I had that set, and agree with L_T's learned analysis. I'm not sure my reasoning was quite as logical (apart from the printmaking) but I did get them right.

I left this part out of the original post so no one could read it before getting that set, but L_T went 0 for 3 (which is why they don't belong in the same set).

diptych = artistic production
magnum opus = work of art
printmaking = fine art

I do remember reading once that Terry did add logic to prevent more than one (vein/vena) from ever showing up in the same set. It just seems like (art/artistic) should get the same treatment.

I had agreed with both LT and Rossian...

But, if those were the correct answers, something is definitely wrong. That doesn't make a bit of sense whatsoever.

I don't think how many appeared is the issue; it's that they seem to be completely off. :P


But, Rossian says she got them right. Hmmm.

Once I've played, I don't really remember much about the answers, but I've looked and definitely scored 30/30 yesterday. I know I hesitated over the diptych and magnum opus options, but I can't actually remember the choices I made. I am pretty sure that artistic production did match with printmaking, though.

I agree, though, that it was difficult to match them and I also had some medicines to match up in a set earlier this week - my crystal ball didn't work on that occasion, though, and I got them the wrong way round.

predeterminaation means "a mental determination or resolve in advance"
conclusion means "a position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration"

Predeterminaation? There are two 'A's.

fingerprint is related to black and white

fingerprint means "biometric identification from a print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger"
black and white means "the result of the printing process"

I think that's a different type of printing process.

I had the same issue, Tim. I was going to post here, but I know there are all kinds of quirky definitions that are paired together in MM. I have resigned myself to the fact that you just have to guess wildly sometimes. (a lot)

It's tenuous, but it's the third section, the "related to" column, which doesn't have to be exact definitions. I don't think it's completely out of the ballpark to link fingerprinting with the printing process - they both use ink to create an image on paper. Like I say, it's a bit of a tenuous link, and the third section can be frustrating in this way, but I don't think it's completely wacky.

killer is related to individual
You said: adult
killer means "someone who causes the death of a person or animal"
individual means "a human being"

pacifist is related to adult
You said: individual
pacifist means "someone opposed to violence as a means of settling disputes"
adult means "a fully developed person from maturity onward"


Any suggestions on why these match up this way instead of the other way around?

retreated is related to people



You said: fall away

retreated means "people who have retreated"
people means "(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively"


In this instance, Mind Melt used "retreated" as a noun, but did not specify the usage. Retreated as a verb means to draw back, make a retreat, withdraw. Maybe inserting a (v) or (n) after the word that is to be defined would give the player more information to interpret the proper definition. I'm not an English major, so I might be totally wrong about this. Am I totally off-base?

I've finally had enough of Mind Melt's shoddy definitions and am going to stop playing this game, unless forced to by the Challenges.

I agree that they are frustrating. Today's set for me had killer/slayer to match with regicide/executioner. The definitions for killer and slayer were identical, so it really was pot luck - for once, I did get lucky. Yesterday, I had something similar and guessed the wrong way around, but I have learned to shrug my shoulders. On balance, I enjoy the game, despite the anomalies, so would not want to give it up.

The imprecision or vagueness or occasional wild guess in the third section is, for me, part of the charm of the game. It is an entertaining blend of knowledge, logic, and having the Force be with you.

The two word words or phrases were setup and device and the answers were corrective and pendulum

setup means "equipment designed to serve a specific function"
device means "an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose"

Those definitions looks identical to me, just phrased differently. Maybe in future I should answer the same for both definitions when these dubious definitions come up, that way I'd only get one wrong.

Definitions of the answer options: -
corrective means "a device for treating injury or disease"
pendulum means "an apparatus consisting of an object mounted so that it swings freely under the influence of gravity"

Pendulum meets both criteria, but something that is corrective does not have to be a device.

Doesn't have to, but sometimes is.

And that's the way the game works mostly, I find - not on exclusive or narrow definitions, but on relations & connections between words, and usually I rely on the process of elimination. Sometimes frustrating, I agree, but more often than not when I find something difficult, I can see in hindsight how I could have (and should have) seen the connection.





Yes, that's exactly how I feel about it too. It's my favourite game here and I wish it would run more than once a day.

I swore I wouldn't post again here about the sometimes-insane matches, since it's about as effective as beating my head against the wall, but this one is beyond the pale:

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juke house is related to marijuana cigarette

You said: dancing

juke house means "a small roadside establishment in the southeastern United States where you can eat and drink and dance to music provided by a jukebox"

marijuana cigarette means "marijuana leaves rolled into a cigarette for smoking"

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Knowing that sometimes there might be more to a definition in the database than is displayed, I searched some online dictionaries (especially freedictionary.org, the usual source of these), but I could not find any definition of "juke house" which even mentions "marijuana cigarette". This match strains even the ill-defined boundaries of the third section.

I dug around, and found a reference to synonyms of juke house including juke joint - I reckon that's the connection with marijuana.

Meh. The game was obviously created to aggravate. 'Tis trivial. I'm sure at least none of us have dedicated the OED to memory. I have decided in the past few months that the computer thinks I know too much about "ordinary" words, so I get way too many medical terms.

I have learned a good deal, though: the best thing is that I'm not a hypochondriac. I think. Maybe.

Medical terms are usually good, as they stand out. I got three of them, two that were completely interchangeable, in a recent set, which was rather irritating. But it's the game. I actually really like the strangeness of some of the associations, and the chance to think laterally instead of producing reflex responses. And when I don't get the association in Part 3, it's really fun exploring around to see how it can link.

The worst thing is when you get the name of a drug you recognise because you're taking it - trust me, when the drug has a name long enough to get into Mind Melt you know you're not well.

That's like matching "The White House" with "diagnostics" because of the TV show "House, M.D.".

It would be one thing if the given phrase was "juke joint", but it wasn't. "Dancing" is clearly a better match with "juke house" than "marijuana cigarette".



That would probably put one at a disadvantage in this game...

And that works if 'joint' is used to mean a disreputable place, like 'I walked into the joint'. But this misrepresents the idea and uses a completely different meaning for 'joint' which doesn't work as a match. Neither juke house or juke joint have anything to do with marijuana.

And you know this because...? I have done some of my best dancing after exposure to juke something.

"Sultanate" and "renegade state" were in the third section of the Mind Melt game I played today, and choices to match them up included "country" and "res publica". It appears that either of the first two would fit with either of the last two. Am I missing something here?