stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 07/02/2026“As someone who has answered questions about ____ before, can you answer this question?” I wonder what #Quora's hit-rate is for sparking genuinely useful answers with this approach. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 07/02/2026Today’s #nineletterword at mhb.nz is “explosive“. Amazingly, “plosive” is not accepted as a real word. #Google it and you could find yourself, as I did, in Emily Dickinson’s poetry.mhb.nzHome | Code is Mandatory 001
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 07/02/2026How many points would you five (sic) our Olympic competitors as they soard (sic) into the air on their snowbaords (sic)? Maybe it’s the excitement, but the frequency of misprints in RadioNZ coverage seems above average even for sports reporters. 010
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 02/02/2026I look forward impatiently to tomorrow’s answer, to see if the repeat of 2021 continues. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 02/02/2026A significant day for Wordle. Today the daily word puzzle abandoned its principle of making all its answers unique. From now on, repetition of an already used answer will be allowed. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 02/01/2026It‘S abit pretentious, but I still indicate the day of the week by its planet symbol - so I find myself crossing 2s and lower-case hs In ordinary writing 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 21/12/2025From my other #nineletterwords site:PILCHARDS. I used to love eating them as a child, usually at my Cockney paternal grandmother's home. I was trying words featuring CRISP. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 21/12/2025Today's #nineletterword: MISSIOFUN. She sounds like the life of the party; but the anagram is FUSIONISM - a political philosophy combining elements of “left” and “right“. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 21/12/2025#autocorrect of the day (so far) “eunuch“ when I was trying to type “runup” (to ChristmaS). 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 19/12/2025Facebook is sending me "friend" requests from people I meet often IRL but whose surnames I realise I've not known until now. I suppose I didn't consider it important and never thought to ask. . 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 18/12/2025Surprised to get into this account remotely and be able to post. Is it working properly? 110
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 10/12/2025I don’t see why SOLICITER, in the general sense of someone who solicits something, shouldn't be a valid word. Recent #nineletterword puzzle doesn’t have enough Os to do it professionally. 110
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 10/12/2025What long or obscure word do you remember having discovered in early childhood? The one I've been thinking of recently is PACHYDERM (thank you R. Kipling); but I've just re-encountered FERRULE. It was in a comic-strip detective story, where someone's umbrella tip left a print in soft ground. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 03/12/2025I'm also interested to see the eight-letter words generated by missing one of the letters. They often have nothing to do with the main word, or with one another. HAILSTONE, for example, gives rise to HOTLINES and TOENAILS. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 03/12/2025Other current nine-letter words: BARRENEST (my first guess ARSEBERNT; also BANTERERS). AICONVENT (robotic nuns?) = NONACTIVE. CLAPITUNE? INCULPATE. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 03/12/2025#nineletterword of the day: GLASSWORT. As I thought, it's a plant. Genus Salicornia. Grows in marshes. Salt-toleran. Its ashesare considered a rich source of sodium carbonate, used in glassmakin. 110
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 02/12/2025The appeal of a #ninletterwored is possibly that it's long enough to be interesting but short enough to be easily remembered. But does adding words like calamites and petiolule to my vocabulary achieve anything meaningful? 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 14/11/2025We (should) all know about the “six Ws” - the questions who, what, where, when, why and how, that any piece of writing should answer - but (it occurs to me to ask) what words does autocomplete prompt for to follow each of those question-words? 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2025The one that really defeated me was SAM/RIT/BDI. I saw SMART BID but that‘s only 8 letters. There‘s another I. Gave up and clicked “show answer”. The #nineletterword is TRIBADISM. If you don’t know, Google it. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2025EUS/LII/DCF. #nineletterword: DULCIFIES (makes [a foodstuf] sweeter). 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2025NEON HORSE presents a visually appealing image, but I'm not sure exactly what NONHEROES are. #nineletterword. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2025“Why is that flying saucer painted green and adorned with recycling symbols?” ”It’s an ECO UFO, SIR.” And the #nineletterword is? FEROCIOUS. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2025An endless supply of the Target letter arrayS is at nine.mhb.nz. Just refresh the display to get a new one.nine.mhb.nzNine Letter Word Puzzle 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2025There must be at least one #nineletterword on the list, say the instruction. A major part of the puzzle is to spot this long word. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2025The central letter of the nine, distinguished by being printed in white on black, is to be included in every word. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2025I've recently been directing my #wordnerd brain cells to #nineletterwords. They're popularly presented in the form of the Target puzzle, as a 3x3 array of lettered squares from which as many words as possible of four letters or more are to be extracted. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 23/09/2025Today I learned (via a word puzzle): a dido (not to be confused with a dado, a dildo or a diode) is a prank or act of mischief. Possibly connected somehow with the legendary queen of Carthage - but possibly not. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 21/08/2025Nice @nytimes.com Connections puzzle (purple and blue sets) today. Meta-question: when is an -ing word (part of an English verb) a gerund and when is it a present participle? 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 30/07/2025Thought arising from a family conversation: if “Sulfur” is now the IUPAC-approved spelling for the element, then why not “fosforus”? 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 26/07/2025The #Pangram for the Nyt spelling bee a day or three ago is apparently FINABLY, a word the OED labels “archaic” and “obsolete”. I don’t see how you would use the word in a sentence, but it’s the only word I can mark with those letters. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 26/07/2025Interested to see today’s NYTimes #SpellingBee approves LOWDOWN but not DOWNLOW. You often have to go “on the downlow” to get the lowdown. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 26/07/2025This is my ‘talking to everyone' space (as opposed to links with a specific person or group). I should keep it up to date more often. The word occupying my mind this week is “quincunx”. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 05/06/2025Looking to bestwordlist.com for a hint re today’s NYT #SpellingBee, I find “oracular” and “ultra cool”. Maybe we saw those things like that when they first appeared on the market :)bestwordlist.comBest Word ListCreate word lists. You can build word lists, you can choose the size of words, the starting letters, the ending, or even words that contain letters of your choice. 110
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 01/06/2025Today's #Wordle reminds me (tangentially, so #notaspoiler) of 2 words I’ve confused, one a real thing from biology, the other purely theoretical (particle physics). 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 31/05/2025Reminding myself: when does the NYT Connections puzzle reset? The answer (midnight in every zone) is accompanied by a pic of a blonde woman with exaggerated cleavage, posing in front of a cod-mediaeval wooden shield on a wall. Why? 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 31/05/2025Today I finally settled the difference between “bole” and “boll”. It’s not UK vs US spelling. They’re different parts of different plants. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 30/05/2025Words hardly anyone uses but have to be included in word-puzzles - DEICIDE. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 29/05/2025living in a “rest home” is made a lot more bearable by regular visits from my family. I don't know what I'd do without the link to my wife Robyn, our daughters and our young grandchildren. Spent some time with Emma and her 2 last Sunday and no doubt Alice's will visit before long (hint). 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 27/05/2025@nytimes.com #SpellingBee GHILNTY. Seems to be one of their favourite combinations. They won’t let me have THIGHHIGH, with 3 or 4 Hs. 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 26/05/2025bestwordlist.com is one of my favourite sites. “Words including all these letters are…churchyard,…debauchery…” and “heterodactylous”.bestwordlist.comBest Word ListCreate word lists. You can build word lists, you can choose the size of words, the starting letters, the ending, or even words that contain letters of your choice. 110
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 26/05/2025And today’s #Wordle is one of those multiple-options-on-1-letter ones. Utters contemptuous sound that isn’t the answer. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 25/05/2025Yesterday’s #wordle was one of those so colloquial that it sparks the question “is this a real (Scrabble-playable) word?” It is. 110
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 24/05/2025Wordle 1,436 3/6 🟨⬛🟩🟨⬛ ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 110
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 24/05/2025Connections Puzzle #714 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 22/05/2025Wordle 1,434 4/6 ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟨🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 21/05/2025A session this afternoon is marked “Scrabble Club”. I had an informal 4-person Scrabble game y'day; should I assume a “club” will have a tougher standard of play? 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 21/05/2025Thursday morning at…Oh, it’s only 5:30. Still too early really to be posting/tweeting at people. 100
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 21/05/2025Wordle 1,433 4/6 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 010
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 21/05/2025Connections Puzzle #711 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 000
stevebwriter.bsky.social @stevebwriter.bsky.social · 20/05/2025Wordle 1,432 6/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ ⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 000