EDitorial ± 4-Mar-2013

Letterpress

Twelve months back it was all about Words With Friends on the 'Pad. Got more than a bit daft at times, with 20+ games on the go, mostly against mother-in-law and me own mum. Especially when determined to have no moves outstanding by the morning and it's gone midnight. Red-eyed and it ain't 'cos I've been crying. Well, maybe a little sob if I've lost a game by the odd point WHICH V. RARELY HAPPENS.

Christmas at the in-laws and new lexical fun hit the family's iOS devices in the guise of Letterpress. Board comprises 5x5 letters, each player going taking turns to form a word and gain ownership of those letters. It's Othello meets Boggle, loosely. Opponents can be your friends, family or drawn at random from the Interweb. Game ends when all remaining unplayed letters have been used, often some weird combination of Z and V or J and W or simply the odd Q. Then comes The Reckoning.

If this is the sort of game you like -- I do -- then you'll like this sort of game -- I do too. But since we must all eat and sleep and work, alphabetically, then an individual game can take hours, days or weeks, like postal chess. One such encounter has just finished. Bearing in mind that a game can be over in 10 goes, this was an epic with a grand total of 71 moves. For your wordy pleasure, it went like this:

  1. them -- SQUIGGLY : adverb as you mean to go on
  2. me -- SQUADDY
  3. them -- MUZZILY : canny use of both Zs
  4. me -- MUGGILY
  5. them -- GLUMLY
  6. me -- FLOOZY : first non-adverb
  7. them -- STODGILY
  8. me -- GLOAMS
  9. them -- FOGGILY
  10. me -- FLOGS
  11. them -- GOLFS : cheeky anagram
  12. me -- GLITZY
  13. them -- MOZZ
  14. me -- FOLIOUS
  15. them -- FOLDOUTS
  16. me -- DOOMFULLY
  17. them -- MOODILY
  18. me -- GOODLY
  19. them -- GOOFILY
  20. me -- GLAZY
  21. them -- GAUZILY
  22. me -- GAUZY
  23. them -- BUGGY
  24. me -- MUGGY
  25. them -- SMUDGILY
  26. me -- MUDDILY
  27. them -- MUDDY
  28. me -- GAUDILY
  29. them -- DOGGY
  30. me -- DOGMATIC
  31. them -- DOGMATICS : cursed myself for not using the plural
  32. me -- DAGGAS : types of hemp
  33. them -- SLUDGY
  34. me -- DOGMATA
  35. them -- DITZY
  36. me -- OUTDID
  37. them -- GUILTY
  38. me -- LUTZ : figure skating jump
  39. them -- MUDDLY
  40. me -- GODDAM
  41. them -- DATUM
  42. me -- CUDDLY
  43. them -- CUDDY
  44. me -- DUMBLY
  45. them -- FUGGILY
  46. me -- UGLIFY
  47. them -- SQUIDGY
  48. me -- QUAGGAS : extinct horses
  49. them -- GAMBOLS
  50. me -- OOMIACS -- Eskimo boats, yer complete Inuit
  51. them -- GAZOOS
  52. me -- MAGGOTY
  53. them -- FAGGOTY
  54. me -- FOGDOGS : whitish spots seen in fog
  55. them -- CLOGGILY
  56. me -- CLAGGY
  57. them -- GLAUCOMA
  58. me -- GLAUCOMAS : my turn to pluralise
  59. them -- FACTUALLY
  60. me -- ZODIACAL
  61. them -- GLOOMILY
  62. me -- UFOLOGIST
  63. them -- CLOUDILY
  64. me -- MUCOIDAL
  65. them -- SMUGLY
  66. me -- GUMBOILS
  67. them -- GUMBOOTS
  68. me -- MUTABLY
  69. them -- BAGFULS
  70. me -- BUZZWIGS : gambled to grab the unplayed Z
  71. them -- ADJUSTABLY : 10 letter word inc. that J to end the game

Somehow, I won 13-12, i.e. by the odd point in 25. Ironically I haven't the least clue who my opponent was beyond their cryptic username of "spgrabia". Whoever you are, well played: great game. Fancy playing? I go by "freston.net" on the Game Center (excuse spelling).