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Matt J's "Word Racing" timewaster/game for the stay-at-home COVID-19 days of 2020

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    Delighted to have finished top of those who didn't take part in all five races (I can confirm there's an imaginary prize for that as well), and to have improved as the week went on. Looking forward to another go next week. Thanks, Matt, this has been great.

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      Cheers, Matt - very enjoyable game, and great for getting the lateral brain into gear - even if it took until Race 4 this week!

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        Originally posted by Hot Orange View Post
        Delighted to have finished top of those who didn't take part in all five races (I can confirm there's an imaginary prize for that as well)
        Ooh, yes I finished top of those who took part in precisely 40% of the races, hurrah!

        I also finished bottom in that same category, but hey, you can't have everything.

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          Loved that twist in race 5 Matt. Having figured out a set of letters which i knew were high scoring you stick that clever spanner in the works. And your race reports have been fantastic. Thanks again.

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            How many other participants, apart from me, based their entries on extremely rough guesswork and instincts, rather than on proper research?

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              Originally posted by ad hoc View Post
              And your race reports have been fantastic. Thanks again.
              Ditto

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                Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                How many other participants, apart from me, based their entries on extremely rough guesswork and instincts, rather than on proper research?
                I didn’t even try to guess the scoring system, let aline work anything out. And it very much showed in my mediocre results.

                Thanks, Matt J. Enjoyable nonsense that. And your race reports were very funny.

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                  Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                  How many other participants, apart from me, based their entries on extremely rough guesswork and instincts, rather than on proper research?
                  Pretty much. By Round 3 I was starting to get some idea about Bs and Zs, and maybe Ys, but that’s about it. To be honest I would enjoy it even more if this bloody work nonsense didn’t keep impinging on my precious home time.

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                    Originally posted by slackster View Post

                    I didn’t even try to guess the scoring system, let aline work anything out. And it very much showed in my mediocre results.

                    Thanks, Matt J. Enjoyable nonsense that. And your race reports were very funny.
                    This x2 for me. Great fun.

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                      Originally posted by Sits View Post

                      Pretty much. By Round 3 I was starting to get some idea about Bs and Zs, and maybe Ys, but that’s about it. To be honest I would enjoy it even more if this bloody work nonsense didn’t keep impinging on my precious home time.
                      Yes, having a certain advantage in coming in late I could vaguely see that Bs, Zs, Ys, and Ls seemed to be something to go for, but I didn't tackle it any more scientifically than that.

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                        I got the basic premise early but really struggled with understanding the details of the specific races ( also struggled with reading at least one of them...). It’s great fun trying to make entertaining phrases while trying for points

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                          Look:
                          There is are only so much imaginary word racing money to go around, we just can't have everyone assigning themselves a imaginary trophy. What are we, an anarchist's collective handing out imaginary titles left and right?

                          Oh we are, right. Carry on then.

                          ====

                          Race #6, or Week #2 Race #1:

                          A new week of word racing, and a straightforward race to start things off. Yes, it's true, the once 'tried and true' relationship between speed, score, finishing place, and the letters used by three 5-letter words, has been reset for this week. No more Llulling about, as all the kids are saying.

                          This race takes place in an old abandoned airport deep in the Southwest of the once-was United States. Blowing dust, scorching heat, but a long, mile-long or more straightaway that should allow our racers to really put their hamster wheels to the test (no hamsters are harmed in the making of word races). Despite those conditions, huge cheering crowds, and vanloads of TV reporters still don't line the race course.

                          There you go, that's it, nothing special about... wait, I'm being told that the runway has a variety of cracks and splits that cause 'word inputs' to become partially ignored should they feature back-to-back letters at any point in their construction. Apparently something about how the computer input and the judge will be reading the... Wait, how does that make a difference on a course that's a straight path... wait, I'm being told now that the actual raceway is completely fictional and only exists for the purpose of this report and the artificiality of this restriction is purely to make our racers consider closer which words they use for their initial sentences. Wait, now I'm being told I said the part that was supposed to be quiet out loud...

                          Hmm. Don't use the same letter back-to-back, I'm being told. "slept" is fine "sleep" is not.

                          Test racers:
                          'Birds sleep aloft" comes into problems twice along the runway (ss and ee) scoring only 78.
                          'Birds fight aloft' comes into no problems along the runway... but only scores 91, for what it is worth.

                          Additional clue:
                          This week in letter/score distribution, there is only 1 letter that scores 1. There are zero letters that score 2.

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                            Tepid cocoa sucks

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                              (Can we have a deadline for entries for those of us who things to do? Or forget? Or do the race rules not contemplate such kindnesses?)

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                                Hoorah, it's been a long weekend without this to keep me entertained.

                                My first entry is:

                                Enter prize races

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                                  Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                                  (Can we have a deadline for entries for those of us who things to do? Or forget? Or do the race rules not contemplate such kindnesses?)
                                  I'll try and keep a schedule roughly like last week (assuming I can do 5 races again), which is that the race closes about the end of my work day (which is in 8-9 hours). So that makes it what, 21:00 OTF time?

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                                    Scrub dirty palms

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                                      Fling prize bread

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                                        Drink mango juice.

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                                          Mouse earns point - changed from Fluff (which was a shame as it referenced the X11 thread) - due to double letter choice.
                                          Last edited by nmrfox; 23-03-2020, 15:14. Reason: Fluff changed to Mouse

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                                            Avert aphid swarm.

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                                              Adorn mince piles

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                                                Pokes unfit bards

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                                                  Fixes gravy boats

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                                                    Clues begin again.

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