And the tricky part is if, say, you know that “bulldozer, backhoe, crane” are working vehicles, so it is one potential grouping, and you also happen to know that “parakeet, magpie, crane” are birds but you don’t know what “finch” is and looking it up feels like cheating, so you just guess. So you guess “finch” is a vehicle and bam, wrong.
spoiler for the linked puzzle
I had no idea that “fluke” was a kind of fish, as well as a chance occurrence. So that caused a similar situation to the above.
Sometimes you can use process of elimination with the other groups, but if you can’t solidly make a group of four (especially if you know you, say, have a potential bird group but you are aware you do not know that many birds; and likewise with a potential working vehicle group) you often end up guessing.
And sometimes I just cannot figure out what category they are going for, even if I could place it given the category name. I am a native English speaker and like to think I am not below average intelligence.
I definitely have times like that. The other day, Mariah Carey songs was the topic and I had no idea, which wouldn’t have been a problem but one of the other categories stumped me as well, so there was no way I could win.
Same issue as you! I wonder if this is mainstream knowledge I should be expected to have, but like most tech nerd types celebrities and pop culture are a gap in my knowledge (which, to be honest, I have no interest in correcting), or if this is honestly obscure stuff that manages to masquerade as mainstream knowledge because a big-name celebrity is attached to it. I mean, her high school graduation year is probably on Wikipedia but not something you should reasonably expect anything but her fans, former classmates/teachers, and family to know.
And the tricky part is if, say, you know that “bulldozer, backhoe, crane” are working vehicles, so it is one potential grouping, and you also happen to know that “parakeet, magpie, crane” are birds but you don’t know what “finch” is and looking it up feels like cheating, so you just guess. So you guess “finch” is a vehicle and bam, wrong.
spoiler for the linked puzzle
I had no idea that “fluke” was a kind of fish, as well as a chance occurrence. So that caused a similar situation to the above.
Sometimes you can use process of elimination with the other groups, but if you can’t solidly make a group of four (especially if you know you, say, have a potential bird group but you are aware you do not know that many birds; and likewise with a potential working vehicle group) you often end up guessing.
And sometimes I just cannot figure out what category they are going for, even if I could place it given the category name. I am a native English speaker and like to think I am not below average intelligence.
I definitely have times like that. The other day, Mariah Carey songs was the topic and I had no idea, which wouldn’t have been a problem but one of the other categories stumped me as well, so there was no way I could win.
Same issue as you! I wonder if this is mainstream knowledge I should be expected to have, but like most tech nerd types celebrities and pop culture are a gap in my knowledge (which, to be honest, I have no interest in correcting), or if this is honestly obscure stuff that manages to masquerade as mainstream knowledge because a big-name celebrity is attached to it. I mean, her high school graduation year is probably on Wikipedia but not something you should reasonably expect anything but her fans, former classmates/teachers, and family to know.