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Square Theory

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Re: Square Theory

#51

Post by kelseyfrog »

jacobolus wrote: post #48
finnh wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My family calls that game "pink mink"!

As far as I know the most common name is "hink pink", if anyone wants to look this up (or sometimes "hinky pinky"). Here's a 1981 book, https://archive.org/details/hinkpinkbookorwh00burn/ and here's a short description from the 50s, https://archive.org/details/realbookofgames0000unse/page/134... Searching further, apparently Hink Pink was the name of an 18th century pirate ship; I'm not sure if there's a relation to…

Thank you! What a fantastic find. This is exactly the kind of book I would have checked out at the library as a child.

It's possible I found this decades ago and the origin of how I learned this game was lost to time :)

Re: Square Theory

#54

Post by gwd »

j2kun wrote: post #43
joshhug wrote: post #16

The part about dad joke square theory got me thinking about this classic scarecrow joke, which feels like an example from some higher order version of square theory: "Why was the scarecrow given an award?" "He was out standing in his field." The fact that a scarecrow's job is to be "out standing in his field", and that excelling at one's job can be phrased as being "outstanding in his field" is an incredible linguist…

The classic, "why did the chicken cross the road" also fits into this genre, but nobody seems to understand that "get to the other side" means "to cross over from life to death." Every time I explain this to someone they are shocked that they never knew this meaning.

That's a failure of the joke not to set it up -- one of the "top corners" of the square is missing. Chickens normally don't make an effort to get to the "other side" (as far as we're aware anyway).

To make the square you'd have to do something where the context of "the other side" means past life into death. e.g., "Why did the spiritualist put his ear towards the road? To hear from the other side."

Re: Square Theory

#55

Post by yojo »

simianparrot wrote: post #41
joshhug wrote: post #16

The part about dad joke square theory got me thinking about this classic scarecrow joke, which feels like an example from some higher order version of square theory: "Why was the scarecrow given an award?" "He was out standing in his field." The fact that a scarecrow's job is to be "out standing in his field", and that excelling at one's job can be phrased as being "outstanding in his field" is an incredible linguist…

For some reason this old saying popped into my head reading that. I know it's not related but: Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

My favorite part about that quote is the broken symmetry between the double meaning of the second sentence and the single meaning of the first.

It begs one to consider the possibility of little “time flies” snacking on arrows. Which I guess completes the square?

Re: Square Theory

#56

Post by oliwary »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #20
oliwary wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a weekly mode with 63 letters, thinking of adding a monthly mode as well. Or would you prefer puzzles that are always open?

Puzzles that are always open is exactly what I mean, yeah. Some "daily" games call this kind of generated puzzle a "practice" mode. But whenever I encounter a daily game, I go straight for that mode, which is what most games would just present as the game itself.

Fair enough! :) I'll look into adding a practice mode.

Re: Square Theory

#57

Post by JoshTriplett »

oliwary wrote: post #56
JoshTriplett wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Puzzles that are always open is exactly what I mean, yeah. Some "daily" games call this kind of generated puzzle a "practice" mode. But whenever I encounter a daily game, I go straight for that mode, which is what most games would just present as the game itself.

Fair enough! :) I'll look into adding a practice mode.

Thank you very much! I really appreciate it and look forward to trying it!

Re: Square Theory

#58

Post by wavemode »

j2kun wrote: post #43
joshhug wrote: post #16

The part about dad joke square theory got me thinking about this classic scarecrow joke, which feels like an example from some higher order version of square theory: "Why was the scarecrow given an award?" "He was out standing in his field." The fact that a scarecrow's job is to be "out standing in his field", and that excelling at one's job can be phrased as being "outstanding in his field" is an incredible linguist…

The classic, "why did the chicken cross the road" also fits into this genre, but nobody seems to understand that "get to the other side" means "to cross over from life to death." Every time I explain this to someone they are shocked that they never knew this meaning.

My understanding is that that interpretation is an urban legend.

Wikipedia attributes the joke to an 1847 article, which is phrased in a way that clearly isn't intended to have some deeper meaning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_did_the_chicken_cross_the_...

Re: Square Theory

#59

Post by anyfoo »

yojo wrote: post #55
simianparrot wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason this old saying popped into my head reading that. I know it's not related but: Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

My favorite part about that quote is the broken symmetry between the double meaning of the second sentence and the single meaning of the first. It begs one to consider the possibility of little “time flies” snacking on arrows. Which I guess completes the square?

Gosh, after all those years I've only just realized the double meaning of "fruit flies". Thanks!

Before that, I just thought it was more of a non sequitur, but still amusing. There was just something inherently funny about imagining a banana hurling through the air in an awkward tumbling motion, right after the sagely abstract concept of time and its elegant arrow metaphor.

Re: Square Theory

#60

Post by albedoa »

j2kun wrote: post #43
joshhug wrote: post #16

The part about dad joke square theory got me thinking about this classic scarecrow joke, which feels like an example from some higher order version of square theory: "Why was the scarecrow given an award?" "He was out standing in his field." The fact that a scarecrow's job is to be "out standing in his field", and that excelling at one's job can be phrased as being "outstanding in his field" is an incredible linguist…

The classic, "why did the chicken cross the road" also fits into this genre, but nobody seems to understand that "get to the other side" means "to cross over from life to death." Every time I explain this to someone they are shocked that they never knew this meaning.

> Every time I explain this to someone they are shocked that they never knew this meaning.

You might have taken this as a hint?

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