Other Games

[2cute]

Games tend to require acquired skills that one develops over time with study and practice with the intent of more efficiently reaching a desired goal.

So then in YOUR definition, 8 or 9 ball is a game, not a puzzle. You need to practice the achieve the required skills to learn to move the cue ball in just the right way to pocket the chosen balls. It looks easier than it is, especially if the cue ball lands in a weird location. Also learning to bank or use english are too required skills. Course recently I played the perfect game(s). I broke the balls & I pocketed all 9 balls w/o letting the other player ever play. Woo Hoo for me. Same in 8 ball, I broke & then played all the balls (in this case stripes) & pocketed the 8 ball w/o letting my opponent ever have a shot. Even though I did that & it was exciting. I still want to play more as I enjoy it. Every game is different because even if you play exactly the same way every time, the situations change.

So long story short. I'm still confused.

[2cute]

Darn it. I posted a reply to Nylimb's response - because of my irritating poor spelling condition, I spelled know instead of now and darn it if it didn't flag for spam. I did it in my profile too. How irritating. Really we have to be perfect spellers!? Ridiculous.

So this is my reply, let's see if I can post it different.

Ahh, I see. Ok, I now understand. Thanks for looking into it for me. So the difference between a puzzle & a game, is that a puzzle can be solved & a game can be played over and over w/o ever finding a solution. So what would consider 8 or 9 ball? If you pocket the correct ball in the end, it solved. So I guess its a puzzle?

[bwt1213]

That's great JJBeanie. I'll try out Bontegames. For a long time I played on Royal but now they are ending their site in Dec 2021. So I am looking for a similar site. So far I haven't found one like that. PuzzleBaron is the closest I have found where members can chat & interact with each other besides playing the games.

I've never heard of GeoGuessr or Bananagrams. I used to play lots of board games, Uno & card games when I was young. Occasionally I still play Rummy when my family visits.

You might try pinochle, Hearts, Spades, or Cribbage. Do Hearts or Spades only if your family is mellow; the game encourages aggression and can lead to fistfights.

[Naboka]

So then in YOUR definition, 8 or 9 ball is a game, not a puzzle. You need to practice the achieve the required skills to learn to move the cue ball in just the right way to pocket the chosen balls. It looks easier than it is, especially if the cue ball lands in a weird location. Also learning to bank or use english are too required skills. Course recently I played the perfect game(s). I broke the balls & I pocketed all 9 balls w/o letting the other player ever play. Woo Hoo for me. Same in 8 ball, I broke & then played all the balls (in this case stripes) & pocketed the 8 ball w/o letting my opponent ever have a shot. Even though I did that & it was exciting. I still want to play more as I enjoy it. Every game is different because even if you play exactly the same way every time, the situations change.

So long story short. I'm still confused.

Might I offer that "confusion" is a type of undefined puzzle: an unknown that we try to make known--or not.

Though that's only one of many possible definitions.

Congratulations on your pool playing success. That's not easy. Even knowing the required angles and english doesn't guarantee execution.

Yes, 8 and 9 ball are games. A game with puzzles involved for every shot. Practice and familiarity allow you to solve those puzzles, sometimes in fractions of a second.

A lot of arguments stem from definition. A person uses a word meaning one thing, and another person takes exception because they have another definition. Even words that we take for granted like "husband" or "wife" can become bitter contests as each spouse operates on conflicting definitions over what those mean.

Words and language make our lives so much better. But conflicting definitions short circuit that advantage.

Voltaire said something like, "if you're going to argue with me, define your terms."

People tend to be lazy thinkers, which isn't an ingredient in "understanding-casserole."

Ask someone to define "of." Simple word that's used every day. But most don't have a clue as to how to define it.

Sometimes, it ends up that a person doesn't even know the actual definition of a word but is bitterly arguing on the basis of a misunderstood definition.

I had an argument with a friend over using "chartreuse" in a design. I figured she was arguing a color wheel theory using complementary colors. It got a little heated until she pointed to a red-purple on her design sample sheet and said "chartreuse." Light bulb moment.

I always wondered how such an excellent designer had gone so long with such a wrong definition. She even knew it was "like a wine color."

Just the wrong wine.

Social media is filled with people hating each other over misunderstood terms. Two people wanting to kill each other because each believes themselves to be a "patriot" while believing the other is a "traitor."

My recommendation on defining anything is to allow for variation in how others understand the term. Also, to understand the array of possible meanings for a term so you can plug that meaning into an applicable situation. After all, if a person has "jigsaw puzzle" as the only possible definition for "puzzle" this conversation would make no sense at all.

[bwt1213]

If you want a real argument these days, pull out the dictionary definitions of "Socialist", "Communist" and "Sedition". I've had people insist that the dictionary definitions are completely wrong. In all dictionaries.

[2cute]

You might try pinochle, Hearts, Spades, or Cribbage. Do Hearts or Spades only if your family is mellow; the game encourages aggression and can lead to fistfights.

Oh my!

I've played Spider King (on the newer part of Puzzle Baron) which I think is similar to Spades or Hearts? Not sure. Its a solitaire game except you're matching the cards to create suits. I like it. I think its relaxing. Course now I'm only playing it by myself.

[2cute]

Might I offer that "confusion" is a type of undefined puzzle: an unknown that we try to make known--or not.

Though that's only one of many possible definitions.

Congratulations on your pool playing success. That's not easy. Even knowing the required angles and english doesn't guarantee execution.

Yes, 8 and 9 ball are games. A game with puzzles involved for every shot. Practice and familiarity allow you to solve those puzzles, sometimes in fractions of a second.

A lot of arguments stem from definition. A person uses a word meaning one thing, and another person takes exception because they have another definition. Even words that we take for granted like "husband" or "wife" can become bitter contests as each spouse operates on conflicting definitions over what those mean.

Words and language make our lives so much better. But conflicting definitions short circuit that advantage.

Voltaire said something like, "if you're going to argue with me, define your terms."

People tend to be lazy thinkers, which isn't an ingredient in "understanding-casserole."

Ask someone to define "of." Simple word that's used every day. But most don't have a clue as to how to define it.

Sometimes, it ends up that a person doesn't even know the actual definition of a word but is bitterly arguing on the basis of a misunderstood definition.

I had an argument with a friend over using "chartreuse" in a design. I figured she was arguing a color wheel theory using complementary colors. It got a little heated until she pointed to a red-purple on her design sample sheet and said "chartreuse." Light bulb moment.

I always wondered how such an excellent designer had gone so long with such a wrong definition. She even knew it was "like a wine color."

Just the wrong wine.

Social media is filled with people hating each other over misunderstood terms. Two people wanting to kill each other because each believes themselves to be a "patriot" while believing the other is a "traitor."

My recommendation on defining anything is to allow for variation in how others understand the term. Also, to understand the array of possible meanings for a term so you can plug that meaning into an applicable situation. After all, if a person has "jigsaw puzzle" as the only possible definition for "puzzle" this conversation would make no sense at all.

Very good points Naboka. Course now I've always been taught not to believe ONE SOURCE. To find many sources that agree upon a certain belief. @ least that's how all my college papers were written. Yet even in that instance, if you don't seek out opposing views many sources could still be incorrect.

So your friends definition of chartreuse is what I consider magenta. I've always thought chartreuse was a celery green color. So I looked it up, ah ... someone who agreed w/my definition (https://www.adobe.com/mena_en/creati...hartreuse.html).

I especially like your paraphrasing of Voltaire ... so true.

Thanks, I've been playing pool a long time & only when I began playing on the computer did my skills really improve since I play on top of the table & can easily see all the balls & the angle I need to play the shot. In person, the strength of my arms & the flexibility of my body come into play, not just my ability to know how to make the shot.

[2cute]

If you want a real argument these days, pull out the dictionary definitions of "Socialist", "Communist" and "Sedition". I've had people insist that the dictionary definitions are completely wrong. In all dictionaries.

LOL ... Unfortunately when someone fails to really research & KNOW a topic, then demands they are right above all else, of course an argument will ensue. And, it's impossible to have a mutual discussion when one person thinks they are always right. I mean not only is that not productive, its boring.

Well too ... who wants to admit the thing they believed to be true isn't. There's so much information out there in the world, its easy to get lost.

[bwt1213]

Oh my!

I've played Spider King (on the newer part of Puzzle Baron) which I think is similar to Spades or Hearts? Not sure. Its a solitaire game except you're matching the cards to create suits. I like it. I think its relaxing. Course now I'm only playing it by myself.

Hearts and Spades are similar games, so I'll just describe Hearts. There are four players, ideally. The whole deck is dealt, so everyone has 13 cards. Play begins with whomever has the deuce of clubs (which must be led) and goes clockwise. Everyone has to follow suit, if possible. High card wins, and Aces are high. Whoever wins the hand leads the next. Hearts cannot be led unless the player has only Hearts. The idea is to get the fewest points. If you take a trick, every heart gets you a point. The Queen of Spades gets you 13 points. You can't lead Hearts until someone has played a Heart or until you have no other option. When someone has played a Heart, then Hearts are said to be "broken". At the end of the hand, everyone accumulates the points they've taken, but with one really big exception. If you have taken ALL the points, you can either give everyone else 26 points and take zero for yourself, or take 26 points off your score. Taking all the points is called "shooting the moon". People take being given the Queen of Spades personally. It is, after all, 13 points. And some people like to shoot the moon. The game is to 100 points, and when anyone gets more than 100 points the person with the fewest points wins. A perfect game happens when you have shot the moon four consecutive times and everyone else ends with 104 points and you have zero. I have done that, and I have seen others do it. It can be or become a really vicious game. Part of the fun is guessing who has the Queen of Spades, and if you want to shoot the moon you want to make sure that person gives you the Queen. I used to play Hearts often in college.

[Nylimb]

Darn it. I posted a reply to Nylimb's response - because of my irritating poor spelling condition, I spelled know instead of now and darn it if it didn't flag for spam. I did it in my profile too. How irritating. Really we have to be perfect spellers!? Ridiculous.

So this is my reply, let's see if I can post it different.

Ahh, I see. Ok, I now understand. Thanks for looking into it for me. So the difference between a puzzle & a game, is that a puzzle can be solved & a game can be played over and over w/o ever finding a solution. So what would consider 8 or 9 ball? If you pocket the correct ball in the end, it solved. So I guess its a puzzle?

I would consider 8 and 9 ball as games, but each shot can be thought of as a puzzle: How should I hit the cue ball to maximize my chances of pocketing a ball and leaving the cue ball in a good position for my next shot? Or, if I decide that I can't do that, how should I hit it to minimize the chance that my opponent can succeed? The solution to that depends on what you know about your current level of skill and your opponent's, and might change as you get better.

Many games can be thought of as a sequence of puzzles. But in most cases there isn't a definite answer, just some answers that seem to be better than others. For example, most chess players think that pawn to king 4 is a good opening move. But since the game tree is too big to fully analyze, it might be true that that's a losing move, and some opening that seems worse is actually a winning move. We'll probably never know.

[Naboka]

Very good points Naboka. Course now I've always been taught not to believe ONE SOURCE. To find many sources that agree upon a certain belief. @ least that's how all my college papers were written. Yet even in that instance, if you don't seek out opposing views many sources could still be incorrect.

So your friends definition of chartreuse is what I consider magenta. I've always thought chartreuse was a celery green color. So I looked it up, ah ... someone who agreed w/my definition (https://www.adobe.com/mena_en/creati...hartreuse.html).

I especially like your paraphrasing of Voltaire ... so true.

Thanks, I've been playing pool a long time & only when I began playing on the computer did my skills really improve since I play on top of the table & can easily see all the balls & the angle I need to play the shot. In person, the strength of my arms & the flexibility of my body come into play, not just my ability to know how to make the shot.

Writing college papers brings back fond memories. Being otherwise involved, I always put off writing them until the night before. Since the internet didn't exist, checking resources wasn't easy, so... I often made up quotes from works to support my positions. Professors were far too busy to check that stuff.

As for checking opposing views, good idea. History is filled with many sources agreeing to some very strange ideas that seemed reasonable to those wanting that belief.

Guess what we know often depends on what we want to know.

Ask Galileo. The Church experts tried him for heresy over his support of Copernicus's theory of heliocentrism. Course, the theory about the sun being the center of the universe had been around for hundreds of years BC, but...

Then, joke of jokes, turns out the sun wasn't the center of the universe either. Our planet and the solar system linger in the homeless tents at the edge of our galaxy. We don't even occupy prime real estate near the center of the action in this friggin' galaxy, much less the universe. We can't just walk out of our downtown condo and join the cosmic action.

Yet, even today you can find "experts" who have figured out that the Earth is only 10,000 years old and truly is the center of all creation. These "experts" propose that we've been lied to by scientists and politicians who are agents of The Devil. And by adding mayonnaise to the pulverized yolk of a boiled egg, we can gain God's blessing and provide an easy treat at the next Church Social, where donations to said expert are gladly accepted and appreciated. God's work is expensive.

Knowledge seems to be fluent. Ptolemy added a lot to our knowledge, but he dismissed the idea of a rotating planet because the winds created would blow all of us away. Newton was a nut case, but what a contribution. Doonesbury made priceless observations about the workplace, but...political rage fried his egg--or at least the egg of his creator, who suddenly realized that our planet can't be spinning because it would blow away all Sunday editions, thus depriving him of income.

Sometimes a thousand experts are convinced that a certain bit of knowledge is true, then ONE SOURCE comes along and proves them all FOS.

But, as much credit as we give particular individuals who changed our understanding, all of their work was dependent on the work of others who are seldom mentioned. Sometimes it might have been a crazy uncle who suggested something in childhood; an idea that, once fertilized, began gathering resources.

History may be a Mississippi of lies, but it also contains moments when the river changes course.

[2cute]

Hearts and Spades are similar games, so I'll just describe Hearts. There are four players, ideally. The whole deck is dealt, so everyone has 13 cards. Play begins with whomever has the deuce of clubs (which must be led) and goes clockwise. Everyone has to follow suit, if possible. High card wins, and Aces are high. Whoever wins the hand leads the next. Hearts cannot be led unless the player has only Hearts. The idea is to get the fewest points. If you take a trick, every heart gets you a point. The Queen of Spades gets you 13 points. You can't lead Hearts until someone has played a Heart or until you have no other option. When someone has played a Heart, then Hearts are said to be "broken". At the end of the hand, everyone accumulates the points they've taken, but with one really big exception. If you have taken ALL the points, you can either give everyone else 26 points and take zero for yourself, or take 26 points off your score. Taking all the points is called "shooting the moon". People take being given the Queen of Spades personally. It is, after all, 13 points. And some people like to shoot the moon. The game is to 100 points, and when anyone gets more than 100 points the person with the fewest points wins. A perfect game happens when you have shot the moon four consecutive times and everyone else ends with 104 points and you have zero. I have done that, and I have seen others do it. It can be or become a really vicious game. Part of the fun is guessing who has the Queen of Spades, and if you want to shoot the moon you want to make sure that person gives you the Queen. I used to play Hearts often in college.

Thanks for the explanation. I think I've played this game before except on the computer & alone again computer players. A fellow player said when you play in person w/other real life people, the game is harder since no one wants to end up w/the Queen of Spades or any of the high cards @ all. You need to have a 'poker face' to play it well.

[2cute]

Writing college papers brings back fond memories. Being otherwise involved, I always put off writing them until the night before. Since the internet didn't exist, checking resources wasn't easy, so... I often made up quotes from works to support my positions. Professors were far too busy to check that stuff.

As for checking opposing views, good idea. History is filled with many sources agreeing to some very strange ideas that seemed reasonable to those wanting that belief.

Guess what we know often depends on what we want to know.

Yet, even today you can find "experts" who have figured out that the Earth is only 10,000 years old and truly is the center of all creation. These "experts" propose that we've been lied to by scientists and politicians who are agents of The Devil. And by adding mayonnaise to the pulverized yolk of a boiled egg, we can gain God's blessing and provide an easy treat at the next Church Social, where donations to said expert are gladly accepted and appreciated. God's work is expensive.

Sometimes a thousand experts are convinced that a certain bit of knowledge is true, then ONE SOURCE comes along and proves them all FOS.

But, as much credit as we give particular individuals who changed our understanding, all of their work was dependent on the work of others who are seldom mentioned. Sometimes it might have been a crazy uncle who suggested something in childhood; an idea that, once fertilized, began gathering resources.

History may be a Mississippi of lies, but it also contains moments when the river changes course.

The night before!!! Whaat! I'd start the day it was assigned. I'd collect all the research and write the paper, then I'd edit it a couple times. Then I wouldn't touch it for a month. I didn't have any one else to read it for editing, so I edited my own papers. After not being as close to it for several weeks, the read would be fresh & I'd catch not only grammatical mistakes, but poorly written areas which I'd then fix. So after the third or fourth read, again, I'd leave it for a couple weeks. Then right before it was due (& most of my classmates would start working on it), I'd write my final draft, copy it onto fancy paper (so to differentiate mine from the stack of white papers) & have it ready to turn in. Where I went to school all professors had TAs or GAs or both. So it was they who would read the papers & checked the references. People failed if they didn't check out. I always felt so proud of my papers as mine always checked out & I could recall from where in the library I'd even sourced the information if there was ever a problem.

Yep, those Religious zealots are conniving & convincing people all the time of things that just isn't so & be sure to leave you donation as they will always need more.

That's very true.

[CheasterRobson]

Whenever I don't play WordTwist, I play Solitaire. This game reminds me a lot of my childhood since it used to be the only game I could play on my family's computer. I highly recommend trying out this game if you have never played it. It's actually more addictive than you'd think, lol. I now play Solitaire online since there are a lot of better platforms online than the one installed on Windows. It's a game that requires one player and a standard 52 deck of playing cards. The objective of solitaire is to organize a shuffled deck of cards into four stacks (one for each suit) in ascending order (Ace to King).

[2cute]

Do you play on Puzzle Baron or on another site?

I play other games too besides wordtwist.

My fav solitaire games are Spider Solitaire & Klondike Solitaire.

You must keep in mind, people who like word games, don't necessarily like card games. I like all kinds of games except maybe fighting type games.

I like variety so that works for me.