Semantle: Can you think like a computer?

389 for #22. Synonyms, man.

I gave up at 104 but I had been at 998 and 997 since the 50s.

I also said the word out loud and thought I entered it, but had not.

I solved Semantle #22 in 85 guesses. My first guess had a similarity of 1.10. My first word in the top 1000 was at guess #7. My penultimate guess had a similarity of 38.83 (988/1000).

…I started guessing synonyms around my 75th guess and zeroed in on it!

Personal stats are likely at some point -- they're in the top-five or so requested features. A leaderboard is not happening, because (a) the game is so deeply unfair and (b) it would be immediately filled up by cheaters, and (c) it's about the journey. But also it would require me to store stuff on the server, and that sort of programming is less fun than my day job.

"it's about the journey"

yep.

101 today, got to 970 within 30 but struggled after that. Think I put too much weight on synonyms, when I put an antonym in got it within 6 guesses.

Been stuck on 992 for 150 guesses, I have so much green pointing in one direction but either that's hugely misleading or there's a synonym (or antonym) that's eluding me.

Gave up today, frustratingly was 10 words away on my 28th guess but I wandered off the correct track, gah.

Ooooh got it in 66! That makes a nice change from recent hopelessness.

Very hungover, took me 205. Had a look at the nearest words and this one stood out as quite WTF: 872 footcandles 28.76 ?!?!?!

Forgot to do #21. Just got #22 in 14.

I was very close on #20 but never got it.

I solved Semantle #22 in 100 guesses. My first guess had a similarity of 1.84. My first word in the top 1000 was at guess #4. My penultimate guess had a similarity of 9.51. https://semantle.novalis.org/

emil.y that's hilarious! And..........inexplicable? Computers wtf.

the thing I'm realizing about synonyms is that I often tend to guess ten dollar words when the answer is a 5 cent word.

have to remind myself the answer is more likely to be simple, not shit like "sesquipedalian".

I was so mad yesterday because I knew exactly what the answer was looking forward, but I kept missing the synonym because I was getting too cutesy with it and the answer was of course much easier than what i was guessing.

ffs I guessed echelon, percentile, quadrant before I could think oh shit, "level"

Personal stats are likely at some point -- they're in the top-five or so requested features. A leaderboard is not happening, because (a) the game is so deeply unfair and (b) it would be immediately filled up by cheaters, and (c) it's about the journey. But also it would require me to store stuff on the server, and that sort of programming is less fun than my day job.

― David Turner (semantle), Sunday, February 20, 2022 8:01 AM bookmarkflaglink

that's awesome! and agree on the leaderboard, that would actually hurt my enjoyment of it a little. thank you for this new daily addiction :)

I solved Semantle #22 in 430 guesses. My first guess had a similarity of 7.40. My first word in the top 1000 was at guess #10. My penultimate guess had a similarity of 29.43 (895/1000). https://semantle.novalis.org/

And I cheated with a thesaurus. Was stuck on low (992) forever, tried all variations and antonyms, had a wall of green that all pointed towards ranking / grading. I never considered equality, though I've just tried 'equal' and it's cold, wtf. What were some words higher than 992?

surely using a thesaurus isn't cheating? lol I'm a total cheat if that is true. And sometimes I think using a thesaurus actually makes it harder in some ways!

well maybe not harder but it will send you in many more wrong directions

i used one last night but that was the first time and I also had a friend venting to me in a crisis so I couldn't focus like normal

it did cause me to waste guesses I woldn't have otherwise wasted as well

I think my definition of cheating would be using a thesaurus that was constructed using the same word algorithm semantle uses. But a human constructed thesaurus is a potentially useful tool if you use it well, but not a cheat.

I agree tbh. I mostly find it easier to just go from my own brain. it actually caused me to blow 30 guesses yesterday lol, and the thesaurus didn't pick u pthe right word.

Ah you can now see the top words after winning! The top ten is pretty bonkers imo and I'm not sure it would have helped me, even with a thesaurus.

good choice for baiting the hook for new players and for teaching people how to THINK LIKE A COMPUTER

hey dave you should post pictures of your pottery in here as it is fucking amazing

Pottery! Yes! (Though maybe take it over to the 'forks throws pottery' thread so as not to go too far off-topic here?)

oh yeah, i forgot dave is not an ilxor exactly:
forks throws pottery (and maybe you do too?) - An ILX Ceramics Thread
Many of the pieces in there are joint things with Dave! It's an embarrassing showcase, especially when i scroll up.

TOday's took 131 but I did it quickly. First green word was therefore - no real idea why. Got kind and grade and type quite early

holy fucking shit - I did it in 35!

I solved Semantle #23 in 35 guesses. My first guess had a similarity of 22.96. My first word in the top 1000 was at guess #6. My penultimate guess had a similarity of 7.64. https://semantle.novalis.org/

I got very lucky with try quite early

In a sea of 900s, still can't get it

This is so frustrating - I have 991, 992 and 995 and I still can't get it

same... i got 995 on my 25th guess, but can't close in more than 100 guesses later

my god, this was brutal

I solved Semantle #23 in 166 guesses. My first guess had a similarity of 0.66. My first word in the top 1000 was at guess #110. My penultimate guess had a similarity of 7.21. https://semantle.novalis.org/

110 guesses to even crack the top 1000. I was completely off base until then. and even after that I was off base again.

Hit 337/1000 after 50 guesses, gave up after 70.

i "solved" #22 in 7 guesses... just got lucky with a random guess

i was solidly hitting in the top 1000 early every one up until this, I started to feel like an imposter a bit

Second time I've given up despite being in the 990s

finally got it in 194.

for the longest time, my highest words were provide, give and receive which made me think about gifting or trading terms like deliver, grant, and supply, and ten thousand similar synonyms. very misleading.

Exactly the same with me! But I didn't have the patience to go to 194!

yeah or the time! it can definitely chew up the minutes this game - anyway i got stuck in pretty much the same dead end as Roz - yesterday i had a similar experience where all my green words were kind of climbing movement-related, like 'elevate' and 'inspire' and 'promote' - then i got 'threshold' which was #997 i think, and my brain just locked up - i would never have got to 'level' in a million years

I am hopelessly stuck on this one; I'm at 995/1000 right now and I think I must be going in the wrong direction with my guesses but cannot figure out where else to go.

995 feels like it should unlock everything, but didn't for me!

in case you guys want a hint (and don't worry, it's not a spoiler word) - if you managed to get guess 994, that is a better indicator than 995

ah dammit sorry!! that was meant to be hidden - fuck you bbcode

64, got lucky today. After 60 cold guesses, I landed on something close quite by chance.