Table 1
Mean clues required, solving probabilities, proposed solutions per clue, clue length, clue frequency in everyday language, and global solution proximity of the word lists.
| WORD LIST | CLUES REQUIRED (SD) | SOLVING PROBABILITY | PROPOSED SOLUTIONS | CLUE LENGTH | CLUE FREQUENCY | SOLUTION PROXIMITY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabrik | 4.97 (3.38) | 58% | 0.90 | 8.07 | 11.67 | 7.03 |
| 2 | Bach | 5.52 (2.58) | 61% | 0.93 | 6.00 | 12.73 | 6.43 |
| 3 | Boot | 6.77 (2.73) | 84% | 0.92 | 5.87 | 12.40 | 6.70 |
| 4 | Marmor | 6.92 (2.96) | 65% | 0.87 | 5.27 | 13.13 | 6.09 |
| 5 | Zug | 7.95 (3.34) | 95% | 0.90 | 6.87 | 11.87 | 6.55 |
| 6 | Mund | 8.40 (3.39) | 83% | 0.92 | 6.07 | 11.87 | 6.80 |
| 7 | Lamm | 8.47 (2.96) | 55% | 0.88 | 5.53 | 12.73 | 5.72 |
| 8 | Silber | 9.09 (3.22) | 58% | 0.90 | 6.07 | 13.00 | 6.54 |
| 9 | Adler | 9.32 (2.57) | 77% | 0.88 | 6.40 | 12.67 | 5.91 |
| 10 | Treppe | 9.34 (2.35) | 91% | 0.88 | 6.73 | 12.40 | 5.84 |
| 11 | Glas | 9.71 (3.18) | 90% | 0.86 | 6.80 | 12.67 | 6.38 |
| 12 | Draht | 9.78 (2.81) | 49% | 0.86 | 6.93 | 14.40 | 5.57 |
| 13 | Nacht | 10.11 (3.25) | 83% | 0.88 | 5.40 | 11.07 | 6.32 |
| 14 | Schachtel | 10.34 (2.54) | 70% | 0.88 | 7.47 | 12.80 | 5.88 |
| 15 | Kuppel | 10.36 (3.77) | 42% | 0.88 | 7.40 | 12.60 | 6.20 |
| 16 | Mantel | 10.44 (3.00) | 61% | 0.88 | 5.33 | 11.67 | 5.60 |
| 17 | Salbe | 10.75 (4.06) | 73% | 0.89 | 6.40 | 14.00 | 6.60 |
| 18 | Punkt | 11.32 (4.26) | 31% | 0.81 | 5.33 | 9.53 | 5.04 |
| 19 | Knoten | 11.79 (3.32) | 48% | 0.85 | 7.40 | 12.47 | 5.42 |
| 20 | Paar | 12.15 (2.35) | 47% | 0.87 | 6.20 | 12.07 | 5.42 |
| Total mean | 9.21 (1.26) | 66% | 0.88 | 6.38 | 12.39 | 6.10 |
[i] Note: N = 100. Clues required (with standard deviations in parentheses) indicate the average number of clues required by the participants to generate the solution word for the given list of clues. Solving probability indicates the percentage of participants who were able to generate the solution word with a maximum of 15 clues. Proposed solutions indicates the average number of proposed solution words per clue. Clue length indicates the average number of letters of the lists’ clues. Clue frequency denotes the global frequency of the lists’ clues in everyday language corpora (retrieved from https://corpora.uni-leipzig.de) with higher values denoting lower frequency. Solution proximity indicates the average semantic proximity of all clues of a list to the solution word of that list (data from pre-study).
Figure 1
Average clues required across the sample.
Note: N = 100.
Table 2
Bivariate correlations among list parameters.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Clues required a | — | |||||||
| 2. Solving probability | –0.30 | — | ||||||
| 3. Proposed solutions | –0.66** | 0.49* | — | |||||
| 4. Clue length | –0.03 | 0.00 | 0.05 | — | ||||
| 5. Clue frequency | –0.09 | 0.12 | 0.28 | 0.28 | — | |||
| 6. Solution frequency | –0.03 | –0.11 | 0.05 | 0.22 | 0.66** | — | ||
| 7. First clue frequency | –0.28 | –0.47* | –0.02 | 0.08 | 0.21 | 0.44* | — | |
| 8. Solution proximity | –0.67** | 0.56* | 0.79** | 0.21 | 0.19 | 0.02 | 0.02 | — |
[i] Note: N = 20. a Lower clues required indicate higher (faster) solution performance. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.
Figure 2
Frequencies of clues required for the list FABRIK (FACTORY).
Note: Number of participants who found the correct solution word with the respective clue over the course of the list FABRIK (FACTORY). Nsolved = 58.
Figure 3
Frequencies of clues required for the list SCHACHTEL (BOX).
Note: Number of participants who found the correct solution word with the respective clue over the course of the list SCHACHTEL (BOX). Nsolved = 70.