Human BOGGLE

It's a giant BOGGLE game, and it was played like this: "The teams are up on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th floor...The (floor team) shuffles the letters...Then the (other) teams have a set period of time to call in their words via cell phone...Score was kept by the team (floor) on the stairs." Played last July at the Boston Marriott Cambridge Hotel, Human BOGGLE was one of many puzzling events arranged and celebrated by the National Puzzlers' League as part of their annual conference. In case you are wondering about appropriateness of the oddly semi-cooperative play spirit that was apparently manifest by conference organizers and participants, see their article on Sharing the fun for a different, and more inviting approach to puzzle-solving.

I found Human BOGGLE on a weblog written by Nancy White. It was one of those moments of web-induced serendipity. Nancy and I have been correspondents, and friends, since the early days of Technography. She, like I, has been fascinated by any attempts to facilitate actual cooperation in the real and/or virtual worlds. And, in actual, but curiously unrelated fact, she had just recently blogged the publication of Junkyard Sports.

I had been searching for more evidence of the virtual evolution of BOGGLE and found some cause for hope. For example, here's a collection of three "BOGGLER" games (note how the clever addition of the letter "R" completely disguises the actual, Hasbro-owned, trademark-protected name). There's "Classic" (4x4), a 3x3 "Wild Card" version in which one of the letters is wild enough to be anything you want it to be. Which makes for a fascinating, play-inviting experience. And then "Quick" Boggler, 3x3, with a one-minute time limit. WEBoggle, the game that in4mador recommended, and got me started on all this, is an online BOGGLE competition, played on a 4x4 or 5x5 grid. It is elegant, without bell or whistle, and challenging enough to attract any serious BOGGLE player. Playing against anonymous opponents adds a delicious dash of excitement and focus. Another online or solitaire BOGGLEish collection is Jumbalaya. You have to register to play against other players, but you can play the solitaire versions without any ado or adon't, select a grid size from 4x4 to 6x6 - or a novel and implication-full tree-shaped board. This version seems to have the greatest number of geeklike thrills - you can select the time allotted, the minimal wordlength, the intelligence of the computer opponent, and even the method of scoring.

So, ye lords and ladies of puzzledom, you may rest assured. Your world virtually and analogically abounds with a wealth of wordly merriment. Boggle on, dudes!