And having a surplus of overly exotic words is only marginally helpful rather than being a game changer. A 7 letter red word is worth 12 points, 8/14, 9/16, 10/18 etc. Regardless of how esoteric. The only difference is added value from letters like q, k, z.

And 200 words typed is 200 words typed.

As an experiment, I clicked through 125 games. Passed several with 150 or more red words. A couple of games with over 200. The only top ten APPG player in that 125 was Skinnylaura2.

Most days I don't even run across a single game with my records. At most there will be 2 or 3, most of which I ignore. I have no idea how many games you have to click through in your quests. There are days that Megaword doesn't appear. And I've only seen one game ever played by ThunderRock. I think I've only seen a single game with your name attached.

Which leaves me curious about the other players you like to play. Who you stop to ask to dance.

For me, it's mostly about potential red words without a thought to who's done what. At most, the longest/best word will provide clues about what extra value letters are in play. A 16 letter red word without extra value letters will always be 30 points. Without variation. Doesn't matter if it's the rarest of ultra-rares or the most common. A 33 pointer will have a z, usually a combination of -Izations.

I don't really play "words" anyway . Mostly it's letter patterns completely divorced from meaning.

You're obviously a far more skilled player than I am. And learning tricks from skilled players can improve one's game. A lot of how I play is a hybrid of things I've learned from other players here--with credit given. So, I'm just curious if there's something to learn here. A trick I've overlooked. Something magical.

[mpd]

To be honest, it doesn't usually take particularly long to find a board I want to play - usually a minute or less and enough time to give the fingers a rest.

As far as learning by using your boards goes, or those of Megaword, it's mostly about consistency in that I know I'll be able to learn numerous words - often ones that are 5+ which are more useful in 5x5 which is my preferred board size. It is also often quite humbling, especially on the UR heavy boards, which helps keep me motivated. Although it is likely more effective to learn words using word lists, especially those which have higher frequencies, it's more fun for me to play rather than to memorize, though I do some listing as well.

It's difficult to say if there's anything to learn here given our divergent playstyles. My focus at this point is still trying to incorporate new words into the existing, somewhat unconscious framework I've developed from other games. I'm sure you have one yourself though it's much more refined for the URs. I've been thinking of experimenting with entering only UR/newly learned words in an effort to make them stick a little better, but haven't given it a go as of yet. A work in progress to be sure.

Also, good luck on reaching your goal - it looks like you're just on the cusp.

[Naboka]

To be honest, it doesn't usually take particularly long to find a board I want to play - usually a minute or less and enough time to give the fingers a rest.

As far as learning by using your boards goes, or those of Megaword, it's mostly about consistency in that I know I'll be able to learn numerous words - often ones that are 5+ which are more useful in 5x5 which is my preferred board size. It is also often quite humbling, especially on the UR heavy boards, which helps keep me motivated. Although it is likely more effective to learn words using word lists, especially those which have higher frequencies, it's more fun for me to play rather than to memorize, though I do some listing as well.

It's difficult to say if there's anything to learn here given our divergent playstyles. My focus at this point is still trying to incorporate new words into the existing, somewhat unconscious framework I've developed from other games. I'm sure you have one yourself though it's much more refined for the URs. I've been thinking of experimenting with entering only UR/newly learned words in an effort to make them stick a little better, but haven't given it a go as of yet. A work in progress to be sure.

Also, good luck on reaching your goal - it looks like you're just on the cusp.

Divergent play styles is probably key here. Like with most things in life.

After spending dozens of hours analyzing videos of Megaword's games, trying to replicate his patterning, I finally just dumped all that for a couple of reasons. I wasn't him. I couldn't type as fast. And I started to notice what he missed.

It came down to efficiencies.

Malcolm Gladwell's Blink is a compelling treatise which touches on what you describe as the unconscious framework you've developed. Logic and reasoning are useful tools, but are unneccessarily burdensome with certain "mental" processes. It's probably why people have writer's block. Or thinker's block. Or artist's block. There just seems to be a part of our awareness that precedes and supercedes our efforts at organized thought. Artists often credit muses for their work. I've got no credible explanation for why or how metacognition works. But it's a hell of a lot faster than logic. And it allows us to know before our brains process what we see.

I don't have the finger stamina for 5x5. Sometimes it's tiring to finish the 2 minutes in 4x4.

Breaking complex activities into manageable units which can be drilled expedites improvement in most endeavors. For months I've been drilling 13 word bursts trying to capture red boards. I open a game, try to find 5 plus letter UR words as fast as possible and then dump it. Why 13? Because that's the most the board records. Five-letter UR words at 8 points each gives you 104 points, so trying to hit 104 points in less than 15 seconds seems manageable. Mostly I fail. But it's good practise.

If you figure out how to make words stick better let me know. Even writing this I had trouble remembering the phrase "writer's block." Most of my games go into the trash pretty quickly because the word patterns I'm trying to put together don't have the actual connections expected. Or because I'm trying to use the wrong vowel in long words I pronounce imprecisely.

The most UR words I've managed has been 106. That number doesn't reflect the words still queued up that didn't make the cutoff due to impaired typing. It's pretty common to finish a game with 20 words left standing in line. With your typing skills, you might manage 150 UR words with one of the boards offering more than double that.

Anyhow, the game is good exercise. And just like at the gym, I'm learning to let others push the extreme limits, while standing by and cheering them on.

So, cheers to you.

ps: another highly recommended book would be The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. He was the chess-prodigy subject of Searching For Bobby Fisher, who later became a world martial arts champion. Two areas of expertise we seldom connect in an individual. I've mentioned this book a few times on the forum, but doubt that anyone's gotten and read it. The title a nod to Sun Tzu.

[JedMedGrey]

I haven't been on the forum for a bit, and I am not caught up on the posts, but I wanted to share this before I headed off to do things I should have started at least 3 hours ago. I just played a game that has a "QU" in a very good location, so I decided to try to have those letters in every word, and have every word at least 5 letters. Mission accomplished! Also, I was about to type ANTQUES when the timer ran out. Not a lot of words, but I am a miserable typist, so . . .

This one was fun! Now to get to work . ..

Total points: 214
Total words: 19 (9 common,7 wide,0 rare,3 ultra rare)
Best word: SQUINTERS (20 pts.)
Longest word: SQUATTERS (9 letters)

QUINTS (10)

QUINT (9)

QUIETS (9)

REQUITES (13)

REQUITE (11)

QUIRES (10)

QUIRE (9)

INQUIRES (11)

INQUIRE (10)

QUERIDA (16)

QUERIDAS (18)

SQUATS (9)

SQUATTERS (14)

SQUATTER (11)

QUIET (8)

QUITE (8)

QUITS (8)

SQUINTS (10)

SQUINTERS (20)

[jbud1980]

I haven't posted in a while as I've decided to take a back seat from posting for the time being. I enjoy playing for the fun of it as I'm not trying to be a "big fish" like the awesome Naboka, Megaword, MPD, etc. All are phenomenal players, and my hat goes off to them. I enjoy playing both grids and hit a milestone today playing 5X5. When the admin, a while back, indicated that a high score of 1k or more would warrant recycling that particular 5X5 grid instead of the previous 600 score I thought to myself, whelp, I'll never accomplish that. I did just that today. I know it's not a big accomplishment, but it was for me. Happy playing everyone.

July 2023 Competition Stats
Games Played:	19 games
Total Points:	13419 points
Average Score:	706.263 points
Average Words:	112.526 words
Average Pts/Wd:	6.276 pts
Most Words:	144 words
Highest Score:	1013 points
Best Word:	UNDISTINGUISHABLENESS (40)
Longest Word:	UNDISTINGUISHABLENESS (21)

[Naboka]

[QUOTE=jbud1980;n32972]I haven't posted in a while as I've decided to take a back seat from posting for the time being. I enjoy playing for the fun of it as I'm not trying to be a "big fish" like the awesome Naboka, Megaword, MPD, etc. All are phenomenal players, and my hat goes off to them. I enjoy playing both grids and hit a milestone today playing 5X5. When the admin, a while back, indicated that a high score of 1k or more would warrant recycling that particular 5X5 grid instead of the previous 600 score I thought to myself, whelp, I'll never accomplish that. I did just that today. I know it's not a big accomplishment, but it was for me. Happy playing everyone. [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 3, cellspacing: 1"]


Congrats!

Over a 1,000 points!

Awesome milestone.

[jbud1980]

[QUOTE=Naboka;n32973]

I haven't posted in a while as I've decided to take a back seat from posting for the time being. I enjoy playing for the fun of it as I'm not trying to be a "big fish" like the awesome Naboka, Megaword, MPD, etc. All are phenomenal players, and my hat goes off to them. I enjoy playing both grids and hit a milestone today playing 5X5. When the admin, a while back, indicated that a high score of 1k or more would warrant recycling that particular 5X5 grid instead of the previous 600 score I thought to myself, whelp, I'll never accomplish that. I did just that today. I know it's not a big accomplishment, but it was for me. Happy playing everyone. [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 3, cellspacing: 1"]


Congrats!

Over a 1,000 points!

Awesome milestone.

Thank you, Naboka. Hope all is well with you. BTW, I ordered The Art of Learning by Waitzkin via Amazon, and I'm looking forward to the read.

[JedMedGrey]

jbud1980 - it is a big accomplishment!!!! don't sell yourself short!!!!

[Naboka]

Finally, a Red Board.

Just not 100 UR words, so...

On with the quest.

Half way through, was sure I'd typoed. Thought I'd left the e off saine, so typed it twice. Probably just as well as I was struggling to find anything else--though there were plenty.


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These are out of typed order. Started with kai, the next column would begin with snaw and the last with aswing.


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