November 26 2010
Stroke Play
A word lover with the fitting name of Joy was in raptures this week, sending through a revelation via the DA Email link. Her discovery is well worth sharing.
SONNET, she realised, when written in capital letters, consists of 14 lines, as many lines as needed in the poetic version. Hooked, I spent my whole dog-walk yesterday trying to dig up similar examples – and I found a handful.
SOCCER, for example, owns 11 strokes – the same number of players per team. Just as RICHMOND (or MAGPIES) match their on-field tallies of 18. Keeping with sports, BRONCOS boasts 13 pen-strokes, while GREENS requires 18.
(You can see from that last example, that I calculate G as being a three-stroke letter, as is the Y, while J is two.)
Not that all my examples are sporty. Hah, the same amble uncovered several more spot-on specimens, like TWENTY-NINE enlisting 29 strokes (excluding the hyphen) and PI, a rightful three. (Though maddeningly, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA weighs in at 49, just one shy of the geographical truth.) To figure out the other three I unearthed, check the list below. With initials, obtuse clues and stroke tallies supplied, can you identify the words, names or phrases that fit the bill?
- Y – boat race anyone? (21)
- D – also available at K-Mart? (22)
- S – event television (24)
- C – surface sense (33)
Can you reveal any? Or maybe you can create your own – they are addictive. I’ll collect the best and run them as a January Wordwit puzzle.
Comments
JT — 26 November at 11:01AM
I have a quibble: your stroke-counts for "G" and "J" include serifs, whereas "I" seems to be counted as a single stroke in the examples above. For consistency, wouldn't "I" = 3?
If we do count "I" as a tristroke, then "SIMULTANEOUS ORAL PLEASURE FOR TWO" = 69, providing clear evidence that the seriffed calculation is the correct one :)
DA — 26 November at 11:10AM
Yes, JT, there is a serif glitch there, but the way I see it: most of us do a clean vertical for the capital I, while the majority cap a J. Thinking more about hand-writing (hence the pic) than font, if that helps.
(I've also added a clue for each stroke-play specimen, as I recognise how tricky they are to pinpoint.)
dg — 26 November at 11:47AM
UNLUCKY = 13 (Y = 2)
LUCK = 7
JT — 26 November at 12:11PM
@DA: Fair 'nuff.
As a service to puzzlers I've wasted some of my employer's manhours writing stroke-counting software. Click on my initials and then on "stroke play" for a webpage which will count the strokes in any phrase you enter.
To be clear, I'm counting A as 3, B=3, C=1, D=2, E=4, F=3, G=3, H=3, I=1, J=2, K=3, L=2, M=4, N=3, O=1, P=2,
Q=2, R=3, S=1, T=2, U=1, V=2, W=4, X=2, Y=2, Z=3; correct me if there's an error.
Mr X — 26 November at 12:13PM
If Y = 2, then:
AUSTRALIA DAY = 26
JT — 26 November at 12:39PM
London's Olympiad (no apostrophe): 30
Noted catch: 22
Nib — 26 November at 01:49PM
For quick reference:
A= 3 B= 3 C= 1 D= 2
E= 4 F= 3 G= 3 H= 3
I= 1 J= 2 K= 3 L= 2
M= 4 N= 3 O= 1 P= 2
Q= 2 R= 3 S= 1 T= 2
U= 1 V= 2 W= 4 X= 2
Y= 3 Z= 3
TEEN = 13
JAILBAIT = 17
BLACKJACK = 21
HOURS IN A DAY = 24
MIDLIFE CRISIS = 25 :P
LIFE BEGINS AT = 30
NINETY MINUS FORTY FOUR = 46
HIT THE OLD AGE OF RETIREMENT = 65
[One shy of the mark:]
DOZEN = 13 (Baker's?)
SWEET = 15
CHLORINE = 18
OUR ALPHABET = 27
EIGHTY MINUS TWENTY FIVE = 54
SEVENTY MINUS EIGHTEEN = 53
NINETY MINUS FORTY SEVEN = 52
NINETY MINUS FORTY EIGHT = 51
SIXTY MINUS EIGHTEEN = 43
FORTY MINUS TEN = 31
FORTY MINUS THREE = 38
RUBY ANNIVERSARY = 39
Mr X — 26 November at 02:14PM
From DA's initial list I think 33 = Chilean miners
dg — 26 November at 02:21PM
Is another answer:
Seven's show = 24 (with Jack Bauer)?
Mr X — 26 November at 02:39PM
or SUTHERLAND = 24
dg — 26 November at 02:41PM
three cubed:27
december:25 (i.e. Xmas day)
jim carrey:23 (star of the Number 23)
weeks of gestation?: 40
Sam — 26 November at 02:49PM
Caesar crosses the Rubicon: 49 B.C.
Though crossed would have been better (but he'd have to go more slowly...) and one off with the Battle of Actium!
GymBunnies — 26 November at 05:26PM
Could DA's first, "Y - boat race anyone? (21)" be YARD GLASS (requiring Y=3)?
GymBunnies — 26 November at 05:38PM
I'm sure DA mentioned bingo somewhere:
Rise and shine = 29
DA — 26 November at 06:32PM
Sorry to come in so late, but Nib is on the money - I had calculated on Y as 3, which I've now put in the original post to clear things up.
But you lot, I swear - youse are genii. Can't get over the smart response. BLACKJACK is dynamite, Nibster, while dg's LUCK, GB's RISE AND SHINE and Sam's CAESAR are out&out cunning.
One to add: APOLLO (11)
And yes, my examples were:
YARD GLASS
??
SUTHERLAND
CHILEAN MINERS
Worse than crystal meth this little game. I hardly slept a wink last night.
DA — 26 November at 08:39PM
R-RATING = 18
JD — 26 November at 08:44PM
My old favourite:
BACH PRELUDE AND FUGUE =48
Mauve — 27 November at 08:35AM
Unshrinking Control Agent Maxwell Smart = 87
(missed it by THAT much!)
on the other hand...
Sophisticated Control Agent Maxwell Smart = 86
Mauve — 27 November at 09:10AM
Ronald D. Barassi = 31
Simon L — 27 November at 10:13AM
TARGET FOR EIGHTEEN HOLES OF GOLF = 72 (strokes)
Simon L — 27 November at 10:21AM
(musical) SCORE = 10 (lines)
if you have both treble and bass staves
Simon L — 27 November at 10:39AM
DODECAHEDRONS = 30 (edges)
(DODECAHEDRON=29 would be better but oh well, none of the other four regular polyhedra match their number of edge lines)
Mauve — 27 November at 10:42AM
Never trust regular polyhedra - they're just in it for themselves
Sam — 27 November at 11:50AM
Nice one Mauve on Get Smart... and I'll take my hat off to anyone who can get Mt Vesuvius to erupt on time; Nellie Melba and Monash to tally 100; and Deep Thought's answer to really be 42; and Heinz to have 57 varieties!
Mauve — 27 November at 01:56PM
Police Academy = 31
(the one where the new recruits get up to even more hijinx and Michael Winslow does his farting mongoose sound effect )
Mauve — 27 November at 01:58PM
I hear you, Sam, about Deep Thought - what a disappointment - or maybe the meaning of life is 44 after all. And my hat is also off to anyone who can get Donald Bradman's average to round down to 99, and/or shorten the Hume Highway to 31.
Mauve — 27 November at 02:02PM
and DA, I'm not optimistic but is 22 = yard:chain
(showing my age)
DA — 27 November at 02:06PM
Well if batting averages can be rounded up:
SIR DONALD GEORGE BRADMAN, BETTER KNOWN AS THE DON = 100
DA — 27 November at 02:07PM
Mauve, you're being a little glass half-empty about your age. (The answer has already been lodged among these posts.)
GymBunnies — 27 November at 02:56PM
Assuming apostrophes are nil pointers:
Donald G Bradman's test match batting average = 99
GymBunnies — 27 November at 03:04PM
Number of Heinz varieties = 57
GymBunnies — 27 November at 03:09PM
The Hume Hwy = 31
GymBunnies — 27 November at 03:20PM
Struggling with 42. The best we can come up with is:
Deep thought's reply = 42
Sam — 27 November at 03:59PM
:) GymBunnies!
It's a bit awkward, but:
Seeing comet Halley's elliptical orbit = 76
GymBunnies — 27 November at 05:38PM
Has anyone solved 22 yet?
The only D-22s that spring to mind as likely to be found in KMart at this time of year are:
DECORATIONS
DEPRESSION
DAVID ASTLE (well, his book at least)
None of which we can link to 22
Mauve — 28 November at 01:41AM
DA says the answer has been lodged in these posts but I think he's recalling that Catch-22 was referred to as "noted catch". But that still doesn't explain the D.
Yours in mutual perplexednousity
Mauve
At least we have the clue that it is about Catch 22. Maybe Joseph Heller's middle name starts with D.
Mauve — 28 November at 01:54AM
duck and duck = 22
(as in two little ducks)
GymBunnies — 28 November at 07:41AM
Hi Mauve, given DA's glass-half empty reference, is it possible he's had a radish moment and is referring to the yard glass answer (Y-21) rather than D-22?
BTW:
Donald G Bradman's first class batting average = 95
spooky!
Mauve — 28 November at 10:45AM
ah, because of the "yard" in both, yes, nice lateral work!
From DA's double question marks though, I'm thinking double for the d and "doubled duck" = 22 as does "doubled two" = 22
and wow about the Don
DA — 28 November at 11:59AM
D-22 is nothing to do with Heller, or Yossarian, or Major Major Major Major. Instead, harking back to an earlier post, you need your aim to be true.
Sam — 28 November at 01:26PM
Is it a dart board = 22 - with the inner and outer bullseye?
DA — 28 November at 01:45PM
We have a winner.
Well done, Sam - 20 numbers plus the inner/outer beds. A modest stroke-word compared to recent wonders of Heinz, Hume and Don, but well hit nevertheless.
GymBunnies — 28 November at 02:32PM
Brilliant, Sam, there sure wasn't much to go on! And thank God I can now go and do something useful. I wonder what the earlier reference was? Simon L's "TARGET..."? I can see how Target relates to KMart.
BTW, I was convinced it was something to do with a cricket pitch being 22 yards, just couldn't work out how "Don's wicket" was available in KMart...
JoyM — 28 November at 02:37PM
What an amazingly clever bunch of people you all are!