Aut @aut@qoto.org

Who wants to play nimble, a two-player nim-like Wordle variant?

Here's how it works:

Instead of trying to guess a computer-generated target word, the players take turns writing down different five-letter words that fit all the previous clues; the first player unable to do so loses.

How are the clues chosen? Well, since the rule is that all words must fit the previous clues, once you've chosen a word, it determines the clues associated with your opponent's most recent word.

The clues relate to each letter in the word before the clue, and are one of these (using the same notation as this accessible text-based Wordle implementation https://eklhad.net/wordle.html — why aren't all Wordle implementations accessible, given that it's an essentially text-based game?):
= means that letter must be in that position from now on;
+ means that letter must be in the words from now on, but *not* in that position; and
- means that letter must *not* be in the words from now on.

Where a letter appears more than once in a word, the = and + symbols tell you how *many* times that letter must appear in subsequent words, the = symbols tell you where it *must* appear, and the + and - symbols tell you where it *must not* appear.

So, for example, if the first word is "geese" and the second word is "trees" the clue after "geese" must be:

g e e s e
- + = + -

The = under the middle e says that there must be an e in that position; the + under the first e says that there must be a second e in the word, but *not* in that position, and the - under the last e says that there *must not* be a third e in the word, and the second e *must not* be in that position. (Actually, the clue could have been - - = + +, which would have led to the same conclusions.)

So the next word couldn't be "sweat", because it has only one e, but it could be "sweet", in which case the game would look like this:

g e e s e
- + = + -

t r e e s
+ - = = +

s w e e t

(Exercise for the reader: Is another move possible after "sweet" in this example? If so, can the next player guarantee winning with their next move?)

Before starting a game, you need to agree on:
1. What determines what a valid word is.
2. To what extent you're allowed to search for words before making your move. (Can you search the word list for words that match the clues? Can you automate such a search? Can you automate a search of what subsequent moves would be possible? Do you have to reveal your source code?)
3. Who makes the first move.

My suggestions (at least for people playing in their first language) are:
1. Wiktionary (as at the time the first move is made).
2. If you think of a word, you can look it up to check it's valid, but you can't hunt the dictionary looking for words that might fit the clues. (A coding challenge for bot vs bot competitions might also be fun, but would be a very different game, from the humans' points of view.)
3. Choose randomly, or play two games, each getting to start one.

So... who wants to play?

Phillipa Soo (played Eliza Schuyler in the original cast) had a baby right after Hamilton came out on Disney+ in 2020, and I sincerely hope her ob/gyn entered the birthing room saying “I’d like to see the womb where it happened”

boost if you think it's cool to create software and repurpose hardware to subvert capitalism and the state

Gnight, frens.

Huge if true

Before you caption a video or screenshot as "the funniest post in history", consider this! You are gambling your entire reputation on this, encapsulating your entire sense of taste in one post. If I do not bust a gut, I must mute you, but twas not I raised the stakes thus!

I think this blog post by #JohnScalzi about the #Twitter purchase by #ElonMusk is fairly on-point.

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2022/11/02/that-whole-twitter-thing-further-thoughts/