How the aitch ee double hockey sticks did you get that so quickly?

*blink (beg your pardon mode)*

I think we'll find it's your fault, David, not mine. Your... *pause to distort truth* ... banging on about there being no O's at about the time Gordon and I were quietly absorbing there were no E's - and I was trying to work out what you do with a Z when there are none apart from throw them away - made something in my head fall over with a clunk - and suddenly all I could think of was Zooastrianism which isn't even a thing. For that I blame einstein for, and the oort cloud *outraged blink* and the proliferation of apogee-perihelion-effigies in quantum mechaniacal astrophysics.

your... *flick eyes at David's hockey sticks* bashing implements are welcomed. And anyway, I'm just as flabbergasted as you :)

Oh... and your liberties with suffixes - were most most excellent :)

:)

MY fault? ?? ????? Banging on?? ???????? Your truth distorting is right up there with anybody's. I barely mentioned the lack of an O in passing.

If I had posted ABERZ, would you have summarily tossed out the Z or properly responded with ZEBRA (which I suppose you pronounce with a short E... or do you? I've heard Brits say it both ways)?

Please show me someday an apogee-perihelion-effigy. I would really like to see it. (Or is that what you call all those photomosaics you posts at Einstein?)

I do like my suffixes. Glad you appreciate them.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

If I had posted ABERZ, would you have summarily tossed out the Z or properly responded with ZEBRA

If you had posted it... without an E... THEN YES I would have thrown it away... and then... *dainty sniff* I would have made bra.

(which I suppose you pronounce with a short E... or do you? I've heard Brits say it both ways)?

What? Bra? Oh... I see what you mean

How *frost-ridden blink* would you like us to say it exactly? I say it "eh" yes... but then i call these -> Z <- ZED's ... unlike yourself I presume? :)

Okay it is more challenging - because we have to remember not to say: zedebra, whereas, if we were you know... you... we could leave out all the hard stuff :)

Edit--The one above the last on was starting to glow radioactively.

Oh... *retreat to thread door* ... Thank you for letting me know Admiral... I will be sure to avoid it

:)

---

oh...and did we say we like humans too? Well we do :)

If I had posted ABERZ, would you have summarily tossed out the Z or properly responded with ZEBRA

If you had posted it... without an E... THEN YES I would have thrown it away... and then... *dainty sniff* I would have made bra.

Really? Not bar?

(which I suppose you pronounce with a short E... or do you? I've heard Brits say it both ways)?

What? Bra? Oh... I see what you mean

How *frost-ridden blink* would you like us to say it exactly? I say it "eh" yes... but then i call these -> Z <- ZED's ... unlike yourself I presume? :)

When I first got my ham license, my call was KA9ZXK. Following the lead of a friend, I pronounced the Z zed, only because if I didn't, people thought I was saying C.

Okay it is more challenging - because we have to remember not to say: zedebra, whereas, if we were you know... you... we could leave out all the hard stuff :)

Actually, the source of my (mis?)conception of your pronunciation is from the audio version of a book. The book was written by an American, but the character speaking was an English boy, very young and very precocious. He had been conducting "archeology" in the manor's garbage dump and found a large bone. He insisted to his amused (and not at all shocked) mother that it was a "zebbwa's femuh." She told him it was more likely a horse's femur, but he insisted. She then pointed out to him that he really should not have dragged it into the house while she was entertaining other ladies for afternoon tea. They were highly shocked at both his behavior and his filthy appearance. I believe the narrator of the audiobook was an American actress. Come to think of it, she may have had the mother pronounce it "zeebra" even though she had the boy say "zebbwa."

I *think* Peter Jones, as The Guide, said "'Oh, that was easy!' says Man. For an encore, he goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zeebra crossing."

[edit]
That reminds me, it's long past the time I should have checked the library to see if there's a new book from that author. The last one was written around King Tut's tomb being discovered.

[edit 2]
Having now checked, I have learned that the author died two years ago. Doing a quick bit of research to see if there are any books I haven't read.

[edit 3]
No. Actually, Tut was the next to last in that series, but the one after it was set earlier in time and in a different locale. I had wondered if there would be one last book where the main character died, but I guess not.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Really? Not bar?

Oh. I didn't see that one! :)

*don radiation suit*

*throw away z*

Cesarevitch

*recombine above*

Ari Cech Svetz

okay...

Czesarevitch
cezaresvitch

ooh hold on - *cast mind back into misty recent past* - you said it was a plural ending in es ... so I'll start again...

Czarevitches? (aka Tsarevitches?) sons of a Czar (or Tsar?) maybe? :)

---

oh...and did we say we like humans too? Well we do :)

Czarevitches? (aka Tsarevitches?)

Czechwitches? Sandwiches?

I'm lost. :~(

---

The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Czarevitches? (aka Tsarevitches?)

Czechwitches? Sandwiches?

I'm lost. :~(

*scribble important note in anniet's guide to eating out* Next time I order a sandwich, Gordon - THAT is how I'm going to ask for it :)

---

oh...and did we say we like humans too? Well we do :)

Czarevitches? (aka Tsarevitches?)

Czechwitches? Sandwiches?

I'm lost. :~(

*scribble important note in anniet's guide to eating out* Next time I order a sandwich, Gordon - THAT is how I'm going to ask for it :)

Well, these games make me hungry, and I've been reading about witchcraft, so...

---

The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Czarevitches? (aka Tsarevitches?)

Czechwitches? Sandwiches?

I'm lost. :~(

*scribble important note in anniet's guide to eating out* Next time I order a sandwich, Gordon - THAT is how I'm going to ask for it :)

Well, these games make me hungry, and I've been reading about witchcraft, so...

Oh...

That's what happens in the sister thread to this one over at einstein... much potioning and enormous great cauldrons emanating dark elixirs that induce insanity.

The next dark arts master there, will be David. Yes - he of timelord fame... I dread to think what he is going to come up with after what happened with Zarathustrianastic. I may revert to something primordially soupy with a bit of luck *blink* and give up using the alphabet to communicate with altogether :)

---

oh...and did we say we like humans too? Well we do :)

Really? Not bar?

Oh. I didn't see that one! :)

*don radiation suit*

*throw away z*

Cesarevitch

*recombine above*

Ari Cech Svetz

okay...

Czesarevitch
cezaresvitch

ooh hold on - *cast mind back into misty recent past* - you said it was a plural ending in es ... so I'll start again...

Czarevitches? (aka Tsarevitches?) sons of a Czar (or Tsar?) maybe? :)

Bingo. I went with cz to see how long it would take to solve this.

---

Czarevitches? (aka Tsarevitches?) sons of a Czar (or Tsar?) maybe? :)

Bingo. I went with cz to see how long it would take to solve this.

Oh God. Annie lost one but won the other. After I posted Zarathrustrianistic and now that new one I just posted at Einstein, I shudder to think what she might come up with.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Czarevitches? (aka Tsarevitches?) sons of a Czar (or Tsar?) maybe? :)

Bingo. I went with cz to see how long it would take to solve this.

Oh God. Annie lost one

If it'll make it easier for you, David, perhaps I could fly my nose over to the US for a more thorough rubbing in of it?

...but won the other. After I posted Zarathrustrianistic and now that new one I just posted at Einstein,

*menacingly examine fingernails* The 22 letter atrocity? Yes. I've seen it and have wasted no time in being considerably rude at it. I hope you don't mind?

I shudder to think what she might come up with.

*watch David shudder unmoved*

22 letters: THE FACTS -
Did you know, setizens, that there are over a septillion possible combinations to choose from? *knowledgeable blink*, or, in Englishese, over one thousand one hundred and twenty four trilliard of them? That's 2 and a quarter billiard times more words than there are in the Oxford English dictionary itself.

Given how busy that will make me for this and the remainder of all my subsequent reincarnations on this planet, I have decided to be both pertinent and decorous here.

Your new word is:

aaelmopttuy

... and I will be... :)

---

oh...and did we say we like humans too? Well we do :)

over a septillion possible combinations

Ah, that's a lot right?

---

over a septillion possible combinations

Ah, that's a lot right?

As Ford Prefect said, that's a lot a lot.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Scratching my head is not working. Just making a groove in my skull.
Meta Layout P
Pamula Ottey
Pauley Matto
Autotype Lam
At Au El Om Typ
Automate Ply
Amputate Loy

---

over a septillion possible combinations

Ah, that's a lot right?

*flick eyes at David* Just a bit, Ian, y-e-e-s :)

Scratching my head is not working. Just making a groove in my skull.

Oh. *stare at cleft head* Yes. It is, Let me see if I can help with that, Admiral :)

Firstly: After the word was jumbled, two letters remained in the correct place. The first of these, you've placed correctly twice. The second... not once.

Secondly: You have also managed...

3 correctly placed letters
1. Pamula Ottey

2 correctly placed letters
2. Meta Layout P
3. Autotype Lam
4. Automate Ply
5. Amputate Loy

1 correctly placed letter
6. Pauley Matto
7. At Au El Om Typ

a. The 3 correct are all vowels. One is also correct in 6 and another is correct in 7 :)

b. The two correct in 3 are the same. One is the second correct letter in the first with two correct, and the first correct letter in number 4 :) The other is adjacent to the first correct letter in number 5.

c. None of your words have ended with the correct letter.

d. The last correctly placed letter in number 1 is adjacent to the last correctly placed letter in number 4

There! *beam happily* I knew you'd be pleased :)

---

oh...and did we say we like humans too? Well we do :)

I'm not awake enough for this.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I'm not awake enough for this.

I think you'll find it can make a big difference to how one's day develops :)

aaelmopttuy

Did I say one of the guesses starts with the correct letter, Admiral? Well, one of the guesses starts with the correct letter :)

And when we say it's a vegetable, it's a seed, of a vine although it sounds like it isn't but is a cautious look. From the Latin with a bit of Greek too - possibly... you know... at the end :)

---

oh...and did we say we like humans too? Well we do :)

I'm more awake than at this time last night, but still not enough to decode all these clues.

(I suppose it's possible Annie feels the same when she's working on my clues at Einstein.)

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I see discussing the end of the word (here) didn't help. Nor did revealing that ONE of the guesses (analysed here) started with the correct letter (which I thought - as two started with P and four started with A, leaving just one other word... would have been helpful...) but never mind :)

You could start thinking *blink s-l-o-w-l-y so as not to overwhelm setizens with too much processing at once* :) in terms of wiping your shoes clean, or you could scrap that and go further by getting all informal with the mother of a pharoah... if you wanted :P :)

edit@david:

(I suppose it's possible Annie feels the same when she's working on my clues at Einstein.)

Has someone redefined the meaning of the word "clue", David? *most withering of all withering blinks* ...cos that mess over there bears no resemblance to anything other than an open invitation to a remainder-of-my-life-affair with a straight jacket...

I could wait for a free one on the NHS - or get one on ebay I suppose...

:)

---

oh...and did we say we like humans too? Well we do :)

aaelmopttuy

perhaps that will help?

---

oh...and did we say we like humans too? Well we do :)