"Do you know how non-PLACE he was?"

Here's my post on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments for yesterday.

Wordle 964 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 SHONE   193 WL

⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨 TRAIL         11 WL

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ DEBUG        4 WL

⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩 FLAME         2 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 PLACE

WordleBot

Skill 96/99

Luck 35/99

Streak 715

I don’t believe I’m suffering from manic depression — just expectations which have gotten out of control.  The Bot advised that “No one in our sample of 1,738,870 completed Wordles faced this scenario!” — and I should hope not.  I didn’t want to face it either. 

Guess #1 gave me only a Green E (193 solutions remaining) — but Guess #2 gave me enough info to get within striking distance of the solution (A - in position & L - out of position).  In fact, PLACE was the first word that came into my mind — but playing too hastily got me into trouble earlier in the week.  So I decided to get into trouble by overthinking things today instead.  

I knew from Game #873 (GLAZE on 11/9/2023)  that about 10 solutions remained after my second guess (OK, probably only 7 adjusting for previous & unlikely solutions) — I thought I should probably play it safe on Guess #3 and try to position myself for a “sure thing” in 4.  But DEBUG didn’t match any letters I didn’t already know about — and didn’t eliminate nearly enough words.  Now I was playing defensively, since solving in 4 wasn’t a sure thing — and a very big number seemed more likely.  So, instead of taking a risk, going with my gut, and playing PLACE — I used FLAME for Guess #4.  It didn’t solve — but I had finally weaseled my way to the right PLACE.  (The Bot claimed CLAVE was another possible solution but…give me a break!  CLAVE?  I don’t *think* so.)

I lost to The Bot (5 vs 2 — hoo boy!) and the (current) NYT avg (5 vs. 3.3).  I think I even lost my self respect (OK, that’s a little dramatic, I know).  Tomorrow is another day and all that. 

Take care and stay safe.

Finding Myself REPEL-lent

 

I just *hate* making an unforced error.  It's particularly dissappointing when the unforced error occurs only moments after determining the right thing to do -- but then NOT doing it.

To elaborate on this feeling of self-loathing, here's my post on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments for yesterday.

Wordle 961 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 SHONE   496 WL

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩 TRAIL          4 WL

🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩 REBEL         2 WL

🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩 REVEL         1 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 REPEL

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 38/99

Streak 712

Unforced errors are difficult for me to take.  But STUPID mistakes — where you KNOW the right thing to do — but don’t do it?  I’m REPEL-led by them.

After Guess #1 & #2 today, I was quite certain that 3 possible solutions remained.  “How could I be so sure?” you ask.  Because Game #629 (on 3/10/2023 — where REVEL was the solution) told me so.  I consulted my list of PU words just to be sure — because my brain had seized on the idea that Wordle might be tricky and pick solutions with a V two days in a row.  Nope — REBEL & REPEL were left.  If I got lucky, I could solve in 3 or settle for a par, at the worst.  So I played REBEL for Guess #3, exactly like The Bot.  But then…I didn’t do what I *knew* I had to do.  I didn’t play REBEL, like I was supposed to.  The man with the V’s in his bonnet played REVEL — just like The Bot (which keeps itself blissfully ignorant of previous solutions)!  I was so disappointed in myself.  I tied The Bot (adding insult to injury somehow) but was roundly defeated (as I deserved to be) by the (current) NYT avg (5 vs. 4.3).  

The journey to restore my self-image will already be underway, by the time you read this.  Hope your week started better than mine. 

Take care and stay safe.

WordleBot's Ever-Changing Dictionary

Nobody knows better than the New York Times the constantly shifting sands of the English language -- and yesterday saw those shifts cause changes in the behavior of WordleBot, the AI used to evaluate play in NYT's Wordle game (hereafter referred to as "The Bot").  If it seems like I think this is important news, let me apologize for misleading you.

It's not.

On the other hand, if you're a complete Wordle Nerd (as I am), it was a *bit* interesting.

I'm sharing my feedback on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments yesterday regarding this weighty matter --  

Wordle 936 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 SHONE   496 WL
⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜ TRAIL         10 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 BRIEF

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 57/99
Streak 687

The first change I noticed concerning yesterday’s updates to The Bot’s Dictionary was this:   Identifying E out of position as Letter 5 for Guess #1 left me 496 possible solutions instead of 492.  I stuck with my trusty TRIAL for Guess #2, finding R (in position) and I (out of position).  Based on The Bot’s feedback from Game #699 (GRIEF on 5/19/2023), I strongly suspected there were 3 high-probability solutions remaining (rather than the 10 later claimed by The Bot).  I decided to roll the dice and my suspense was BRIEF, as all the letters quickly turned green.  I tied The Bot and bested the (current) NYT avg by more than a full guess today (3 vs. 4.2). 

My hope for matching my 3-Guess and 4-Guess win totals at 300 still springs eternal (they currently stand at 297 vs 300).  If I can retain a “hot hand” through the weekend, this goal may yet be achieved.  

And now I see that The Bot has adjusted its play for Game #936 since I played early this morning.  With the result being that I BEAT The Bot (3 vs 4).  At first, I thought I had just erred while posting comments during the middle of the night.  But The Bot’s original solution was TRACE—DEFER—BRIEF, later changed to TRACE—DEFER—GRIEF—BRIEF.  Go figure.

Hope you are having a fine Friday. 

Take care and stay safe.

Stupid things I've done...and am(No. 93 in a continuing series)

Those of you who give attention to my life and activities (more than I do, as this post will indicate) might remember that the Ticketmaster website screwed me over on the purchase of some concert tickets a few months ago.


But Ticketmaster's screw job pales in comparison to what I did to MYSELF!

Because, as you can see above, concert tickets contain a lot of important information; they tell you what musician(s) are performing, where you're allowed to sit, the location of the event, and (I can't emphasize this last point enough) ...

The date and time of the event!

Any reasonable person knows that the only indispensable person at a Jackson Browne concert is...Jackson Browne.

If you're anybody else, you better show up at the time on your ticket.
And I know that. I understand the protocol.

So Monday (July 27, the day that I was supposed to be attending the Jackson Browne concert with the Middle-Aged Woman, our friends, Chico & (his daughter) C-One), I left work at 7 pm, got home around 7:30 pm, changed clothes, went out to get something to eat, came home, sat down at my desk to work on balancing the checking account, launched my browser and accidentally clicked on a link to Facebook where I saw C-One's comment about the concert that had started approximately 90 minutes earlier - that I was supposed to be at. And I realized at that moment, I was not giving my life the scrutiny it deserved.

I picked up the tickets (which have been sitting next to my computer monitor where I see them nearly every day) and sped to the room where the MAW lay throbbing (as usual).

Styro: Guess what? [Holds out concert tickets]
MAW: I thought the concert was tomorrow night.
Styro: No, it's today. [Hands tickets to MAW]

Perhaps it would have been better if I hadn't been reminded of the concert at all. I suspect the MAW felt that way - but she got in the car with me anyway.

I think of myself as a decent writer - but there are not enough words to express the incredible mix of emotions I felt as I drove 27.6 miles (according to my GPS) to the show. I tried to let my mind go blank as much as possible - because all of my thoughts were dark, angry and filled with self-loathing. Here's just a sample:

"What sort of idiot forgets about a concert when he's had the tickets sitting in front of him for 3 months?"

"What in the world can I say to Chico and Christie to explain this insanity? 'Oh, sorry - I guess you're just not important enough for me to bother remembering I was supposed to attend a concert with you tonight.'"

"We'll never make it in time. The show will be over."

"&*%$#()*&*^&%^&^&$*$(&(*^##!!%*)()*&$$*^%%^$&*%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I truly can't remember being more disgusted with myself since...

...since The Boy was small and left the house* while I was (supposedly) watching the kids - and walked out into a busy street before I could locate and catch him.

Anyway, I wasn't feeling too good. The only bright spots, in retrospect:

- I didn't drive like an idiot
- I kept quiet; no ranting and raving
- We didn't have to pay for parking (they don't really plan on people arriving two hours late), and
- The beauty of the music made me (briefly) happy

I wouldn't have thought it possible during the drive there - and it seemed like a distant memory during the drive home - but for a few minutes, as I listened to the music**, I was able to forget what a stupid idiot I was - and just enjoy the sound, the energy, the joy of a live performance, the uplift of a large group of people enjoying a shared experience. [Chico and Christie were very cool about the whole thing - just glad we hadn't ended up dead in a roadside ditch on the way to the show.]

If I get the opportunity again, I think I really need to show up at the time shown on the ticket.

Take care.


* I still can't believe he left the house by himself!
** The end of The Pretender (a personal favorite of mine - as we crossed the parking lot to the band shell), Running on Empty, I Am A Patriot ("The river rolls for the righteous...someday"), and The Load-Out.