The opposite of similar is unalike

You said: dissimilitude

similar means "having the same or similar characteristics"
unalike means "not alike or similar"
The opposite of likeness is dissimilitude

You said: unalike

likeness means "similarity in appearance or character or nature between persons or things"
dissimilitude means "dissimilarity evidenced by an absence of likeness"

Yes, no and both. But both answers are correct regardless so something has to be done to allow them.

I don't see a problem with these, Satguru. One pair is made of adjectives, the other of nouns.

However I encountered this one:

Left hand side:

working man means "an employee who performs manual or industrial labor"
working person means "an employee who performs manual or industrial labor"

Right hand side:

lacer means "a workman who laces shoes or footballs or books (during binding)"
laborer means "someone who works with their hands"

(Since the game is still active, I am not matching them)

Now imagine the pain when you get that choice after 29 days in a row of getting all 30 right!

Or even after 24 days, if you're referring to the "Defrosted" mini (which asks for 25 or more perfect scores in 30 days).

I meant 24, typed too fast while sneaking in an illicit visit from work.

Yep, that new mind melt challenge is going to cause much gnashing of teeth -- with good reason, I might add!

The opposite of reduce is elaborate

You said: increase

reduce means "reduce in scope while retaining essential elements"
elaborate means "add details, as to an account or idea"
The opposite of decrement is increase

You said: elaborate

decrement means "the amount by which something decreases"
increase means "the amount by which something increases"


This one is another one of those "headache" ones.

chatterer is related to verbaliser
You said: verbalizer

chatterer means "an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker"
verbaliser means "someone who expresses in language"

*****

lisper is related to verbalizer
You said: verbaliser

lisper means "a speaker who lisps"
verbalizer means "someone who expresses in language"


This one is more than a headache.

Mind Melt can be infuriating. Today I got this:

gymnosophy is related to philosophical system

You said: philosophy

gymnosophy means "the doctrine of a sect of Hindu philosophers who practiced nudity and asceticism and meditation"

philosophical system means "a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school"


ethicism is related to philosophy

You said: philosophical system

ethicism means "a doctrine that ethics and ethical ideas are valid and important"

philosophy means "a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school"

So both philosophy and philosophical system mean the exact same thing and nothing more than a coin flip determines which one is right and which one is wrong.

Don't fret: it's only a game. I admit having been thwarted too some times by such close couples, but there are much worse events you could experience in real life.

Merry Christmas !

Not a problem, but an interesting definition...



When you consider that everything after the semicolon is deleted while doing the quiz, it means that the definition of "put up" is "put up".

That's what I saw yesterday, and I was so convinced it couldn't be the match I spent ages finding a semi-plausible alternative pairing for each - result was 28 right.

I hope I'm posting this in the right place. If not, please point me in the right direction.

I'm working on the "Defrosted" mini. On Dec. 24th, in the "Relationships" section, I had the words "chatterer" and "lisper". Two available answers were "verbalizer" and "verbaliser". They both mean the same thing, so I made my best guess. Apparently I guessed wrong, as I was counted as having missed both words. But in my answer message, I received the explanations:
chatterer means "an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker"
verbaliser means "someone who expresses in language"

and

lisper means "a speaker who lisps"
verbalizer means "someone who expresses in language"

???

I realize that sometimes glitches happen, but I'm going for the "Defrosted" mini, and I can't afford to have imperfect scores that are no fault of my own. This was the second time it had happened, but I didn't report the first. I mentioned the second to Wes, who instructed me to report it here. I procrastinated, because that's what I do. 8-/

Today I encountered the same issue:

hunter means "someone who hunts game"
trained worker means "a worker who has acquired special skills"
and
technician means "someone whose occupation involves training in a specific technical process"
skilled worker means "a worker who has acquired special skills"

I understand that we enjoy these games through the gracious efforts of people who volunteer their time. I realize that sometimes there are differences of opinion on what a word means. But in these cases, we have the same definition provided for two words in the same set. Is there any way this problem can be avoided?

Thanks,
Linda

This game was set up by Terry to draw its matches from a database that is not on this site, and whose definitions are sometimes, to put it mildly, perplexing. But they are what they are.

Your first problem is just one of those things - I don't think the game's filters can avoid them entirely. (As soon as this mini was introduced, I knew we would see an increase in reports of this kind of problem, which is the reason it asks for 25 days out of 30, not a perfect run). I am not sure from your post what the option pairs for the second set were, so cannot try to suggest how the correct pairing might have been deduced.

An incorrect guess is frustrating, but only adds one extra day to the task of getting the Defrosted mini.

In the first section today a definition was "a roughly cylindrical that is vessel open at the top". Are these editable? It should be "cylindrical vessel that is open at the top" but the words are out of order

These come from an online database that we cannot edit, but the people who maintain it do occasionally spot and correct these issues.

This one made me smile.

The opposite of hole up is estivate

hole up means "sleep during winter"
estivate means "sleep during summer"

hysterectomy is related to ablation



You said: surgical procedure

hysterectomy means "surgical removal of the uterus"
ablation means "surgical removal of a body part or tissue"

I know - you're going to say I missed the fine difference here - I'll be fascinated to hear what it is!

To see any fine points, we would need to see what was matched with surgical procedure. But it's likely not to be obvious even then - in part 3, the relationships are often several layers down in the definitions and lists in the database of related words. Run is related to walk because they are both descriptions of ways of moving; run is related to score because you score a run in cricket or baseball. But when the game says that walk is related to score, and just gives a single definition for each, the relationship is not at all clear.

How about this doozy:

septuagenarian is related to golden ager
You said: oldster
septuagenarian means "someone whose age is in the seventies"
golden ager means "an elderly person"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

octogenarian is related to oldster
You said: golden ager
octogenarian means "someone whose age is in the eighties"
oldster means "an elderly person"

suppression is related to growing

You said: give notice

suppression means "(botany) the failure to develop of some part or organ of a plant"
growing means "(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically"

And that was not in the 'opposites', it was in the last section relationships. Yes it is diametrically opposed, therefore in some way related, but gee, FT!

I'll continue to play as I enjoy the game, but sometimes it's like trying to catch smoke.

Or herd cats.

I got that one wrong also. If it comes up again, octogenarian and oldster both start with O (as a way to remember which way FT wants them).

How about this cracking pair?

The opposite of nonconformity is conformation
You said: conformity
nonconformity means "failure to conform"
conformation means "acting according to certain accepted standards"

The opposite of noncompliance is conformity
You said: conformation
noncompliance means "the failure to obey"
conformity means "acting according to certain accepted standards"

If the opposite of "nonconformity" isn't "conformity", I'll eat my dictionary! With ketchup.

This game almost never matches up exact opposites - it uses a similar one, or the one where the spelling is alternative (odorize could be matched to odourise or odorise, or deodourise or deodorise as an opposite, but it would not be deodorize). Experience would make me immediately rule out conformity and nonconformity as the pair, counter-intuitive as that may seem.