Re: Your best apterous word to date?
Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:35 pm
SATURNIID from this game .
A group for contestants and lovers of the Channel 4 game show 'Countdown'.
http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/
BrilliantCharlie Reams wrote:I'd nominate this as the all-time winner, even if it was a conundrum.
I'm not certain but IIRC from one of the podcasts Charlie was just going for a nice common frequency Countdown word and Apterous fits the bill nicely. Wasn't it going to be called Netdown or something before?Maxine Silkstone wrote:Just an idle wondering … I can't be the only one that wonders...Why 'apterous?' Charlie, you obviously know it means possessing the power of flight, I may be a bit thick but I don’t see the connection apart from an uncharacteristic romantic notion of getting the whole thing off the ground (which makes me think more albatross than apterous)
Just curious
Sorry to disappoint Maybe one day Charlie will tell you the real story behind the name, where he trekked to darkest Africa, saught out the holy prophets, slew a basilisk, saved fair maiden and was rewarded with ancient treasures and scantily clad concubines.Maxine Silkstone wrote:I was hoping for a much more interesting story than that.
I like your suggestion, but the reality is rather simpler. Jono and I were discussing what to name it and we liked the way Tilefish (a site that sells Scrabble gear) had a name that was completely unique, when almost everything else to do with Scrabble has some kind of Word-related pun in the name (On Words, The Last Word, Word Wars, etc), but at the same time the name has a certain significance within the game; TILEFISH is a valid word in Scrabble, and also there is the phrase "fishing for a tile" which means making a one-letter play in the hope of drawing a particular letter that goes well with the others on the rack. So we were mooting names that had a similar significance, like LEOTARD and TANGELO, but obviously anything common like that already has its domain name taken, and I wasn't going to pay hundreds of pounds to buy leotard.net off someone else. So we started thinking of more esoteric offerings, and Jono recalled his favourite word from his own appearances, which was none other than APTEROUS. I liked it straight away, and checked that apterous.net was available, which it was. Then I stupidly didn't register it immediately and, by the time I got round to paying for it a few days later, some scumbags had picked it up. We considered changing the name but we liked it too much, so we ended up getting apterous.org instead, even though .org is supposed to be for charities (although the idea of actually making money out of it didn't occur to me until considerably later.) So now you know.Maxine Silkstone wrote:Just an idle wondering … I can't be the only one that wonders...Why 'apterous?' Charlie, you obviously know it means possessing the power of flight, I may be a bit thick but I don’t see the connection apart from an uncharacteristic romantic notion of getting the whole thing off the ground (which makes me think more albatross than apterous)
Just curious
Jono's 2nd numbers method does not compute! Interesting story thoughCharlie Reams wrote:APTEROUS
From memory, I'm pretty sure Jono offered 'SEABOARD' in round one as well...Dinos Sfyris wrote:Jono's 2nd numbers method does not compute! Interesting story thoughCharlie Reams wrote:APTEROUS
I think he said he was going to offer SEABOARD, then noticed there wasn't a D, so he offered ABOARD instead...Jon Corby wrote:From memory, I'm pretty sure Jono offered 'SEABOARD' in round one as well...Dinos Sfyris wrote:Jono's 2nd numbers method does not compute! Interesting story thoughCharlie Reams wrote:APTEROUS
Right answer.Charlie Reams wrote:I think he said he was going to offer SEABOARD, then noticed there wasn't a D, so he offered ABOARD instead...Jon Corby wrote:From memory, I'm pretty sure Jono offered 'SEABOARD' in round one as well...Dinos Sfyris wrote:Jono's 2nd numbers method does not compute! Interesting story though
Ah yes, that was it. Silly twat.Jon O'Neill wrote:Right answer.Charlie Reams wrote:I think he said he was going to offer SEABOARD, then noticed there wasn't a D, so he offered ABOARD instead...
If you ever bother with that I think Dinos is yer man, far more interesting in his little world... except he forgot to include a gandiseeg in there!Charlie Reams wrote:I like your suggestion, but the reality is rather simpler. Jono and I were discussing what to name it and we liked the way Tilefish (a site that sells Scrabble gear) had a name that was completely unique, when almost everything else to do with Scrabble has some kind of Word-related pun in the name (On Words, The Last Word, Word Wars, etc), but at the same time the name has a certain significance within the game; TILEFISH is a valid word in Scrabble, and also there is the phrase "fishing for a tile" which means making a one-letter play in the hope of drawing a particular letter that goes well with the others on the rack. So we were mooting names that had a similar significance, like LEOTARD and TANGELO, but obviously anything common like that already has its domain name taken, and I wasn't going to pay hundreds of pounds to buy leotard.net off someone else. So we started thinking of more esoteric offerings, and Jono recalled his favourite word from his own appearances, which was none other than APTEROUS. I liked it straight away, and checked that apterous.net was available, which it was. Then I stupidly didn't register it immediately and, by the time I got round to paying for it a few days later, some scumbags had picked it up. We considered changing the name but we liked it too much, so we ended up getting apterous.org instead, even though .org is supposed to be for charities (although the idea of actually making money out of it didn't occur to me until considerably later.) So now you know.Maxine Silkstone wrote:Just an idle wondering … I can't be the only one that wonders...Why 'apterous?' Charlie, you obviously know it means possessing the power of flight, I may be a bit thick but I don’t see the connection apart from an uncharacteristic romantic notion of getting the whole thing off the ground (which makes me think more albatross than apterous)
Just curious
I tried writing a Brief History of Apterous once before but it was pretty dull, maybe now you can see why...
Thanks Charlie. Emboldened by Maxine's success, here's another "I can't be the only one that wonders..." - why is Goatdown called Goatdown?Charlie Reams wrote:So we were mooting names that had a similar significance, like LEOTARD and TANGELO, but obviously anything common like that already has its domain name taken, and I wasn't going to pay hundreds of pounds to buy leotard.net off someone else. So we started thinking of more esoteric offerings, and Jono recalled his favourite word from his own appearances, which was none other than APTEROUS. I liked it straight awayMaxine Silkstone wrote:I can't be the only one that wonders...Why 'apterous?'
I don't think there was much motivation for that at all. Damian invented the idea and Jono and I ran with it; at some point it needed a name and I just started calling it Goatdown. I'd like to say it was some witty pun but that would require some revisionist historiography and my apto-dictatorship hasn't quite reached that point yet.Phil Reynolds wrote: Thanks Charlie. Emboldened by Maxine's success, here's another "I can't be the only one that wonders..." - why is Goatdown called Goatdown?
Ah yeah, ARTICULAR was brilliant. Have to admit I nicked it off you here, hope you don't mind.Jeffrey Burgin wrote:OSCILLATE, ARTICULAR or DOVETAILS. Probably ARTICULAR as I had no idea what it meant.
Most falseagrams in one game?Innis Carson wrote:here
109 is a hell of a score with 3 nines. He's a tough cookie that Garner.Innis Carson wrote:Ah yeah, ARTICULAR was brilliant. Have to admit I nicked it off you here, hope you don't mind.Jeffrey Burgin wrote:OSCILLATE, ARTICULAR or DOVETAILS. Probably ARTICULAR as I had no idea what it meant.
Actually I do mind, if I meet you at any stage of the finals and you get a 9 you are now contractually obliged to give it to me.Innis Carson wrote: Ah yeah, ARTICULAR was brilliant. Have to admit I nicked it off you here, hope you don't mind.
Haha nopane, no gain!Innis Carson wrote:here
^ This post is the best content that exists anywhere on the internet.Dinos Sfyris wrote:Haha nopane, no gain!Innis Carson wrote:here
I believe that was in a game against yours truly. Even now, I am still genuinely gutted for you that it wasn't there.Simon Le Fort wrote:The only time I have risen above mediocrity so far was with WATERLOG.
It was disallowed.
I guess I remain mediocre.
I'm not. Remembered the ranking system incorrectly and actually I am now an enthusiast. Still, I guess that's pretty awesome.Joseph Krol wrote:Probably GROUPAGES from this round: http://www.apterous.org/viewgame.php?ga ... 8#r5345318
especially sweet getting it as I learnt it in the bash room an hour or so before the game.
And I am now hopefully a devotee.
JK
Probably because we are both drunk. But double A-lol.Dinos Sfyris wrote:Comedy conundrum guess turned out to be the right answer!
http://www.apterous.org/viewgame.php?ke ... 2106662662
Thats the best thing ever.Dinos Sfyris wrote:Comedy conundrum guess turned out to be the right answer!
http://www.apterous.org/viewgame.php?ke ... 2106662662
Still no girlfriend, eh?JackHurst wrote:Thats the best thing ever.Dinos Sfyris wrote:Comedy conundrum guess turned out to be the right answer!
http://www.apterous.org/viewgame.php?ke ... 2106662662
Interesting you said that.Ben Hunter wrote:gandiseeg.org would have been top drawer.
2011-01-04 18:21:11 Apterous Prune and Adam Gillard missed a 12 from OROAHSBRAEMP; can you spot it?Dinos Sfyris wrote:Comedy conundrum guess turned out to be the right answer!
http://www.apterous.org/viewgame.php?ke ... 2106662662
So was this just coincidence do you think, or when someone checks if something is available, are there people out there tracking what's been checked?Charlie Reams wrote:So we started thinking of more esoteric offerings, and Jono recalled his favourite word from his own appearances, which was none other than APTEROUS. I liked it straight away, and checked that apterous.net was available, which it was. Then I stupidly didn't register it immediately and, by the time I got round to paying for it a few days later, some scumbags had picked it up.
What's the name? I'll check for you if you don't want to.Gavin Chipper wrote:So was this just coincidence do you think, or when someone checks if something is available, are there people out there tracking what's been checked?Charlie Reams wrote:So we started thinking of more esoteric offerings, and Jono recalled his favourite word from his own appearances, which was none other than APTEROUS. I liked it straight away, and checked that apterous.net was available, which it was. Then I stupidly didn't register it immediately and, by the time I got round to paying for it a few days later, some scumbags had picked it up.
Me and a friend have been considering starting a website with a particular domain name, but I specifically haven't checked to see if it's available (it probably is though given the name).
I only left that in the list because the word made me laugh, I (still) have no idea what it means.Dinos Sfyris wrote:Comedy conundrum guess turned out to be the right answer!
http://www.apterous.org/viewgame.php?ke ... 2106662662