Guess My Word January 1, 2015 10:08 PM Subscribe
I was just cruising through MeHistory and I stumbled on this old post about Guess My Word which I haven't played in a while and which was posted almost exactly two years ago and then I went and played and got it in 8 and I wanted to brag and also play with people some more as that was fun.
I just got it in six (#1 on the leaderboard right now!) and (a) I swear I didn't cheat and (b) that's at least three fewer guesses than the best I did playing like 50 different times back when this was first posted.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:52 PM on January 1, 2015
posted by tonycpsu at 10:52 PM on January 1, 2015
I managed to guess it in seven attempts (currently equal second on the leaderboard). I feel far too accomplished for someone who barely had any strategy beyond "choose a letter about halfway between these two letters".
posted by Defying Gravity at 11:11 PM on January 1, 2015
posted by Defying Gravity at 11:11 PM on January 1, 2015
Took me 19 tries to get Mike's word, but that one seems harder, as it was good enough to get in the top 10.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:12 PM on January 1, 2015
posted by tonycpsu at 11:12 PM on January 1, 2015
Spoiler comment deleted by poster's request!
posted by taz (staff) at 11:18 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by taz (staff) at 11:18 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
13 - quite pleased with that. I like this, it's fun!
(No doubt I'll try a few more times, do worse and worse, and finally hurl my phone across the room as I curse this stupid game)
posted by billiebee at 2:03 AM on January 2, 2015
(No doubt I'll try a few more times, do worse and worse, and finally hurl my phone across the room as I curse this stupid game)
posted by billiebee at 2:03 AM on January 2, 2015
Ten! I feel pretty good about that, but clearly I can do better (clearly I will actually do way worse seven times in a row despite this optimism).
posted by daisyk at 2:19 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by daisyk at 2:19 AM on January 2, 2015
Yup, as predicted: I tried a different day's word and got it in 19 guesses, with the help of both flatmates. Said help looked a bit like this:
Me: What's a word between 'ore' and 'orthogonal' in the dictionary?
DRMacIver: 'Orthant'?
Zarkonnen: 'Orgy'?
posted by daisyk at 2:30 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Me: What's a word between 'ore' and 'orthogonal' in the dictionary?
DRMacIver: 'Orthant'?
Zarkonnen: 'Orgy'?
posted by daisyk at 2:30 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Nice, and it works on my tablet too. Thanks!
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 5:54 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 5:54 AM on January 2, 2015
I got each in 13 this time. I hate it when you narrow it down to the first two letters, guess a word that it's after and then say to yourself "oh it couldn't possibly be the very next dictionary word ahead of that one, I'll go back a bit further" and then find three guesses later that yeah, it was that word.
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:16 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:16 AM on January 2, 2015
Just got mike's word in 13. Better than previous attempts.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 8:05 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 8:05 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
16 for Joon's, 10 for Mike's! Too much fun.
posted by Westringia F. at 8:24 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by Westringia F. at 8:24 AM on January 2, 2015
Maybe I should sue my high school or my sat prep class (or maybe I am linguistically challenged), but I never heard of the correct answer until I gave up. This is true for both Joon's and Mike's words. I need pb to guide me here. 1 guess? That is mind meld territory.
posted by 724A at 9:10 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by 724A at 9:10 AM on January 2, 2015
I got Mike's word in 14, with no guesses with the correct third letter. That makes me pretty proud.
I couldn't come up with joon's word, even after getting most of the letters.
How did you try a different day's word?
posted by Night_owl at 9:19 AM on January 2, 2015
I couldn't come up with joon's word, even after getting most of the letters.
How did you try a different day's word?
posted by Night_owl at 9:19 AM on January 2, 2015
You go to the leaderboard, then pick a different date in the dropdown, then click where it says try this word.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:24 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by tonycpsu at 9:24 AM on January 2, 2015
What Westringia said,
Rank Name Guesses Time History (mouse over)
1 pb 1 0:00 Guess history
What.
posted by cavalier at 9:27 AM on January 2, 2015
Rank Name Guesses Time History (mouse over)
1 pb 1 0:00 Guess history
What.
posted by cavalier at 9:27 AM on January 2, 2015
> I got Mike's word in 14, with no guesses with the correct third letter.
Me too, except 11 guesses. I had it narrowed down to the point where the only word I could think of with the remaining possible 3rd letters ended up being the right answer. Pretty fun game.
posted by Turd Ferguson at 10:44 AM on January 2, 2015
Me too, except 11 guesses. I had it narrowed down to the point where the only word I could think of with the remaining possible 3rd letters ended up being the right answer. Pretty fun game.
posted by Turd Ferguson at 10:44 AM on January 2, 2015
Ugh, 18, though the last 7 were spent in between a minute range of letters.
posted by corb at 10:58 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by corb at 10:58 AM on January 2, 2015
Actually you know what is really fascinating and awesome? Mousing over people's guess history. It's always fun to see what words people come up with randomly.
posted by corb at 11:03 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by corb at 11:03 AM on January 2, 2015
This was a lot of fun. I can't believe it was two years ago.
posted by Golden Eternity at 11:05 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by Golden Eternity at 11:05 AM on January 2, 2015
> Mousing over people's guess history
I kinda love that [spoiler in link] Misha's is a string of adjectives that all fit with the final word!
posted by Westringia F. at 2:25 PM on January 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
I kinda love that [spoiler in link] Misha's is a string of adjectives that all fit with the final word!
posted by Westringia F. at 2:25 PM on January 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
ugh as if we needed more confirmation that pb has wizard powers.
I got 15, basically using binary search by hand on /etc/dictionaries-common/words after filtering out possessives with
From doing this I learned something, which I guess might be sort of a mild "strategy spoiler" so I ROT13'd it: Gurer ner n pbhcyr bs dhvexl guvatf nobhg gur qvfgevohgvba bs vavgvny yrggref gung zvtug abg or boivbhf -- boivbhfyl vg'f abg havsbez, ohg gur rkgrag gb juvpu vg'f abg frrzrq cerggl rkgerzr gb zr. Vs lbh fgneg jvgu n jbeq ortvaavat jvgu Y naq gur erny jbeq vf nsgre lbhe thrff, vg gheaf bhg gur orfg cynl (nppbeqvat gb gung jbeq yvfg, naljnl) fgnegf jvgu na E. Ohg vs vg'f orsber, gur orfg thrff fgnegf nyy gur jnl onpx va gur Pf!
posted by en forme de poire at 2:28 PM on January 2, 2015
I got 15, basically using binary search by hand on /etc/dictionaries-common/words after filtering out possessives with
grep -v "'s$".From doing this I learned something, which I guess might be sort of a mild "strategy spoiler" so I ROT13'd it: Gurer ner n pbhcyr bs dhvexl guvatf nobhg gur qvfgevohgvba bs vavgvny yrggref gung zvtug abg or boivbhf -- boivbhfyl vg'f abg havsbez, ohg gur rkgrag gb juvpu vg'f abg frrzrq cerggl rkgerzr gb zr. Vs lbh fgneg jvgu n jbeq ortvaavat jvgu Y naq gur erny jbeq vf nsgre lbhe thrff, vg gheaf bhg gur orfg cynl (nppbeqvat gb gung jbeq yvfg, naljnl) fgnegf jvgu na E. Ohg vs vg'f orsber, gur orfg thrff fgnegf nyy gur jnl onpx va gur Pf!
posted by en forme de poire at 2:28 PM on January 2, 2015
Also, lol at the entry marked REALLY? on Mike's leaderboard (spoiler in link).
posted by en forme de poire at 2:35 PM on January 2, 2015
posted by en forme de poire at 2:35 PM on January 2, 2015
Today's word in 16. Curse you all for showing me this.
posted by purenitrous at 8:32 AM on January 3, 2015
posted by purenitrous at 8:32 AM on January 3, 2015
(I got yesterday's joon word in 11 and feel quite proud.)
posted by maryr at 2:27 PM on January 3, 2015
posted by maryr at 2:27 PM on January 3, 2015
14! This time no training wheels (i.e. Unix dictionaries).
posted by en forme de poire at 4:27 PM on January 3, 2015
posted by en forme de poire at 4:27 PM on January 3, 2015
Hah, I was wondering why suddenly people were favoriting that post again. I burnt out on that game when I started playing it in my mind as I was going to sleep. Have fun!!
(Also a side note, I think the creator, Joon Pahk, was a big-time Jeopardy champion.)
posted by not_on_display at 5:33 PM on January 3, 2015
(Also a side note, I think the creator, Joon Pahk, was a big-time Jeopardy champion.)
posted by not_on_display at 5:33 PM on January 3, 2015
I've played this every single day since it was posted here. Best thing ever.
posted by gerstle at 5:35 PM on January 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by gerstle at 5:35 PM on January 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
> I kinda love that [spoiler in link] Misha's is a string of adjectives that all fit with the final word!
Oh, hey, thanks! I got the idea of "theme guessing" from another Mefite in that first GMW thread way back when. I have done others:
Manhattan Project: atomic, scientist, mushroom, explosion, detonate, eruption, etc.
Poetic justice: alliteration, synonym, metaphor, paragraph, onomatopoeia.
Debate club: rhetoric, fallacy, philosophy, logic.
Anxious aunties: divorce, relationships, marriage, etiquette, gaslighting.
It's fun!
I am only rarely able to keep to a theme more than the first few guesses, so I loved that it played out that way, too!
posted by misha at 11:04 PM on January 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh, hey, thanks! I got the idea of "theme guessing" from another Mefite in that first GMW thread way back when. I have done others:
Manhattan Project: atomic, scientist, mushroom, explosion, detonate, eruption, etc.
Poetic justice: alliteration, synonym, metaphor, paragraph, onomatopoeia.
Debate club: rhetoric, fallacy, philosophy, logic.
Anxious aunties: divorce, relationships, marriage, etiquette, gaslighting.
It's fun!
I am only rarely able to keep to a theme more than the first few guesses, so I loved that it played out that way, too!
posted by misha at 11:04 PM on January 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
I tried a theme round inspired by misha and it worked really well! Somehow the second word I couldn't fit into the theme was the answer o_O (proof)
posted by en forme de poire at 5:22 PM on January 5, 2015
posted by en forme de poire at 5:22 PM on January 5, 2015
oh my god, I insanely guessed joon's word in 3. I am freaking out right now.
posted by corb at 11:02 AM on January 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by corb at 11:02 AM on January 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
I was so much better at this in 2013.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:26 AM on January 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:26 AM on January 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
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posted by Going To Maine at 10:27 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]