A Word Game  

Posted by Jude Emblem

Ok, here's the rules. Take the name of our blog, TradCats, and see how many words you can make from it. Points are awarded for each word according to the number of letters used i.e. a = 1 point, at = 2 points etc. A bonus of 10 points will be awarded for the longest word. Have fun!

This entry was posted on February 06, 2010 at Saturday, February 06, 2010 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

26 comments

tad, sat

February 7, 2010 at 8:52 AM

im not evensure why im trying this cause i know ines,the boggle/scrabble queen, can beat me anytime but its good to try

February 7, 2010 at 7:47 PM

scar
cars
car
cart
carts
tart
tarts
rat
dart
darts
attar
attars
tar
tars
star
start
sad
sat

Are Latin words fair? If so,
"ASTRA" and "CASTRA" come to mind...

okay, enough for the first five minutes I guess. :P

February 7, 2010 at 8:08 PM

cataracts

February 8, 2010 at 6:17 AM

Bubblefeet: The trick is to use the same words Agnes uses and then find a really long word to beat her! =)
Agnes: Not bad for five minutes. 74 points?
Edward: Ah, we can only use as many letters as are in the word. =)

February 8, 2010 at 10:35 AM

aa, 3 points
aas, 4 points
ac, 3 points
acad, 5 points
ad, 3 points
adar, 5 points
ar, 3 points
ara, 4 points
arad, 5 points
arca, 5 points
as, 3 points
astart, 7 points
atta, 5 points
attar, 6 points
attars, 7 points
cad, 4 points
car, 4 points
casa, 5 points
dar, 4 points
darac, 6 points
das, 4 points
raad, 5 points
rad, 4 points
rada, 5 points
ras, 4 points
rasa, 5 points
saa, 4 points
sac, 4 points
sacra, 6 points
sacrad, 7 points
sad, 4 points
sar, 4 points
sattar, 7 points
scad, 5 points
scar, 5 points
srac, 5 points
stat, 5 points
strata, 7 points
tat, 4 points
tatar, 6 points
tatars, 7 points
total points: 198

Can I do other languages too? :)

February 8, 2010 at 12:42 PM

Are all of those even words? You know, if you just did all the possible permutations, you would win... it's not that complicated, theoretically... I'm just too lazy to do it. Don't you have some nifty gadget I can plug it in to? :P

February 8, 2010 at 5:28 PM

Yes, Rocio, they are all words according to the word lists I have. I've improved my (UGLY) code now. I get different results depending on which dictionary I use. On Mac OS X, I get 398 points. On Linux, I get 754 points.

Mac OS X: a, aa, act, acta, ad, adat, ar, ara, arad, arc, arca, art, as, ast, asta, astart, at, atta, attar, c, ca, cad, car, carat, card, cart, cast, castra, cat, d, da, dar, darac, darat, darst, dart, darts, das, data, drat, r, ra, raad, rad, rada, ras, rasa, rat, rata, s, sa, saa, sac, sacra, sacrad, sad, sadr, sar, sard, sart, sat, scad, scar, scart, scat, scrat, st, star, start, stra, stract, strad, strata, t, ta, taa, taar, tact, tad, tar, tara, tars, tart, tat, tra, tract, tsar, tst

Linux: a, aa, aas, ac, acad, acast, act, acta, acts, ad, adar, adat, adc, ads, ar, ara, arad, arc, arca, arcs, ars, art, arts, as, ast, asta, astart, astr, at, atar, att, atta, attar, attars, c, ca, cad, cads, car, carat, carats, card, cards, cars, cart, carts, casa, cast, castra, cat, cats, cd, cdr, cr, crs, crts, cs, cst, ct, ctr, cts, d, da, dar, darac, darat, darst, dart, darts, das, dat, data, dc, dca, dr, drat, drats, ds, dsr, dt, r, ra, raad, rad, rada, rads, ras, rasa, rat, rata, rats, rc, rcd, rct, rd, rs, rt, s, sa, saa, sac, sacra, sacrad, sad, sadr, sar, sard, sart, sat, sata, satd, sattar, sc, scad, scar, scart, scat, scatt, scr, scrat, sct, sctd, sd, sr, srac, st, sta, stad, star, start, stat, std, str, stra, stract, strad, strata, t, ta, taa, taar, tact, tacts, tad, tads, tar, tara, tars, tart, tarts, tas, tat, tatar, tatars, tats, tc, tdr, tr, tra, trac, tract, tracts, trad, trs, trt, ts, tsar, tst

February 8, 2010 at 5:37 PM

Alas, looks like I am overcounting. I counted an extra character for each one. D'oh! My real winnings are 586 for Linux and 310 on Mac OS X:

[cory@supermicro ~]$ j=0; for i in `egrep '^[tradcats]*$' /usr/share/dict/words | egrep '^[^t]*t?[^t]*t?[^t]*$' | egrep '^[^a]*a?[^a]*a?[^a]*$' | egrep '^[^r]*r?[^r]*$' | egrep '^[^d]*d?[^d]*$' | egrep '^[^c]*c?[^c]*$' | egrep '^[^s]*s?[^s]*$'`; do echo -n "$i"; done | wc -c
586

ave-maria:~ cory$ j=0; for i in `egrep '^[tradcats]*$' /usr/share/dict/words | egrep '^[^t]*t?[^t]*t?[^t]*$' | egrep '^[^a]*a?[^a]*a?[^a]*$' | egrep '^[^r]*r?[^r]*$' | egrep '^[^d]*d?[^d]*$' | egrep '^[^c]*c?[^c]*$' | egrep '^[^s]*s?[^s]*$'`; do echo -n "$i"; done | wc -c
310

February 8, 2010 at 5:41 PM

holy smokers!!!!!!! i give up im not even gonna try now!!!!!!!!!!!

February 8, 2010 at 6:11 PM

Cory cheated -- he used a machine! Therefore he is disqualified and so far I'm still on top...

February 8, 2010 at 9:27 PM

Oh my! This is quite extraordinary.

Agnes has posted on this blog *without* *using* *a* *machine*!! ;)

Tell me, what is it like using the Internet without a machine at all? I mean, what is it like moving the bits with the sheer power of your mind?

Or do you still hold the network cord with your hands and signal the 1s and 0s with electrical pulses? Pssshaw. Even I can do that. ;)

Seriously though, why are we adding rules after the fact? What is this, baseball and steroids? ;)

February 8, 2010 at 9:45 PM

I suppose it would be left to a matter of conscience then.

February 8, 2010 at 11:26 PM

MWAHAHAHAHA! I have exposed Edward's evilness!!! jk. That's what I woulda done. Whether by computer or manually don't make much difference, I think. :P

February 9, 2010 at 12:37 PM

There is a simple solution for all of this to take away any discord. Just have three divisions. Junior, Senior (for high school graduates), and... Algorithmic. So far bubblefeet is ahead in the Junior division, Agnes in the Senior, and yours truly in the Algorithmic.

I could win in the Senior division if I applied my algorithm by hand, and since there is no time limit, I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader. ;)

February 9, 2010 at 6:19 PM

I thought we weren't adding rules after the fact?

February 9, 2010 at 6:26 PM

I'm not adding any rules, merely proposing them. If rules are to be added, I'd rather they be ones I like. :)

February 9, 2010 at 6:27 PM

of course so *you* can win edward

February 9, 2010 at 6:49 PM

bubblefeet, keep in mind that you win too with this arrangement :)

February 9, 2010 at 7:27 PM

You know what I meant, Edward, don't be silly... the idea is to come up with words using your brains, not an algorithm!!!

February 10, 2010 at 11:41 AM

I apologize for not being clearer.
While the game is designed to be played without the use of algorithms, it is still something I probably would not have been personally able to figure out. If we all used it though, then there would not be any clear winner right? The game was meant to be fun, but all we've done is argue over rules. I know we are all just kidding here right? My apologies for not presenting a clearer structure. =(

There is another contest though with an upcoming deadline. *Hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge* ;)

February 10, 2010 at 1:51 PM

ok im good with those rules then edward

February 10, 2010 at 3:46 PM

yah, GOSH! don't you people know how to have FUN! *SIGH* :P

Yah, deadline... hmmmm.... how much ya wanna bet everybody finishes it an hour before the deadline? :)

PROCRASTINATORS UNITE!!!!!!!!!!!
(tomorrow.)

February 10, 2010 at 9:46 PM

lol

February 11, 2010 at 3:33 PM

cat trad rad

February 13, 2010 at 1:45 PM

It is one thing to use a machine to find a thing and another to use it to communicate it.

February 26, 2010 at 7:44 AM

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