Separating the wheat from the chaff..........

[2cute]

Life is full of compromises. What suits one person doesn't necessarily suit another.

Reaching incredibly high averages is always impressive. Impressive because it's out of the reach of most. We're awed by comparison.

But, far more of us simply want to take a leisurely stroll for our exercise.

Having an abundance of "bad" boards is "good" for someone who can get a record or two because the more competitive players don't want to play those boards. Scoring 600 points is simply out of the reach for most players. Reaching a 1,000? Unimaginable. Consistently finding 16/25 letter words? Not a chance.

Without chaff, there would be no wheat.

Sometimes it makes sense to appreciate the chaff. Cattle love it.

Well said. If the site becomes too hard, I just stop playing.

I like other types of games (8 & 9 ball, Mahjong, Match Puzzles for example), so I just play those. No, I won't learn new words but those are more fun because it suits my skill level. I KNOW I can beat the pants off most @ 8 or 9 ball.

I'm thrilled if I get 200 points. Just today I reached the most I've ever gotten @ 72 words per game. Woo Hoo for me. Whereas that would be a boring game for Russ or Megaword.

[2cute]

I've made some tweaks to hopefully improve the randomizer a bit. Let me know if you see any improvement.

THANK YOU ... THANK YOU ... THANK YOU... I just played like 10 new 5x5 games, its fun to set the new record (yes, this is where I made my best 72 words).

Could you also do that to the 4x4 board too?

[bwt1213]

Thank you, Stephen. I didn't want to think there was a difference when there wasn't, but I've seen enough boards and played enough of them now to say that there is a real and noticeable difference for the better. There are more unplayed boards and more boards that have higher scoring potential -- enough to be noticeable, but not enough to mess up someone who is playing for other than a high score.

[Naboka]

Well said. If the site becomes too hard, I just stop playing.

I like other types of games (8 & 9 ball, Mahjong, Match Puzzles for example), so I just play those. No, I won't learn new words but those are more fun because it suits my skill level. I KNOW I can beat the pants off most @ 8 or 9 ball.

I'm thrilled if I get 200 points. Just today I reached the most I've ever gotten @ 72 words per game. Woo Hoo for me. Whereas that would be a boring game for Russ or Megaword.

The thrill is personal. Like living our own lives rather than vicariously.

Woo Hoo for you for 72.

My computer fried out today. Or maybe the keyboard. Or whatever. Couldn't get into the damned thing. Then found out the keyboard was the culprit. Couldn't get it to work. Loved that keyboard. But turns out to be a $150 piece of junk that lasted about a hundred days. Sigh.

So I had to dig around the basement and through closets to see if I could find one of the old keyboards I hated. Found it, and it works. But my fingers despise it, so we're having couples therapy trying to get the old keyboard and the old fingers to get along. So far, I think divorce is inevitable.

While the couple is squabbling, I'm trying to remain calm and learn to be happy with far worse results than I've been experiencing. It's all relative.

So, I've just lowered the bar to maintain my Woo Hoo for the next month or so.

[Naboka]

Naboka, I had no problem with having "bad" boards for players who just want to enjoy playing the game, while having the chance to set a record that will stand and not be trampled by those more competitive players. The problem I have is that boards for those more competitive players were simply going away. We all winnow the boards our own way; some play everything until they get tired. Some compete with themselves and try to set a new personal record. Some try to surpass X% of some other player's score. It would be nice if all players could find ample boards suited to their style. I get 600+ a lot of the time, 700+ rarely, and have never scored 800 or higher. There are a whole lot of players better than me, so if I set a high score on any board and then RussDNails or Brisul or Scheffek or BabyBullz59 or Megaword or FastEddieb or many others play that same board, chances are that all my records would be wiped out. I don't track my lifetime high scores on anything; it's pretty meaningless to me, because it's just a measure of how many times one of my boards were retired before a better player could get to it. As far as "longest word" or "best word" records, if one of the champion-level players got to the board first, it would be very unlikely that I'd find a better word. I think in seven or eight years of play I've taken down one of Lalatan's records fewer than five times, maybe a lot fewer. There have been a very few times when I was the first to find the longest possible word for a board, but that's happened; it will happen to everyone eventually.

Ah, change.

For the worse, apparently.

I suppose I'm sufficiently wordtwist unsophisticated to have not noticed any change.

Then again, I've never hit 600 and likely never will. One of the tendons in my right ring finger has deteriorated, and I'm having problems negotiating that side of the keyboard. Sometimes that finger will completely curl up, frozen, and I have to use my left hand to unfurl it. Hurts like hell.

The few times I find the longest word are generally when I'm watching my wife play. I'm not concentrating on getting as many words as possible so can follow the logic of the board without the distraction of having to type.

Since the return key is on the right side of the board, I often find that I've typed a string of words and none of them entered. Today, I counted a board where I lost 18 words and 82 points from that little inconvenience. With all the new boards, I'm probably losing over a hundred points in some cases, but have no list of words played by others to trigger which ones I know I typed but which didn't register.

All I know is that those new boards that I got all the records are sitting ducks--so I'm not giving them names and making them pets. Forming attachments to animals headed to slaughter is never a good idea emotionally.

I suppose, for me, the concern about board quality is similar to a homeless person not quite understanding the concern over thread count. When your bed is a stack of cardboard, sheets aren't really a consideration.

But, on the other hand, if you have the resources, using really fine sheets, freshly laundered, certainly makes life smile worthy.

Viva la thread count.

[dannyb]

As for the statement, "separating the wheat from the chaff", I remember a statement that Bear Bryant made back in the 70s. A reporter asked Bear, "Since the same schools seem to be in the top 25 every year why don't those schools form their own conference and play each other every year?" I remember Bear smiling and saying, "You can't have all corn, you gotta have a little cob."

[2cute]

The thrill is personal. Like living our own lives rather than vicariously.

Woo Hoo for you for 72.

My computer fried out today. Or maybe the keyboard. Or whatever. Couldn't get into the damned thing. Then found out the keyboard was the culprit. Couldn't get it to work. Loved that keyboard. But turns out to be a $150 piece of junk that lasted about a hundred days. Sigh.

So I had to dig around the basement and through closets to see if I could find one of the old keyboards I hated. Found it, and it works. But my fingers despise it, so we're having couples therapy trying to get the old keyboard and the old fingers to get along. So far, I think divorce is inevitable.

While the couple is squabbling, I'm trying to remain calm and learn to be happy with far worse results than I've been experiencing. It's all relative.

So, I've just lowered the bar to maintain my Woo Hoo for the next month or so.

I just love the way you explain the struggles in your life. Entertaining & informative. Thanks for your support!

[DonGuy47]

"...those new boards that I got all the records are sitting ducks--so I'm not giving them names and making them pets."

LOL!

[2cute]

Ah, change.

Forming attachments to animals headed to slaughter is never a good idea emotionally.

I suppose, for me, the concern about board quality is similar to a homeless person not quite understanding the concern over thread count. When your bed is a stack of cardboard, sheets aren't really a consideration.

But, on the other hand, if you have the resources, using really fine sheets, freshly laundered, certainly makes life smile worthy.

Viva la thread count.

Well said.