Page 19 of 25
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 5:38 pm
by Ergcat
Scraps wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 4:01 pm
In my view, anyone who wants to submit may submit, regardless of whether the solution was reached via nudge, Google, or phoning a friend.
The expected monetary value of a correct contest submission is less than one cent (1/1000 chance times $10 value of mug).
One cent isn't worth worrying about.
Fairly new here ... I have a question about the coveted mug. If perchance I ever win one, is it common practice to let my fellow muggles know that I won ....or is humility and keeping that secret the better route ??
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 5:47 pm
by sf592000
SReh26 wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:16 pm
sf592000 wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:13 pm
We’ll after a solid streak of at least recognizing the mechanism, I’m solidly at sea. Perhaps the oft mentioned “second shot” haze has claimed another victim as I received mine on Thursday afternoon. Anyone willing to give a nudge is greatly appreciated!
At your service. I know the least of anyone here, but I know this one!
Appreciate the nudge. Onshore! -- but not submitting
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 5:47 pm
by Joe Ross
Ergcat wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:38 pm
Scraps wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 4:01 pm
In my view, anyone who wants to submit may submit, regardless of whether the solution was reached via nudge, Google, or phoning a friend.
The expected monetary value of a correct contest submission is less than one cent (1/1000 chance times $10 value of mug).
One cent isn't worth worrying about.
Fairly new here ... I have a question about the coveted mug. If perchance I ever win one, is it common practice to let my fellow muggles know that I won ....or is humility and keeping that secret the better route ??
SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS & MAKE IT YOUR ICON!
Trust me: Nobody here will criticize you in the least.
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 5:52 pm
by John77
SReh26 wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 3:57 pm
DrTom wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 3:49 pm
Horsesense wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 11:22 am
Ashore.
I didn’t see anyone mention another “nudge rule”...
“If you receive a ‘nudge’ or ‘check’ then please do not submit an answer”
Well my feeling is that if you get a “check” (I.e. your mechanism and answer is correct) then You did solve and SHOULD submit. If you were REALLY close and the check or nudges made it clear enough to submit the you should. If the nudge/check moved you 180 degrees or more then no because submitting at that point doesn’t really represent your thoughts but rather your budgers thoughts, if you Do submit you must include THAT you got help though not WHO helped.
An economist should study this situation. Hundreds of people devoting considerable brainpower, time and attention to this frustrating torture, hoping to win something costing at best around 59 cents.
Clearly, monetary reward isn’t motivating us. Glory seems to be at least part of it. Community. Challenge. Meaning. Self regard. Fame??? I’m the first to say, the feeling when you get it right on your own - which Ive only done once, mind you, since I’m obviously new here - is priceless!
I’m hooked by the way, this is not a criticism.
I do make a nonquantitative marginal utility calculation after completing the grid, when approaching the meta. And I'm starting to wait until Sunday to start the grid, which helps me avoid obsessing until the end of the weekend.
Besides, if you wait until the last minute to do something, it only takes a minute.
Cheers to all.
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 6:02 pm
by Michelle B
I'm ashore just in time for a pre-dinner cocktail. I was lost at sea since Friday, had to resort to reference materials to complete the grid, which hasn't happened in a very long time. On to the meta...and nothing. In between tax return reviews today, I took another look, and found my toehold to the what-I-hope-is-the correct answer. Now I have to go fill in all of the rabbit holes lest I hurt myself.
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 6:08 pm
by Wendy Walker
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:47 pm
SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS & MAKE IT YOUR ICON!
Trust me: Nobody here will criticize you in the least.
Joe speaks my mind!
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 6:19 pm
by SReh26
Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 6:08 pm
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:47 pm
SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS & MAKE IT YOUR ICON!
Trust me: Nobody here will criticize you in the least.
Joe speaks my mind!
EPIC!
(a word you all know from the crosswords)
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 6:35 pm
by Scott Lindholm
An opossum--my daughter will be extremely jealous (I just texted your response and pic to her), since that's what she likes seeing the most.
Janet P wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 10:58 am
Scott Lindholm wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 8:27 pm
First time on shore in about a month, so it'll be crowded. I'm vaccinated, so you can have a beer or ten with me.
And, fresh from the wilds of urban Chicago...
My daughter moved from the urban wilds of The Windy City (first Skokie, then the Ravenswood neighborhood) to the southern urban wilds of St. Petersburg, Florida. She kept hearing noises in the crawl space under her house and set up a webcam. This is the first she's seen of her guests during daylight!Alma's possums.png
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 6:47 pm
by anaerobe
John77 wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:52 pm
Besides, if you wait until the last minute to do something, it only takes a minute.
Your logic takes me back to my college years. With the start of each new semester, I reasoned:
The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up!
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 6:47 pm
by mikeh
It's been a few weeks since I've checked in with the contest, but on shore for this one!
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 6:53 pm
by JeanneC
And now for something completely different!
I was doing the weekend crossword thinking I had finished all sections of the paper. However, after taking a break on the weekend puzzle, I turned the page over and saw an article on a book titled “A Mathematician’s Apology” by GH Hardy. What I found interesting and, perhaps, apropos of muggledom was the following from the review:”How then to describe mathematical aesthetics? Hardy suggested similarities with chess (‘even if it is a beauty of a comparatively lowly kind’), bridge or, ‘descending further’ wIth ‘the puzzle columns of the popular newspapers’. A dazzling endgame, an elegant slam or an intricate crossword—these are as near as we may approach Hardy’s transporting ideal of mathematical beauty”.
I like this guy Hardy!
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 6:57 pm
by BarbaraK
Ergcat wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:38 pm
Fairly new here ... I have a question about the coveted mug. If perchance I ever win one, is it common practice to let my fellow muggles know that I won ....or is humility and keeping that secret the better route ??
The next best thing to winning is seeing a fellow muggle win. Yes, tell us! Let us all celebrate with you.
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 7:00 pm
by mheberlingx100
anaerobe wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 6:47 pm
John77 wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:52 pm
Besides, if you wait until the last minute to do something, it only takes a minute.
Your logic takes me back to my college years. With the start of each new semester, I reasoned:
The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up!
I am reminded of the Pennsylvania Dutch phrase (more by sentence construction than meaning) - The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 7:05 pm
by mheberlingx100
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:47 pm
Ergcat wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 5:38 pm
Scraps wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 4:01 pm
In my view, anyone who wants to submit may submit, regardless of whether the solution was reached via nudge, Google, or phoning a friend.
The expected monetary value of a correct contest submission is less than one cent (1/1000 chance times $10 value of mug).
One cent isn't worth worrying about.
Fairly new here ... I have a question about the coveted mug. If perchance I ever win one, is it common practice to let my fellow muggles know that I won ....or is humility and keeping that secret the better route ??
SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS & MAKE IT YOUR ICON!
Trust me: Nobody here will criticize you in the least.
My way of thinking - each week a thousand or more people will successfully solve the meta. So if you win the coveted mug from a random draw of over a thousand people, you will not be bragging about your puzzle solving ability, but celebrating your good fortune. I say, celebrate as loudly as you want!
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 7:44 pm
by KscX
Ashore but OOOOF. This one hurts. I got there after a conference with my puzzle pod but only give myself 1/2 credit, AND THUS, by self-imposed reality... I am considering my streak broken. I attribute it to travel on the weekend, the stress of tax season, and it was just time for the bubble to burst. So this one is a 3/5 star for me! But next time- NEXT TIME- I’ve got this particular mechanism.
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 7:57 pm
by HunterX
DrTom wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 3:49 pm
... If the nudge/check moved you 180 degrees or more then no because submitting at that point doesn’t really represent your thoughts but rather your budgers thoughts, if you Do submit you must include THAT you got help though not WHO helped.
So, more than 180 degrees, don't submit? What if... um... that 'more' made it 360 and you're right back where you started?
As McCoy said in the original Star Trek, "I'm a DOCTOR, not a mathematician!"
I don't know that he said that.
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 8:00 pm
by anaerobe
JeanneC wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 6:53 pm
And now for something completely different!
I was doing the weekend crossword thinking I had finished all sections of the paper. However, after taking a break on the weekend puzzle, I turned the page over and saw an article on a book titled “A Mathematician’s Apology” by GH Hardy. What I found interesting and, perhaps, apropos of muggledom was the following from the review:”How then to describe mathematical aesthetics? Hardy suggested similarities with chess (‘even if it is a beauty of a comparatively lowly kind’), bridge or, ‘descending further’ wIth ‘the puzzle columns of the popular newspapers’. A dazzling endgame, an elegant slam or an intricate crossword—these are as near as we may approach Hardy’s transporting ideal of mathematical beauty”.
I like this guy Hardy!
I read that article too. It reminded me of grad school-we wanted our work to be described as
Elegant. An elegant experiment would provide an explanation that was exacting and precise, meaning fewer/simple words were better than many/complex words. However, that explanation would also be powerfully descriptive and even a bit clever. Some of these puzzles seem impossible until the answer presents itself, then I wonder how I didn't see it all along. They also seem to have both art and science: art in that they require imagination and the more you do them the better you get, science in that there are rules to follow and tools to use.
I think I like Hardy too...and crosswords....and Monty Python!
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 8:01 pm
by Tom Shea
Scott Lindholm wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 6:35 pm
An opossum--my daughter will be extremely jealous (I just texted your response and pic to her), since that's what she likes seeing the most.
Janet P wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 10:58 am
Scott Lindholm wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 8:27 pm
First time on shore in about a month, so it'll be crowded. I'm vaccinated, so you can have a beer or ten with me.
And, fresh from the wilds of urban Chicago...
My daughter moved from the urban wilds of The Windy City (first Skokie, then the Ravenswood neighborhood) to the southern urban wilds of St. Petersburg, Florida. She kept hearing noises in the crawl space under her house and set up a webcam. This is the first she's seen of her guests during daylight!Alma's possums.png
American marsupial
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 8:28 pm
by anaerobe
HunterX wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 7:57 pm
DrTom wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 3:49 pm
... If the nudge/check moved you 180 degrees or more then no because submitting at that point doesn’t really represent your thoughts but rather your budgers thoughts, if you Do submit you must include THAT you got help though not WHO helped.
So, more than 180 degrees, don't submit? What if... um... that 'more' made it 360 and you're right back where you started?
You would return 'right back where you started' only if we exist in a
hypertoros universe (see image). I believe the consensus is that the universe does not exhibit such a closed hypersurface topology, rather it is likely flat and extends to infinity.
I could go on, but I seem to have developed a sudden, inexplicable craving for some Dunkin'.....
Re: "Bit Parts" May 7, 2021
Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 9:01 pm
by Bob cruise director
Scraps wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 3:49 pm
Was on a literal boat when the puzzle came out Thursday. Disembarked yesterday. Arrived home this afternoon.
Obviously, the meta commanded my attention before the two week's worth of unread mail. Ashore. Fun puzzle.
If you are like me, even this meta took longer than sorting and throwing out two weeks worth of mail.
