From mosaics to Monk to Mondrian, our game mode mockup machine continues touching base with the maker in us all. Take a peek at our latest imagined variation, PandeMondrian, honoring Denmark’s most iconic painter, Piet Mondrian. It’s been on our docket for quite some time, and we’re pleased this test ended up working well competition-wise. Not too few or too many words formed, and the moderate tightness of the connections wasn’t too taxing. The key was having one plentiful color be blank. In the test game below, normal rules and scoring applied. The pattern would be unique every time in a real deployment.
What you see is what you spell
We chose white as blank, which made knowing where we could put letters, as well as seeing connections, visually intuitive. Some white areas could be black as well. Any colored areas sharing an edge or part of an edge are connected. A corner diagonally touching a corner isn’t. Some aesthetic notes: the varying width of black lines is in keeping with the artist’s labored process. And the need to place letters limited the aspect ratio of rectangles. This particular design was our own, loosely inspired by Mondrian’s oeuvre. We certainly don’t mean to trivialize his work, but if it turns out we are, we’ll gladly take this down.
To accent this ad hoc visualization of a potential variation, enjoy our made-up faux-cabulary words and their not-ready-for-the-dictionary definitions below. Real words are fine and put points in the stats, but these are more fun and get our creative juices flowing after the good mental workout of a game. Give it a try yourself next time. Nobody’s keeping score on that count but you. The first screenshot is what we spelled out, and the second is from Blu Yonder, the app’s built-in opponent. Facing the same conditions as you, it always has the blue top bar. Show it after you’ve finished a game by tapping the switch icon at top center-right.
Just bean facetious
Starcite: A mineral found in meteorites.
Rostence: Patina or aged appearance.
Funto: In a spirit of brotherhood and camaraderie: At Spell the Beans, one of our mottos is Do funto others.
Citose: Membranous material separating sections a grapefruit, orange, etc.
Nototic: Drowsy or in a daze: Pull over if you’re feeling nototic on the road.
Jednix: A stunt or prank, often touting something that doesn’t actually exist, as this April Fool’s bean story, or this. Or this (pranks and beans are quite the thing). Examples range from the modern-day corporate April Fool’s product or service to, well, faux-cabulary.
The limbo of missed one-liners
Carsten: Naturally carved or etched in stone, as an animal shape or face on a canyon wall or a rock on Mars.
Entrast: To imbue one thing with the qualities or traits of another.
Oast: To force to move eastward. This has often meant moving downwind of pollution.
Scarter: A witty retort, reaction or one-liner not thought of until it’s too late to say.
Indescart: Wistful or regretful, as when a scarter hits you and you’re in limbo, admiring your work but unable to share the joke.
Intrasco: Characteristics that have been entrasted.
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