The strange, the bizarre and the unexpected

[lalatan]

How does anyone get 108 words in the time allotted. I know Megamword is good, but come one...

.. Played: 2 times
Average Score: 580.3 points
Average Words: 108 words
High Score: 1125 points by MegaWord
Most Words: 200 words by MegaWord

It seems you misread the game results. Megaword actually played 200 words during that game. He is the only person who has ever played 300 words in a game. How does he do it? It think it has something to do with his playing over 96,000 games, learning thousands and thousands of words, constantly striving to improve his typing speed and having a talent for it. If you don't believe that could ever be done, then watch his videos and see for yourself.

I looked at last month's 5x5 avg words/game competition results and there were 14 different people who averaged over 108 words/game.

[JoanM19]

Thanks for the encouragement, my high words so far is 80... but I do get in the high range quite a bit,,, have a lot better go of it when there aren't a ton of words in the puzzle because I do find obscure words and given time I find more than average most of the time.

[bwt1213]

Here's the deal: if you start out not being able to touch-type very fast, this game gives you a good reason to learn. You WILL get better. There is no guarantee you will get as good as Megaword, but I can almost guarantee you will pass 108 words in 3 minutes, someday. If you have a physical problem --well, maybe not. I remember taking a typing test one-handed when I was in high school and getting more than 50 wpm, though. I doubt I can do that with two hands now, but I'm 73. But I can imagine all kinds of things that would slow someone down, which is why I have lobbied for a version of this game where there is no fixed end time -- so long as you enter a new valid word before 10 seconds run out, the game would continue. I think it wouldn't change the top scores much (from what Megaword has said), but it might really help people who have typing troubles.

[JoanM19]

I can't type fast enough and I can't do the mouse selection thing cuz it's even slower... How does anyone get 108 words in the time allotted. I know Megamword is good, but come one...

.. Played: 2 times
Average Score: 580.3 points
Average Words: 108 words
High Score: 1125 points by MegaWord
Most Words: 200 words by MegaWord
Best Word: BLASTIES (14 pts) by MegaWord
Longest Word: ROISTERS (8 letters) by MegaWord

[lalatan]

pigletta, I think that has happened to all long players once in a while, including me (more so when I first started). We either run out of time or don't see the alternate path that includes the plural. I always type the plural first and then evaluate whether the singular will be a high enough pt value. If I didn't get the plural and just the singular, I'd abandon the game. It's too easy for your record to be taken over by someone else who just adds the -s or -es.

dannyb, that was a remarkable string of games you wrote about. It made me recall the day when I got the same board back-to-back. That's very rare but I think it has happened to anyone who has played a lot of games. It had also occurred for me before that day. But later on that day it happened again!

[pigletta]

A couple months ago I was playing as thinkbig for APPW and loaded a board with a 43 pt best word. I played CONSTITUTIONALIZATIONS for 45 pts. It was both tragic and ironic they had missed typing the s since they are listed as a twosome in their username (possibly 2 sets of eyes didn't see it). That's my personal best of taking over a high value best word record. It took 3 years for it to happen.

I can't tell you how many times I miss the plural. Sometimes it's because I run out of time. It's probably best to try the plural first but if time is getting short and I'm not sure I don't want to risk missing it altogether. And It's just me, so I can't blame it on anyone else.

[bwt1213]

The bowling equivalent is called a "triplicate" -- three consecutive games with the same score. It's actually quite rare. I used to bowl a lot, and I never did it or saw anyone do it. It can't be any more common here. I'll bet you're the only one to have done it.

[dannyb]

Played a game scored 437. Played the next game and scored a 437. Okay I have had the same score on two consecutive boards before. Played a third game and scored a 437. The fourth game I was doing really well and thought that this is much better than 437. It was! it was 438.

[walden123]

That's kind of interesting because constitutionalisation (the british spelling) doesn't take an s hook.

[lalatan]

Congrats walden123 on your new personal best. You brought back a memory for me. Spike1007 first found that word 3 years ago. I thought it was an awesome find since I was starting out in 5x5 long word play.

A couple months ago I was playing as thinkbig for APPW and loaded a board with a 43 pt best word. I played CONSTITUTIONALIZATIONS for 45 pts. It was both tragic and ironic they had missed typing the s since they are listed as a twosome in their username (possibly 2 sets of eyes didn't see it). That's my personal best of taking over a high value best word record. It took 3 years for it to happen.

[walden123]

Never had this happen to me before. I was thinking "Hey, isn't this longer than 18 letters?"
Screenshot 2020-07-10 at 3.49.31 PM.png

[lalatan]

I played a board where I spotted -metrically early on. The only available letters to pair with it were jammed in the lower right corner. So I decided to start by trying the longest prefix I could form: nephelo-. I thought with amusement, "Maybe they measure nephelos." I was completely surprised when it was accepted!! Wow! 3 years ago I could not have conceived there would be so many prefixes used in medical/scientific words.
While I was still musing on that I started another game and found FANTASTICALNESSES. It seemed appropriate after finding the previous word.

[JJBeanie]

I just found a word and tested it simply because it was a puzzle I was sure I would only get a 7-letter word . . . custumary (notice the 'u' instead of the 'o' in customary). . . funny though, I cannot find this word anywhere to get a definition of it . . . Google, American and English dictionaries

I found this note in the Collins dictionary:


custumary.JPG


I wonder if it's related to the word "custumal", too?

[lalatan]

Nice find playonwords. That has occurred a few times for me in the last 6 years of playing: the word was accepted but there was no definition to be found anywhere.

This morning at 10:40 local time I learned a new word: EXTRAVERSIVELY (28/14). (It usually happens later in the day for me to construct a word I haven't seen before.) It means directed in an outward manner. It was 1 of those scenarios where it seemed to be the only choice for a high scoring word so I played it, not really expecting success.

[playonwords]

I just found a word and tested it simply because it was a puzzle I was sure I would only get a 7-letter word . . . custumary (notice the 'u' instead of the 'o' in customary). . . funny though, I cannot find this word anywhere to get a definition of it . . . Google, American and English dictionaries