For those for whom having the flag makes this too easy, perhaps the version without a flag will present a similar challenge as those face who, like me, do not know the flags on sight.
To be frank seeing people such as gunner post repeated they get everything from Switzerland to Mauritius with equal ease has taken much of the fun out of the thread for me. Its like watching an expert pool player clearing tables but not attempting trick shots. Yeah, the skill required to pull it off is impressive but there isn't much else to engage. Skill tests that don't actually present a challenge are honestly boring.
I tried this version for the second time today and got it on the first guess, but I used Google Earth Pro and looked for a country with the right shape. Is that cheating? Perhaps so.
The first time I tried this version of wordle without the help of Google Earth Pro, I failed miserably, by the way.
Also, FYI my name is Gunnar, not Gunner.
No precept or claim is more suspect or more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
I don't know that cheating or otherwise is the more critical question. As a discussion forum, it's probably less about keeping score and more about a person's experience with it. If, as some say, a conversation is like a tennis match , it may be more about how that experience can be returned into a conversation vs grabbed out of the air. A few people said they use the geography games as incentive to look at maps and get more familiar with the world. Makes sense. Not much discussion came about as a result but that's not uncommon these days.
I suspect there is more interaction and opportunities for shared experiences in challenge than in attempting to do whatever it takes to get an answer in any game on the first try. The first is a relatable experience, the latter essentially a game of solitaire. That's how I see it, anyway. If a person only posts when they know the answer right away, it gives rise to one kind of conversation. Or, as seems to be the reality, the lack thereof.
Today I kinda bombed the flag version of the game. That made getting it when the capital clue came up embarrassing. I don't know why the shape looked wrong to me, but even now knowing the answer I want to reject it. I have to chalk that up to being raised with maps that distort the shapes of most countries in favor of placing the US in the center I guess.
The version without a flag took me five tries. I felt like I should have known it and knew I'd seen it on a map recently. Perhaps due to current events? I managed to use the distance and direction clues to get it before running out of guesses. As soon as the name popped into my head I felt it was the answer, but it wasn't one that came to mind initially. It seems like it should have.
The same on the non-flag version, but it was one of the most iconically shaped countries on earth this time. I can't imagine anyone not immediately getting it on the first try (if everyone was shown the same mystery country).
No precept or claim is more suspect or more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
One Guess. Recognized it immediately both by its shape and its flag.
First guess on non-flag version as well. Fairly well known shape, has been in the news fairly frequently.
No precept or claim is more suspect or more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
First guess on both the flag and non-flag versions. On the non-flag version was able to correctly guess the likely general geographical area from the shape of the coastline, and then was able to zero in on it using Google Earth Pro.
No precept or claim is more suspect or more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
No precept or claim is more suspect or more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
The non-map version took me 5 guesses, even with the help of Google Earth Pro. Yet the shape seemed familiar to me. When I finally got it, I realized why. I had seen it before on a map and read about it and a vital service it provides but I had never recognized it as an official country. I still question whether it counts as a separate country. It is the location of a scientifically important depository.
When you're through trying to guess the name of the place, you can read about the vital importance of the place here and here.
Last edited by Gunnar on Tue Jul 19, 2022 11:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
No precept or claim is more suspect or more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
Second guess on flags version, but I claim foul (or should I say fowl?). The shape of the country was right, and the colors of the flag were right, but they faked me out by adding a shield with an eagle on it to the center of the flag, making it look very similar to the flag of my first guess that has the same flag colors and actually does have an eagle in the center, but without the shield. The two countries are right next to each other. Maybe at one time they were one country that separated into two, thus the similarity between their flags. I'll have to look up their history, I guess.
ETA: I was right. The two countries were at one time just one country, that eventually separated amicably into two countries. My first, incorrect guess was once a part of the mystery country. They speak the same language and continue to have close ties to each other. Their flags are identical except that the incorrectly guessed country has an eagle coat of arms in the center, and the correct guess does not, contrary to the way it was depicted in the puzzle. Perhaps there was an eagle on the flag of the original country that it dropped, but that was retained in modified form by the new country when they split.
3 guesses on the non-flag version.
No precept or claim is more suspect or more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
Non-flags version was the same country as the flags version this time.
No precept or claim is more suspect or more likely to be false than one that can only be supported by invoking the claim of Divine authority for it--no matter who or what claims such authority.
