I got these mad scientist blocks from Thinkgeek.com and I have to say I'm mildly disappointed. I'm not complaining about the quality, they look awesome. But the placement of the letters is not very good for making words.
Before you ask, here is a list of the words:
| A - Appendages | N - Nanotechnology |
| B - Bioengineering | O - Organs |
| C - Caffeine | P - Peasants (with Pitchforks) |
| D - Dirigible | Q - Quantum physics |
| E - Experiment | R - Robot |
| F - Freeze ray | S - Self-experimentation |
| G - Goggles | T - Tentacles |
| H - Henchmen | U - Underground Lair |
| I - Invention | V - Virus |
| J - Jargon | W - Wrench |
| K - Potassium | X - X-Ray |
| L - Laser | Y - You, the Mad Scientist of Tomorrow |
| M - Maniacal | Z - Zombies |
Pretty cool eh? The letters on each block are:
- A, B, M, N, O, Z
- A, B, C, N, O, P
- D, E, F, Q, R, S
- G, H, I, T, U, V
- J, K, L, W, X, Y
The Rant
Now here is my ranty section. Other than the obvious sticking clumps of 3 letters together, why 2 B's and N's???? And why 1 E? and why are E, R, and S on the same block??
So, since I try not to complain without offering how to fix the problem, here are my ideas.
- Each letter of STARE (most common english characters) should be on a different block.
- Split up Q and U (which they did).
- The double letters should be from STARE. Specifically E needs to be in there (Lets go with S, T, A, and E)
- P and H should be split, as should S and H, and T and H.
- I and T should be split.
- All the vowels should be split.
- X and Y should be split up (xylophone, x-ray, xylocaine, etc)
Alright, so lets try this.
| Suggestion # | Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 | Block 4 | Block 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S, _, _, _, _, _ | T, _, _, _, _, _ | A, _, _, _, _, _ | R, _, _, _, _, _ | E, _, _, _, _, _ |
| 2 | S, Q, _, _, _, _ | T, U, _, _, _, _ | A, _, _, _, _, _ | R, _, _, _, _, _ | E, _, _, _, _, _ |
| 3 | S, Q, _, _, _, _ | T, U, E, _, _, _ | A, S, _, _, _, _ | R, A, _, _, _, _ | E, T, _, _, _, _ |
| 4 | S, Q, _, _, _, _ | T, U, E, _, _, _ | A, S, _, _, _, _ | R, A, H, _, _, _ | E, T, P, _, _, _ |
| 5 | S, Q, I, _, _, _ | T, U, E, _, _, _ | A, S, _, _, _, _ | R, A, H, _, _, _ | E, T, P, _, _, _ |
| 6 | S, Q, I, _, _, _ | T, U, E, _, _, _ | A, S, O, _, _, _ | R, A, H, _, _, _ | E, T, P, _, _, _ |
| 7 | S, Q, I, X, _, _ | T, U, E, Y, _, _ | A, S, O, _, _, _ | R, A, H, _, _, _ | E, T, P, _, _, _ |
| Fill in missing letters randomly | S, Q, I, X, F, M | T, U, E, Y, G, N | A, S, O, B, J, V | R, A, H, C, K, W | E, T, P, L, D, Z |
It's not perfect, but definitely better. Actually, it's perfect 'cause I can spell my name!