THE ROMAN COLISSEUM
I am not sure about the spelling of "Colisseum". Is that correct?
Game # 8123707
Thank you.

I don't think that's right either. I think there's only one S. I'm not absolutely certain of the spelling though.

Colosseum or Coliseum

its coliseum

Apparently both are correct. There is a good (in my opinion) Wikipedia article about it. How the name(s) came about is addressed very early on.

FWIW, the WordWeb Pro dictionary says both spellings are correct, however only the spelling of COLOSSEUM specifically states in the definition that it refers to the Roman amphitheater. COLISEUM appears to be a more generic term.

yeah it means the same thing

Hangman game #8287734 one of the words was OSCAR WINNER NICHOLAS CAGE. it's spelled wrong Nicolas Cage shouldn't have a H in his 1st name.

hey amigo,, can I suggest a country misic category in the thematic hangman games,,,,,

i agree can we have country music hangman please

In the Thematic Hangman Places around the world list, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, STRASBURG, FRANCE is misspelled

I need specifics- is your spelling correct? and what does it say in the game?- a game number would also be a great help.

thank you

In the game (#8273574) it says EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, STRASBURG, FRANCE.
It should be STRASBOURG (according to Wikipedia anyway).
Wikipedia says that Strasbourg is located in the Alsace region, so I assume that when Alsace-Lorraine became part of France they changed the spelling.
I believe there are Strasburgs and a Straßburg (I hope the eszett was rendered properly) in Germany, Austria and the U.S.A (several in fact).

Best wishes,

Nick

Game #8268982 GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY doesn't need the comma.

on the list, but next one pls tell me the list so I don't need to check the game?

thx!

Where is this listed? Some strange songs.

It doesn't exist.

This game is played using phrases from the Songs That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll list.

What list is this and how was it chosen?

The list was written by Marc and he doesn't remember all 500 entries.

Obviously, and that wasn't what I was asking.

hmm... I don't play this, but just because there is a discussion about it I googled it... there is a list, which I assume most people use. Which I am assuming that is what fatdaddy was referring to when he said he found a list and if he could find it, anyone could find it.... I believe it was fatdaddy that started the hangman rock n roll discussion list originally. If not, forgive me, for saying it was you, I'm just going off of memory here and not researching db's...

I would post the link to the list, but if I do, I may get in trouble. don't know.... but if some people are using it and others aren't, I think everyone should be on equal footing. As for the other hangmans, I have no idea about lists, only this one because I just searched for it. I am not normally a hangman person. Got invited by one person to a couple games, so accepted just because I used to play games with them, joined one tourney, then resigned most of the games because people were guessing the entire phrase off of 1 and 0 letters.

So I don't really want to get started on hangman again... but just to be fair....

Thank you for that response WhispyWillow. Much appreciated.

Using a list seems like cheating oneself, one may perform better that way, but one is not actually becoming better at the game...
I wouldn't use the list even if every other player explicitly stated that they were.
I might create my own list (if I were less lazy) and use it to memorise answers, but that would just be speeding up the process of going from working out answers consciously to getting to the point where the game is mostly about memory and pattern recognition.

exactly what I said last go around when everyone jumped on me about it saying the people were just extra good or could tell by looking at how many words and letters exactly what the puzzle was by guessing on 0-1 or possibly 2 letters. The thread was about lists, and just like you, I said the same thing you just did and it was not taken well. Probably by players using lists. All I know is this time, I told him just google it, you'll find it and be on equal ground.

The only hangman that probably doesn't have a list is the normal one word hangman that is just words in a dictionary. They should go back to that and only that as a hangman. Then people can't look at lists.

Or since some people seem to have the lists and win every game and their opponent never has a chance, they need to make the lists public to everyone.... But come on, what fun is it if you have a list in front of you with all the answers. You just need to get rid of all the hangmen, since numerous, and I do mean numerous people have brought this list thing up. Just play the normal hangman that is one word or two and has no list, no anything..... If you hear a lot of complaints, I'm sure they are using lists.

Would I get in trouble if I find my own lists, made a wiki of them for possibly answers for my self for the hangman lists and made them public?? So everyone who didn't have lists would be on equal ground with the people that seem to. I have only looked for the rock and roll one just tonight since it was brought up in 2 different threads, and in the first one, he said he found it easily, so I checked and I found it in under 30 seconds. I don't play hangman except for what I said in my prior post, I wonder if I found out the other categories, if I could find their lists in under 30 seconds.

Like you said, no it is not becoming better at the game. The only reason for it is a win... and a rating. I say well I can't say it lol, the rating... I mean why don't people come here to play and have fun and meet people any more and make friends and have a fun time and go on vacation and meet each other???

It used to be like that. It doesn't have to be so cutthroat that all people think about it winning, get mad and throw a hissy fit if they aren't winning or don't win/ grouch about everything when they don't win or get extremely upset when people say that people must be using lists. guilty minds? I don't know.

So all the haters, go ahead and tear apart everything I just said, it's only the truth and that's why your hating on it. You wouldn't believe the more positive feedback a person gets in pm's when some one tears down everything you say.. If I come across someone that can't take someone else's opinion in a respectful manner and respond respectfully to the comment, they're just gone, adios, don't have to listen.

I can have an opinion just like everyone else, the only difference is I am not normally rude about my opinion. This one may be rude, because I'm putting so much more into besides my originally response, i am addressing what I already know is going to come, because it happens EVERY time a comment is made by anyone...... So this is my last comment on the subject and will not look at the board again..

Oh and Tezcatlipoca, I was agreeing with you, and last time I said what you said it wasn't pretty.

I find that if I play hangman within the clubs that I am a member, I do not have a problem with the solving of puzzles after only one or two letters. The people in my clubs are there to have fun and try to solve the puzzles by using just their wits.
The solving of puzzles after one or two letters happens in the site-wide games. I have no idea if some of the people are really that good or whether they are using lists or computer help. Either way, it certainly takes the fun out of playing the game. I'm not sure what fun they get out of playing when they win so quickly. Apparently they are simply interested in winning. I've decided not to sign up for any hangman (or variances) on the site wide games.
I play either hangman, or thematic hangman (multiword phrases).

Please don't take this wrong, but I'm very curious. If someone knows the word/phrase, are they not supposed to guess it? And if they do, they are "only interested in winning"? (Which after all, a game always has a winner and a loser, and I believe the goal IS to win.)

I know personally, I'll be darned if I know the answer, I'm not going to sit on my hands a few turns and NOT guess it.
Maybe I don't understand?

No offense taken Rodney.
You read more into what I wrote than what I actually said.
All I'm saying is if some people know they can solve puzzles so very quickly, I don't know what fun it can be for them, other than winning. The game is not a challenge for them.
Perhaps I worded it wrong; sometimes what we write doesn't come across the way we actually mean it.
Of course a person is going to guess if they think they know the puzzle. I never said they shouldn't.

Perhaps (for them) the challenge is just to guess it in the minimum number of turns; or perhaps they need to keep playing to maintain their level of skill.
I would like to achieve that level of skill myself someday, though I am aware of the possibility that some of the fun may go out of it.
Perhaps the answer is to have some ladders where there is a minimum and or maximum rating required to be eligible to participate...
How that would work in practice I don't know.

I don't see a problem with guessing quickly and being right. But if someone is doing that turn after turn, they are clearly using a search engine, and I say, why play then. I also tend to just resign the game at that point to save myself grief and move on.

Vista, I just don't think it's fair to automatically assume someone is cheating. Sure, it could be the case. But many times it really isn't.
I'm not one of the ones who consistently gets the puzzles quickly. Though a lot of times I do know them pretty quickly, but I end up being too "chicken" to guess right away, for fear of being wrong.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Rodney.

I say if I found the song list by googling it, If I Knew all the other lists, I could find them by googling it also...

But, I do want to say that I don't intentionally play hangman. I play one person just plain old normal hangman (because I have played her in the past and she is a very nice person), where it is just one word and there are definitely no lists for that. You just have to play till you hang yourself or guess the word. Which is the way it should be played. They should get rid of all the hangman list games. I joined one tournament because I thought it would be fun, but resigned most of the games rather quickly when people were guessing a phrase off of 0, 1 or 2 letters, turn after turn, it never stopped. So i have the same opinion as the person above me, vista, which is why I choose to play no longer. The people I continued playing were more my style. I know I won't win the tournament by resigning 4-6 games, but oh well, I play to have fun, not to win. At first I told myself, why make it easier for them to win by resigning? Then the next time it was my turn and they guessed again, I told myself, this is why, because they are going to win anyway guessing phrases with 0-1-2 letters. So why go through all the agony. Got some games off my list too. Yea, I tell myself a lot of things.

I believe the games here are meant for people to have fun. You can't have fun using a list. Why play with a list? To get a tournament win? What do you get out of a tournament win? I won 5 recently and got nothing (I actually thought you received prizes, but I guess you don't because I didn't), so why??? Is it fun? I would think not. To get to the top of the ladder? How many people actually look at the top of the ladder or even care?? Don't answer, I know a few that does.

I don't play the others, just because of what everyone has been talking about. I want a fair game, since I'm not using one.

So this is my opinion on the subject, just as it has been numerous other peoples that have posted above me's opinion on the subject (the same as mine). Now on to the attacking as normal from the people that don't agree. You can disagree in a respectful, calm way with your opinion, not attacking other peoples opinion. Everyone has an opinion without getting loud about it.

On another note, I'm out of here anyways. Have a Cribbage tournament to go to and play ACC champions... I'll tell ya, they are tough to beat. I made some bold moves last week and won, they were surprised at how bold I was to do what I did... a lot of people there also think cribbage internet players are no good, because you don't actually have to count your cards etc. i showed them a thing or two... It's a good thing I learned when I was a teenager from watching my parents and know how to count and the proper rules in person. They tend to play at lightning speed though. Only been going there a month, the first night they had me frazzled. When I got home, I thought about it and why I did so bad and knew it was because they were trying to push me so I couldn't think about my moves. So I went the next time with the mentality that I was going to go at my pace, if I wanted to take a moment to look at my cards I was going to, when counting at the end when they just threw out a number and said that was the points, I took the time and counted myself, my cards, their cards and the crib. Found a few mistakes from what they had said... hmmm... I think it threw them, because I ended up winning the tournament and a nice little pile of cash... ;)

Wowzers!

What a thread! I have to tell you, as I've said on other occasions, anyone w/ 'net savvy can do what I did and use the magic of Google.

My big mistake was in the naming of the 500 songs. Without that name, there wouldn't be this issue. All of my other lists are compilations and would require more intense research. The only people that actually have access to the lists are Badger, Mecir, and myself. You'll notice that none of us play to any real extent, and I only play socially. { With my having created 'em you'd think I'd have an edge, but my memory has been far too occupied with healing, and now school, but one never knows what lurks in the back of one's head, so I avoid tourneys. I do know that if I recognize something unfairly I give hints and clues and more to my opponent. It's about wordplay to me, not winning. }

I cannot vouch for anyone's honesty and I'll not comment yet again on the desperate need that some folks have to win without regard to fairness. It would be nicer if they put that energy into creating a new list for all to play.

All I can say is that if you suspect someone of cheating, stop playing them. It's too late to change the name of the list. In a perfect world, etc... but sadly, it ain't.

I don't cheat, and I enjoy the thematic hangman variations. Why should those of us who enjoy them not be able to play them. Just don't play. That's the easier, more reasonable solution.

we didnt say we didnt like the hangmen game we like them

Those who are most concerned about the methods that others may or may not be using would seem to form a natural community. One way of continuing to enjoy the game would be for them to play each other, whether by forming a club or informally.

Um. It was said.

I am wondering is somebody could explain what happened in this game: #7978519. I correctly guessed ALHAMBRA, GRANADA, SPAIN and the answer is shown among my correct guesses. However, in the very next move, my opponent guessed a single letter, and the system told me that it was my opponent who had won the word. In fact ALHAMBRA, GRANADA, SPAIN appears as the correct answer for both players. What am I missing?

By the way, I reached more than 200 points with that guess (my opponent has negative 100 plus), yet the game continues.

looks like a glitch to me, you got the points for guessing it, but it didnt flag the win of the word, so it probably didnt check to see if you win. I suspect if you guess the next phrase correctly it will end.

your opponent lost 6 points by guessing the word (must of been an incorrect letter as all the letters were full, so they got -6 )

I suggest you post on the bugs board, or email mecir

the friendly

Same thing happened right after my original post. I guessed, correctly, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, and the system gave the word first to me and then to my opponent.

Well, I guessed an I to complete lilies and a j came up. I know for sure. I guessed. The I, so looks like between our. 2 incidents the site chooses who they want to win the hangman games

That one should be posted on the Bug Reports board. Mecir doesn't watch this board.

Game #8135333 reads: WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW. It should be: WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW

got it thx

Top 100 List Songs 1950-1990 database, game 8246543

DE DO DO DO; DE DA DA

I believe that should be

DE DO DO DO, DE DA DA DA; THE POLICE

And one more. Game #8103190, Musician's database.

We had:
MORRSEY

It's supposed to be spelled:
MORRISSEY

got 'em both

thanks, m

I believe that is either three distinct words or at least hyphenated as in "well-to-do".

This was in a simple "Hangman" game.

added. thank you!

In this game #7978519 one of the answers was spelled BAYRUT, LEBANON. It took me a long time to figure out what the answer was. I had never heard of that spelling and I went to see where BAYRUT came from. It is apparently the English rendition of the Arabic pronunciation of BEIRUT, the capital of LEBANON. However - if that was the intent of the list's creators, Lebanon should have been spelled LIBNAN or LUBNAN.

So this multi-word term should be BEIRUT, LEBANON or BAYRUT, LIBNAN or BAYRUT, LUBNAN for consistency. I would vote for the first one.

The English language is not phonetic, a single letter (or digraph/trigraph etc.) can have many different sounds depending on the word it is in, and a single sound may be represented in many different ways.
Offhand I can't think of a second sound that the digraph AY could represent, but UT could at least represent the sounds in cut and put (in those parts of Britain where they are not pronounced the same).
Regional variations in English (even within a single country) can be very large.

P.S. I would vote for the first one too. If English were suddenly to be spelt phonetically, even if there was a single convention on what the "standard" pronunciation was, the ramifications would be horrifying...

GHOTI is pronounced FISH
(George Bernard Shaw)
GH as in rouGH (f sound)
I as in wOmen (Pronounced wImmen)
TI as in staTIon (sh sound)

but the point is that it should be Beirut not Bayrut

I would pronounce "women" as "wimmin". ;)

Correct, but the 'O' in GHOTI is the "i" sound as in wimmen
I reckon Beyrut or Bayrut is fine for Beirut, what about Rome/Roma, Bombay/Mumbai, Peking/Beijing?

It's a thorny one with city names. In an ideal world I think we'd use the same name and spelling as they do in the country the city is in (minus diacritics and with some form of Romanisation for non-Roman alphabets and Roman characters that do not appear in the International Roman/Latin (I forget the correct name) Alphabet.
On the other hand, we have probably used "Rome" for a very long time, and it might be awkward to start changing the names we use for those few international cities that have probably been heard of by most (English-speaking) people.

we are playing hangman which has english words, it does not have french, italian, greek , chinese or other languages


so the name that should be used is the one used in English

Bombay, Peking are old names no longer used
Roma is italian word

and Beirut is the correct spelling

The English language is full of foreign words, eventually some of them become English words.
Roma was a Latin word before it was an Italian one.

These things change....for example is it Cambodia or Kampuchea? i reckon there is overlap we use a lot of foreign words in english e.g.: YUAN, ANNA, PESO, RINGGIT, RUPIAH

I've heard that Iago is a form of the name that became "James" in English.

Yes things change

Cambodia is correct, Kumpuchea is the old name. We do not put Olde English in hangman either

we do not use foreign words in English, we use words of foreign origin. Rendezvous is an example of such an English word

You don't talk about Zhong Guo instead of talking about China.

Only because those foreign words become English words. When they are first introduced they are not English words. Almost all English words are words of foreign origin or are constructed from parts of foreign words.

and until they are adopted as english words, they do not belong in Hangman!

I will concede that point and only that point (and provisionally at that)!
If the game is only supposed to have English words in it, then a few illegal immigrants have managed to sneak in at some point. I don't want to go through all my games to look for examples, but I have seen some Spanish words here before - and not just ones like PINATA (that looks totally wrong without an enye - despite what I have previously said about diacritics and additional Roman characters) that have moved into English.

I hereby put in an official request to spell the name of my city Puh-ree, to respect the English as she is spoken

Lol, It was Cambodia...then Kampuchea...now it is Cambodia again, I could probably give you dozens of examples...we are talking about the written form of English which has problems with its spelling system, it cannot represent exactly what is being said orally

The various Romanisation schemes that have been used to represent Chinese aren't very helpful either.

A little research says that they are interchangeable.

In terms of meeting the common conventions it probably should be Beirut.

As such, with the next repair/revision I will change it.

It is now on the list.

m

what a great discussion!

how come it said i timed out on 1 game,on other it said i won but on the complted thing it shows there name

That goes to Bug reports, not here...

sorry

Cartoon Character (Traits?) The puzzle had TRAITNO???

Puzzle number?

Sorry ...here you go game #8213504

I looked TRAITNO up and found NOTHING. ZIP. NADA. Anyone else?

Maybe it's supposed to be "no trait".

Possibly a typo and could be:
Triton of the Sea (海のトリトン, Umi no Toriton) is a manga series created by Osamu Tezuka, and an anime directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino based on the manga.
Or just Triton

I think it is a matching middle

cartoon character

character trait

and then the no is extra

Sounds more likely, didn't realise it was a matching middle, well worked out

Indeed, Well worked out!

It is now on the list to be both corrected and moved. It looks as tho' in translation, the NO was somehow added. At the next revision, it will be taken out of the multi list and correctly placed in the Matching Middles.

Thanks all!

m

So it was indeed Character 'Trait'?

yup

Cartoon Character Trait

I actually think the no was originally number so could have been
character trait number

But what would that mean?
I think it more likely I messed up some formatting somewhere, and there's a NO-less phrase crying for it's better half... and all 'cause I can't Type worth beans.

boyoboy do I feel guilty now...

Thanks for the

I'll try to stop in a bit more frequently. Studying Web Design is very complicated and is twisting my brain in ways that it hasn't been in many years. I'm getting a lot out of it, but it takes a lot of time! I can barely keep up with the too-many games I have!

but regardless of whether or not I check in, I do check my messages on a very regular basis if something comes up.

m

In game # 8227514, Thematic Executioner v Pegasiswolf (great player) the phrase " SPACING A STAR ON TOP OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE" was given as the solution.
Should this have been "PLACING A STAR ON TOP OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE"?
Cheers, Ian

One more...Thematic Hangman, Multi-word Phrases, game #7996826 - the answer was "Silvester and Tweety", but the correct spelling is "Sylvester and Tweety".

now on the new list, thanks!

In case you have a game with me using this category and you wondered why I have stopped making moves I will explain. I have discovered a way to cheat in this category and suspect several others have too. I have not and will not name specific opponents. I have notified GoldToken Support  suggesting that the category be deleted. If this is not done before my games expire I will offer a draw to everyone whether or not I suspect you of cheating as I now know how to.
Jim

I can think of an obvious way to "derive the answer more quickly than I would be able to using just my own mind" in that category, I wouldn't do so. Losing isn't that big of a deal to me.

P.S. I prefer to win of course! ;)

I don't think it's only that category FD. I think it's generally the whole of Hangman that some people cheat in.
I love the game and think I will have to just play it with family and friends. Only way to avoid it if you ask me.

I've just thought of another way to "leverage" one's ability. I'm more interested in improving my ability to see words quicker myself. If an opponent sees a word significantly before I would have I won't get the chance to improve quite as quickly, but I would have the same problem with an opponent who just had a much better ability to work out words quickly in their head.

One reason I have quit signing up for Hangman is because I feel there are some cheaters. That is just my personal opinion though.

I think there probably is a way to cheat on all the hangman games.
It's a shame that some people feel the need to do that.

I am thinking also of NOT doing any hangman games with some players...so sad for me since this is my favorite kind of game...I love words and guessing them...I have puzzle books for anagrams and been doing them for years...so sorry that it's getting ruined...

It is indeed sad. I am playing a challenge as we speak that I can't make a move at this time for fear of going off on this person! Sad, sad, SAD!

As far as me on ANY form of Hangman games, I truely am the type that the majority of the pharses I don't know until it "Hits Me In The Head" of what it is. I don't cheat in any way shape or form. If any player who plays against me knows the pharse faster than me fell free to guess the phase and win the game.

I can't fathom how it would be possible to cheat unless you can actually see the full database somehow. I must be missing something here...

There are many ways of getting an edge in the Hangman & variations, particularly by compiling your own list of previous answers and sorting them in a spreadsheet application or text editor. All players previous answers are viewable and copyable.
Player's preferences for letter choices and the order they are favoured are also available and can be analysed.
Not sure if this is cheating or not
Using word finders available on line is another method where you can type in some of the letters and using wildcard characters the app will find possibilities
This I reckon is a no- no
I personally just use pen and paper (cryptographic techniques)
Cheers, Ian

I don't think that any of them are actually against the rules.
The rules merely state that the player has to guess the word, and does not proscribe any method of doing so.
Some methods - although not mentioned - would clearly not be fair play ie. using computer skills to break into the game and find out what the word was.
Different people have different ideas of what is fair.
If a person is winning, by whatever method, their rating should rise.
If a person has a higher rating than me there is a good chance that they will beat me.

Personally, I think using computer word finding programs is cheating.
Where is the fun in having the computer find the word for you?
The puzzle should be solved using your own brain power, and there are a few people here who are as smart as a word finder program.
It's a game and should be played for fun. Sure winning is nice...but winning fairly is even nicer.

I'm with you, Genie.

I might also add that in Thematic Hangman there have been times I've had the same phrase more than once. When that happens....it can be a LOT easier to solve and get on with the game. Is that considered "cheating"?

That's just part of the game. Any player who doesn't pay attention to the possibility of a "repeat" can hardly claim to be seriously trying to win.
I suppose they can claim it... but there claims would be without merit.

I hasten to add that I'm not a "serious" player myself, it's just a game I enjoy.

Personally, I don't see the point of using word finding programs (to help one find words one needs for the game).
I don't see where the fun is in it either: there wouldn't be the pleasure of having a word suddenly "appear", or the drama of "seeing" a word just after you've guessed and wondering whether the opponent will guess it before you get another chance.

In chess, using a computer (i.e., an engine) to help you find a move is considered cheating. But you are allowed to research based on the vast information out there (e.g., in openings, what GMs play, how to play different types of positions, etc.).

In Hangman, the only thing I know for sure shouldn't be allowed is using the computer to figure out words. That's similar to using a chess engine w/ chess.

But researching how common letters are in words, looking through dictionaries, remembering or logging past puzzles, analyzing an opponent's previous games, etc. seems to me to be similar to the research that's allowed in chess. I realize Hangman is not chess, and this is all debatable. For example, "logging past puzzles" in chess doesn't apply, since chess doesn't have a "solution" and any two games are almost always very different.

Anyway, the fact of life is that some people cheat in every game they can. In chess, online turn-based chess has pretty much turned into "Advanced Chess" (where using computer assistance is allowed) at the highest levels. I would hope that Hangman has less of that problem, since to me it seems more of a fun past-time game with less ego-pride at "being the best". But then again where you have ladders, ratings, and tournaments...

It sounds a bit like what Miyamoto Musashi (author of "The Book Of Five Rings") referred to as "the flower being prized above the nut".

Ha! I like that.

Hi, all!

Sorry it's been so long. School has been extremely intense.

I'm not going to get into whole riff about this. Suffice it to say that we are discussing this behind the scenes. In this case, in my naiveté, I made a mistake in naming that category and made it very easy to figure out.

I will say this. Anybody w/any kind of 'net savvy can do what I did to assemble these lists and use it to cheat. It takes a lot of time which might be better served by coming up with a new topic and sending me that list to be included in new additions to the game.

If someone is so desperate to win make-believe tokens that they would go do major research to cheat, they really need to get a life. It's a game for entertainment, fer cryin' out loud! Use your time to better effect...

The only suggestion I have to offer in the case of researching an answer that's driving you crazy, is that at the start of a game you and your opponent try to agree on ground rules. I know that I've had some that drove me crazy and I had to know. But after I found out and satisfied my curiosity, I then gently steered my opponent towards it. I didn't need to win, but I did need to know.

marc

Thanks for your input marco! Oh and....

well I think there are several categories people cheat in. I am playing a tournament now in multiword phrases, and I have the same person that has guessed quite long/difficult phrases on their 3rd turn and 4th turn after only picking 2 and 3 letters, which I wouldn't think most people would guess. So they are doing something to win. Obviously there is some kind of cheat place to go to to find out these answers in numerous categories, I just don't know where. I am tempted to resign from the games, but I hate to give them an automatic win when I think they are already cheating to get the answer. I don't know what else to do though

Same exact thing happened to me ...guess a huge puzzle with 2 letters. Over and over. I did resign and will not play them again!

well that's what I want to do, because it is no fun playing someone like that. You know something is going on, they are not going to guess a long puzzle on 2 letters. But I figured if I resigned since it is a tourney, 2 games is really giving them an advantage. But they will probably win anyways regardless, since they are guessing the puzzle in 3 guesses, and I am sure they are doing it in all games, not just mine.

I've solved puzzles occasionally after revealing only one or two letters. Sometimes the answers just come to me like that. It doesn't happen every time, though. Far from it.

yea, see the difference is, this is every time in more than one game. I, myself on just the hangman with one word, have guessed the puzzle almost everytime on 3-6 letters. I always pick the same letters, they seem to hit and fill out a lot of the puzzle and I guess the word. But this is just one word, not a long phrase.

It might just be that it is a very good player. The phrases are often easier than single words as well, it is sometimes possible to have a good idea what words might be even if no letters are showing. If I see two 3-letter words together I would seriously consider the possibility that they are AND THE, there are other possibilities of course.
If there is an apostrophe that gives more clues.
Proverbs and Phrases is probably the easiest list there is.
I guessed a phrase once with zero letters showing, purely by the number of letters in each word. Admittedly I had seen that phrase come up about half a dozen times since I'd been playing.
It's also possible to guess some phrases from one letter: if you pick an A or an E for your first guess and it crops up in a lot of places...

P.S. I'm not a great player myself.

P.P.S. If you always pick the same letters and in the same order, the strong players will pick up on this: eventually they will "know" what your first guesses are and it will help them to guess the word faster. After the game I believe they can see what your guesses were, which will enable them to see if you consistently pick a particular letter first. They will also be toggling you every turn.

Don't stop playing, just find players whose rating is similar to yours: a player can't keep beating people without their rating increasing.

I think the phrase I guessed with no letters was either "THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM" or "EARLY TO BED, EARLY TO RISE".
With the first one I would assume that the first word was "the", if I picked a T I would notice that it came up in the 5th word too, so that could be "the" as well.
I would then assume that the structure of the sentence was "The/adjective/noun/verb/the/noun".
With the second one I might notice that the first two words after the comma are the same length as the first two words of the sentence: there is a good chance that they are the same; a lot of proverbs and sayings follow this pattern.

I do always pick the same letters in the same order when I play. It does me good in the single words. I do great in that one. They don't seem to hit on multi words though. I do the same thing with the and and, also on 1 letter it can only be an a or an I. Usually an a. 2 words can be easy to determine also.. It was just the phrases that have been guessed, there was nothing easy to decipher any of these things with that are normally gone on.

I didn't realise it was Songs. I generally get hammered when I play that one, what I said about sentence structure wouldn't help much there.

fat daddy was talking about songs, I think you were referring to the same thing I was talking about: multi word phrases... Yea, the songs are tough. I get alot of them, but after about 20 or more guesses, and sometimes we don't get it at all and both hang ourselves. that is a hard category I think.

I find the Hall of Fame categories hard too.
Bestselling Books isn't too bad though, after a while you can make a reasonable stab at some of the authors just by the length of their name (some of them crop up multiple times).

Back to the phrases. After a person has played Thematic Hangman many, many times it becomes easier to guess the phrase because it's surely come up several times during these past games. I also have guessed a phrase before asking for any letters because of the number of letters in the words of the phrase. That's only happened once, though.

well I just gone done investigating this person in their other games in the tourney and it just seems to much to me. I can't put the stats how I want to but here are some in a shortened version with alot of info missing.

In one game, they guessed 3 phrases, one seven words long, one 9 words long and one three words long in a total of 9 total turns. The first one they guessed, 2 letters then the word, the second one they guessed it with NO letters and the third was with 4 letters.

Another game, they guessed 2 phrases in 8 turns, the phrases were both three words. the first phrase they had 2 letters then guessed the phrase.

Another game, they guessed 2 phrases in 6 turns, the phrases were 4 and 3 words long. In each, they guessed 2 letters then the word.

Another game, they guessed a 5 word phrase on turn 4.

Another game, they guessed a 3 word phrase on turn 4.

I don't know, I just have a hard time seeing someone being that good at this.

I'm not saying that someone ISN'T cheating...I was just explaining how some games can be solved quickly if someone has played a lot of games previously.

oh, I totally understand what your saying.. I can see that. I don't play it enough I guess to be able to know the puzzles alot. lol

before accusing someone of cheating, please read my nuggets.

I have two more unwritten nuggets, I might write one of them month

If you are guessing same letters all the time, then you are very predictable, and your opponent will "see" your letters as well as their own.

I looked at one game which was mentioned in this thread.

-e-- -- e-e---n--

the last word was obviously elephants, and the rest is solved by logic.

I looked at all of the words guessed in the tournament in question. (and with hindsight based on the letters of the words ) and i think i would have got roughly 40-50% of them. I didn't know the bad guesses, so can't make an accurate call on how good this player is.

this is a game of skill, pattern recognition and logic, and a little bit of clairvoyance

There are players out there that are scary good, but the same is true in any game.

I remember marcmandy said that there were something like 17000 multiword phrases so learning them all is not practical, however some of them do have distinctive patterns (I learned a new one from looking through those games)

of course if you play song lists with only 1000 odd songs, it will become boring and predictable as you play it more often.

If someone was determined enough to win, it might be possible for them to guess many of the phrases in the Bestselling Books List without any letters at all.
For example: Imagine we have a phrase SOMETHING -- --- ------.
SOMETHING represents the title and may consist of more than one word.
The 3rd word from the end is BY.
I would assume that the author is TOM CLANCY.
This does not mean that TOM CLANCY is the only 3/6 author in the list; but if he is the only 3/6 then I've got the author as well.
I would also need to memorise the title of every book he has ever written.
Of course some titles might have the same number of letters in them, I would then seek to determine which letter would whittle down the possibles as quickly as possible.

If we consider the 5000 US Cities List; many of the States can be worked out by picking one letter. The exact letter depends on the number of letters in the State name.
The State isn't the difficult part, it's the cities that give me the problems.

wow, how many lists are there? How many different types of hangman? LOL

The only ones I have seen is the one fatdaddy was talking about, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the one word one on the normal hangman, multi word phrases and tv shows (which I am great at - I guess watching tv finally paid off for me).

I've just checked. I went to New Game and selected Thematic Hangman, then I went down to the lists... there are 22 lists! I thought it was about a dozen.
There's at least a couple I haven't seen before "All MLB Players" and "Places All Over The World".
I'd be more sanguine about playing PAOTW than AMLBP! ;)

There are indeed many lists, and I'm slowly working on more. I cannot speak to who may or may not be cheating, there is certainly that possibility/probability, but it is indeed about pattern detection and being a wordsmith helps a lot as well. The smaller the list, the more likely that memory comes into play, especially if it is a subject one is intimately familiar with. People who do very well on the 500 list could be very strongly familiar with music overall and it doesn't take anywhere near as much thinking to recognize a name as it would for someone who isn't much of a music fan. To offset the limited number of options, I created the top 100 per year list of songs. An amateur musicologist will recognize a lot of the 5,000 or so choices, but not nearly as many as on the 500.

Anyone who is a good Crossword and/or Scrabble player [or WoF follower] will have greater success at these games.

The best way to sample the various lists is to go out and do the inviting. That way you get to choose which playground [lists] to play in!

and yes, look for someone at about your level and you'll probably be on an equal footing. If you find that losing in a tourney is frustrating because of the speed of solutions then play individually with folks you know to be in the same skill-level as you, or challenge yourself by trying to play with people a couple of hundred points above you in rating, not far above your level.

m

I'm assuming that the situation with the Songs List is much as Marc has said, whilst there is no way how anyone derives the answers, it seems that people who like music and know a lot about it will have a strong if not unassailable advantage over someone who doesn't.

I am a fan of the author Jack Vance. I do not have encyclopaedic knowledge of his works but if a "Jack Vance List" was created, I would probably have a big advantage.

I am not good at Hangman or any form but if there was a list of Horse Breeds, then I would have alot better chance. Just because when I was younger I did alot of reading on that. But as far as Music or Phrases or any of the other lists. Thats one reason I dont play Hangman, just the ones that I have already signed up for. Not any new ones. Unless a chum asked me, then I would consider it.

Hangman is just a list of commonly used words, no topics or categories, just single words. I'd consider doing horse breeds, but I doubt there are enough to make it work.

yeah its not as popular as some.

Top 100 List Songs 1950-1990 database - we had: THREE SEVEN SIX TWO THREE; GLORIA ESTEFAN AND MIAMI SOUND MACHINE

I can't find anything to prove such a song ever existed by that title. Google's never heard of it. It isn't on YouTube. Discog.org and Wikipedia don't show anything even close to that title in the discography listings for Gloria Estefan.

*Oops. That's discogs.com, not .org.

Dis you try 37623?

Ah! No, I hadn't.

That one does return a few links on Google. Not nearly as many as I'd expect from a "top 100" song. Judging by the lyrics I read on one of the pages I followed a link to, I still think the song is misnamed here. The real title appears to be "1-2-3".

Hi Thomas
It looks like a different song
I've come across a few references to it
Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine - 37623 12" Single Vinyl Record
1987 Epic (USA), #EAS 1152
Hope this helps, there must be some Gloria Estefan fans on here
Cheers, Ian

Interesting. I wonder why my searches keep coming up empty...

Not sure Lonnie , but a lot of the references are karaoke and music shops ...looks like it was on a 2003 album, Anything for you, track 10
http://www.cantarolar.com/album/3332/
Cheer, Ian

We couldn't use numbers as guesses, so I converted the numbers to words [did this in other instances as well], but the song does indeed exist. I double checked it just to be sure.
m

On my 25th move of Hanging Diceman I guessed an "o". BEFORE I made this guess my points for this round were 2. AFTER making this guess my points were -2. I have two questions:
1.) Why did I lose any points at all since the rules state "The letters A, E, I, O, and U do not give any points, nor do they reduce points if they appear in an incorrect guess"
and
2.) Why did I lose FOUR points?
I saw a question asked previously about losing points for a guess of a vowel even though the rules state that shouldn't happen but I never saw the answer. Since I've noticed this happening in other games would someone help me understand this? Thanks.

I believe that the rules were changed a while back so that while one still gains no points from correctly guessing a vowel, one does lose points for incorrectly guessing vowel...
As to your losing 4 points, I haven't looked at the game yet, I assume that the die/dice was on 4.
If I have any better ideas after looking at your game I'll post again.

Actually, I think the dice was showing a 7.

Strange. Perhaps I'll look again when the game is over.

I too was unaware that that rule had changed.

It's worth knowing.

This sentence is included in the "rules" of the game:

The letters A, E, I, O, and U do not give any points, nor do they reduce points if they appear in an incorrect guess.

That was correct at the time when the rules were written, some time after the rules were tweaked, but the explanation of the rules was not revised.

Hi Guys, in current Thematic Hangman, 5000 US Cities game #8163700 versus Tezcatlipoca my incorrect answer was given as being correct.
LEM _ T, LLINOIS was the state of the game
I guessed LEMINT, ILLINOIS and was given correct, whereas the correct answer was LEMONT, ILLINOIS
Is this a bug?
Cheers, Ian

Looks like neither. You already had guessed an I and an O.
So if it was Lemint or Lemont, the I or O would have already been filled in.
So I'm even more confused about it

Sorry Genie the game state was :
LEM _ _ T, _ LL _ _ _ _ S
the used letters were A,C,E,L,M,R,S,T,U
my answer was
LEMINT, ILLINOIS
cheers, Ian

YOu guessed IN I INOI as the blanks which is a guess of I N O

the correct answer was ON I INOI which is a guess of I N O

so in fact your guess was correct.

Seems wrong to me, the position of the respective letters should be taken into account, otherwise incorrect spellings of words will be allowed also

yes.. its like in hangman you can guess pats but the answer is past and because of the same letters you are correct.
In fact, one of my hangman strategy is to guess multiple words at the same time

Are you guys guessing one letter at a time, or trying to guess the entire puzzle at once?

whole puzzle

I'll have to misspell an answer just to see what happens.

I don't think it matters what order the letters are in, just as long as the Correct letters are typed in.

I too have noticed that when guessing the whole word(s) that correct spelling is not always necessary as long as you don't include a letter that is not in the word(s) and if no letter is omitted.

For example:

If the answer is "Lexington Kentucky" and you input "Lexingtin Kuntocey" you will get credit for a correct answer as all the correct letters have been entered and no incorrect ones have.

Similarly if your input is "Lexington Kentuckie" you'll have it wrong as you omitted the "y".

Strangely enough "LEXINTGOKYUCEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOO" would also be considered a correct answer.

Yeah, seems like a design flaw in the answer checking....eg: BR _ _ N TRUST wouldn't be BRIAN TRUST rather BRAIN TRUST but if I typed in BRIAN TRUST it would be correct...something is not right

if you had not used the box, and just picked the letters i and a manually, then it wouldn't seem so bad .

You're right. I spelled SAM as SMA and got it correct.

I perhaps regard it in a similar light. I regard tying the "answer" in as not so much "typing the answer in" as a more convenient way of typing in the remaining letters I need.
I find it is often quicker to just type in the "answer" than to consciously think which letters are missing and then just enter those.

That box was placed there to avoid the many clicks it might take to "guess the word". All it does is cull from the letters you type the ones that haven't already been guessed. Notice how after you enter the word only the letters that weren't guessed appear. So indeed "LEXINTGOKYUCEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOO"
would not be considered a correct answer as much as it would be considered supplying the correct missing letters. This way people who accidentally held a key down too long and didn't notice would not be penalized for that.

m

I'm playing my first Thematic Hangman - TV Shows. I'm pretty sure I know one of the words, and if I'm right, I have never heard of the TV show.

It's also likely the other word is not a normal word (this would seem possible if you knew the first word).

Is it considered fair play to research TV shows with the word I know in it? Is there an official rule on this, or a general consensus among players?

It has been my personal experience with the TV Show version, that there's a LOT of shows I've never, ever heard of. Therefore, it's my personal opinion to go ahead and research it. I'll bet it's something YOU'VE never heard of either. LET ME KNOW!

Abby Normal

These TV shows are not limited to those from USA networks.

She let me research. It was Invader Zim. I've never heard of that one! Guessing two letters around the "i" in "Zim" would have sent my poor stick man to the great stick ball park in the sky.

Some players don't like it if there opponents do that.
I don't look things up myself, but it wouldn't bother me if an opponent did.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I'll ask my opponent how she feels about it and honor her decision.

Honorable

I'm having (losing) a game with bw5550. Game (#8174789).
I've just come across something that would appear to let me avoid losing.
If the game drags on I will resign, but it may be something that needs to be looked at if it is not desired for draws to be possible.

While bw5550 is winning 24-21 I have two seeds on my side of the board, it seems that it is possible for me to perpetually keep them there, allowing my opponent to only have one seed on their side and prevent any further captures from occurring.

I don't know if the 24 point victory will kick in after a certain number of moves...

perhaps you could post this in mancala and not hangman

Oops! I thought I had...
I'd like to say the game was going better for me than the post, but...

maybe you could spell words with the stones?

In game #8047882 of Thermatic Hangman Trisha Yearwood's name was misspelled. It was spelled as Trisia Yearwood instead. The puzzle was Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

#8205166 - SMOKY should be SMOKEY

Depends, if they are talking about the mountains or the national park, then it is Smoky WITHOUT an E

Game #8170870 has TWO sets of them. CREAM and U2.

What does it mean to "Doze off the Record"?

Looks like you're playing Matching Middles...

Doze Off
Off The Record

The identification as such would have been a great help.

Sorry, I put this message below the wrong question. It should have been here.

What category are you playing? For instance is it Multiword Phrases?

There are some Matching Middles that found their way into the Multiword Phrases list.

If that is the case, Marcmandy will appreciate you sending him a message about it so he can put the phrase where it belongs.

And, no, he couldn't possibly have proofread all the thousands of entries. He has done a remarkable job compiling the lists.

This is the one that was in "Multiword Phrases".

multiword phrases is sort of like "anything goes"

Yes, -except- that the matching middles (or before and after, if you prefer) do not belong in the multiword phrases list. (ie: used motorcycle gang (used motorcycle, motorcycle gang))
So Marcmandy likes to know about them so he can move them to the proper list.

The all-seeing, but know-nothing ME hath indeed seen this and added it to the new list for repair. Yes, Multi-word means anything goes, but I try to pull out those pesky "matching middle" phrases that keep popping out on the multi-list. I have to build a better fence around those "matching middles" cause the critters keep escaping, but time is at such a premium, and besides, building fences is hard work...

ps- if you message me, it gets on the list quicker because I check my messages daily. I only check-in on this DG periodically.

on game #7986545 you have spelled Pennsylvania wrong on both of my completed games for 5000 US Cities..1st answer was Blakely, Pennyslvania and 2nd answer was California Pennyslvania..please correct the spelling..thank you

Has no one proof-read these answers?

What category are you playing? For instance is it Multiword Phrases?
There are some Matching Middles that found their way into the Multiword Phrases list.
If that is the case, Marcmandy will appreciate you sending him a message about it so he can put the phrase where it belongs.
And, no, he couldn't possibly have proofread all the thousands of entries. He has done a remarkable job compiling the lists.

It was Multiword Phrases.
After I play my last Hangman and or variant game I would be happy to volunteer to proofread all the answers.
I will then of course not play them here again.

I'd rather not deprive you of the fun of playing! We'll keep doing it this way, but remember that I've produced all of these lists and have proofed them as best I could, but there are tens of thousands of entries...

You pholks are my proofreaders! Enjoy!

If you ever change your mind the offer stands.

do I receive the Eagle Eye Token?

in game #7826509 I won with the phrase "With This Ring".......less than 5 minutes after My Fiance went home, after making some wedding plans! She made them....I just nodded a lot (j/k)
47 years of Bachelorhood, but She was well worth the wait 8^) Almost feels like I had an unfair advantage, lol.

I'll just take it as a sign, since I started playing Gt when it still only had 5 games and had less than 1000 players.

CONGRATULATIONS!