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New piece names[Subject Thread] [Add Response]

Charles Gilman wrote on Tue, Nov 6, 2012 02:07 AM EST:

Those who follow my Man and Beast updates will have seen my recent addition of Tetrahedral oblique pieces with SOLLs up to 69. So far, so good. I was originally thinking of going up to 79, but have got a bit stuck since. The single SOLL-79 leaper calls for the "prime SOLL not used on rectlinear boards" rule, which is that it should have some link to honey. I wondered about Beorning, after the people whose honey-cakes Gimli so admires in LOTR, but would that be too obscure? Three new leapers shares the Huckster/Hamster SOLL of 73, but there are so few combinations of first consonant and vowel that keeping the Hamster's rodent theme is quite impossible. One of the three, the 9:8:1's dual, proves to be pure-hex. Two have a SOLL of 75, and my ideal for these would have been to reuse Petmouse along with a rodent name with first consonant and vowel N and A - which pretty well resolves to starting with Ain-, An-, Aun-, or Na- - but could not find any. I have ideas for breaking away from the rodent theme as Petmouse is not that satisfactory a name, but getting rid of that name would involve changes to Random Rodent Chess. For those of SOLLs 77 and 79 I have good ideas as suitable names already exist in other geometries - Dunnart and Sugarglider inthe first case and Mede in the second one.

Another group of pieces of interest are compounds of these new pieces. What might Tesselator+Divider, Vole+Zokor, or perhaps more urgently the relatively long-standing Guineapig+Gopher and Gopher+Grumbler be named? What about the corresponing FO compounds? If anyone wants to give this serious thought, please bear in mind the conventions for name endings.

Thinking about which geometries compounds of oblique pieces now applied to led me to a compound of a Straight and Bent piece being renamed Patriarch, and it made me wonder what, in tha case, a Matriarch should be. Looking at the names in a spreadsheet I noticed that I had yet to name the compounds Queen+Unicosheath (alias Farrieress+Patriarch), Duchess+Bishosheath (alias Ancress+Muster), and Governor+Rooksheath (alias Metropolitan+Cosmopolitan). Matriarch seems an obvious fit for the first, but what would the other two be named?

Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Nov 12, 2012 01:40 AM EST:

The good news is that I have found a rodent name starting with An- in the form of Anomalure, a rodent superficially resembling a squirrel except for the tail (it literally means "anomalous tail"). I also have names for Gopher/Pogoer compounds to complement the Degu/Gregorian, and hope to add these to Man and Beast this weekend.

The bad news is that I still have yet to find names for the non-rectilinear pieces with SOLL 73, ad it would seem odd to put in the ones with SOLLs 75 to 79 without them. I have an idea for the pure-hex one, and I will keep thinking about the other ones.

Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Nov 19, 2012 01:57 AM EST:

The updates that I said would be posted last weekend have now been deferred to this weekend as I had decided to see whether I could add any extras to add all at once. I've alrwday come up with one more symmetric and one more FO compound. So far I have Guineapig+Gopher=Goat, Gopher+Grumbler=Gormless, Niggler+Pogoer=Pinup, Pogoer+Gripe=Pothead, Tesselator+Divider=Diplomat, Mosaic=Slice=Mashup.

I've had more thoughts about what to go with Matriarch for Queen+Unicosheath, but it involves getting rid of Muster for Unicorn+Celebrant, as the name was too linked to the Congregant that preceded Celebrant. I am now thinking of changing Unicorn+Celebrant to Godfather, so that Duchess+Bishosheath (which would also be Ancress+Godfather) can be Godmother on the same basis as Matriarch being Farrieress+Patriarch. For Metropolitan+Cosmopolitan I am now looking to Megalopolitan.

Charles Gilman wrote on Sat, Nov 24, 2012 04:01 AM EST:

You may remember that Irregular was once a piece name to go with Auxiliary, but dropped out as it was the dual to the piece which I had named Ringaui, an accidental coinage of my own, and when I corrected the latter name both pieces got renamed together. It occurred to me that by renaming the 7:6:4 leaper I could use Auxiliary and Irregular for the Tetrahedral duals of the 9:7:4 and 11:4:3 leapers, especially as Auxiliary never had much connection to the 8:6:1 Wacam, the other specifically cubic root-101 leaper. It would also be an ongoing SOLL-reducing - and thus piece-strengthening - for this pair of names, and their reference to warriors who were outsiders to regular warfare would also especially suit an exotic geometry.

This would, however, require a new name for the existing Auxiliary. First I wondered about a name ending with -am - c.f. Dancer to go with Rotcer, and Entrap to go with Nosrap - but the only one that I could think of was the rather short Exam. Then I wondered about Examiner, which combines the -am of Wacam with the -er common to much of the Feeble Fringe, but this name was already in use. It was, however, not especially suited to the piece using it, the Tuskrider+Key compound, and you will notice that I have therefore renamed Tuskrider+Key Gearwheel as a better fit, as it were, to the theme of teeth for enhanced Tuskriders.

So the plan is now to go for Examiner for the 7:6:4 leaper, Hipster for the 9:8:1's dual, Auxiliary for the 9:7:4's dual, and Irregular for the 11:4:3's dual. I will need to decide on corresponding names for FO pieces, but those should be devised by next weekend.

Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Mar 11, 2013 02:54 AM EDT:

I have recently been considering extending the Distaff, Vigilante, Minefield, Dartgun, and their FO versions to cubic and hex boards. So far I have devised the following names, and I am interested if anyone has ideas for bettering them or filling the gaps. Where the symmetric and FO piece start and end with the same letters the differing middle letters appear in the form [symmetric/FO].

long-range          short-range         name of
components          components          compound
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Queen/Princess      Mill/-stone         Mi[litia/nute]woman
Duchess/Countess    Spear/-head         Sp[ace/orts]woman
Rook/Wing           Spearthrower/Hurler Disperser/Strewer
                    Spear/-head         Distaff/Staff
                    Mill/-stone         Family/Familiar
Governor/Missionary Musket/-ball        Sheriff/Deputy
Bishop/Mitre        Musketeer/Brawler   Volunteer/Volley
                    Musket/-ball        Vigilante/Vigil
                    Mill/-stone         Mi[litia/nute]man
Unicorn/Horn        Gunboat/Gundeck     Subm[arin/ersibl]e
                    Musket/-ball        Mangonel/Mortar
                    Spear/-head         Sp[ace/orts]man
Tank/-turret        Eunuch/Key
Cannonade/Ballade   Elephant/Tusk       Minefield/Minelayer
Cannon/-ball        Elk/Antler          Mine[sweepe/detecto]r
                    Elephant/Tusk       Minethrower/Mine
                    Eunuch/Key
Arbalest/Headrest   Dabbaba/Dabchick
Arrow/-head         Dybbuk/Imp
                    Dabbaba/Dabchick    Dartgun/Dart
                    Eunuch/Key
Sling/-stone        Alibaba/Thief
                    Dabbaba/Dabchick
                    Elephant/Tusk

Charles Gilman wrote on Sat, Mar 16, 2013 03:07 AM EDT:

While thinking about these pieces I recalled that I had devised pieces called the Keyball and Keyhead, which on checking I found were pieces moving exactly two steps but with a Stepping or Leaping component in one kind of radial and a fully or partly Hopping one on another kind. I hoped that these pieces might help inspire me for pieces whose Hopping component is long-range, but I found that the purely two-step ones were an incomplete list as well. These pieces so far are Dabbaba+Spear=Desperado, Dabbaba+Mill=Millibar, Elephant+Musket=Musimon, Elephant+Mill=Milfoil, Eunuch+Musket=Junker, Eunuch+Spear=Spurner, Dabchick+Spearhead=Deathshead, Dabchick+Millstone=Dabstone, Tusk+Musketball=Tusketball, Tusk+Millstone=Tuskstone, Key+Musketball=Keyball, and Key+Spearhead=Keyhead. This leaves unnamed the compounds Alibaba+Mill, Dybbuk+Spear, Dabbaba+Spearthrower, Elk+Musket, Elephant+Musketeer, Eunuch+Gunboat, Thief+Millstone, Imp+Spearhead, Dabchick+Hurler, Antler+Muskethall, Tusk+Brawler, and Key+Gundeck. I therefore welcome any ideas for naming these as well.

Charles Gilman wrote on Fri, Mar 22, 2013 02:45 AM EDT:

Now that I've freed up Mosaic I can think of some names to complete the purely 2-step part-Hopping pieces. They are Alibaba+Mill=Marbler, Dybbuk+Spear=Discarder, Dabbaba+Spearthrower=Detonator, Elk+Musket=Mosaic, Elephant+Musketeer=Musterer, Eunuch+Gunboat=Tugboat, Thief+Millstone=Throne, Imp+Spearhead=Impeder, Dabchick+Hurler=Defiler, Antler+Muskethall=Handball, Tusk+Brawler=Tussler, and Key+Gundeck=Keydeck. I still welcome any thought on these names.

Charles Gilman wrote on Fri, Mar 29, 2013 03:34 AM EDT:

Well, I'm nearly there with this expansion. All I'm stuck with now is the Eunuch compounds with Tank/Cannon/Arrow and their FO versions. Any ideas on these are welcome.

Charles Gilman wrote on Sat, Apr 13, 2013 02:25 AM EDT:

Having posted the remaining pieces mixing Hopping and non-Hopping components both moving exactly two steps, I am now getting close to having the full list of mixed-range ones. Here is the list that I am currently planning to post. As you will see, I am now just stuck on Tank+Eunuchand Tankturret+Key

long-range          short-range         name of
components          components          compound
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Queen/Princess      Mill/-stone         Mi[litia/nute]woman
Duchess/Countess    Spear/-head         Sp[ace/orts]woman
Rook/Wing           Spearthrower/Hurler Disperser/Strewer
                    Spear/-head         Distaff/Staff
                    Mill/-stone         Family/Familiar
Governor/Missionary Musket/-ball        Sheriff/Riff
Bishop/Mitre        Musketeer/Brawler   Volunteer/Volley
                    Musket/-ball        Vigilante/Vigil
                    Mill/-stone         Mi[litia/nute]man
Unicorn/Horn        Gunboat/Gundeck     Subm[arin/ersibl]e
                    Musket/-ball        Mangonel/Mortar
                    Spear/-head         Sp[ace/orts]man
Tank/-turret        Eunuch/Key
Cannonade/Ballade   Elephant/Tusk       Minefield/Minelayer
Cannon/-ball        Elk/Antler          Mine[sweepe/detecto]r
                    Elephant/Tusk       Minethrower/Mine
                    Eunuch/Key          Endymion/-ball
Arbalest/Headrest   Dabbaba/Dabchick    Dartsmatch/Dartboard
Arrow/-head         Dybbuk/Imp          Distributor/Impounder
                    Dabbaba/Dabchick    Dartgun/Dart
                    Eunuch/Key          Escrow/-head
Sling/-stone        Alibaba/Thief       Ebbing/-stone
                    Dabbaba/Dabchick    Darling/-stone
                    Elephant/Tusk       Eorling/-stone

Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Apr 15, 2013 01:46 AM EDT:

How does Embank (verb: to fortify with an embankment, against either a living enemy or flooding) sound for Tank+Eunuch? It has the E of Eunuch like Endymion and Escrow, and it ends with -ank to echo its Tank component so that Tankturret+Key can parallel Endymionball and Escrowhead with Embankturret. If no-one has any better idea than this lot I will post the update this weekend or possibly earlier.

Charles Gilman wrote on Mon, Apr 22, 2013 02:09 AM EDT:

The Dartgun/Distaff/Minethrower/Vigilante family are now fully extended to the cubic/hex/Teetrahedral geometries (though not yet hex-prism). During the course of planning it I considered Tractor as a name but then recalled that I had plans to reserve unused Tr- names for part-riders of three-step leapers. As yet these are unnamed as they don't fit the differentiated prefixes for part-riders of mixed-step leapers (e.g. Elephrider+Trebuchet=Newtbante versus Treburider+Elephant=Newttrante). They include the following:

long-range short-range
---------- -----------
Trilbrider Zombie
Trebirider Tripper
Treburider Trapezium
           Tripper
           Zombie
Traperider Trebuchet
Tripprider Trebizond
           Trebuchet
           Zombie
Zombirider Trilby
           Trebuchet
           Tripper
Triffrider Lurch
Tramprider Trisk
Trechrider Trailer
           Trisk
           Lurch
Trailrider Tramp
           Trechick
           Lurch
Lurchrider Triffid
           Trechick
           Trisk

Unused names include Tractor, Tram, Traveller, Treader, Trek[ker], Triolet, Troglodyte, Truck, Trug, and Trust. Any thoughts on which names to give which compounds, and any ideas for extra such names, are welcome.

I have also decided to move some Man and Beast names from Index S2 to Index S1 to balance the sizes better, and would be grateful if, when I post the update, an editor corrects the description to match the update description.

Charles Gilman wrote on Thu, May 9, 2013 01:58 AM EDT:

While looking to see whether the recently updated Zillions programs Dunkeys (sic) and Mustang had rules pages to go with them, and having misread Dunkeys as the real English word Donkeys, I rediscovered the Donkey Chess page. The eponymous Donkey is a compound of Knight and Noncapturing Short-leap Charolais. Short-leap forms of non-coprime obliqure pieces make a succession of coprime leaps between empty cells - like Stepping radial piece such as the Xiang - and Noncapturing means that the destination too must be empty. The name Donkey has no alternative meaning in Man and Beast and it would be logical for me to add it.

The Donkey has an interesting collection of analogues in other directions - Camel plus Noncapturing Short-leap Crane, Gnu plus Noncapturing Short-leap Catamaran, Wazir plus Noncapturing Stepping Dabbaba, Ferz plus Noncapturing Xiang, Prince plus Noncapturing Stepping Alibaba, Princeling plus Noncapturing Stepping Thief, Goldgeneral plus Noncapturing Stepping Goldthief, et cetera.

It is worth qualifying such pieces, but in what context? Should they be seen as an enhanced Knight, Camel, Gnu, Wazir, Ferz, Prince &c or as a restricted Nightpotentate, Camelpotentate, Gnupotentate, Wazbaba, Fearful, Pasha &c? I can see advantages to both. The view of them as enhanced pieces can be extrapolated to compounds such as Marshal plus Noncapturing Short-leap Charolais, Cardinal plus Noncapturing Short-leap Charolais, Canvasser plus Noncapturing Short-leap Crane, Chatelaine plus Noncapturing Xiang, and Primate plus Noncapturing Short-leap Stepping Dabbaba. It is also the way that -snatchers, -pacifiers, and Ajax pieces are described. On the other hand, the view of them as restricted pieces could be extended to a restricted Watcher (Wazir plus Noncapturing Stepping Trebuchet), Waffle (Wazir plus Noncapturing Xiang), Sow (Wazir plus Noncapturing Stepping Dabchick), Boar (Ferz plus Noncapturing Stepping Tusk), Memsahib (Point plus Noncapturing Stepping Dabbaba), and the like. Which would be the more useful - or I should I describe it both ways?

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