Talk:Masyu

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[edit] meaning of Masyu

It's true there is a word masyu (魔手 "evil influence") in Japanese, but "evil influence" doesn't make sense in this puzzle. Masyu was simply a misreading of shinju (真珠, "pearl") by the president of Nikoli (kanji have multiple readings in Japanese), and it became the nickname. So this is a mere coincidence. --Pitan 03:32, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

I must once again ask if the misreading was intentional, such as a pun... it would seem unlikely that a puzzle would be named "incorrectly" without good reason, and the use of hiragana alone for the title can imply such an ambiguity is intended. Tangent: as a nod to that definition, when I imported the machanics of the white and black circles for my The One Ring puzzles, I recast them as "angel dots" and "devil dots". I was even able to define them in active terms: since the loop passes straight through angel dots but must have a bend next to them, they make order out of chaos; devil dots similarly make chaos out of order. Regardless of its etymology, "evil influence" makes sense in those terms. - ZM Zotmeister 13:52, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

They seem to love nonsense... According to Penpa-ponpa column on Puzzle Communication Nikoli, the president's mess was scoffed and Masyu (or Masyu-masyu) came into fashion in their office, and it was finally adopted as the official title. I don't think there was a hidden intention behind it (the title is written in hiragana simply because it is meaningless). I remember the dispute over the weird new title in the Japanese internet community. Enthusiasts are used to the metaphor of pearls, and still call circles shinju. --Pitan 03:04, 30 July 2005 (UTC)

Okay, I can picture a way that could have happened: president screws up title during a meeting; everyone else (knowing what that alternate reading can mean) tries to keep from laughing but can't bring themselves to tell the boss he made a mistake; it eventually becomes a running gag; someone decides to make it the real title. Things similar to that happen quite frequently in many cultures, more often than most anyone would be willing to admit. Thank you for sharing that tidbit, it's fascinating. - ZM Zotmeister 18:22, 31 July 2005 (UTC)