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:
- them -- SQUIGGLY : adverb as you mean to go on
- me -- SQUADDY
- them -- MUZZILY : canny use of both Zs
- me -- MUGGILY
- them -- GLUMLY
- me -- FLOOZY : first non-adverb
- them -- STODGILY
- me -- GLOAMS
- them -- FOGGILY
- me -- FLOGS
- them -- GOLFS : cheeky anagram
- me -- GLITZY
- them -- MOZZ
- me -- FOLIOUS
- them -- FOLDOUTS
- me -- DOOMFULLY
- them -- MOODILY
- me -- GOODLY
- them -- GOOFILY
- me -- GLAZY
- them -- GAUZILY
- me -- GAUZY
- them -- BUGGY
- me -- MUGGY
- them -- SMUDGILY
- me -- MUDDILY
- them -- MUDDY
- me -- GAUDILY
- them -- DOGGY
- me -- DOGMATIC
- them -- DOGMATICS : cursed myself for not using the plural
- me -- DAGGAS : types of hemp
- them -- SLUDGY
- me -- DOGMATA
- them -- DITZY
- me -- OUTDID
- them -- GUILTY
- me -- LUTZ : figure skating jump
- them -- MUDDLY
- me -- GODDAM
- them -- DATUM
- me -- CUDDLY
- them -- CUDDY
- me -- DUMBLY
- them -- FUGGILY
- me -- UGLIFY
- them -- SQUIDGY
- me -- QUAGGAS : extinct horses
- them -- GAMBOLS
- me -- OOMIACS -- Eskimo boats, yer complete Inuit
- them -- GAZOOS
- me -- MAGGOTY
- them -- FAGGOTY
- me -- FOGDOGS : whitish spots seen in fog
- them -- CLOGGILY
- me -- CLAGGY
- them -- GLAUCOMA
- me -- GLAUCOMAS : my turn to pluralise
- them -- FACTUALLY
- me -- ZODIACAL
- them -- GLOOMILY
- me -- UFOLOGIST
- them -- CLOUDILY
- me -- MUCOIDAL
- them -- SMUGLY
- me -- GUMBOILS
- them -- GUMBOOTS
- me -- MUTABLY
- them -- BAGFULS
- me -- BUZZWIGS : gambled to grab the unplayed Z
- 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).