Some of the words I've won with.
acre
swat
noisy
ware
cheer
assisted
No dictionary required, good luck is all you need.

I can honestly say that, in the crystal ball, a dictionary does not help. Common words that most everyone should know appear far more often than those unique words that nobody knows. I have over 60 wins, and over 55 of them are commonly used words. I do not use a dictionary to get my wins. I just play.

I can also say that HurricaneBill, who has been mentioned specifically, is not cheating and certainly does not need to be penalized for being such a good player.

It has been mentioned to death already, but I feel the need to say it again. We all get 1 guess before :45. We all have the exact same odds. You will see, if you pay attention, that it is extremely rare that someone actually wins at :45. Usually, if someone does, it is some random person who got lucky; but most of the time it is because we had letters like "tz" and there are only a few options, so, logically, someone HAS to win it.

You can also note that most of HurricaneBill's wins are at :55 or beyond. That third letter helps a lot. I know my strategy is to look at words already guessed and guess different variations of the word. It has worked for me dozens of times. HurricaneBill has his own strategy, and he has won nearly 600 times because of it. All it takes is logic, strategy, patience, and, as always, a bit of luck.

I know that I never thought I'd hit 10 wins, but I'm at well over 60. I'm doing great in the game. Like most, I do not play for the points. It's far too slow to get the points (1,000 points roughly a week is just not worth the hours and hours spent...). However, the Crystal Ball is my favorite game, and I would appreciate not getting penalized for having over 60 wins. I am sure all those with over that many would feel the same way.

We all have played fairly, with the EXACT same chances as all of those who have only a few wins, or none at all. We just happen to play more, have a strategy, and yes, some use a dictionary. There is no cheating taking place, there is no unfair advantages, and there are no wrong-doings going on.

I can also say that some people are athletes. Others are math geeks. I am a word nerd. I love words. This is my favorite game because I am good with words, and have my own mental dictionary for this game. So yes, I think those with hundreds of wins are also probably wordy people, so they have a slight advantage over those who don't know English that well, or just aren't that "wordy".

If you notice, too, though, as I mentioned before, most words are actually quite common. There are very few in the list that I do not recognize. However, most of Bill's wins are those unique words. He probably guesses only the bizarre ones no one else will, so when those words come up, logically, he will win.

We all have different strategies. Some people play all 4 letter words and have 100 or more wins. Others play medical words nobody has heard of, and have over 100 wins. Others play common words that pop into their head and are not on the list, and have over 100 wins. Others, like myself, play variations of words already guessed.

We all have the exact same chances, and can all use any of the strategies we choose. I am confident that NOBODY over 100 wins is cheating. Terry removed a few players who were (turns out they were the same player), and everyone on the list now are still playing. Therefore, I assume no one is cheating. We are all playing fairly.

Anyway, my point...


Nothing needs to change in this game. It is perfectly fine. Nothing needs to change!

Here are some of my winning words: Mucoidal, mucoid, suppurative, alkalotic, acidotic, trigeminal, hepatic, stertor. I love using medical words as my first guess but it very rarely pays off. I had to fight for all these words in the last five minutes.
Here are some more: Riot, snore, trick, moor, base, punk, soapy, gush, nape, forget, bottom. Again, all words that I fought for in the last five minutes. You don't need to be a nurse or a word nerd to guess any of them. You just have to play.

Could levels be added to this game based on number of correct guesses? This seems to level the playing field in many of the other games.

If one wants to go the "paper route", then a thesaurus is probably a better resource than a real dictionary (too much page flipping i.e. time consuming with the latter).

The "corrrect!!!" message is always fun to receive, no matter how many wins you might have. Sure you get points for every win, but you certainly can't win Endurance by just playing this game lol. And all your wrong guesses merely help others to potentially win. You have NO idea just how many wrong guesses I have entered!

In fact it's all a win-win "thang" in my opinion and I'm not quite sure why some people complain about it. If you don't like it? Fine, then don't play. There are loads of games here that I don't play at all, for several reasons - but I certainly don't begrudge the points that the people get who happen to succeed at those games.

As for when I'll quit? Not sure. From the time this game began, if the first two letters were "pa" I typed in "panopticon". In almost two years it didn't come up and I told myself that if that word was EVER the right one, I would quit. And one day it DID come up. Did I quit? Nope (and am sure I'll be punished by higher powers at some point LOL). And besides, gracie is making me look rather inadequate presently, so I might have to start playing "seriously" again sometime soon LOL.

Sometimes games are truly just for FUN. This one is MOSTLY about pure luck, with minimal "strategy", so how can it be anything BUT about silly fun? I don't understand why some folks would want to "punish" people who merely happen to like playing a particular game.

The letters this hour are fl. I need to pick up 'flaunt' to go with my 'gloat'. Please, back off 'flaunt' quesses if you could.

Can we be flippant about your chances?

Personally, not being flippant, I think flaunt will be a flop.

And a flake fluked it... My flabber has just been gasted.

Flipping 'eck!

Had me flummoxed.

Flamin' 'eck! What are you lot on about?

Flayed alive! (again) - apologies to Noddy Holder et al.

Flibbertigibbets?

Flibbertigibbets? Aren't they the innards of a chook?

Nope, too many characters!

I have guessed the word three times...Never have I seen the 'Correct' screen. I think it's because as I type in my guess, I go elsewhere. Not for any reason, except I'm usually playing another game.

I would like to see the 'green screen' but I'm fine. I play daily, and enjoying the game. Good going to everyone doing the same!

More than 12 letters!

edited to say: Rats! satguru got there first!

It's good to see the funny postings about winning this badge or why we're not winning it for that matter! Much better than you lot who take the whole thing seriously, and believe me I don't, or I would be much higher than I am now in levels.

I'm pretty easy to get along with would you believe, but there are some out there who think I'm not! I know you find that hard to believe fellow funtrivians!

But oh, I do like to stir things up sometimes

But guys, it still needs fixing, but bloody hell I don't know how. I'm not the brain box of funtrivia ............ Terry!?

Actually, you have pages of explanations on this thread of why we love the game as it is and that it DOESN'T need fixing. If you still insist it does, I think the solution is for you to stop playing the game. There is plenty around here that will make you happy. Why insist on fixing something that so many enjoy as is and DON'T think is broken? (And this is coming from someone with wins in the single digits who cannot play very often due to work and life commitments)

You're admitting to making lifestyle choices, are you?

The 'green screen' only appears if you guess the word after the 45 minute mark. If you guess the correct word in the first part, you won't see it.

So... how do you know how many you have won? Especially if you don't have enough wins to appear on the list? Or do you just get a nice surprise when the Fortune Teller badge appears?

Click on "Top 100" to the right of "Most Wins" in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. All your winning words will appear at the top of the page

Fixing? Every game has a top 10 list here and anywhere else with competitions running. There are some where playing after a win stops others winning and Terry created the champion's division and Daily Game div 11 and 12 so people clearly more familiar with the questions don't keep winning something they only needed once.

Then we have the top winners of badges excluding existing winners on the global and monthlies, so we can all play, but not actually be registered new badge wise. Everyone is (as much as a consensus is ever achieved) happy with those fixes, but crystal ball is not based on previous knowledge and performance, of course you must have a top 10 whether public or hidden, and handicapping anyone above a certain level makes no sense at all. What if one of them wins but someone else gets it if their win isn't registered? No one would be happy then as I certainly wouldn't want a credit for something someone else won and didn't get first. Other than doing that how else could it possibly be 'fixed' without making it unfair for everyone?

Congratulations to bubbatom1 on achieving 25 wins in the Crystal Ball. I know he or she has found it a frustrating game and I'm pleased to see that the second, elusive, badge has now been successfully claimed.

You mean to say after all that moaning he now has 25 wins!?

Sheesh. Lucky him.

He? Bubbatom wasn't male the last time I looked.

25 wins?!?! I'm stuck on 5 (and I don't have a clue how I got past 1).

If I can throw my two cents into the ring....I disliked this game from the very beginning. I thought that it was not a true trivia game, and still stick by that thought. However, there are many people that enjoy the randomness and competitiveness of this particular game. My suggestion is that if you do not like this game, there are many others on the site to play. No one is forcing you to play this game. For myself I played the game occasionally, got one word correct to earn the badge and moved on. I have not played the game in many months. If it is the points that you seek, there are many other games that afford you good scores. Play those more often and earn the points that way. As long as players don't cheat (using reference is not cheating) I don't see the problem.

I'm with Fred, I don't like it, I don't play it. I got a couple of wins then left it alone. Unless and until Mehaul shows up saying he bags the word 'flaunt' of course, then I might dabble.

I have to say that whenever I read Bubbatom moaning about the game I assumed s/he was like me with only a couple of wins... 25 makes you a pro in my book with no right to moan about other people's wins at all. In fact, come to think of it, people with 25 wins should move over so normal players can win. Terry, this game needs fixing!