The advantage of playing previously played boards

[Naboka]

Screen Shot 2021-08-04 at 6.11.54 AM.png

Tried to find the discussion about the advantage of having played a board previously. Couldn't. But here is an example.

A few days ago, I played a board where I'd scored 471 but only managed to get 349. Darn.

This morning I played the above game, thinking I'd surely score in the 400's, but...!!!!!!!

Oops!

Guess some days you're tuned in and focused and some days you aren't.

Since I usually score around 60 points or so less than dannyb, who had the previous record on the pictured game, logic dictates that on average, I'm not as good as my good days nor as bad as my bad days.

As in most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

But, the kids shall only hear of the good times, with frosting and sprinkles.

[2cute]

Screen Shot 2021-08-04 at 6.11.54 AM.png

Tried to find the discussion about the advantage of having played a board previously. Couldn't. But here is an example.

A few days ago, I played a board where I'd scored 471 but only managed to get 349. Darn.

This morning I played the above game, thinking I'd surely score in the 400's, but...!!!!!!!

Oops!

Guess some days you're tuned in and focused and some days you aren't.

Since I usually score around 60 points or so less than dannyb, who had the previous record on the pictured game, logic dictates that on average, I'm not as good as my good days nor as bad as my bad days.

As in most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

But, the kids shall only hear of the good times, with frosting and sprinkles.

That is so exciting! I've never come across a board I've played & had the record when I received it, so I would KNOW I had played the same board previously. Thanks for sharing!

[Arabesque]

I play frequently enough that it is not unusual for me to come across boards I've already played. Occasionally I know that I already played the board because I hold a record, but that's fairly rare as I don't get many records - I tend to choose extremely productive boards, and when that happens a better player often holds a record I can't beat (or else my record gets broken fairly quickly).

More likely, I know it's a board I already played because I recognize something interesting about it - for example, recently I found the word "episodic" scrunched over in the lower right corner, which stood out to me for some reason. But my memory is short-term; after 24 hours or less, I don't recall details like that. I'm sure I have unknowingly played many boards multiple times.

If I do hold the record on a board I play, it's amusing to see how erratic my scores are. It's no surprise to either beat myself or fall below a previous score by 100 points or more.

A strategy I used with some success 4-5 years ago when I played as JakartaJane was to screenshot excellent boards and play them/sort of memorize them at my leisure off line. Then when those boards came up again, I could get higher scores. That's an extremely tedious approach, however - I think I had around 100 boards printed out in a notebook to study, maybe more! And even with that many boards to study, they don't come up very often.

[Naboka]

I play frequently enough that it is not unusual for me to come across boards I've already played. Occasionally I know that I already played the board because I hold a record, but that's fairly rare as I don't get many records - I tend to choose extremely productive boards, and when that happens a better player often holds a record I can't beat (or else my record gets broken fairly quickly).

More likely, I know it's a board I already played because I recognize something interesting about it - for example, recently I found the word "episodic" scrunched over in the lower right corner, which stood out to me for some reason. But my memory is short-term; after 24 hours or less, I don't recall details like that. I'm sure I have unknowingly played many boards multiple times.

If I do hold the record on a board I play, it's amusing to see how erratic my scores are. It's no surprise to either beat myself or fall below a previous score by 100 points or more.

A strategy I used with some success 4-5 years ago when I played as JakartaJane was to screenshot excellent boards and play them/sort of memorize them at my leisure off line. Then when those boards came up again, I could get higher scores. That's an extremely tedious approach, however - I think I had around 100 boards printed out in a notebook to study, maybe more! And even with that many boards to study, they don't come up very often.

Trying to memorize boards is way beyond my level of patience. I can barely tolerate waiting through a couple of lights for trains to pass.

I just played two boards, nearly back to back that had, I would swear the same pattern. But, each ended up having a different high scorer and best word. So... Both had some weird combinations of t's, e's and n's.

I tend to keep a notebook of productive words that provide good point value for word length. I don't type quickly, so I focus on the shorter words. Usually less than 5 letters that produce as close to double the letter length value as possible. Such as suqs, quim, zack, zouk provide 10 points for 4 letter strokes.

But, my attention span favors the debris of a hurricane tossed ocean. After every board, the best words laugh at me, hiding in plain sight.

[Naboka]

That is so exciting! I've never come across a board I've played & had the record when I received it, so I would KNOW I had played the same board previously. Thanks for sharing!

Yeah, it's always exciting to get one of the "bests" on a board.

But, it's bittersweet. Knowing that any of the many, many more proficient players can wipe it out any time they chose to play that board.

After getting familiar with the abilities of regulars, a lot of players set an expectation for a board. Such as getting 40% of the points the high. So many players that I would be thrilled to score 80% of their total. Or half, in one particular case.

[2cute]

Trying to memorize boards is way beyond my level of patience. I can barely tolerate waiting through a couple of lights for trains to pass.

I just played two boards, nearly back to back that had, I would swear the same pattern. But, each ended up having a different high scorer and best word. So... Both had some weird combinations of t's, e's and n's.

I tend to keep a notebook of productive words that provide good point value for word length. I don't type quickly, so I focus on the shorter words. Usually less than 5 letters that produce as close to double the letter length value as possible. Such as suqs, quim, zack, zouk provide 10 points for 4 letter strokes.

But, my attention span favors the debris of a hurricane tossed ocean. After every board, the best words laugh at me, hiding in plain sight.

I love learning those high scoring short words like Quop or Qat. I wonder if there's a list of them somewhere, so I could 'learn' them over time. I also don't have the ability to remember the super long words as I visit this site to have fun & learn new words to increase my vocabulary.

Yeah, it's always exciting to get one of the "bests" on a board.

But, it's bittersweet. Knowing that any of the many, many more proficient players can wipe it out any time they chose to play that board.

After getting familiar with the abilities of regulars, a lot of players set an expectation for a board. Such as getting 40% of the points the high. So many players that I would be thrilled to score 80% of their total. Or half, in one particular case.

Exactly. If the more proficient players gets the board my 'record' is gone in a flash. I have yet to receive a board where my name was listed as the record holder.

[jbud1980]

Naboka Fairly new, but I play often enough to have replayed grids. IF in the event I previously had the high score/most words combo I either best my scores or I move on to the next grid with my tail between my legs (this happens more often, haha). It really does depend (at least in my opinion) on the vibe during play. Also, I play every grid and don't choose grids to play. I make sure to ignore the high scores/best/longest words before playing as knowing this would psyche me out as I'd be too focused on besting/finding each.