lodger? i ardly even knew er
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Monday, 18 October 2021 19:54 (two years ago) link
Yesterday's omissions included DETUNE and DETUNED which I thought was weird
They also omitted UNCEDED and I thought they might do something good and include it next time so I wrote them asking them to do so
― flamboyant goon tie included, Monday, 18 October 2021 20:57 (two years ago) link
yeah not accepting UNCEDED is pretty ridiculousDETUNE/DETUNED also (esp considering UNTUNED was accepted) but it’s one of those commonly used but not formally defined tech terms maybe
xp i was pretty disappointed getting QB was just the same screen you get for genius, was hoping for fireworks or something
― scanner darkly, Monday, 18 October 2021 21:05 (two years ago) link
also missing yesterday were unindicted and untended
― Dan S, Monday, 18 October 2021 21:23 (two years ago) link
Yesterday had FALAFEL and FLAUTA but not TEFF or FUFU, which are staple foods in Africa.
― jaymc, Wednesday, 20 October 2021 17:06 (two years ago) link
But how many US citizens know what a falafel is versus what injera is? I mean, I get your point, but they sell glorified flautas at 7-11.
― I'm a sovereign jizz citizen (the table is the table), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 17:15 (two years ago) link
teff was a v weird omission imo
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 20 October 2021 17:32 (two years ago) link
For some perverse reason I thought "tuff" would work.
So. There are areas where Sam is decently conversant and others where he isn't. Birds yes, geology no. Foods kinda. Graphic design and book production no, but jocular loanwords (caca, nada, primo) yes.
― mothersbaugh of invention (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 17:48 (two years ago) link
chica but no mami iirc
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 20 October 2021 17:56 (two years ago) link
Right, and mama but not dada.
― mothersbaugh of invention (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 18:10 (two years ago) link
Instead of getting incensed I find it kind of fascinating. As noted above, I am 1000% certain that my own vocabulary is full of blind spots and inconsistencies. But then, I don't have my idiosyncratic judg(e)ments paraded in front of the sentient world by the New York Fucking Times. Which is as it should be.
Would it be better or worse to have a committee, something like Merriam-Webster's usage panel? Possibly worse. As we've found, committees have blind spots too. Would it be better or worse to still have one person, but instead it's a different person? Like, say, Bryan Garner or James McBride or Gretchen McCullough. Or, for that matter, Will "Eat My" Shortz.
For everyone who found Garner too prescriptive you'd have someone who found McCullough too lenient.
So I keep coming back to: might as well be Sam (for all my gripes)
― mothersbaugh of invention (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 18:19 (two years ago) link
one person, but instead it's a different person
^ this
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 20 October 2021 19:25 (two years ago) link
food is where the arbitrariness of including some obscure words but not others is most obvious imo
getting really good at italian and indian food names though!
― scanner darkly, Wednesday, 20 October 2021 19:37 (two years ago) link
Hes a disaster imo, its the inclusion of absolutely obscure specialist jargon as and when suits him and the omission of perfectly valid but rare words besides
I hate him
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 20:07 (two years ago) link
Then go do a different free fun thing maybe?
Just a thpught
― mothersbaugh of invention (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 20:44 (two years ago) link
*thought
― mothersbaugh of invention (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 20:45 (two years ago) link
no we're through the looking glass, ymp, locked in an embrace of hate, entwined in a spiral down that last endless staircase
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 20 October 2021 20:47 (two years ago) link
Ok
Enjoy
Meanwhile I feel like there a whole lot of other entertainment options on offer and you could just, y'know, go do those things
Or not
Whatevs
― mothersbaugh of invention (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 20:50 (two years ago) link
but it's such a good game. its current steward is simply for the birds. specifically, the nene
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 20 October 2021 20:58 (two years ago) link
Watch Sam whip
Watch Sam nene
― mothersbaugh of invention (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 21:11 (two years ago) link
If I ever see a nene in the wild I will divide it up into 4 parts and package them in 4 boxes and send all of them to Sam by special post.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 21:16 (two years ago) link
It is thought that the nene evolved from the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), which most likely arrived on the Hawaiian islands about 500,000 years ago, shortly after the island of Hawaiʻi was formed. This ancestor is the progenitor of the nene as well as the prehistoric giant Hawaiʻi goose (Branta rhuax)[5] and nēnē-nui (Branta hylobadistes). The nēnē-nui was larger than the nene, varied from flightless to flighted depending on the individual, and inhabited the island of Maui. Similar fossil geese found on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi may be of the same species. The giant Hawaiʻi goose was restricted to the island of Hawaiʻi and measured 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length with a mass of 8.6 kg (19 lb), making it more than four times larger than the nene.
o__O
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 21:21 (two years ago) link
Its not free, that's for starters
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 21:31 (two years ago) link
The fun is locked in with the hate, that's additional
My posts are free btw, you could read other ones by the same token
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Wednesday, 20 October 2021 21:32 (two years ago) link
I don't mind the quirks, it's part of the fun. today I got dammit, which surprised me
― Dan S, Thursday, 21 October 2021 01:06 (two years ago) link
quirks are fine, it’s the inconsistency that irksnene is fine, pudu, not so much
a few weeks ago there was a perfectly reasonable word it didn’t accept which also happened to be a pangram, that was esp annoying
― scanner darkly, Thursday, 21 October 2021 02:50 (two years ago) link
pudu? I've never seen that word before
It's just a game determined by someone else's rules, I still like playing it
― Dan S, Thursday, 21 October 2021 03:04 (two years ago) link
lol people who enjoy this game are also people who are more likely to complain about the rules applied inconsistentlybut yeah that’s kinda part of the charm i suppose
i’m just curious how the process works, the word list must be generated automatically and then vetoed
― scanner darkly, Thursday, 21 October 2021 03:45 (two years ago) link
I just subscribed to the Sunday NYT a few weeks ago, so only recently have I been enjoying full access to Spelling Bee. And I took Twitter off my phone, so it's my new thing I look at while I'm bored during the day. (Although ironically, people posting Spelling Bee screenshots on Twitter is what made me interested in it in the first place.)
― jaymc, Thursday, 21 October 2021 03:53 (two years ago) link
husband got me hooked up a few weeks ago and comparing words at the end of the day is something we both look forward to now
― scanner darkly, Thursday, 21 October 2021 04:07 (two years ago) link
the paper version actually is edited by someone else but i haven’t played it enough to sense their quiddities
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 21 October 2021 07:52 (two years ago) link
What about their agonies?
I only play the free one someone linked to upthread and my 'thing' is to get within about 20 words or so and want to burst with frustration so I look at the spoilers. Frequently screaming at what's allowed and what isn't - does seem part of the whole experience!
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Thursday, 21 October 2021 08:41 (two years ago) link
hate-solving, if you will
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 21 October 2021 08:50 (two years ago) link
Yeah this is not imo big deal stuff its ok to hate the puzzle setter when the puzzle solution becomes subjective im sorry if hes anybodys cousin but its valid for the thread
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Thursday, 21 October 2021 11:44 (two years ago) link
Xp to scanner darkly - same here. Kept hearing "Genius! Yes!" and got intrigued.
― Jaq, Thursday, 21 October 2021 17:24 (two years ago) link
I left a LOT of SB staples on the table yesterday, the most egregious of which were probably CACAO and COCOA.
― Leee Tigre (Leee), Thursday, 21 October 2021 18:13 (two years ago) link
Feel like there's always a short word in plain sight that I miss, even when I get a couple of pangrams. Yesterday I had DIATOMIC and MACADAMIA but missed AMID.
― jaymc, Thursday, 21 October 2021 18:54 (two years ago) link
i had DIATOMIC and missed DIATOM lol
― scanner darkly, Thursday, 21 October 2021 19:22 (two years ago) link
― Leee Tigre (Leee), Thursday, October 21, 2021 6:13 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink
I got BOTH of those and missed COCA. And in the inverse, I got DIATOM and stabbed around at DIATOMIC but somehow missed it??
Also I'm over the MAMA/MOMMA/MAWMAW and the same with PAPA a few weeks ago. Make your plate and go.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Thursday, 21 October 2021 20:00 (two years ago) link
having DIATOMIC and DIATOM yesterday but not ADDITIVITY today suggests the spelling bee editor is a physicist with a grudge against mathematicians
― flopson, Thursday, 21 October 2021 22:08 (two years ago) link
And miners! ADIT has been disallowed in several recent puzzles.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Thursday, 21 October 2021 22:17 (two years ago) link
I had the hardest time today with two short compound words, daylit and daylily
― Dan S, Thursday, 21 October 2021 22:45 (two years ago) link
If you’re frustrated with Spelling Bee, “Two No Touch” is equally obsession-worthy IMO, although because it’s made up of dots not letters, there’s obvs a lot less differentiation between individual puzzles
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 21 October 2021 23:20 (two years ago) link
Two Not Touch is good, I tried it once and it's interesting as a spatial dimension puzzle, but I like finding words
― Dan S, Thursday, 21 October 2021 23:27 (two years ago) link
Dan S - those were the two I missed too
― donna rouge, Friday, 22 October 2021 00:05 (two years ago) link
Two No Touch/Online Star Battle is crazy habit-forming. I downloaded the app and sneak in a game whenever I have an idle second
― donna rouge, Friday, 22 October 2021 00:06 (two years ago) link
Oh I veer between the Bee and Two-No-Touch all day.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Friday, 22 October 2021 00:15 (two years ago) link
I can’t remember which ILXer recommended Two No Touch last month, or in what thread, but I’ve lost literal weeks of my life since then to playing. Not a complaint though!
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 22 October 2021 00:22 (two years ago) link
It was forksclovetoufu iirc??
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Friday, 22 October 2021 00:24 (two years ago) link