tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-502208809704405380.post4421362577321652457..comments2023-12-08T00:38:08.593-08:00Comments on Anoa Bob: Letter Count Inflation (LCI)Anoa Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16185183023273883700noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-502208809704405380.post-33488206300047032522020-03-27T13:33:51.835-07:002020-03-27T13:33:51.835-07:00Couldn't you make the same "longer but wi...Couldn't you make the same "longer but without more interest" argument about unsuffixed words, too? Going from EAR to EARL to EARLY to PEARLY gives extra length, but does it add any interest?<br /><br />For me, the real criminals are the ones that take up space, but add no interest. AAH, OHO, XLII and the like.kitshefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10014225555838850414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-502208809704405380.post-17713332843685072132015-07-25T14:49:54.136-07:002015-07-25T14:49:54.136-07:00Hi r.alph. Most LCM involves adding letters to th...Hi r.alph. Most LCM involves adding letters to the end of a base or core word to increase its grid filling power, but adding letters to the front end does happen, for the same reason. Two that come to mind are 1) gratuitously throwing in an article, usually "the", but also "a", "an", etc., and, 2) putting a gratuitous, and often awkward, "re" at the beginning of a verb. I don't know if an algorithm would work for that.<br /><br />Another candidate might be helper, or cheater squares, black squares that don't change the number of words in the grid but, by taking up additional white squares, make it easier to fill the grid. <br /><br />Another possibility would be to give each grid an LCM score, maybe in the form of a percentage, calculated by comparing the number of white squares that are occupied by base or core words with the number that are occupied by add-on letters that are there for the convenience of filling higher letter-count slots.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Anoa Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185183023273883700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-502208809704405380.post-47016887857025519222015-07-24T13:25:08.688-07:002015-07-24T13:25:08.688-07:00Very interesting. POC and LCM candidates can be de...Very interesting. POC and LCM candidates can be detected algorithmically and the list culled by a human. Can you think of other things that an algorithm can help detect?r.alphbunkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00657275501845781384noreply@blogger.com