I usually start with 4-letter words beginning with the first word in the alphabet. Today most of the words had only 4 letters.
The 5-letters were hard
― Dan S, Wednesday, 15 September 2021 01:15 (two years ago) link
the 6-letter words also
three of the 5-letter words (starting with kn-) and separately the two 6-letter words were related to each other in spelling
― Dan S, Wednesday, 15 September 2021 01:38 (two years ago) link
the pangram was a compound word, for the 2nd or 3rd time since I've been doing this puzzle
― Dan S, Wednesday, 15 September 2021 10:26 (two years ago) link
I missed knoll, which kept me from QB, and as a Cocteaus fan, that kind of stung.
― Carte Blanchett (Leee), Wednesday, 15 September 2021 15:51 (two years ago) link
Ooh today's is much meatier.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 15 September 2021 16:58 (two years ago) link
finding today quite difficult tbh.
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 15 September 2021 19:04 (two years ago) link
I'M SUPPOSED TO FIND 49 WORDS IN THIS MESS HOW???
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Sunday, 19 September 2021 00:07 (two years ago) link
Im at 46 but its been a hard slog
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Sunday, 19 September 2021 00:21 (two years ago) link
Second pangram and at 47 i really am tapped out
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Sunday, 19 September 2021 00:27 (two years ago) link
at least so far there are no crazy words like dugong
― Dan S, Sunday, 19 September 2021 00:56 (two years ago) link
I at least got that one. Came home today from a long day of errands without enough time to focus. Think I got like 27 or so before I had to go do other stuff. I look forward to feeling stupid tomorrow.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Sunday, 19 September 2021 03:26 (two years ago) link
I've only had experience with this recently but today's was the most brutal
― Dan S, Monday, 20 September 2021 00:59 (two years ago) link
haven't encountered one of these yet that has had only 4 four-letter words. that's what I usually go for first, expecting to get a lot of them
― Dan S, Monday, 20 September 2021 01:14 (two years ago) link
i got really into the two no touch puzzles and recommend themhttps://krazydad.com/play/starbattle/
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 20 September 2021 04:49 (two years ago) link
Ooohh I just jammed through a few of those and it’s fun! Thanks, forks!
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Monday, 20 September 2021 14:11 (two years ago) link
yer welcome! i find them obsessive and challenging to specific parts of my brain that aren't especially elastic.
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 20 September 2021 14:45 (two years ago) link
(for non-subscribers, NYT runs two of those every day in the print edition)
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 20 September 2021 14:46 (two years ago) link
Whoops I got to #7 and I have the first occurrence of not being able to deduce the next star and having to make a strategic guess. Hmm. I think.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Monday, 20 September 2021 15:36 (two years ago) link
with the harder ones, you have to actually game out some six or seven moves ahead when you get a 50/50. it's difficult to do in ink!
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 20 September 2021 15:53 (two years ago) link
Does that no-touch game indicate if you've successfully solved a particular puzzle?
― Carte Blanchett (Leee), Monday, 20 September 2021 18:41 (two years ago) link
it does
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 20 September 2021 18:48 (two years ago) link
or rather the electronic version does
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 20 September 2021 18:49 (two years ago) link
The krazydad thing is amazing and now I can’t sleep
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 23:22 (two years ago) link
I just broke into Book 2. :|
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Thursday, 23 September 2021 00:02 (two years ago) link
still don't think I understand it
― Dan S, Thursday, 23 September 2021 00:09 (two years ago) link
I didn't either (hence my confusion on why I hadn't solved a puzzle) but it's a little like sudoku in that every row and column and region has to have exactly X stars, with the added difficulty of stars not being adjacent to each other.
― Carte Blanchett (Leee), Thursday, 23 September 2021 01:46 (two years ago) link
i can attest that over time you will start to get better at the two no touch but I fuck up every third one in a way that requires me to start over from scratch.
I should mention that there's an app: Star Battle Go. $9 gets you 3000 puzzles, basically set for life. I'm recommending it.
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 23 September 2021 04:49 (two years ago) link
app also has tutorials which i have yet to try.
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 23 September 2021 04:50 (two years ago) link
loved today’s spelling bee with only one point five vowels
― flopson, Thursday, 23 September 2021 05:16 (two years ago) link
I liked the one from today too
― Dan S, Thursday, 23 September 2021 08:13 (two years ago) link
yesterday’s was interesting, there were not that many words and there were a lot of words that were hard to think of - curium, tritium, tatami, cacti, circuit, tutti
today’s was also hard and with not that many words, but I was able to think of more
― Dan S, Saturday, 25 September 2021 00:34 (two years ago) link
surprised it didn't accept WHINGE
― flopson, Saturday, 25 September 2021 01:34 (two years ago) link
I was surprised by that too
― Dan S, Saturday, 25 September 2021 01:36 (two years ago) link
Whinge is British
― Habemus poptimism (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 25 September 2021 01:36 (two years ago) link
but seems universal
― Dan S, Saturday, 25 September 2021 01:39 (two years ago) link
i get not having british words like COLOUR where there's a one-to-one american equivalent but it's not like whinge is the british spelling of whine, cause brits also have whine. it's just a different word. and americans occasionally use it. e.g. here's a maureen o'dowd column from 2014 where she uses it https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/opinion/dowd-is-barry-whiffing.html
― flopson, Saturday, 25 September 2021 01:43 (two years ago) link
I may have played too much star battle in the past 48 hours
what hath I wrought
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 25 September 2021 18:36 (two years ago) link
same!! totally addictive
― donna rouge, Saturday, 25 September 2021 18:38 (two years ago) link
The whole hand-curated thing just opens Sam up to so much griping.
― Leee Tigre (Leee), Saturday, 25 September 2021 18:41 (two years ago) link
star battle is a problem, yes. did you guys get the app?
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 25 September 2021 22:52 (two years ago) link
today I couldn’t think of ambit, beige, baggie, biggie or gimme. those last few remind me to try colIoquial words. I got iamb, but iambi seems exceptionally esoteric
― Dan S, Sunday, 26 September 2021 02:41 (two years ago) link
well that’s the thing with this puzzle. usually you’ll get a sense of the editor’s boundaries, but with this it too often feels random. some dog breeds but not a labrador? etc
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 26 September 2021 08:23 (two years ago) link
It's a miniature of every prescriptive / descriptive lexicographical / usage dispute ever. Why this and not that?
But focused on one individual and his particular idiosyncratic segment of the elephant.
If you or I were to curate the Bee, there would be just as many "Why this and not that?" gripes. Just different ones.
Many years ago I was a magazine copyeditor and in a moment of rashness I decided that "disk" was a shape and "disc" was a computer storage medium. Or maybe it was the other way around. I forget. But it's probably still out there in a disused style guide somewhere. My secret shame.
― Habemus poptimism (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 26 September 2021 12:26 (two years ago) link
it’s the other way around and that’s pretty standard now i think? from tiny acorns…
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 26 September 2021 14:53 (two years ago) link
i disagree that anyone else’s would be as arbitrary but i know what you mean. in any case you do kind of get a feeling for the personality of any editor. ezersky’s does not beguile me. for instance, this is a guy who says WOOT
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 26 September 2021 14:55 (two years ago) link
it’s the other way around and that’s pretty standard now i think?
Okay but what is this then?
https://toppng.com/public/uploads/preview/parental-advisory-png-white-115522471060relexpojy.png
― Habemus poptimism (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 26 September 2021 15:25 (two years ago) link
dead media
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 26 September 2021 16:43 (two years ago) link
it’s a shape
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 26 September 2021 17:12 (two years ago) link
compact discs i.e. redbook CD format media, are not a computer storage medium.
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 26 September 2021 17:14 (two years ago) link
just go with the shifting plurals in that sentence alright
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 26 September 2021 17:15 (two years ago) link