What makes it so popular and easy to play is that it’s simple to learn and find. Every day, players must guess a five-letter word that will fit in a blank grid on the website, and they have only six tries to do so. Each day’s Wordle solution is the same for everyone, and players are free to share the gray, yellow, and green square pattern (without the actual letters) on social media to show how they did on the Wordle solution for that day. If you want to learn how to play Wordle, keep reading to learn how to play this fun word game with your family and friends.

Where Can Wordle be Found?

There isn’t an official downloadable app for Android or Apple yet because the game is web-based, but there have been some copycats who have tried to recreate it in their own applications and Wordle clones. A desktop or mobile browser, and the address https://www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/, are all you really need. Be aware, there is already a game called “Wordle” in the Google Play store, but it is a different game. As it is web based, it is technically a mobile game when used on a mobile phone’s browser, but can be played from a computer as well. The timer for each day’s new word resets at midnight, so you only have until then to make your guess. It’s common for people to open a browser tab in the morning and spend most of the day trying to guess the word.

How it All Works

The goal of the game is to guess a five letter word by placing the correct letter in six rows of five blank boxes, which represent your guesses for the day when the game is loaded up. The correct daily word will appear at the top of the page once you have filled in a word guess in each row with a subsequent guess. If you’re successful in figuring out the pattern, you’ll be able to send hints to your friends via social media, where your colored square grid will appear without the letters.

As you begin to enter your guesses in a daily Wordle puzzle, keep in mind that your answer must be an actual English word. A valid five-letter word must fit into the squares in a row in order to be accepted as a guess in a given game.

When a guess includes an incorrect letter, it will turn the square gray. A yellow letter square means that a letter is in the word, but it’s in the wrong spot. A green letter square indicates that the letter is correct, and that it is in the correct position. A strategy can then be devised after this is grasped. When it comes to choosing a first word, most people choose a word that has a lot of vowels in it, but this allows you to narrow down your word options. Hit the “Enter” key to submit your answer.

At the bottom of the screen is a facsimile of a standard keyboard, which will, like in the game Hangman, begins eliminating previously used letters, showing whether they were correct or incorrect by their color as in the grid squares, to allow you to narrow down even further your word choices by using letters you have not previously used. The keyboard will show you the letters you have incorrectly guessed in dark gray or black, the letters you haven’t guessed yet in light gray, and when all of the letters turn green indicating you have guessed the right word, you will know you have won the game for the day.

What Are the Game’s Unique Features?

You can only play once per day, but for many people, this is enough, as they have spent all day trying to guess the correct word. There is also a high-contrast “color blind” version available and a dark mode as well, which can be toggled using the gear symbol in the upper right corner next to the name of the game. You can also activate “hard mode” from the gear symbol. For those who have low vision or difficulty seeing, developer Cariad Eccleston, the developer of antagonist.app, created a way to see your results in text form by pasting the results copied from the world site to this translator at wa11y.co/ to render a text description of what you did.

Who Created It?

Josh Wardle, a software engineer, created the game as a present for his crossword-puzzle-obsessed partner. It all started in 2020 when the two of them began participating in the New York Times daily crossword puzzles and the NYT Spelling Bee. Wardle wanted his game to be accessible, simple to play, and engrossing for players. As soon as a New York Times article detailing the game’s development and gameplay appeared, it went viral, and players haven’t looked back since.

Popular Wordle Strategies

There are many different ways to narrow down the word of the day’s possibilities, just like in any previous word game. The way people play Wordle is already being studied by psychologists, who are trying to figure out how to use this word game strategy to examine personality. In order to quickly eliminate words from the bottom keyboard, most people begin in easy mode and work their way up to hard mode, starting with words that have several vowels.

“Adieu” is a popular first word choice for the game because it contains four vowels early on, which helps narrow down the word options. It is also claimed by some that the word “aisle,” which does not use as many vowels as the previous word, but instead uses the English vowels most commonly used, is more appropriate at this point in time. Another common starter word is “audio,” which uses all but the “E” of the vowel alphabet.

Others prefer to not focus on vowels at all, but instead make use of five-letter words that use the most commonly used letters in the English language overall. Using a combination of the words “teary” and “pious” as your first two word choices allows you to cover all of the vowels and the letters T, or, P, and S, which are also highly used in other words. For some, it’s fun to see if they can get any of the letters by using words like “yacht” or “ulcer,” rather than relying on a letter reveal.

The words “cheat,” “manic,” and “first” are frequently used by players who also love the New York Times Spelling Bee game, as these words are commonly used in that game as well to create various letter combinations, which is why many fans use them. Others, on the other hand, use no strategies at all, instead going with the first word that pops into their head or the one that feels right.

Sharing on Social Media

Wordle wasn’t initially created with the idea of sharing with friends online, but when Wordle users started using green, black, and yellow square emojis to share their results on Twitter, the developers quickly added a “share” button so that users could copy the results after they finished the game without giving away the daily word to anyone who hasn’t played or guessed it yet. Sharing the results reveals not only how quickly someone arrived at a solution, but also the mistakes they made along the way.
If you want to share results on a PC browser, look for an icon that looks like a bar graph (the leaderboard) at the top right of the Wordle game page near the gear symbol. Your results will be copied to your clipboard in emoji format when you click on this and select the green “share” button. In a separate browser window, open a new post on your Facebook or Twitter profile and paste the copied results from the Wordle website into it.

In order to play the game on your phone, it is assumed that you will be using your phone’s browser. After tapping on the leaderboard icon in the upper right corner, click “share,” open your social media app, open a new post, and then click “share,” and you’re all set! If you go to the leaderboard icon on your smartphone and tap the green “share” button, you can copy your results to the clipboard of your device using the “copy text” selection, and then paste them into any other app. Next, open the app in question, type a new post’s subject line into the text box, then paste the results.

So there you have it, a simple explanation of the newest viral word game phenomenon. So what are you waiting for? Get online and start playing Wordle. In no time at all, you’ll be chatting with your coworkers at the water cooler and posting your results on social media, especially when you correctly guess the daily word on the first try.

The post Getting Started with Wordle appeared first on Hanging Hyena.

Different parents will have different views on video games that they let their kids play in general, but what makes Fortnight so different than playing hours of Minecraft or even a first person shooter Star Wars game? The difference may be the high level of addiction that seems to be occurring with Fortnight players.

Fortnight is easily chalked up as a blend of Hunger Games meets Minecraft, but there’s more. There’s creating your character’s, or avatar’s, skins (usually at a financial cost) to look cool. There’s the element of teamwork, or working together online with real friends from down the street, or online with friends from across the world. And, yes, there is first person shooting.

Maybe your child has already been exposed to first person shooter games, such as Call of Duty or Star Wars Battlefront, so this isn’t new territory. Is the concern with kids playing Fortnight a concern around first person shooter games or is it more than that? Certainly with the epidemic of school shootings happening, predominantly across the United States, it begs to question why parents would be comfortable allowing their kids to play the role of a shooter.

Some will argue that video games first person shooter games are simply make believe and do not impact the thoughts on the kid’s likeliness to go out and become a threat to society. Research to date has not supported a correlation between first person shooter video games and active shooters. However, it may seem unsettling to know these are the images coming into your kid’s minds and possibly seeping into their dreams.

So what’s the big deal about letting kids play Fortnight if they love playing it so much? The problem is just that. They love playing it so much. So much, in fact, many kids are choosing Fortnight over games and activities that they used to enjoy; games and activities that helped them have balance in their lives.

Being allowed to play hours on end of Fortnight takes away from other activities that may include physical activity like soccer, basketball, or whatever sport they previously had an interest in. Playing so much Fortnight also takes time away from developing their minds through seemingly “boring” activities like reading, playing music, playing outside, or having artistic interests.

Choosing to predominantly do one activity over others is a sign of addiction. As a comparison, just because doing social drugs may feel good, it doesn’t mean they’re good to do in terms of social, emotional, and physical development. Fortnight needs to be addressed for what it potentially is: an addiction.

The American Psychiatric Association has now added gaming addiction as a diagnosis. Signs of a gaming addiction include: a preoccupation with gaming, signs of withdrawal including sadness or anger when not playing, and giving up other activities that were previously enjoyed, to name a few.

This generation of Fortnight players is going to be a social experiment for the future. Perhaps parents should ask themselves, do they want their kids to be the guinea pig for such an experiment that could have life long effects? That’s for parents to decide.

Reference:

American Psychiatric Association. Internet Gaming. 2018.

The post Is Fortnight Too Much of a Good Thing? appeared first on Hanging Hyena.

Frequently Asked Questions About The History of Jenga

Who invented Jenga? Who Makes Jenga?

Hasbro, the game’s current manufacturer, credits Leslie Scott, a well-known British board game designer, as the game’s creator. But is this the truth? The game that many people only know as “that tower building game with the blocks,” has a much more interesting history than one might imagine.

Where Does The Word Jenga Come From?

The word Jenga literally means “to build” in the Swahili language. So we’re pretty certain that either Jenga, or some primitive version of the game, originated in West Africa. In fact, If you’ve ever played it then you know that “to build” perfectly describes the game.

What Are The Rules of Jenga?

In Jenga a tower is built out of 54 wooden blocks. The tower consists of 18 levels of the blocks stacked in rows of three. As each level is built the direction of the three blocks alternates so they are always perpendicular to the row beneath them.

Each player takes turns removing one block from the tower and placing it on the top. Players must only use one hand and are allowed to nudge blocks to see how loose they are. If a player starts to remove a block, he must continue taking it and cannot push it back in to choose another. The game ends when the tower topples. The last player to successfully remove a block and place it on top of the tower is the winner.

When Was Jenga Invented?

The current rules of Jenga have remained nearly the same since the early 1980’s when the game was first released by Leslie Scott. She launched the game at the 1983 London Toy Fair through her own company, and it instantly became a hit. Offers were soon pouring in from all over the country and the United States and Canada as well. Over the years Jenga was manufactured by such big names as Camphill Village Trust, Pokonobe Associates, Irwin Toy, Milton Bradley, and Hasbro.

Scott claims to have invented the game in Ghana, West Africa where she lived with her family during childhood. No one in the family remembers exactly how the game was invented, but the game we know today evolved from a rudimentary version that they played with children’s wooden building blocks since the early 1970’s.

A Similar Game Exists!

The Parsons family began selling a very similar game they named Ta-Ka-Radi in 1978 – five years before the release of Jenga. There are two main differences between the games. Ta-Ka-Radi is played with 50 blocks instead of 54 and they are stacked on their narrow sides with gaps in between blocks, instead of on their broad sides with no gaps.

According to the Parsons family an African friend brought a simple version of the game to their home on a visit. They were told that it had originated in West Africa decades before. In fact, the Ta-Ka-Radi website states that “Ta-Ka-Radi is the original game as it has been played by generations of West African people.”

Behold! Drama and Controversy!

Which version came first? Is Jenga really the original as Scott says or is Jenga merely a rip-off of the less popular Ta-Ka-Radi? While board game conspiracy theorists insist that it has to be, information has come to light in the last few years that says otherwise. As unbelievable as it sounds, the visitor to the Parson’s home actually learned the game from a stay with the Scott family in West Africa! They had given him an early version of their game where the blocks were stacked on their narrow sides with gaps in between. Furthermore, there seems to be no evidence that the game was around any earlier than the 1970’s or that native Africans had created it. So, it looks like the Scotts really were the creators after all.

But We All Like the Same Thing!

Rarely has a game come along that is so easily shared by both young and old, neither have an advantage in Jenga and the thrill of putting a block on top of the wobbly tower and hoping it doesn’t collapse is shared by all. Whether you are primarily a Jenga or a Ta-Ka-Radi fan, be sure to share your new knowledge of the game with family and friends on your next game night!

The post The Curious Story of The History of Jenga appeared first on Hanging Hyena.

Unfortunately, the game is not for everybody. It’s crude, offensive, and off-color. The game’s humor often derives from shock value or touching on taboo and sensitive topics. (It is no wonder that Cards Against Humanity describes itself as a “party game for horrible people.”) The game features plenty of cards that poke fun at things like walking in on your parents having sex, poorly timed Holocaust jokes, dead strippers, and other equally offensive phrases. These can all be quite entertaining, but many people feel uncomfortable playing the Cards Against Humanity due to its often dark subject matter. The game’s creators have removed several cards such as “Passable Transvestites” and “Date Rape,” but have still cards with equally deplorable and awful phrases. It is also very uncomfortable to play around your family members and younger children.

But there are other problems with the game besides its questionable content. Even seasoned board gamer fans who love the raunchy humor still notice several faults in the game itself. The humor is often forced and there are only so many times you can laugh at the same card over and over. The game soon feels repetitive when you see the same cards over and over, which is probably why there are so many expansions around. It can also feel somewhat mindless as there are no real challenges or struggles when trying to decide what to play. Players can pretty much go on autopilot and disengage themselves from the game.

Perhaps you don’t really like Cards Against Humanity but would be willing to pay something similar. Or perhaps you are a fan of the game but have trouble playing it with your playgroup. Whatever your reasons are, there are a ton of similar party games that are totally family friendly and easy to introduce to new players. If you’re looking to take a break from Cards Against Humanity, try some of these fun alternatives:

1) Apples to Apples

This game could be considered to be the original Cards Against Humanity, but without the offensive nature. It’s a classic board game that involves creativity, matching, and thinking. Apples to Apples is very simple. One player acts as the judge and plays a red apple card (usually a noun) and each other players anonymously submit a green apple card (usually a verb). The judge who played the red apple card then chooses the description that, in their mind, best matches their card. For example, if the judge has a card that reads “Exhausting,” they might pick a card like “Paying Taxes” or “Skiing.”

It’s a very easy game to learn and encourages each person to think outside the box and try and get into the mind of the other players. The game can host up to ten players, making it a perfect game for a large group of people.

2) Dixit

What Apples to Apples is for words, Dixit is for pictures. Each turn, a player takes the role of a storyteller. That person picks a card in his or her hand, provides a somewhat vague description for it, and places it face down on the table. Each other player picks a card in their hand that they think matches the description and also puts it face down on the table. Then, each player who isn’t the storyteller votes for a card that they think matches the description. If they vote for the storyteller’s card, both players get 3 points. If a player guesses another person’s card who isn’t the storyteller, that person gets 1 point. If everyone or nobody guesses the storyteller’s card, everyone except the storyteller gets 2 points.

As you can clearly see, the storyteller has to give a description that isn’t obvious enough that everyone can guess it, but also can’t give a description vague enough so that nobody can guess it. It also requires a lot of creativity on the other players’ parts because they have to match and guess with the best of their ability. The base set of Dixit and each expansion contains 84 beautifully illustrated cards with dream-like artwork. It is a great game to teach people creativity and outside box thinking.

3) Funemployed

Do you remember the stress of trying to look for a job and trying to explain to an interviewer about your skills and qualifications? Funemployed takes all those miserable experiences and makes them into a fun and funny party game. Each turn, one player takes the role of the interviewer trying to find someone to fit a certain position. The different types of careers are wild and varied ranging from psychics, astronauts, politicians, secret agents, and altar boys. Each other player takes the role of a job candidate attempting to explain why they are best for the job.

But, there is a catch. Each job applicant has four “qualification” cards that they must use to describe themselves. A few examples include “Nunchucks,” “Passive Aggressive,” “German Accent,” “Beard,” and even “X-Ray Vision.” How will you find a way to incorporate these silly traits into your job interview?

4) Snake Oil 

A snake oil salesman is used to describe a con man or charlatan that is trying to sell something dubious or fake in order to make a profit. In Snake Oil, each player gets a chance at becoming their very own snake oil salesman and attempting to sell strange and wacky products for customers to buy.

The game goes like this: First, one person takes the role of a customer and picks a green card that describes their role. They could be a witch, cheerleader, dictator, or even the last man on Earth. Each other player takes the role of a salesman and must combine two of the purple cards in their hand to create an irresistible product for the customer to buy. The purple cards contain various nouns and objects such as broom, money, ear, TV, grenade, butter, alcohol, and so forth. The player who can create the best product wins the round.

Snake Oil is an excellent game because it has people thinking on their feet and finding unique and unusual ways to connect to otherwise unrelated items. Most of all, the game can be a blast with the right crowd and your party guests will be laughing in no time.

5) Say Anything

Want to get to know your friends better while having a good time? Then Say Anything is your kind of game. The purpose of the game is to try and get into the other player’s head and guess what they are thinking. Every turn starts with someone taking the role of the judge and asking an open-ended question. Some of these questions include “Who’s the best rock musician or band?,” “What would be the dumbest thing to say in a job interview?,” and “What should we learn in high school that we don’t?” Each other player writes down their answer on a whiteboard and then the answers are revealed for all to see. Then, the players get the chance to bet on which one the judge will pick. Players who guess correctly receive one point each.

Say Anything has won over thirty awards including the 2008 Golden Geek Awards for best party game and best family game. It’s excellent for situations where you have to introduce strangers to one another as they can easily break the ice and learn about other people.

Conclusion

Cards Against Humanity may be a fun and popular game, but it’s raunchy content does make it hard to bring to family gatherings. Hopefully, this list has persuaded you to look into alternative board games that are not only fun and funny, but also help teach children skills such as creativity and thinking. Each of these games has the potential to be the center of any party, so why not give them a shot?

The post 5 Family Friendly Party Games To Replace Cards Against Humanity appeared first on Hanging Hyena.

1. Find the smallest words first. While the longer words might be easier to see, it’ll be significantly harder finding the shorter words after the puzzle is covered in criss-crossing lines from previously circled answers. By all means, circle any answers you happen to find along the way, but do your best to leave the longest words for last, as they’ll be the easiest to find.
2. Scan the puzzle. Conversely, don’t look hard for any word in particular at first. Just look over the puzzle. When you’re not concentrating on finding specific answers, you may find that answers will jump out at you.
3. Look for letter patterns. Look at the words you need to find. Do you see any unique letter arrangements in any of them? For example, if one of the words in question is “matter,” instead of looking for the letter M, try looking around the puzzle for two T’s next to one another. Also, if an answer has a less common letter in it, such as X or Z, it’ll probably stick out a more than would the other words.
4. Be wary of “false” answers. Have you ever thought you found an answer in a word search and began circling it, only to find out that the fourth or fifth letter is incorrect? This is a common pitfall in word searches (sometimes intentional, sometimes coincidental). Be sure you read the letters from beginning to end once you find it, to ensure it’s the answer. Unless you’re using a pencil, half-circling the wrong word just means unnecessary ink obstructing your view of other possible answers. On this same note, sometimes a false answer can lead to a different real one. Keep your eyes peeled.

Maybe words searches aren’t the biggest brain-teasers in the world, but being able to finish one (or finish one a little faster) can make you feel like a genius. Bring out a pen and a puzzle, and give the four tips listed above a go!

The post How To Find Words In A Word Search Fast appeared first on Hanging Hyena.

All of which can be applied to Fortnite, of course.  After we play a few rounds of card games for family gathering to socialize with the rest of the family. In any event, here are a few new card games your kids haven’t seen before…

Beggar-My-Neighbour (2 players, ages 5+)

This British card game for two players is easy for young children to play.

Divide the deck between two players. Players hold their pile of cards face down and take it in turn to play cards face up into a central pile. This continues until a face card is played, at which point the other player has to ‘pay’ a number of cards: 4 cards are paid for an Ace, 3 for a King, 2 for a Queen and 1 for a Jack. The player who played the face card then picks up the central pile and places it at the bottom of their pile. If one of the cards being paid is a face card, play switches so that the person who last played a face card gets paid for their face card. The objective of the game is to win all of the cards.

A slightly more complex version of this game allows you to win cards by being the first person to slap the pile when two cards of the same rank are played. This variant is suitable for slightly older children as it increases the amount of skill needed to win the game.

Cheat! (3-5 players, ages 6+)

A game that is suitable for slightly older children, Cheat can have children in fits of laughter as they try to determine who is telling the truth and who is bluffing.

Divide the deck between the players. Players take it in turns to play cards of the same rank from their hand face down into a central pile, while announcing the cards they are playing. The following player must play cards that are of the same rank, one rank above or one below the previous play, with Aces high or low. However, players may ‘cheat’ by lying about the cards they are playing. If any player suspects that someone is lying, they may accuse that player of doing so by calling, “Cheat!” If a player is accused, they must show the cards they played to the group. If they are found to have cheated, the cheater must take all of the cards from the pile into their hand. If the accusation was false, the person who made the accusation must take the cards from the pile into their hand. The winner is the first person with no cards in their hand.

Rummy (2-4 players, ages 8+)

A more complex game enjoyed by many teens and adults, Rummy has several enjoyable variants.

Each player receives a hand of 7 cards. One card is placed face up in the centre, with the remaining cards placed face down in a pile next to it. The objective of the game is to collect a set of 3 cards and a set of 4 cards, which can either be in runs (sequential cards of the same suit) or melds (cards of the same rank). Players take it in turns to draw and discard one card per turn, collecting cards to make sets. Cards may be drawn from either the face-up pile or the face-down pile and must be discarded into the face-up pile. The first person to collect a set of 3 cards and a set of 4 cards says, “Rummy!” and displays their cards to win the game.

Try These Card Games for Family Gatherings

Seriously. Give them a go at your next family evening! I’m personally a big fan of beggar thy neighbor, but there are plenty of other good ones here as well!

The post 3 Great Card Games for Family Gatherings appeared first on Hanging Hyena.

(Note: Please pardon my bad parody of Better Homes & Gardens. And I know absolutely nothing about hummingbirds.)

If you want to cheaply attract hummingbirds to your yard, you should feed them white sugar rather than organic cane sugar. Hummingbirds are an attractive addition to a Southern Garden and are pleasing to look at. The lady of the house enjoys watching our hummingbirds frolic every morning.

Hummingbirds are attracted to brightly colored bird feeders that contain sugar water. We put a red bird feeder out this past winter and quickly had a number of hummingbirds stop by. This feathered attention only increased when the lady of the house started regularly filling these bird feeders with sugar water. These visits quickly became the highlight of our morning breakfast routine – we would sip our coffee together as a couple and watch our flock of hummingbirds seek their morning libations.

While we thought there might be a benefit from using a more “organic” sugar to attract the birds, we quickly learned that there was no real advantage from using organic cane sugar. In theory, cane sugar should be more natural and appealing to the birds. It is a clear light brown color and would more close replicate the kind of nectar that these birds could find in the wild. What we learned, however, was when we filled two bird feeders with different types of sugar water, was that the birds were actually slightly less interested in the cane sugar than the traditional sugar. This became very apparent over time as the traditional sugar feeder quickly emptied and the birds flew away, leaving food water in the cane sugar feeder. While we thought we were doing the right thing for the environment, it was clear the birds felt otherwise. And we want to make our feathered friends happy!

This turned out to be a great way to save money. Organic cane sugar is as expensive as sin and requires a trip to a fancy grocery store. We were able to cut our cost by two thirds with 5 lb paper bags of regular, old fashioned store brand sugar to help our feathered friends get their morning meal. This was super helpful in keeping the cost of taking care of our hummingbird friends low! Now that’s doing the right thing by both the planet and your wallet!

In conclusion, when it comes to taking care of nature, the old ways are best. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know our feathered friends in the morning. If you want to try this out for yourself, you can buy your own cute hummingbird feeder at Amazon. We recommend a nice red one – it was a lovely addition to our crape myrtles. And be sure to stop by your local Publix store for a 5 lb bag of good old fashioned white sugar! Be seeing you around the yard.

The post Article Writing Speed-run: Hummingbird Feeders appeared first on Hanging Hyena.

My problem isn’t that I’m a bad writer but rather I’m slowwwww… I think too much. I try to write a basic cover letter and it somehow turns into a Supreme Court pleading about unlocking an iPhone.

So… I’ve been testing ways to write faster.

Writing: Where Your Time Really Goes…

My kids are at a point in school where they have to write a lot of small essays. We’ve been coaching them a lot. Just for fun, I tried a couple of these writing assignments myself with the kids watching, tracking my progress on a clock. It turns out we don’t actually “write” much when we’re “writing”… For example, look at this chart, based on some 5 paragraph essays.

Typical writing time per 5 paragraph essay was around 30 minutes. The quality was decent but not Shakespeare. Maybe good enough to post as blog content. Most of my time was spent trying figure out what to write next. Bear in mind, this was for very simple stuff: presenting and defending opinions based on public events. Technical content or stuff requiring actual research would take much longer.

The Template Test – Eliminate Uncertainty

Sadly, most of this thinking while writing doesn’t really add value. Regardless of how  much time I spent thinking about the topic, the first thing I wrote down on paper was usually garbage. So what if we simplified things? Give a writer with a template based on structured questions and tell them to “fill in the blanks”. We put this to the test. A time trial, in front of an audience (my family) about a random topic that I had never written about before. Using this template, I was able to write a 469 word article in under 11 minutes. This represents a 63% improvement from my typical writing speed. The real surprise? I wrote a better essay this way. The template forced me to organize my thoughts and present them in a consistent manner. The well defined structure also helped focus my attention in the editing process.

Editing & Re-writing: Da Real MVP

In retrospect, editing time added the most value per minute in terms of overall article quality. If you have an extra five minutes, re-reading the article several times often results in a very nice lift in the quality of the final product. I usually edit one of two ways. The “basic tightening” and the “partial re-write”. “Basic tightening” consists of scanning the paragraph a couple of times and removing unnecessary words. The partial re-write restates the entire paragraph in a fresh voice. While more time consuming, it is usually far faster than the original draft. I’ll leave you on an uplifting note: “To Write Is Human, To Edit Divine”

The post Write Like The Wind! How To Write 63% Faster… appeared first on Hanging Hyena.

The sheer number of synonyms for crazy exist because of the vague and often loaded nature of the term. Each of these terms means something slightly different, and they will probably serve your narrative better than the initial term. Unfortunately, the slightly different meaning of these words means they aren’t interchangeable. You can’t just copy and paste these terms in – so spend some time thinking about what they really mean, and how you can work with them. If you take the time to read over the definitions, you’ll be able to make better substitutions.

A Dozen Suggestions For Another Word For Crazy

Insane
Insane is the most clinical synonym for crazy, and it carries a weightier connotation. This is a great word to use when the situation calls for a bit more gravity.

Nuts
On the other end of the spectrum, nuts is a great term to show that the scene in question is crazy in a slightly friendlier way. Nuts isn’t a term that should be used formally, of course, but it’s a more authentic term to use in casual speech.

Mad
Mad is a great synonym to use when attempting to write in historical prose or when talking specifically about insanity. Mad isn’t a particularly sensitive word to use when describing a character, but might be appropriate when describing a situation.

Psychotic
A psychosis is a very specific kind of insanity. While it’s not a synonm for the term in general, it does capture the essence of the word in many circumstances. Psychotic is a great way to describe a darkly insane character, while the related term “psychosis” can describe the manner in which a character is crazy.

Bonkers
Bonkers is a difficult term. You can’t slot it into a serious work, but it does describe a type of joyful craziness. Use it when you’re describing a childish or outlandish situation for a bit more impact.

Unhinged
Unhinged is a polite way of saying crazy for some, or a great way to describe a dementedly insane character for others. It isn’t a precise trade – no find and replace here – but describing a character as unhinged will often carry the same meaning as using crazy in the same sentence.

Berserk
This is a violent, out-of-control type of crazy. A character who goes berserk is almost always engaging in violence, and be aware that this word almost always describes something living.

Wacky
The cousin of bonkers and nuts, wacky definitely has a lighter connotation than most things on this list. Things that are cartoonishly out of control tend to fall under this heading.

Uncontrollable
When you say a situation is crazy because it’s out of control, you might as well practice an economy of words and just call it uncontrollable. If you aren’t directly talking about literal insanity, you might as well use this word in crazy’s place.

Mental
Mental is another word for crazy, and it’s definitely not a polite substitution. There’s a lot of weight attached to this word, so use it sparingly.

Unbalanced
When a character’s described as unbalanced, it’s generally inferred that they are a bit insane. This term can be useful when writing period fiction as well, as an unbalanced mind is a great historic term.

Lunatic
This isn’t a friendly term, but it does mean the same thing as crazy. A lunatic is a historically accurate term for a crazy person, even if it isn’t used in polite company today.

Picking Another Word for Crazy

As you continue to look for alternative terms, try to hone in on what you really mean. Crazy’s a great term, but you can narrow down your words to be more specific. The more specific you can be, the better your descriptive writing. Finding alternative words isn’t just a way to stop repetition – it’s a way to help you better make your point.

The post Another Word For Crazy – 12 Insane Ideas! appeared first on Hanging Hyena.

Below, we’ve come up with different synonyms for the word good. Sprinkle them into your next letter or speech of praise. They’ll add a little spice and your audience will appreciate it. Boring writing equals fewer readers. And a little emotion is often a good thing.

15 Suggestions for Another Word for Good

1 – Virtuous

Used to describe a person’s character or morals. Instead of saying he is a good person; try saying he is virtuous. This is a particular appropriate choice if you’re writing a formal speech or presentation.

2 – Kindhearted

Another word for good that describes a person’s character. Use this to praise someone for being nice or generous.

3 – Superior

Use this synonym for good if you’re describing qualities for a particular role. Instead of saying these are good tires; try these are superior tires. This says they stand out relative to the rest of the tires you could buy. See how easy it is to spice up your vocabulary by just changing one word?

4 – Delightful

Use when explaining an enjoyable or satisfying meal, show, or other experience. Instead of “the movie was good”, maybe try “the movie was delightful”. Yes, you may sound a tad snobby, but who cares? You’re broadening your vocabulary!

5 – Appropriate

Suitable for a particular purpose. Instead of saying this wine is good with spaghetti, try saying this wine is appropriate with spaghetti. And, now I’m craving spaghetti and wine.

6 – Tip-top

Meaning desired or approved of. We wouldn’t recommend using it often, but it’s a tip-top word to use sparingly when describing something or someone’s condition.

7 – Obedient

Follows rules or another word for good behavior. It can easily be used to describe a pet or child in the modern world. Obedience is a virtue in many religious orders and cultures.

8 – Significant

Out of all the synonyms for good, this is one of our favorites. Using significant instead of good often makes more of an impact. But use it sparingly, so the audience considers it as significant…

9 – Awesome

The perfect synonym of good for a younger audience. It’s definitely not a word you would find in Shakespeare’s writings.

10 – Proficient

Another word used to describe having the expertise needed for a particular role. Being told your driving is good may not strike you as well as being told it is highly proficient.

11 – Outstanding

Telling someone their play performance was good will not get the same smile and reaction as telling them their performance was outstanding. Particularly if you throw flowers at them afterwards!

12 – Charitable

One way to describe someone’s intentions or kind heart. Sometimes changing a simple word can show more emotion or show someone your sincere intent. Instead of saying, “You are such a good person”, try “You are such a charitable person”. They may look at you weird, but at least you’re being nice.

13 – Reputable

Deserving of respect. Honorable. Telling someone a company is reputable makes a better impact than saying it is good.

14 – Fine

A bit boring, but a perfectly acceptable synonym for good. It’s fantastic if you want to let someone know that while they performed acceptably, they have the opportunity to do better in the future.

15 – Wicked

Although informal, it’s the perfect descriptive word when you’re wanting to grab attention.

Searching for Synonyms of Good

There are many more words out there that work as another word for good. Just pick the best one that fits in the context. Words create strong and lasting impressions. So, remember the next time you praise your spouse for cleaning the house, don’t say, “good job”. Instead, say, “you did an outstanding job! The house looks tip-top”.

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