Anybody who comes here on purpose, as opposed to via Google, probably already subscribes to the Linguist List. But whether or not you subscribe, you may not have visited their website since their annual fundraising drive began on March 17th. SC hadn't until today, and thus wasn't aware of a fiendishly difficult puzzle game they've put up on the site.
It's called Lexicon: Game Without Rules, and it's hurting your host's brain just thinking about how hard it is. As of this writing, SC is stuck on the third screen of the game, which isn't particularly impressive, because the first screen is a gimme, and the second screen only requires a bit of trivia that most linguists probably already know. All there is to say about the third screen is the first dozen theories you will think of are probably all quite reasonable, and they're certainly all wrong. SC shudders to imagine what he'll find on the fourth screen, if he gets that far (and if you do, please don't post any answers, here or elsewhere).
While you're there, consider making a donation. The Linguist List is a terrific professional resource, and deserves support from the community.
[UPDATE @ 1:48 a.m. 3/25/06: I'm past the third screen. It's possible to outthink yourself with this game.]
I think there's a mistake in question 8.
Posted by: AJ | March 25, 2006 at 01:57 PM
I think there's a mistake in question 7, too.
Posted by: Rachel | March 25, 2006 at 05:46 PM