a Jumble button

[mymermaid]

Hi there !!!

I don't know if you anyone has brought this subject up in the past ... but have you ever thought of a button that could jumble the letters around?

I'd like to hear your input on this.

Thanks
Mandy

[anonsi]

I agree.  To work around the lack of a shuffle or jumble button, I randomly type the letters in and don't submit the "word".  That way, I can see the letters in a different order, but it doesn't affect my hit rate.

-anonsi

[bobbi]

Most really good anagramers, e.g. professional Scrabble players (and no, I'm not one of them,) will tell you that the best way to get consistent maximum results is to mentally arrange the letters alphabetically.

Then to mentally shuffle them so that they're still in alpha order, but in two groups - one consonants and one vowels.

A jumble button would involve a lot of IT effort for a very minor benefit. I think our esteemed webmaster has probably got better things to do with his time.

[Viz]

i think it would be a good idea! i cant do all that mental re arranging - i have to type the letters in and move thme around to see if anything looks like it might be a word - and as ypu can see i'm not a very good typist

[Alan W]

Thanks for raising this idea for discussion, Mandy. It's starting to look like an idea whose time has come.

As for me having better things to do with my time, bobbi, one of the things I spend about an hour doing every day is playing Chihuahua. So if I can make the game more satisfying to play, it's in my own interests.

(Incidentally, I recently watched the 2004 documentary Word Wars: Trials and Tribulations on the Scrabble Circuit and I feel sure I saw some of the top players rearranging the letters on their racks. So mental shuffling doesn't always do the trick, even for Scrabble champs.)

So, I think you can expect to see a letter shuffling button introduced before long. But please feel free to continue the discussion here in the meantime.

[bobbi]

You're right Alan, I do recall that he said they physically arrange the letters on their racks. This was from a fascinating book I read a couple of years back written by a Wall Street Journal sports writer - now there's a novel job description - called Word Freak by Stephen Fatsis.

The point I was trying to make was more about the optimum type of arrangement, i.e. alpha rather than haphazard shuffling.

Anyway, we're not playing Scrabble here 

I know of only 2 other websites that offer a Chihuahua-type game. Both are syndicated postings of Target Word which appears daily in many print newspapers around the world (and incidentally was my initial introduction to word games when I was about six.) Neither of them is anywhere near as player-friendly as Chihuahua. And of course, neither has the community feel of being able to see others' scores for comparison, let alone have access to a Forum!

Thanks for all your efforts Alan - you do realise that you've created a monster?  The seriously hooked (and judging from the list of regular names there are many of these,) might become quite distressed if your website disappeared permanently.

[Alan W]

I read Word Freak too. It's more interesting than the documentary, although they cover similar ground. In fact they feature a lot of the same players, which makes me suspect they are singling out the most eccentric individuals, and so giving a somewhat distorted view of tournament Scrabble players. Still, they're both worth a look I thought.

[Angeline]

I think a jumble button would be a good idea

[Gaye]

Thanks Alan - the shuffle function is great!

[Alan W]

I was a bit skeptical, but it does seem to help.

Or at least that's what I found while testing it. The acid test is, can we find all 3 nine-letter words that seem to be possible in today's Standard puzzle? Well you've already got two of them Gaye, but I haven't started playing yet, so time will tell.

[Gaye]

Good luck with the third word Alan.  It's been bugging me ever since I noticed there was a third one.  I think it must be a new word for me!