Canasta

Here's my wife's description of thenumbers involved in the
card-game Canasta.

"Canasta is played with 2 packs, with jokers, so 108 cards.

The aim is to go 'out' - get rid of all cards in your hand, and to get
maximum score on the table. You must have a 'canasta' before you can
go out.
A Canasta is 7 cards of the same number, but 'wild' cards (2's and
jokers
are allowed - you get less score for a canasta containing wild cards)
are
allowed. Depending on the game's progress, you need 50/90/120 points
to go
down (put something out of your hand onto the table) or to 'pick the
pack'.

Each player is dealt 11 cards to start the game."

Can anyone make a convincing case why MIRACLE-31 should be called
Canasta, on the basis of the above.

Graham, you said something about how the lattice made you think of
Canasta. Please explain?

-- Dave Keenan

Dave Keenan wrote:

> Each player is dealt 11 cards to start the game."
>
> Can anyone make a convincing case why MIRACLE-31 should be called
> Canasta, on the basis of the above.

11 is important, but doesn't say why 31 instead of 21 or 41.

I think alphabetical ordering is the best logic. Somebody find some
card games beginning with A and D.

> Graham, you said something about how the lattice made you think of
> Canasta. Please explain?

It was an unconscious thing. I looked at the screen and thought
"Canasta". Mostly because of the sound of the word. It's really
musical. And has a revelatory sound like "ta-daa" or "eureka". The
Blackjack diagram looks too thin, and the 41-note scale way too
stodgy. We want a big, heavy name for that.

Graham

I seem to remember the origin of Canasta is that it means 'basket' in
Spanish.
Like 'container for lots of goodies' ?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Graham Breed" <graham@microtonal.co.uk>
To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2001 5:03 AM
Subject: [tuning] Re: Canasta

> Dave Keenan wrote:
>
> > Each player is dealt 11 cards to start the game."
> >
> > Can anyone make a convincing case why MIRACLE-31 should be called
> > Canasta, on the basis of the above.
>
> 11 is important, but doesn't say why 31 instead of 21 or 41.
>
> I think alphabetical ordering is the best logic. Somebody find some
> card games beginning with A and D.
>
> > Graham, you said something about how the lattice made you think of
> > Canasta. Please explain?
>
> It was an unconscious thing. I looked at the screen and thought
> "Canasta". Mostly because of the sound of the word. It's really
> musical. And has a revelatory sound like "ta-daa" or "eureka". The
> Blackjack diagram looks too thin, and the 41-note scale way too
> stodgy. We want a big, heavy name for that.
>
>
> Graham
>
>

--- In tuning@y..., "Kees van Prooijen" <kees@d...> wrote:
> I seem to remember the origin of Canasta is that it means 'basket'
in
> Spanish.
> Like 'container for lots of goodies' ?

Oh that's beautiful! I withdraw my previous objection.

"Canasta" it is.

I wonder if this was working subconsciously for Graham. It's probably
the same root as the common english word "Canister". And yes, the
Oxford has a word "Canaster", a basket used to pick tobacco.

Can anyone confirm that it is actually spelled "Canasta" in spanish
(or some other language)?

-- Dave Keenan

--- In tuning@y..., "Dave Keenan" <D.KEENAN@U...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_22709.html#22786

> --- In tuning@y..., "Kees van Prooijen" <kees@d...> wrote:
>
> > I seem to remember the origin of Canasta is that it
> > means 'basket' in Spanish.
> > Like 'container for lots of goodies' ?
>
> Oh that's beautiful! I withdraw my previous objection.
>
> "Canasta" it is.
>
> I wonder if this was working subconsciously for Graham.
> It's probably the same root as the common english word
> "Canister". And yes, the Oxford has a word "Canaster",
> a basket used to pick tobacco.
>
> Can anyone confirm that it is actually spelled "Canasta"
> in spanish (or some other language)?

_University of Chicago Spanish-English, English-Spanish
Dictionary_, copyright 1948, page 35:

_canasta_, f. basket; crate.

Quote from: <http://www.canastagame.com/history.html>:

>
There were two very specific inventors of the game. Amazingly, their
names were not known in the US until after the game's popularity had
peaked. Only then did American readers learn that attorney Segundo
Santos and architect Alberto Serrato purposely set out to create the
game that they soon named, whimsically, "Canasta."

...

Santos had merely referred to it as "The Game." But now, while
sitting in a restaurant at their "play-test" table, he noticed the
small wicker basket they had borrowed from a waiter to store their
cards. "Canastillo," he replied, matter-of-factly, which in Spanish
means "little basket."

A bit later, a suggestion was made to shortened it to "Canasta"
(which means "basket"). This name was easy to say, and had a nice
ring to it, thanks to the repetitive "a's" in its syllables
(comparable to the repetitive "o's" in MONOPOLY). The name stuck.
>

<unquote>

-monz
http://www.monz.org
"All roads lead to n^0"

You're amazing Monz. Thanks for finding that. And thanks to Kees for
suggesting it.

So I think it's settled. MIRACLE (acronym) now refers to the whole
family and the generator.

MIRACLE-31 = Canasta
MIRACLE-21 = Blackjack

That acronym is a meta-miracle. Thanks Paul.

Many
Integer
Ratios
Approximated
Consistently
Linearly and
Evenly

-- Dave Keenan