Playing Online Games

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For months, neighbor Shawn, niece Chrissie and I have played two New York Times games together. We compare Wordle and Connections by sharing our results with each other. We can’t see the letters we used, only colored tiles. I think we are quite evenly matched. Almost every day one of us could fail a game, although sometimes we all do well. It’s a fun thing, not cut-throat competition. I have miserable results in Connections whenever a group involves sports, movies, or TV. The others do much better than I do in those areas. If I have a strong point, I don’t know what it is.

Often we are disappointed in ourselves because we missed something we should have known. I decided to cut little pieces of paper and write the 16 words of Connections on them. Surely it would help to push the words around while hunting for a common theme for each set of four. If I found a set I was sure of, I’d push those four words to one side. I did that and immediately found one set. Taking those words out of play made it much easier to spot the connections of the other sets. In seconds I finished the game with perfect results. I was shocked. I shared my results with the others and explained what I had done. I decided it was cheating. I’m sure I wouldn’t have done as well if I had shifted things around in my head. Was it the writing of each word? Was it being able to instantly group things because they were not connected as they were on the screen? I have no idea, but I know I was going at warp speed. That felt REALLY GOOD!

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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81 thoughts on “Playing Online Games”

  5. Well-done, Anne! Using paper and actually writing helps me think a little bit better because like you, I used paper for decades before a screen. I miss printed pages, now that we are a near-paperless society, especially in the workplace. I wouldn’t consider it cheating!

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  6. I like playing Wordle and hate when I break my streak! The longest streak I had was 42 days and I missed on two words which both could have fit and I chose the wrong word. I stopped playing Connections as I don’t know enough about pop culture like TV shows, movies, even a lot of music that I don’t listen to … sports, forget about it. I also do Spelling Bee. I like the online game Word Wipe and I try to do an online crossword puzzle as well, that is not as consistent as the others. Gotta keep using our brains!

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          1. That’s how I am with Solitaire – I forgot to mention Solitaire. Now I like the Klondike version, but you’ll laugh about this. I saved my downloaded Jacquie Lawson Christmas Advent calendar because I like their Solitaire. Klondike asks me to review it and when I try (and I have tried several times to do so), I can’t get to a place to put comments.

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      2. Vero, perhaps I should try again. I was doing pretty poorly, so I decided to quit. I still enjoy Wordle and Spelling Bee, Solitaire and Word Wipe (have you ever tried it?) I have started doing an online crossword puzzle too – all to keep my brain active, just like you.

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        1. Lots of the words especially in the purple row, are things that I have never even heard of, so I look them up to see what they mean. Sometimes the meaning helps to catagorize them.
          Yes by all means give it another try. You aren’t alone at doing poorly.
          I just heard of Word Wipe today. I am going to check it out as soon as I get some free time.
          I work jigsaw puzzles online, just small ones that I can do in about five minutes or so.

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          1. Sometimes when I do Wordle, the only word that might fit in is something I’ve never heard of, so I have to Google it. I will try Connections again. There are several Word Wipe puzzles out there. The one I gave Ann works the best. I’ll put it in a separate comment to you so you don’t have to scroll back to my original comment. I have tried the small jigsaw puzzles too – any bigger and it’s difficult to keep them all on the screen (I use a laptop).

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              1. Well I did well in Wordle today – three lines and that never happens. My starter word had three letters, but I did not do so well in Connections … I only got the easy one about the South (won’t mention it in case you’ve not done it yet).

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                  2. I forgot to go to Connections today. I usually do Spelling Bee right after Wordle and it’s where I go first when I get online. I have to get into the mindset for Connections again. Today was a jumbled-up day. I haven’t even done Solitaire or Word Wipe yet. Feel my forehead!

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              1. I’ll have to try that then – I’d like to be able to do that if I could see what I’m doing – it is like doing the puzzle blindly the other way, especially if you use the picture as a reference as it takes up space in the corner.

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                  1. Thank you for the link Vero – I have bookmarked it to try tomorrow. I was late getting here today, an errand-filled day which ended up badly when my car door handle came loose and I had to climb in from the passenger side. The car is 17 years old, but only has 15,200 miles on it. 🙂

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                    2. Really! I’ve never had this happen before … I wish you could have seen the look on my face when it happened! Why don’t they secure the handles better for goodness sake!

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                    4. Anne – do you remember if fixing Snot the three times was an all-day affair, or did you have the repair done in conjunction with other car repairs? I was flustered when I took the car over to the shop and he said “sure we can fix it up – just come in Thursday morning after 8:00 a.m.” He said that last time, in May, when I had the small leak and left it sitting there three days before he sent it to his brother’s body shop for the “fix” from where someone gouged me. I came home from grocery shopping, put everything away and felt, for the first time in three weeks, since the tornado/70 mph wind damage that caused the dead tree to lose the big limb and caused other issues, not to mention the string of contractors to the house since September 3rd, that finally, I had time to myself, time which I sorely need because really there has just been way too much going on here the entire year.

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                    6. Okay, that’s good … I’m thinking it will be unreasonable too. I hope there is no painting involved because I had the car at the body shop for for 2 1/2 weeks. I took the car in to get a new battery and it had a small leak which I was worried about but they never looked at for several days. Since I wrote you this message, the generator did not exercise/do its self-test properly. It shut off after 1 minute for the same problem I just got fixed two weeks ago and has been problematic in the past (oil pressure valve and losing oil; I just got a new oil pressure valve on the 9th of September) I am so done with this year.

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                    8. I hope so too Anne. I was really looking forward to Thursday, sunny and clear skies, cooler, followed by a slew of nice days … if I don’t get out soon, I will run out of photos for posts and I hope that doesn’t happen! So now Thursday is dealing with the car door and next Tuesday, the generator issue.

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                    12. We have a gorgeous day here … it was cold, mid-50s. I was going to wait at the car repair shop, but he said it might take hours, into this afternoon, so I had a short walk and came home. Good thing as they just called – it won’t be ready for a few hours yet. The door handle had to be replaced, not just tightened. And I took in one of the key fobs as it needed a battery and the key fob is broken and I need a new key fob … $435.00 for both. What a year!

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                    14. It ended up being $450.00 for the car – they now charge a credit card fee. They had to put on a new handle ($89.00) and it was 2.5 hours of labor. On top of it, I thought my key fob needed a new battery and it was broken inside (the last person that put the battery in, must have put it in wrong and damaged the inside). So I had to get a new key fob ($81.00). I have two key fobs, but keep this one separate for when I have to take the car in for service. I told them how Snot had three handles in its lifetime – they showed me the handle when I paid. It had plastic inside and the plastic pieces had snapped off. I said I thought they made cars better 17 years ago.

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                    16. That’s interesting. I’ve never heard of that happening before – I told the guy at Engine Tech that I hope it lasts the duration of the car. When I had the Pacer, it had cloth seats in a cream color with an Southwest design. The car was all windows and I parked in the driveway as my father was still here and had his 1972 Chevy Impala in the garage. I took the bus to school, so it was in the driveway in the sun a lot. The seats rotted and I took pictures and send them to American Motors and said they should not have done this within a couple of years and they had me take it to the dealership and they ordered new seats, not just the covers.

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                    20. I will … they are both an inconvenience but my most worrisome item on my plate right now it the big dead tree behind me. I have pictures of this 10-foot limb sticking out of my bushes and the part of the dead limb from this very tall, diseased tree is the part that was attached to the tree itself, as the branches from the limb are tangled in the utility wires. Comcast has still not come to deal with it we had a lot of storm damage in the area. I sent an e-mail to the City with pictures that I took of the damage and they have sent someone out to inspect it and given the homeowners a notice that the tree has to be removed by November. I consulted with a tree cutter about the price before the City made their determination – it will be $7,500.00 to cut the tree to the ground; $6,000.00 if they leave it 8-10 feet above ground. I would have considered paying $2,000.00, maybe $3,000.00 because this tree is starting to list and I’m afraid it will fall onto my property and demolish the house. The only good thing about the tree limb falling is that I could see it had no bark and it had beetle borer holes and hieroglyphics on the bare wood … I Googled and learned it was birth borer disease, so the tree cutter has to get a crane and special scaffolding to take the tree down as they can’t climb on it. I’m very nervous about what’s going to happen and how long before the removal happens. The City would contract with a tree specialist to deal with it – but when? When I asked “how will I know the outcome in November” … the chief ordinance officer said “well, won’t it be obvious?” I held my tongue.

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                    22. I held my tongue Anne because I am grateful the City is taking action (hopefully not in slow motion) and issuing the homeowners a notice to have it taken down. I would have thought the Chief Ordinance Office understood my question – it is a woman by the way and she was sarcastic a few times, but you know if you want something you just deal with it – sigh. Yes, I’m sure it will take a complete day or longer to take the tree down – it is huge, very tall and diseased. On a brighter note, I came home from dropping the car off and a short walk and went in the backyard and Comcast has come and taken the dead tree branches out of the wire and also removed the 10-foot limb from my yard – that surprised me. Made me happy too as the guy I use for gutters and trimming high bushes wanted $250.00 to take it out and chop it up. So, I am $250.00 richer, but … as you’ll see in the other comment, I had to get a new car door handle and a new key fob.

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                    24. I was glad too – so that worked out that the guy could not get here when he said he would be here. I never expected Comcast to remove it. But another tree branch has gotten caught in the wires, so I’m not sure whether to call them or not. My internet is still affected, but they are doing general maintenance on the 28th of September, but it is overnight. Hopefully it helps. I may wait until after they do that. It’s been windy the last two days here.

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                    28. That coupled with all types of severe weather – we used to have one severe storm every Summer, that was about it, usually in the Dog Days of August as it was so hot, but now it is so commonplace.

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          2. Vero, I’ve seen a version of Word Wipe on the AARP page, but I like this one and I do it twice a day. They have more words that are “acceptable” than Spelling Bee has. Spelling Bee says words are not allowed, but they are real words. P.S. – You can turn the noise off. I’m a creature that likes peace and quiet and it drove me crazy! For Lent every year, I give up Word Wipe and Solitaire – that is a big concession!

            https://games.washingtonpost.com/games/word-wipe

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              1. I’m glad you tried it Anne! I love playing it and play twice a day and it is addictive – that’s why I give it and Solitaire up for Lent. I play it with the music off as it drives me nuts as I’m getting into the higher tiers and struggling to go to the next level without using bombs.

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                  1. I just went and played it. Had to have my “fix”! There are a lot of words I have learned that are spelled differently than we do. Trial and error but they “accept” the word “fon” or “fone” for phone, or “dof” for “doff” … and you can spell different letters of the alphabet like “zee” or “ach” for the letter “H” or “eff” for the letter “F” … lots of words you can use as you go along.

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