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Rare Entries contest MSB73 begins
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Mark Brader
Nov 28, 2011, 1:43:23 AM11/28/11
to
This is another Rare Entries contest in the MSB series. Once again
I'll note that this series will only continue as long as the level
of participation is sufficient, so you are asked to please consider
entering even if you don't think you have good answers for all the
questions.
As always, reply ONLY BY EMAIL to m...@vex.net; do not post to any
newsgroup. Entries must reach here by Saturday, December 17, 2011
(by Toronto time, zone -5). See below the questions for a detailed
explanation, which is unchanged from last time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0. Name a person who is now (see rule 4.4) alive and has been
Prime Minister of Canada.
1. Name a person or organization that has won more than one
Nobel Prize, either outright or shared.
2. Name a prime number that has been used as a contest number
in the MSB series of Rare Entries contests.
3. Name a title of a work of fiction, that is also a direct
(and apparently deliberate) quotation from a previously
existing work of fiction. For purposes of this question,
holy books of religions do not count as works of fiction.
4. Name a country (see rule 4.1.1) then existing, whose
government at some time since 1888 ordered or allowed the
killing of at least 25,000 of its own civilian residents
as part of a deliberate program of genocide, political
suppression, or the like.
5. Give the Italian name of a city in Italy that has a
different name (not a nickname) in English. It is all right
if the Italian name is used in English as well. For example,
if I had said "French name" and "in Belgium", you might
answer with "Bruxelles", whose name in English is Brussels.
6. Name a state or province (see rule 4.1.1) now existing, whose
name has the superficial meaning that it is the "new" version
of another, more populous place now existing. For example,
if I had asked about cities instead of states or provinces,
"New London" (Connecticut, USA) would be a correct answer.
7. A passenger elevator in good working order will sometimes
arrive at a floor, stop, and leave again in the same
direction, with the doors opening and closing but with
no one getting on or off. Give a reason (not a method)
why a person might cause this to happen. Reasons that are
sufficiently similar will be treated as identical.
8. In general terms (see rule 2.2), name a means for a regular
traffic of people and/or vehicles to cross between two
specific points on opposite sides of a river. (Answers like
"road", that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
are not acceptable. Answers like "swimming", that could
allow a crossing between any points, are not acceptable.)
9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
Sports involving vehicles do not count.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 1. The Game
As usual, for each of the questions above, your objective is to give
an answer that (1) is correct, and (2) will be duplicated by as FEW
other people as possible. Feel free to use any reference material
you like to RESEARCH your answers; but when you have found enough
possible answers for your liking, you are expected to choose on your
own which one to submit, WITHOUT mechanical or computer assistance:
this is meant to be a game of wits.
* 2. Scoring
The scores on the different questions are MULTIPLIED to produce a
final score for each entrant. Low score wins; a perfect score is 1.
If your answer on a category is correct, then your score is the number
of people who gave that answer, or an answer I consider equivalent.
A wrong answer, or a skipped question, gets a high score as a penalty.
This is the median of:
- the number of entrants
- the square root of that number, rounded up to an integer
- double the highest score that anyone would have on this
question if all answers were deemed correct
* 2.1 Scoring Example
Say I ask for a color on the current Canadian flag. There are
26 entrants -- 20 say "red", 4 say "blue", and 1 each say "gules",
"white", and "blue square". After looking up gules I decide it's
the same color as red and should be treated as a duplicate answer;
then the 21 people who said either "red" or "gules" get 21 points
each. The person who said "white" gets a perfect score of 1 point.
"Blue square" is not a color and blue is not a color on the flag;
the 5 people who gave either of these answers each get the same
penalty score, which is the median of:
- number of entrants = 27
- sqrt(27) = 5.196+, rounded up = 6
- double the highest score = 21 x 2 = 42
or in this case, 27.
* 2.2 More Specific Variants
On some questions it's possible that one entrant will give an answer
that's a more specific variant of an answer given by someone else.
In that case the more specific variant will usually be scored as if
the two answers are different, but the other, less specific variant
will be scored as if they are the same.
In the above example, if I had decided (wrongly) to score gules as
a more specific variant of red, then "red" would still score 21,
but "gules" would now score 1.
If a wrong answer is clearly associated with a specific right
answer, I will score the right answer as if the wrong answer was a
more specific variant of it. In the above example, if there were
3 additional entrants who said "white square", then "white square"
would be scored as wrong, but the score for "white" would be 4, not 1.
"More specific" scoring will NOT apply if the question asks for an
answer "in general terms"; a more specific answer will then at best be
treated the same as the more general one, and may be considered wrong.
* 3. Entries
Entries must be emailed to the address given above. Please do not
quote the questions back to me, and do send only plain text in ASCII
or ISO 8859-1: no HTML, attachments, Micros--t character sets, etc.,
and no Unicode, please. (Entrants who fail to comply will be publicly
chastised in the results posting.)
Your message should preferably consist of just your 10 answers,
numbered from 0 to 9, along with any explanations required. Your
name should be in it somewhere -- a From: line or signature is fine.
(If I don't see both a first and a last name, or an explicit request
for a particular form of your name to be used, then your email address
will be posted in the results).
You can expect an acknowledgement when I read your entry. If this
bounces, it won't be sent again.
* 3.1 Where Leeway is Allowed
In general there is no penalty for errors of spelling, capitalization,
English usage, or other such matters of form, nor for accidentally
sending email in an unfinished state, so long as it's clear enough
what you intended. Sometimes a specific question may imply stricter
rules, though. And if you give an answer that properly refers to a
different thing related to the one you intended, I will normally take
it as written.
Once you intentionally submit an answer, no changes will be allowed,
unless I decide there was a problem with the question. Similarly,
alternate answers within an entry will not be accepted. Only the
first answer that you intentionally submit counts.
* 3.2 Clarifications
Questions are not intended to be hard to understand, but I may fail
in this intent. (For one thing, in many cases clarity could only be
provided by an example which would suggest one or another specific
answer, and I mustn't do that.)
In order to be fair to all entrants, I must insist that requests for
clarification must be emailed to me, NOT POSTED in any newsgroup.
But if you do ask for clarification, I'll probably say that the
question is clear enough as posted. If I do decide to clarify or
change a question, all entrants will be informed.
* 3.3 Supporting Information
It is your option whether or not to provide supporting information
to justify your answers. If you don't, I'll email you to ask for
it if I need to. If you supply it in the form of a URL, if at all
possible it should be a "deep link" to the specific relevant page.
There is no need to supply URLs for obvious, well-known reference
web sites, and there is no point in supplying URLs for pages that
don't actually support your answer.
If you provide any explanatory remarks along with your answers, you
are responsible for making it sufficiently clear that they are not
part of the answers. The particular format doesn't matter as long
as you're clear. In the scoring example above, "white square" was
wrong; "white (in the central square)" would have been taken as a
correct answer with an explanation.
* 4. Interpretation of questions
These are general rules that apply unless a question specifically
states otherwise.
* 4.1 Geography
* 4.1.1 Countries
"Country" means an independent country. Whether or not a place is
considered an independent country is determined by how it is listed
in reference sources.
For purposes of these contests, the Earth is considered to be divid-
ed into disjoint areas each of which is either (1) a country, (2) a
dependency, or (3) without national government. Their boundaries
are interpreted on a de facto basis. Any place with representatives
in a country's legislature is considered a part of that country rather
than a dependency of it.
The European Union is considered as an association of countries, not
a country itself.
Claims that are not enforced, or not generally recognized, don't count.
Places currently fighting a war of secession don't count. Embassies
don't count as special; they may have extraterritorial rights, but
they're still part of the host country (and city).
Countries existing at different historical times are normally
considered the same country if they have the same capital city.
* 4.1.2 States or provinces
Many countries or dependencies are divided into subsidiary political
entities, typically with their own subsidiary governments. At the
first level of division, these entities are most commonly called
states or provinces, but various other names are used; sometimes
varying even within the same country (e.g. to indicate unequal
political status).
Any reference to "states or provinces" in a question refers to
these entities at the first level of division, no matter what they
are called.
* 4.1.3 Distances
Distances between places on the Earth are measured along a great
circle path, and distance involving cities are based on the city
center (downtown).
* 4.2 Entertainment
A "movie" does not include any form of TV broadcast or video release;
it must have been shown in cinemas. "Oscar" and "Academy Award" are
AMPAS trademarks and refer to the awards given by that organization.
"Fiction" includes dramatizations of true stories.
* 4.3 Words and Numbers
* 4.3.1 Different Answers
Some questions specifically ask for a *word*, rather than the thing
that it names; this means that different words with the same meaning
will in general be treated as distinct answers. However, if two or
more inflectional variants, spelling variants, or other closely
related forms are correct answers, they will be treated as equivalent.
Similarly, if the question specifically asks for a name, different
things referred to by the same name will be treated as the same.
* 4.3.2 Permitted Words
The word that you give must be listed (or implied by a listing,
as with inflected forms) in a suitable dictionary. Generally
this means a printed dictionary published recently enough
to show reasonably current usage, or its online equivalent.
Other reasonably authoritative sources may be accepted on a
case-by-case basis. Words listed as obsolete or archaic usage
don't count, and sources that would list those words without
distinguishing them are not acceptable as dictionaries.
* 4.3.3 Permitted Numbers
Where the distinction is important, "number" refers to a specific
mathematical value, whereas "numeral" means a way of writing it.
Thus "4", "IV", and "four" are three different numerals representing
the same number. "Digit" means one of the characters "0", "1", "2",
etc. (These definitions represent one of several conflicting common
usages.)
* 4.3.4 "Contained in"
If a question asks for a word or numeral "contained" or "included"
in a phrase, title, or the like, this does not include substrings or
alternate meanings of words, unless explictly specified. For example,
if "Canada in 1967" is the title of a book, it contains the numeral
1967 and the preposition "in"; but it does not contain the word "an",
the adjective "in", or the numeral 96.
* 4.4 Tense and Time
When a question is worded in the present tense, the correctness of
your answer is determined by the facts at the moment you submit it.
(In a case where, in my judgement, people might reasonably be unaware
of the facts having changed, an out-of-date answer may be accepted as
correct.) Questions worded in the present perfect tense include the
present unless something states or implies otherwise. (For example,
Canada is a country that "has existed", as well as one that "exists".)
Different verbs in a sentence bear their usual tense relationship to
each other.
You are not allowed to change the facts yourself in order to make an
answer correct. For example, if a question asks for material on the
WWW, what you cite must already have existed before the contest was
first posted.
* 5. Judging
As moderator, I will be the sole judge of what answers are correct,
and whether two answers with similar meaning (like red and gules)
are considered the same, different, or more/less specific variants.
I will do my best to be fair on all such issues, but sometimes it is
necessary to be arbitrary. Those who disagree with my rulings are
welcome to complain (or to start a competing contest, or whatever).
I may rescore the contest if I agree that I made a serious error and
it affects the high finishers.
* 6. Results
Results will normally be posted within a few days of the contest
closing. They may be delayed if I'm unexpectedly busy or for
technical reasons. If I feel I need help evaluating one or more
answers, I may make a consultative posting in the newsgroups before
scoring the contest.
In the results posting, all entrants will be listed in order of score,
but high (bad) scores may be omitted. The top few entrants' full
answer slates will be posted. A table of answers and their scores
will be given for each question.
* 7. Fun
This contest is for fun. Please do have fun, and good luck to all.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "If any form of pleasure is exhibited, report
m...@vex.net | to me and it will be prohibited." --DUCK SOUP
My text in this article is in the public domain.
I'll note that this series will only continue as long as the level
of participation is sufficient, so you are asked to please consider
entering even if you don't think you have good answers for all the
questions.
As always, reply ONLY BY EMAIL to m...@vex.net; do not post to any
newsgroup. Entries must reach here by Saturday, December 17, 2011
(by Toronto time, zone -5). See below the questions for a detailed
explanation, which is unchanged from last time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0. Name a person who is now (see rule 4.4) alive and has been
Prime Minister of Canada.
1. Name a person or organization that has won more than one
Nobel Prize, either outright or shared.
2. Name a prime number that has been used as a contest number
in the MSB series of Rare Entries contests.
3. Name a title of a work of fiction, that is also a direct
(and apparently deliberate) quotation from a previously
existing work of fiction. For purposes of this question,
holy books of religions do not count as works of fiction.
4. Name a country (see rule 4.1.1) then existing, whose
government at some time since 1888 ordered or allowed the
killing of at least 25,000 of its own civilian residents
as part of a deliberate program of genocide, political
suppression, or the like.
5. Give the Italian name of a city in Italy that has a
different name (not a nickname) in English. It is all right
if the Italian name is used in English as well. For example,
if I had said "French name" and "in Belgium", you might
answer with "Bruxelles", whose name in English is Brussels.
6. Name a state or province (see rule 4.1.1) now existing, whose
name has the superficial meaning that it is the "new" version
of another, more populous place now existing. For example,
if I had asked about cities instead of states or provinces,
"New London" (Connecticut, USA) would be a correct answer.
7. A passenger elevator in good working order will sometimes
arrive at a floor, stop, and leave again in the same
direction, with the doors opening and closing but with
no one getting on or off. Give a reason (not a method)
why a person might cause this to happen. Reasons that are
sufficiently similar will be treated as identical.
8. In general terms (see rule 2.2), name a means for a regular
traffic of people and/or vehicles to cross between two
specific points on opposite sides of a river. (Answers like
"road", that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
are not acceptable. Answers like "swimming", that could
allow a crossing between any points, are not acceptable.)
9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
Sports involving vehicles do not count.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 1. The Game
As usual, for each of the questions above, your objective is to give
an answer that (1) is correct, and (2) will be duplicated by as FEW
other people as possible. Feel free to use any reference material
you like to RESEARCH your answers; but when you have found enough
possible answers for your liking, you are expected to choose on your
own which one to submit, WITHOUT mechanical or computer assistance:
this is meant to be a game of wits.
* 2. Scoring
The scores on the different questions are MULTIPLIED to produce a
final score for each entrant. Low score wins; a perfect score is 1.
If your answer on a category is correct, then your score is the number
of people who gave that answer, or an answer I consider equivalent.
A wrong answer, or a skipped question, gets a high score as a penalty.
This is the median of:
- the number of entrants
- the square root of that number, rounded up to an integer
- double the highest score that anyone would have on this
question if all answers were deemed correct
* 2.1 Scoring Example
Say I ask for a color on the current Canadian flag. There are
26 entrants -- 20 say "red", 4 say "blue", and 1 each say "gules",
"white", and "blue square". After looking up gules I decide it's
the same color as red and should be treated as a duplicate answer;
then the 21 people who said either "red" or "gules" get 21 points
each. The person who said "white" gets a perfect score of 1 point.
"Blue square" is not a color and blue is not a color on the flag;
the 5 people who gave either of these answers each get the same
penalty score, which is the median of:
- number of entrants = 27
- sqrt(27) = 5.196+, rounded up = 6
- double the highest score = 21 x 2 = 42
or in this case, 27.
* 2.2 More Specific Variants
On some questions it's possible that one entrant will give an answer
that's a more specific variant of an answer given by someone else.
In that case the more specific variant will usually be scored as if
the two answers are different, but the other, less specific variant
will be scored as if they are the same.
In the above example, if I had decided (wrongly) to score gules as
a more specific variant of red, then "red" would still score 21,
but "gules" would now score 1.
If a wrong answer is clearly associated with a specific right
answer, I will score the right answer as if the wrong answer was a
more specific variant of it. In the above example, if there were
3 additional entrants who said "white square", then "white square"
would be scored as wrong, but the score for "white" would be 4, not 1.
"More specific" scoring will NOT apply if the question asks for an
answer "in general terms"; a more specific answer will then at best be
treated the same as the more general one, and may be considered wrong.
* 3. Entries
Entries must be emailed to the address given above. Please do not
quote the questions back to me, and do send only plain text in ASCII
or ISO 8859-1: no HTML, attachments, Micros--t character sets, etc.,
and no Unicode, please. (Entrants who fail to comply will be publicly
chastised in the results posting.)
Your message should preferably consist of just your 10 answers,
numbered from 0 to 9, along with any explanations required. Your
name should be in it somewhere -- a From: line or signature is fine.
(If I don't see both a first and a last name, or an explicit request
for a particular form of your name to be used, then your email address
will be posted in the results).
You can expect an acknowledgement when I read your entry. If this
bounces, it won't be sent again.
* 3.1 Where Leeway is Allowed
In general there is no penalty for errors of spelling, capitalization,
English usage, or other such matters of form, nor for accidentally
sending email in an unfinished state, so long as it's clear enough
what you intended. Sometimes a specific question may imply stricter
rules, though. And if you give an answer that properly refers to a
different thing related to the one you intended, I will normally take
it as written.
Once you intentionally submit an answer, no changes will be allowed,
unless I decide there was a problem with the question. Similarly,
alternate answers within an entry will not be accepted. Only the
first answer that you intentionally submit counts.
* 3.2 Clarifications
Questions are not intended to be hard to understand, but I may fail
in this intent. (For one thing, in many cases clarity could only be
provided by an example which would suggest one or another specific
answer, and I mustn't do that.)
In order to be fair to all entrants, I must insist that requests for
clarification must be emailed to me, NOT POSTED in any newsgroup.
But if you do ask for clarification, I'll probably say that the
question is clear enough as posted. If I do decide to clarify or
change a question, all entrants will be informed.
* 3.3 Supporting Information
It is your option whether or not to provide supporting information
to justify your answers. If you don't, I'll email you to ask for
it if I need to. If you supply it in the form of a URL, if at all
possible it should be a "deep link" to the specific relevant page.
There is no need to supply URLs for obvious, well-known reference
web sites, and there is no point in supplying URLs for pages that
don't actually support your answer.
If you provide any explanatory remarks along with your answers, you
are responsible for making it sufficiently clear that they are not
part of the answers. The particular format doesn't matter as long
as you're clear. In the scoring example above, "white square" was
wrong; "white (in the central square)" would have been taken as a
correct answer with an explanation.
* 4. Interpretation of questions
These are general rules that apply unless a question specifically
states otherwise.
* 4.1 Geography
* 4.1.1 Countries
"Country" means an independent country. Whether or not a place is
considered an independent country is determined by how it is listed
in reference sources.
For purposes of these contests, the Earth is considered to be divid-
ed into disjoint areas each of which is either (1) a country, (2) a
dependency, or (3) without national government. Their boundaries
are interpreted on a de facto basis. Any place with representatives
in a country's legislature is considered a part of that country rather
than a dependency of it.
The European Union is considered as an association of countries, not
a country itself.
Claims that are not enforced, or not generally recognized, don't count.
Places currently fighting a war of secession don't count. Embassies
don't count as special; they may have extraterritorial rights, but
they're still part of the host country (and city).
Countries existing at different historical times are normally
considered the same country if they have the same capital city.
* 4.1.2 States or provinces
Many countries or dependencies are divided into subsidiary political
entities, typically with their own subsidiary governments. At the
first level of division, these entities are most commonly called
states or provinces, but various other names are used; sometimes
varying even within the same country (e.g. to indicate unequal
political status).
Any reference to "states or provinces" in a question refers to
these entities at the first level of division, no matter what they
are called.
* 4.1.3 Distances
Distances between places on the Earth are measured along a great
circle path, and distance involving cities are based on the city
center (downtown).
* 4.2 Entertainment
A "movie" does not include any form of TV broadcast or video release;
it must have been shown in cinemas. "Oscar" and "Academy Award" are
AMPAS trademarks and refer to the awards given by that organization.
"Fiction" includes dramatizations of true stories.
* 4.3 Words and Numbers
* 4.3.1 Different Answers
Some questions specifically ask for a *word*, rather than the thing
that it names; this means that different words with the same meaning
will in general be treated as distinct answers. However, if two or
more inflectional variants, spelling variants, or other closely
related forms are correct answers, they will be treated as equivalent.
Similarly, if the question specifically asks for a name, different
things referred to by the same name will be treated as the same.
* 4.3.2 Permitted Words
The word that you give must be listed (or implied by a listing,
as with inflected forms) in a suitable dictionary. Generally
this means a printed dictionary published recently enough
to show reasonably current usage, or its online equivalent.
Other reasonably authoritative sources may be accepted on a
case-by-case basis. Words listed as obsolete or archaic usage
don't count, and sources that would list those words without
distinguishing them are not acceptable as dictionaries.
* 4.3.3 Permitted Numbers
Where the distinction is important, "number" refers to a specific
mathematical value, whereas "numeral" means a way of writing it.
Thus "4", "IV", and "four" are three different numerals representing
the same number. "Digit" means one of the characters "0", "1", "2",
etc. (These definitions represent one of several conflicting common
usages.)
* 4.3.4 "Contained in"
If a question asks for a word or numeral "contained" or "included"
in a phrase, title, or the like, this does not include substrings or
alternate meanings of words, unless explictly specified. For example,
if "Canada in 1967" is the title of a book, it contains the numeral
1967 and the preposition "in"; but it does not contain the word "an",
the adjective "in", or the numeral 96.
* 4.4 Tense and Time
When a question is worded in the present tense, the correctness of
your answer is determined by the facts at the moment you submit it.
(In a case where, in my judgement, people might reasonably be unaware
of the facts having changed, an out-of-date answer may be accepted as
correct.) Questions worded in the present perfect tense include the
present unless something states or implies otherwise. (For example,
Canada is a country that "has existed", as well as one that "exists".)
Different verbs in a sentence bear their usual tense relationship to
each other.
You are not allowed to change the facts yourself in order to make an
answer correct. For example, if a question asks for material on the
WWW, what you cite must already have existed before the contest was
first posted.
* 5. Judging
As moderator, I will be the sole judge of what answers are correct,
and whether two answers with similar meaning (like red and gules)
are considered the same, different, or more/less specific variants.
I will do my best to be fair on all such issues, but sometimes it is
necessary to be arbitrary. Those who disagree with my rulings are
welcome to complain (or to start a competing contest, or whatever).
I may rescore the contest if I agree that I made a serious error and
it affects the high finishers.
* 6. Results
Results will normally be posted within a few days of the contest
closing. They may be delayed if I'm unexpectedly busy or for
technical reasons. If I feel I need help evaluating one or more
answers, I may make a consultative posting in the newsgroups before
scoring the contest.
In the results posting, all entrants will be listed in order of score,
but high (bad) scores may be omitted. The top few entrants' full
answer slates will be posted. A table of answers and their scores
will be given for each question.
* 7. Fun
This contest is for fun. Please do have fun, and good luck to all.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "If any form of pleasure is exhibited, report
m...@vex.net | to me and it will be prohibited." --DUCK SOUP
My text in this article is in the public domain.
Mark Brader
Dec 6, 2011, 2:00:31 AM12/6/11
to
This is the first reminder of the current Rare Entries contest.
before then. Everything below this point is the same as in the
original posting. See below the questions for a detailed explanation,
Once again I'll note that this series will only continue as long as
the level of participation is sufficient, so you are asked to please
consider entering even if you don't think you have good answers for
all the questions.
As always, reply ONLY BY EMAIL to m...@vex.net; do not post to any
newsgroup. Entries must reach here by Saturday, December 17, 2011
(by Toronto time, zone -5). I intend to post one more reminder
the level of participation is sufficient, so you are asked to please
consider entering even if you don't think you have good answers for
all the questions.
As always, reply ONLY BY EMAIL to m...@vex.net; do not post to any
newsgroup. Entries must reach here by Saturday, December 17, 2011
before then. Everything below this point is the same as in the
original posting. See below the questions for a detailed explanation,
Mark Brader
Dec 14, 2011, 12:33:00 AM12/14/11
to
This is the second and last reminder of the current Rare Entries
contest. As I post this, you have just under 4 days left to enter.
Once again I'll note that this series will only continue as long as
the level of participation is sufficient, so you are asked to please
consider entering even if you don't think you have good answers for
all the questions.
As always, reply ONLY BY EMAIL to m...@vex.net; do not post to any
newsgroup. Entries must reach here by Saturday, December 17, 2011
(by Toronto time, zone -5). Everything below this point is the same
contest. As I post this, you have just under 4 days left to enter.
Once again I'll note that this series will only continue as long as
the level of participation is sufficient, so you are asked to please
consider entering even if you don't think you have good answers for
all the questions.
As always, reply ONLY BY EMAIL to m...@vex.net; do not post to any
newsgroup. Entries must reach here by Saturday, December 17, 2011
Mark Brader
Dec 20, 2011, 2:42:32 AM12/20/11
to
Once again, I wrote:
| As usual, for each of the items above, your objective is to give a
| response that (1) is correct, and (2) will be duplicated by as FEW
| other people as possible. Feel free to use any reference material...
Contest MSB73 drew a barely acceptable 23 entrants, and long-time
entrant DAVE FILPUS has not only won for the first time, but done it
by a considerable margin. Moderately hearty congratulations!
In second place was Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, and Alan Morgan
came third.
These are their slates of answers (some abbreviated). As always, you
should be reading this in a monospaced font for proper tabular alignment.
DAVE FILPUS GARMT DE VRIES-U. ALAN MORGAN
[0] Paul Martin Kim Campbell Stephen Harper
[1] UNHCR John Bardeen Marie Curie
[2] 67 43 73
[3] HStaST, ST:TAS TWiNE, Bond movie TSNotD, Willis
[4] Rwanda Ethiopia USSR
[5] Venezia Siracusa Roma
[6] Nueva Vizcaya Nueva Vizcaya New Mexico
[7] Fell asleep Cheat in race Fool pursuer
[8] Causeway Ford Ford
[9] Curling Curling Basketball
| Please do not quote the questions back to me, and do send only
| plain text in ASCII or ISO 8859-1: no HTML, attachments, Micros--t
| character sets, etc., and no Unicode, please. (Entrants who fail
| to comply will be publicly chastised in the results posting.)
Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, Adrian Bailey, Erland Sommarskog, and the entrant
using the single name "Calvin" are duly chastised! Don't do that!
Naughty, naughty entrants!
To review the scoring:
| Low score wins; a perfect score is 1.
|
| If your answer on a category is correct, then your score is the number
| of people who gave that answer or an answer I consider equivalent. If
| wrong, or if you skip the question, you get a high score as a penalty.
| The scores on the different questions are *multiplied* to produce a
| final score. ... It is also possible that I may consider one answer
| to be a more specific variant of another: in that case it will be
| scored as if they are different, but the other, less specific variant
Here is the complete table of scores.
RANK SCORE ENTRANT Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9
1. 540 Dave Filpus 3 2 2 1 3 1 3 1 1 5
2. 3840 Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd 4 8 2 1 1 1 3 1 4 5
3. 10368 Alan Morgan 2 4 2 1 3 3 9 2 4 1
4. 17010 John Gerson 7 9 2 1 1 1 9 3 5 1
5. 23040 Haran Pilpel 3 8 1 1 1 4 4 2 3 10
6. 32400 Dan Blum 2 9 2 1 1 5 3 2 3 10
7. 43200 Peter Smyth 3 9 2 1 1 4 1 2 5 WR
=7. 43200 Dan Tilque 2 4 1 1 1 3 9 4 5 10
9. 48000 Alan Curry 3 8 1 1 5 5 2 1 4 10
10. 90720 Ted Schuerzinger 7 4 2 1 1 2 9 3 3 10
11. 92160 Nick Selwyn 4 8 2 1 3 1 2 3 4 WR
12. 100800 Dan Unger 7 8 1 1 5 1 WR 4 1 5
13. 104976 Don Del Grande 3 9 2 1 3 3 WR 4 3 1
14. 120960 Erland Sommarskog 7 4 2 1 3 2 9 1 4 10
15. 129600 Bruce Bowler 3 9 2 1 3 1 4 4 WR 5
16. 134400 Joshua Kreitzer 7 2 2 1 5 4 4 2 3 10
Adrian Bailey 2 9 1 2 3 2 9 2 4 10
Don Piven 2 9 2 1 WR 5 1 1 5 WR
Kevin Stone 7 9 2 1 3 5 9 1 4 5
Calvin 2 8 1 1 5 WR 9 4 3 WR
Stephen Perry 7 8 1 1 3 5 4 3 WR WR
Chris Johnson 4 9 2 1 WR 4 9 5 4 10
Duke Lefty 4 8 2 2 5 WR WR 1 5 10
Scores of 150,000 or worse are not shown.
And here is the complete list of answers given. Each list shows correct
answers in the order worst to best (most to least popular). The
notation ">>>" means that "more specific variant" scoring was used.
| 0. Name a person who is now (see rule 4.4) alive and has been
| Prime Minister of Canada.
7 Brian Mulroney (born 1939, PM 1984-93)
4 Kim Campbell (born 1947, PM 1993)
3 Joe Clark (born 1939, PM 1979-80)
3 Paul Martin (born 1938, PM 2003-06)
2 Jean Chrétien (born 1934, PM 1993-2003)
2 John Turner (born 1929, PM 1984)
2 Stephen Harper (born 1959, PM 2006-)
I thought the "most obvious" answers were Mulroney, Chrétien, and
Harper, being the two longest-serving ones among the 7 correct answers
and the current one; and I expected people would collide on the others.
But no, they collided on Mulroney instead! He may have a good deal
to answer for, but what did he ever do to deserve that?
| 1. Name a person or organization that has won more than one
| Nobel Prize, either outright or shared.
9 Linus Pauling (chemistry 1954; peace 1962)
8 John Bardeen (physics 1956, 1972)
4 Marie Curie (physics 1903; chemistry 1911)
2 UN High Commissioner for Refugees* (peace 1954, 1981)
With six correct answers available here, the collisions on Pauling
and Bardeen were stunning. Not one entrant named the Red Cross
(the only 3-time winner: peace 1917, 1944, 1963) or Frederick Sanger
(chemistry 1958, 1980).
*Names of institutional winners are abbreviated for convenience.
| 2. Name a prime number that has been used as a contest number
| in the MSB series of Rare Entries contests.
2 17
2 23
2 3
2 37
2 41
2 43
2 67
2 73
1 11
1 19
1 31
1 47
1 61
1 7
1 71
Answers were much better divided this time. I thought there might be
a collision on the double-bluff answer "73", but no, not really.
The 6 correct answers that weren't given were 2, 5, 13, 29, 53, and 59.
| 3. Name a title of a work of fiction, that is also a direct
| (and apparently deliberate) quotation from a previously
| existing work of fiction. For purposes of this question,
| holy books of religions do not count as works of fiction.
2 "To Be or Not to Be" (Melchior Lengyel, Edwin Justus Mayer,
and Ernst Lubitsch movie, quoting the William
Shakespeare play "Hamlet")
1 "A Man Rides Through" (Stephen Donaldson novel, quoting
the John Myers Myers novel "Silverlock")
1 "Brave New World" (Aldous Huxley novel, quoting the William
Shakespeare play "The Tempest")
1 "Cover Her Face" (P.D. James novel, quoting the John Webster
play "The Duchess of Malfi")
1 "Dagger of the Mind" ("Star Trek" TV series episode, quoting
the William Shakespeare play "Macbeth")
1 "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" ("Star Trek" animated
TV series episode, quoting the William Shakespeare play
"King Lear")
1 "I See Dead People" ("Alias" TV series episode, quoting the
M. Night Shyamalan movie "The Sixth Sense")
1 "Of Mice and Men" (John Steinbeck novella, quoting the Robert
Burns poem "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in her Nest
With the Plough")
1 "Pieces of Eight" (John Drake novel, quoting the Robert Louis
Stevenson novel "Treasure Island")
1 "Skulle jag sörja då..." (Jean Bolinder novel, quoting
the Lasse Lucidor poem "Skulle jag sörja då vore
jag tokot")
1 "The Dogs of War" (Frederick Forsyth novel, quoting the William
Shakespeare play "Julius Caesar")
1 "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" (Douglas Adams
novel, quoting his own radio series "The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy")
1 "The World is Not Enough" (Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Bruce
Feirstein movie, quoting the Ian Fleming novel "On
Her Majesty's Secret Service")
1 "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" (Robert A. Heinlein novel, quoting
the Alfred Lord Tennyson poem "Ulysses")
1 "To Say Nothing Of The Dog" (Connie Willis novel, quoting
the Jerome K. Jerome novel "Three Men in a Boat")
1 "Trial of Champions" (Ian Livingstone novel, quoting his
own novel "Deathtrap Dungeon")
1 "Uncle Scrooge" (comic book, quoting the Charles Dickens
novella "A Christmas Carol")
1 "Under the Greenwood Tree" (Thomas Hardy novel, quoting
the William Shakespeare play Shakespeare's "As You Like
It")
1 "Vanity Fair" (William Makepeace Thackeray novel, quoting
the John Bunyan novel, "The Pilgrim's Progress, from
This World to That which is to Come")
1 "Vaster than Empires and More Slow" (Ursula K. Le Guin short
story, quoting the Andrew Marvell poem "To His
Coy Mistress")
1 "We'll Always Have Paris" ("Stat Trek: The Next Generation"
TV series episode, quoting the Julius J. and Philip
G. Epstein, Howard Koch, and Casey Robinson movie
"Casablanca")
1 "What Fools These Mortals Be" (Bernard Travaille and Maurice
Wise play, quoting the William Shakespeare play "A
Midsummer Night's Dream")
I knew there were lots of possible answers here, but I was hoping
people would find some way to collide. But almost nobody did.
Perhaps it would have helped if I'd specified that the quotation
must be from an author other than Shakespeare!
| 4. Name a country (see rule 4.1.1) then existing, whose
| government at some time since 1888 ordered or allowed the
| killing of at least 25,000 of its own civilian residents
| as part of a deliberate program of genocide, political
| suppression, or the like.
5 Cambodia
3 Ottoman Empire [= Turkey]
3 Rwanda
3 USSR
1 China
1 Croatia
1 Equatorial Guinea
1 Ethiopia
1 North Korea
1 Pakistan
1 Uganda
WRONG:
1 Chile (a few thousand deaths)
1 German Southwest Africa (not then a country)
Checking the answers to this one was downright depressing. And there are
plenty of additional answers that would also be correct -- including one
very well known one that wasn't given at all.
| 5. Give the Italian name of a city in Italy that has a
| different name (not a nickname) in English. It is all right
| if the Italian name is used in English as well. For example,
| if I had said "French name" and "in Belgium", you might
| answer with "Bruxelles", whose name in English is Brussels.
5 Padova (Padua)
4 Genova (Genoa)
3 Roma (Rome)
2 Livorno (Leghorn)
2 Torino (Turin)
>>> 1 [WRONG] Turin
1 Bressanone (Brixen)
1 Milano (Milan)
1 Napoli (Naples)
1 Siracusa (Syracuse)
1 Trento (Trent)
1 Venezia (Venice)
WRONG:
1 Florence (not Italian name)
1 Turin (not Italian name)
Italy sure has lots of these, doesn't it?
| 6. Name a state or province (see rule 4.1.1) now existing, whose
| name has the superficial meaning that it is the "new" version
| of another, more populous place now existing. For example,
| if I had asked about cities instead of states or provinces,
| "New London" (Connecticut, USA) would be a correct answer.
9 New Mexico (USA, 2,060,000; 112,000,000 in Mexico)
4 Nova Scotia (Canada, 943,000; 5,220,000 in Scotland, UK)
3 Nueva Vizcaya (Philippines, 398,000; 1,150,000 in Biscay, Spain)
2 New Hampshire (USA, 1,320,000; 1,740,000 in ceremonial county
of Hampshire, UK)
1 New Ireland (Papua New Guinea, 118,000; 4,580,000 in Ireland)
1 Nova Gorica (Slovenia, 32,100; 142,000 in Gorizia, Italy)
WRONG:
2 Nuevo León (Mexico, 4,650,000) (only 2,560,000 in whole
of Castilla y León, Spain)
1 New South Wales (Australia, 6,550,000) (only 3,010,000 in whole
of Wales, UK)
I wasn't surprised at the most two popular answers here. Of course
the two other "New" states in the US would be wrong answers, and so
would New Brunswick in Canada.
In most cases populations shown are the most recent figures given at
http://www.citypopulation.de, rounded to 3 significant digits.
| 7. A passenger elevator in good working order will sometimes
| arrive at a floor, stop, and leave again in the same
| direction, with the doors opening and closing but with
| no one getting on or off. Give a reason (not a method)
| why a person might cause this to happen. Reasons that are
| sufficiently similar will be treated as identical.
5 Change of mind
>>> 4 Called elevator, didn't board
>>> 2 Gave up on long wait
>>> 1 Realized cellphone call would be cut off
4 Pushed wrong button [= Pushed wrong button due to dyslexia;
Called elevator for wrong direction]
3 Got off at earlier floor
>>> 2 To fool a pursuer
3 Prankster pushed buttons [= To be a dick]
2 Elevator overcrowded
1 Attempt to cheat in elevator race
1 Attempt to cheat in Rare Entries with unique scenario
1 Distracted and forgot to get off
1 Fell asleep
1 Safety inspection
1 Security guard inspecting floors
This one, as you might guess, was inspired by an actual occurrence: I was
riding an elevator on the way to work and someone pushed the wrong button.
Some of the answers were quite long in the form actually given, and I've
ruthlessly edited them down to produce the above summary. My favorite for
creativity was the "attempt to cheat in Rare Entries", for which the full
answer was given as follows:
Person in the elevator is Rare Entries Contest participant
deliberately inventing unique scenario by stopping at each floor
and yelling "I'm getting a 1 on this question for sure! Purple
monkey dishwasher."
(I realized after writing answer 7 that the elevator passenger
would be violating rule 4.4 by "changing the facts" so he shouldn't
actually get the 1. But I didn't do it, I just described what a
hypothetical person might do, which is all that question 7 asked
for. The ineffectiveness of the hypothetical person's action
doesn't seem to be relevant.)
"Elevator overcrowded" might be a matter of opinion, but I decided not
to count this as a more specific instance of "change of mind" even so.
I can think of at least four correct answers that weren't given,
all of them involving real-world scenarios:
* Store management orders operator of manual elevator to stop at all
floors in case someone wants to get on.
* Elevator programmed to stop at all floors on the Jewish Sabbath, for
the benefit of those who would then consider it a religious violation
to operate electrical controls but not to use automatic machinery.
* Person intends to call only one elevator, but two arrive simultaneously
in the same direction and control system is not sophisticated enough
to stop only one.
* Person intends to be on (say) the 16th floor only very briefly and
expects the elevator to return to ground, so he sends it to 17 and
18 in the hope of catching the same elevator coming back down.
| 8. In general terms (see rule 2.2), name a means for a regular
| traffic of people and/or vehicles to cross between two
| specific points on opposite sides of a river. (Answers like
| "road", that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
| are not acceptable. Answers like "swimming", that could
| allow a crossing between any points, are not acceptable.)
5 Aerial tramway [= Roosevelt-Island-style tram; Transporter
bridge; Transporter bridge gondola]
4 Ferry [= Roll-on roll-off ferry; Cable ferry]
4 Ford
3 Flying fox [= Zip line; Wire-bridge gondola]
3 Tunnel [= Underwater tunnel]
1 Bridge-tunnel
1 Causeway
WRONG:
1 Fallen tree (not suitable for regular traffic)
1 Human-powered cable ferry (too specific)
The term "gondola" is often used for several different types of vehicle,
but those entrants who mentioned it provided enough additional detail
to make clear what was meant.
An aerial tramway, also called an aerial cable car, uses one or two cars
permanently fixed to the drive cable; I decided that a transporter bridge
is essentially an aerial tramway designed for vehicles to ride on it, so
I counted those answers as equivalent.
A flying fox or zip line is usually gravity-driven and suitable only for
one-way traffic (the moving parts then have to be hauled back uphill),
but the question did not specify "a regular two-way traffic". "Wire
bridge" is a brand name based on similar technology and I decided to
treat it as equivalent.
The proper use of "gondola" is for a third related technology, which
typically has a permanently moving cable and multiple cars that can be
attached and detached to/from it for each trip, as in this installation
that I rode across the Rhine earlier this year:
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6020/5920124098_12f934884a.jpg
Nobody named this.
More interestingly, nobody gave the most obvious answer -- a bridge!
| 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
| into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
| lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
| highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
| marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
| boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
| for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
| Sports involving vehicles do not count.
10 Hockey
5 Curling
1 Australian football
1 Basketball
1 Track
WRONG:
2 Rugby League (colored markings only typical in Australia)
1 Golf (no standard pattern of markings)
1 Roller hockey (typically only one color)
1 Track cycling (uses vehicles)
I hate sports questions.
When I wrote this one, the only answer I knew was correct was hockey.
The rules of hockey specify red and blue lines, and these are used
at all levels of play (in fact, a block or so from my house is a
small arena <http://www.northtorontoarena.com/>, outside of which
I regularly see piles of snow that are partly red or blue); I was
naively assuming that other sports would be similar.
*Ha!*
For Rugby League, I wasn't even sure which leagues would offer
"games at the highest level of play" as specified in the question.
I decided to trust Wikipedia on this, which says that'd be "the
European Super League, Australasian National Rugby League and French
Elite One Championship". I found rule books from the Rugby League
and the Rugby League International Federation:
http://www.therfl.co.uk/~therflc/clientdocs/rugby_laws_book_2004_.pdf
http://rlifmedia.dyndns.org/docs/rugby_laws_book_2007_%20(2).pdf
but they specify nothing about the color of field markings, though.
On the other hand, the Australian Rugby League has a rulebook
http://crlnsw.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/Resourse_Centre/ARL_International_
Laws_of_the_Game_2009.pdf
that also claims to be the "International Laws of the Game", but
includes additional sections at the end, and in this added material
it does require two colors of lines.
To resolve this, I then selected 8 teams from the Super League web
site and 4 from the Elite One web site, located their stadiums by a
combination of Google Maps queries and Wikipedia pages, and viewed
the Google Maps aerial (so-called "satellite") imagery for these
stadiums. In all cases it the markings on the field were clearly
visible. Three or four of the stadiums did not have their fields
currently marked for rugby in the Google Maps photos, and some seemed
to have only partial markings (e.g. a grid of lines and no numbers).
But of stadiums I looked at, not one had any lines marked in any color
but white.
I concluded that the use of color on the fields is purely an
Australianism and therefore not "typical at the highest level of play".
I invited the entrants who gave this answer to refute this; one agreed
with me (he'd believed what Wikipedia says on its page about the game,
which I suppose was written by an Australian) and the other did not
answer. So I ruled it wrong.
Next, basketball. In this case it's clear that "the highest level of
play" refers to the NBA. But in NBA Rule #1
http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_1.html
the only thing about the color of the different lines is that it must
contrast with the colors used to mark zones, such as the free throw zone.
I therefore went to Google Images and looked at some actual NBA arenas
and quickly find that each one has its own color scheme.
Here are two areas where all the lines are the same colors:
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/2831/38444385.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/OKC_Thunder.JPG
But here are two others where two different colors of line are used:
http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/3953/154167007zmkjfjfs29cu.jpg
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/582343.jpg
Furthermore, I quickly found cases where different photos of the same
area taken in different years showed different colors of markings.
I decided to resolve this by checking photos of the home arenas of all
30 NBA teams, and using the first one I found for each arena that had
sufficiently high resolution. Even this was tricky because the Google
Images search often produced false hits, at a web site for a video game
*based on* the NBA. But in the end I found line markings for the NBA
in two or more colors at 17 of the 30 arenas. I decided that a majority
of the arenas was enough to make this the "typical" game, so I accepted
this answer.
In Australian football, again the rule book
http://www.afana.com/drupal5/customfiles/afllaws_11.pdf
does not specify different colors of lines, while Wikipedia claims
that they are used. A quick look at some fields using Google Maps
seemed to show all the lines as being in white, but when I looked more
closely at the specific places where Wikipedia said color was used,
I realized it was correct: certain lines are marked in a combination
of colors and this doesn't show up very clearly in the aerial imagery.
The entrant also cited sources to show that other lines are yellow.
In track, the entrant cited the IAAF files
http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/Competitions/TechnicalArea/04/63/95/20081202044225_httppostedfile_Fig_2.2.1.6a_Marking_Outdoor_7462.pdf
which specify colored markings to be used in relay races, and I accepted
that.
In roller hockey, it was again difficult to identify details relating
to the "highest level of play", and there are few photos that Google
Images can find that show the playing surfaces. Further complicating
things is the fact that several versions of the game exist. I was able
to find these pages
http://www.inf.fh-dortmund.de/rollhockey/forms/TechnicalRules_31_12_2010_English.pdf
http://rollerhockey.isport.com/rollerhockey-guides/roller-hockey-rink-dimensions
The first implying that all lines are the same color, and the second
implying that they are all red. (The dot markings, of course, are not
"lines that divide the surface into sections".) The entrant found a
different site where the center circle was shown as blue, but on doing
further checking, got to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS-JYae5Z7s
which he says "shows the 2011 World Championships and the lines do
all appear to be red". So, wrong answer.
Finally, in golf, the USGA rules
http://www.usga.org/uploadedFiles/USGAHome/rules/CompleteROGbook.pdf
allow for different colored lines marking two types of hazards (as
well as the outer boundary of the course, which is irrelevant to the
question); but since every golf course is unique, these lines do not
follow a "standard pattern" as required. (I did not check rules of
any other governing bodies.)
Thank you all for playing and keeping this contest series alive.
--
Mark Brader | "There is ample evidence that Mr. Coyote was
Toronto | violating both the laws of gravity and inertia
m...@vex.net | at the time of this incident, and thus he is
| responsible for his own woes." --Stephen Menard
| As usual, for each of the items above, your objective is to give a
| response that (1) is correct, and (2) will be duplicated by as FEW
| other people as possible. Feel free to use any reference material...
Contest MSB73 drew a barely acceptable 23 entrants, and long-time
entrant DAVE FILPUS has not only won for the first time, but done it
by a considerable margin. Moderately hearty congratulations!
In second place was Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, and Alan Morgan
came third.
These are their slates of answers (some abbreviated). As always, you
should be reading this in a monospaced font for proper tabular alignment.
DAVE FILPUS GARMT DE VRIES-U. ALAN MORGAN
[0] Paul Martin Kim Campbell Stephen Harper
[1] UNHCR John Bardeen Marie Curie
[2] 67 43 73
[3] HStaST, ST:TAS TWiNE, Bond movie TSNotD, Willis
[4] Rwanda Ethiopia USSR
[5] Venezia Siracusa Roma
[6] Nueva Vizcaya Nueva Vizcaya New Mexico
[7] Fell asleep Cheat in race Fool pursuer
[8] Causeway Ford Ford
[9] Curling Curling Basketball
| Please do not quote the questions back to me, and do send only
| plain text in ASCII or ISO 8859-1: no HTML, attachments, Micros--t
| character sets, etc., and no Unicode, please. (Entrants who fail
| to comply will be publicly chastised in the results posting.)
using the single name "Calvin" are duly chastised! Don't do that!
Naughty, naughty entrants!
To review the scoring:
| Low score wins; a perfect score is 1.
|
| If your answer on a category is correct, then your score is the number
| wrong, or if you skip the question, you get a high score as a penalty.
| The scores on the different questions are *multiplied* to produce a
| final score. ... It is also possible that I may consider one answer
| to be a more specific variant of another: in that case it will be
| scored as if they are different, but the other, less specific variant
| will be scored as if they are the same.
See the questions posting for the penalty score formula.
Here is the complete table of scores.
RANK SCORE ENTRANT Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9
1. 540 Dave Filpus 3 2 2 1 3 1 3 1 1 5
2. 3840 Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd 4 8 2 1 1 1 3 1 4 5
3. 10368 Alan Morgan 2 4 2 1 3 3 9 2 4 1
4. 17010 John Gerson 7 9 2 1 1 1 9 3 5 1
5. 23040 Haran Pilpel 3 8 1 1 1 4 4 2 3 10
6. 32400 Dan Blum 2 9 2 1 1 5 3 2 3 10
7. 43200 Peter Smyth 3 9 2 1 1 4 1 2 5 WR
=7. 43200 Dan Tilque 2 4 1 1 1 3 9 4 5 10
9. 48000 Alan Curry 3 8 1 1 5 5 2 1 4 10
10. 90720 Ted Schuerzinger 7 4 2 1 1 2 9 3 3 10
11. 92160 Nick Selwyn 4 8 2 1 3 1 2 3 4 WR
12. 100800 Dan Unger 7 8 1 1 5 1 WR 4 1 5
13. 104976 Don Del Grande 3 9 2 1 3 3 WR 4 3 1
14. 120960 Erland Sommarskog 7 4 2 1 3 2 9 1 4 10
15. 129600 Bruce Bowler 3 9 2 1 3 1 4 4 WR 5
16. 134400 Joshua Kreitzer 7 2 2 1 5 4 4 2 3 10
Adrian Bailey 2 9 1 2 3 2 9 2 4 10
Don Piven 2 9 2 1 WR 5 1 1 5 WR
Kevin Stone 7 9 2 1 3 5 9 1 4 5
Calvin 2 8 1 1 5 WR 9 4 3 WR
Stephen Perry 7 8 1 1 3 5 4 3 WR WR
Chris Johnson 4 9 2 1 WR 4 9 5 4 10
Duke Lefty 4 8 2 2 5 WR WR 1 5 10
Scores of 150,000 or worse are not shown.
And here is the complete list of answers given. Each list shows correct
answers in the order worst to best (most to least popular). The
notation ">>>" means that "more specific variant" scoring was used.
| 0. Name a person who is now (see rule 4.4) alive and has been
| Prime Minister of Canada.
4 Kim Campbell (born 1947, PM 1993)
3 Joe Clark (born 1939, PM 1979-80)
3 Paul Martin (born 1938, PM 2003-06)
2 Jean Chrétien (born 1934, PM 1993-2003)
2 John Turner (born 1929, PM 1984)
2 Stephen Harper (born 1959, PM 2006-)
I thought the "most obvious" answers were Mulroney, Chrétien, and
Harper, being the two longest-serving ones among the 7 correct answers
and the current one; and I expected people would collide on the others.
But no, they collided on Mulroney instead! He may have a good deal
to answer for, but what did he ever do to deserve that?
| 1. Name a person or organization that has won more than one
| Nobel Prize, either outright or shared.
8 John Bardeen (physics 1956, 1972)
4 Marie Curie (physics 1903; chemistry 1911)
2 UN High Commissioner for Refugees* (peace 1954, 1981)
With six correct answers available here, the collisions on Pauling
and Bardeen were stunning. Not one entrant named the Red Cross
(the only 3-time winner: peace 1917, 1944, 1963) or Frederick Sanger
(chemistry 1958, 1980).
*Names of institutional winners are abbreviated for convenience.
| 2. Name a prime number that has been used as a contest number
| in the MSB series of Rare Entries contests.
2 23
2 3
2 37
2 41
2 43
2 67
2 73
1 11
1 19
1 31
1 47
1 61
1 7
1 71
Answers were much better divided this time. I thought there might be
a collision on the double-bluff answer "73", but no, not really.
The 6 correct answers that weren't given were 2, 5, 13, 29, 53, and 59.
| 3. Name a title of a work of fiction, that is also a direct
| (and apparently deliberate) quotation from a previously
| existing work of fiction. For purposes of this question,
| holy books of religions do not count as works of fiction.
and Ernst Lubitsch movie, quoting the William
Shakespeare play "Hamlet")
1 "A Man Rides Through" (Stephen Donaldson novel, quoting
the John Myers Myers novel "Silverlock")
1 "Brave New World" (Aldous Huxley novel, quoting the William
Shakespeare play "The Tempest")
1 "Cover Her Face" (P.D. James novel, quoting the John Webster
play "The Duchess of Malfi")
1 "Dagger of the Mind" ("Star Trek" TV series episode, quoting
the William Shakespeare play "Macbeth")
1 "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" ("Star Trek" animated
TV series episode, quoting the William Shakespeare play
"King Lear")
1 "I See Dead People" ("Alias" TV series episode, quoting the
M. Night Shyamalan movie "The Sixth Sense")
1 "Of Mice and Men" (John Steinbeck novella, quoting the Robert
Burns poem "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in her Nest
With the Plough")
1 "Pieces of Eight" (John Drake novel, quoting the Robert Louis
Stevenson novel "Treasure Island")
1 "Skulle jag sörja då..." (Jean Bolinder novel, quoting
the Lasse Lucidor poem "Skulle jag sörja då vore
jag tokot")
1 "The Dogs of War" (Frederick Forsyth novel, quoting the William
Shakespeare play "Julius Caesar")
1 "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" (Douglas Adams
novel, quoting his own radio series "The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy")
1 "The World is Not Enough" (Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Bruce
Feirstein movie, quoting the Ian Fleming novel "On
Her Majesty's Secret Service")
1 "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" (Robert A. Heinlein novel, quoting
the Alfred Lord Tennyson poem "Ulysses")
1 "To Say Nothing Of The Dog" (Connie Willis novel, quoting
the Jerome K. Jerome novel "Three Men in a Boat")
1 "Trial of Champions" (Ian Livingstone novel, quoting his
own novel "Deathtrap Dungeon")
1 "Uncle Scrooge" (comic book, quoting the Charles Dickens
novella "A Christmas Carol")
1 "Under the Greenwood Tree" (Thomas Hardy novel, quoting
the William Shakespeare play Shakespeare's "As You Like
It")
1 "Vanity Fair" (William Makepeace Thackeray novel, quoting
the John Bunyan novel, "The Pilgrim's Progress, from
This World to That which is to Come")
1 "Vaster than Empires and More Slow" (Ursula K. Le Guin short
story, quoting the Andrew Marvell poem "To His
Coy Mistress")
1 "We'll Always Have Paris" ("Stat Trek: The Next Generation"
TV series episode, quoting the Julius J. and Philip
G. Epstein, Howard Koch, and Casey Robinson movie
"Casablanca")
1 "What Fools These Mortals Be" (Bernard Travaille and Maurice
Wise play, quoting the William Shakespeare play "A
Midsummer Night's Dream")
I knew there were lots of possible answers here, but I was hoping
people would find some way to collide. But almost nobody did.
Perhaps it would have helped if I'd specified that the quotation
must be from an author other than Shakespeare!
| 4. Name a country (see rule 4.1.1) then existing, whose
| government at some time since 1888 ordered or allowed the
| killing of at least 25,000 of its own civilian residents
| as part of a deliberate program of genocide, political
| suppression, or the like.
3 Ottoman Empire [= Turkey]
3 Rwanda
3 USSR
1 China
1 Croatia
1 Equatorial Guinea
1 Ethiopia
1 North Korea
1 Pakistan
1 Uganda
WRONG:
1 Chile (a few thousand deaths)
1 German Southwest Africa (not then a country)
Checking the answers to this one was downright depressing. And there are
plenty of additional answers that would also be correct -- including one
very well known one that wasn't given at all.
| 5. Give the Italian name of a city in Italy that has a
| different name (not a nickname) in English. It is all right
| if the Italian name is used in English as well. For example,
| if I had said "French name" and "in Belgium", you might
| answer with "Bruxelles", whose name in English is Brussels.
4 Genova (Genoa)
3 Roma (Rome)
2 Livorno (Leghorn)
2 Torino (Turin)
>>> 1 [WRONG] Turin
1 Bressanone (Brixen)
1 Milano (Milan)
1 Napoli (Naples)
1 Siracusa (Syracuse)
1 Trento (Trent)
1 Venezia (Venice)
WRONG:
1 Florence (not Italian name)
1 Turin (not Italian name)
Italy sure has lots of these, doesn't it?
| 6. Name a state or province (see rule 4.1.1) now existing, whose
| name has the superficial meaning that it is the "new" version
| of another, more populous place now existing. For example,
| if I had asked about cities instead of states or provinces,
| "New London" (Connecticut, USA) would be a correct answer.
4 Nova Scotia (Canada, 943,000; 5,220,000 in Scotland, UK)
3 Nueva Vizcaya (Philippines, 398,000; 1,150,000 in Biscay, Spain)
2 New Hampshire (USA, 1,320,000; 1,740,000 in ceremonial county
of Hampshire, UK)
1 New Ireland (Papua New Guinea, 118,000; 4,580,000 in Ireland)
1 Nova Gorica (Slovenia, 32,100; 142,000 in Gorizia, Italy)
WRONG:
2 Nuevo León (Mexico, 4,650,000) (only 2,560,000 in whole
of Castilla y León, Spain)
1 New South Wales (Australia, 6,550,000) (only 3,010,000 in whole
of Wales, UK)
I wasn't surprised at the most two popular answers here. Of course
the two other "New" states in the US would be wrong answers, and so
would New Brunswick in Canada.
In most cases populations shown are the most recent figures given at
http://www.citypopulation.de, rounded to 3 significant digits.
| 7. A passenger elevator in good working order will sometimes
| arrive at a floor, stop, and leave again in the same
| direction, with the doors opening and closing but with
| no one getting on or off. Give a reason (not a method)
| why a person might cause this to happen. Reasons that are
| sufficiently similar will be treated as identical.
>>> 4 Called elevator, didn't board
>>> 2 Gave up on long wait
>>> 1 Realized cellphone call would be cut off
4 Pushed wrong button [= Pushed wrong button due to dyslexia;
Called elevator for wrong direction]
3 Got off at earlier floor
>>> 2 To fool a pursuer
3 Prankster pushed buttons [= To be a dick]
2 Elevator overcrowded
1 Attempt to cheat in elevator race
1 Attempt to cheat in Rare Entries with unique scenario
1 Distracted and forgot to get off
1 Fell asleep
1 Safety inspection
1 Security guard inspecting floors
This one, as you might guess, was inspired by an actual occurrence: I was
riding an elevator on the way to work and someone pushed the wrong button.
Some of the answers were quite long in the form actually given, and I've
ruthlessly edited them down to produce the above summary. My favorite for
creativity was the "attempt to cheat in Rare Entries", for which the full
answer was given as follows:
Person in the elevator is Rare Entries Contest participant
deliberately inventing unique scenario by stopping at each floor
and yelling "I'm getting a 1 on this question for sure! Purple
monkey dishwasher."
(I realized after writing answer 7 that the elevator passenger
would be violating rule 4.4 by "changing the facts" so he shouldn't
actually get the 1. But I didn't do it, I just described what a
hypothetical person might do, which is all that question 7 asked
for. The ineffectiveness of the hypothetical person's action
doesn't seem to be relevant.)
"Elevator overcrowded" might be a matter of opinion, but I decided not
to count this as a more specific instance of "change of mind" even so.
I can think of at least four correct answers that weren't given,
all of them involving real-world scenarios:
* Store management orders operator of manual elevator to stop at all
floors in case someone wants to get on.
* Elevator programmed to stop at all floors on the Jewish Sabbath, for
the benefit of those who would then consider it a religious violation
to operate electrical controls but not to use automatic machinery.
* Person intends to call only one elevator, but two arrive simultaneously
in the same direction and control system is not sophisticated enough
to stop only one.
* Person intends to be on (say) the 16th floor only very briefly and
expects the elevator to return to ground, so he sends it to 17 and
18 in the hope of catching the same elevator coming back down.
| 8. In general terms (see rule 2.2), name a means for a regular
| traffic of people and/or vehicles to cross between two
| specific points on opposite sides of a river. (Answers like
| "road", that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
| are not acceptable. Answers like "swimming", that could
| allow a crossing between any points, are not acceptable.)
bridge; Transporter bridge gondola]
4 Ferry [= Roll-on roll-off ferry; Cable ferry]
4 Ford
3 Flying fox [= Zip line; Wire-bridge gondola]
3 Tunnel [= Underwater tunnel]
1 Bridge-tunnel
1 Causeway
WRONG:
1 Fallen tree (not suitable for regular traffic)
1 Human-powered cable ferry (too specific)
The term "gondola" is often used for several different types of vehicle,
but those entrants who mentioned it provided enough additional detail
to make clear what was meant.
An aerial tramway, also called an aerial cable car, uses one or two cars
permanently fixed to the drive cable; I decided that a transporter bridge
is essentially an aerial tramway designed for vehicles to ride on it, so
I counted those answers as equivalent.
A flying fox or zip line is usually gravity-driven and suitable only for
one-way traffic (the moving parts then have to be hauled back uphill),
but the question did not specify "a regular two-way traffic". "Wire
bridge" is a brand name based on similar technology and I decided to
treat it as equivalent.
The proper use of "gondola" is for a third related technology, which
typically has a permanently moving cable and multiple cars that can be
attached and detached to/from it for each trip, as in this installation
that I rode across the Rhine earlier this year:
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6020/5920124098_12f934884a.jpg
Nobody named this.
More interestingly, nobody gave the most obvious answer -- a bridge!
| 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
| into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
| lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
| highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
| marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
| boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
| for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
| Sports involving vehicles do not count.
5 Curling
1 Australian football
1 Basketball
1 Track
WRONG:
2 Rugby League (colored markings only typical in Australia)
1 Golf (no standard pattern of markings)
1 Roller hockey (typically only one color)
1 Track cycling (uses vehicles)
I hate sports questions.
When I wrote this one, the only answer I knew was correct was hockey.
The rules of hockey specify red and blue lines, and these are used
at all levels of play (in fact, a block or so from my house is a
small arena <http://www.northtorontoarena.com/>, outside of which
I regularly see piles of snow that are partly red or blue); I was
naively assuming that other sports would be similar.
*Ha!*
For Rugby League, I wasn't even sure which leagues would offer
"games at the highest level of play" as specified in the question.
I decided to trust Wikipedia on this, which says that'd be "the
European Super League, Australasian National Rugby League and French
Elite One Championship". I found rule books from the Rugby League
and the Rugby League International Federation:
http://www.therfl.co.uk/~therflc/clientdocs/rugby_laws_book_2004_.pdf
http://rlifmedia.dyndns.org/docs/rugby_laws_book_2007_%20(2).pdf
but they specify nothing about the color of field markings, though.
On the other hand, the Australian Rugby League has a rulebook
http://crlnsw.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/Resourse_Centre/ARL_International_
Laws_of_the_Game_2009.pdf
that also claims to be the "International Laws of the Game", but
includes additional sections at the end, and in this added material
it does require two colors of lines.
To resolve this, I then selected 8 teams from the Super League web
site and 4 from the Elite One web site, located their stadiums by a
combination of Google Maps queries and Wikipedia pages, and viewed
the Google Maps aerial (so-called "satellite") imagery for these
stadiums. In all cases it the markings on the field were clearly
visible. Three or four of the stadiums did not have their fields
currently marked for rugby in the Google Maps photos, and some seemed
to have only partial markings (e.g. a grid of lines and no numbers).
But of stadiums I looked at, not one had any lines marked in any color
but white.
I concluded that the use of color on the fields is purely an
Australianism and therefore not "typical at the highest level of play".
I invited the entrants who gave this answer to refute this; one agreed
with me (he'd believed what Wikipedia says on its page about the game,
which I suppose was written by an Australian) and the other did not
answer. So I ruled it wrong.
Next, basketball. In this case it's clear that "the highest level of
play" refers to the NBA. But in NBA Rule #1
http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_1.html
the only thing about the color of the different lines is that it must
contrast with the colors used to mark zones, such as the free throw zone.
I therefore went to Google Images and looked at some actual NBA arenas
and quickly find that each one has its own color scheme.
Here are two areas where all the lines are the same colors:
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/2831/38444385.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/OKC_Thunder.JPG
But here are two others where two different colors of line are used:
http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/3953/154167007zmkjfjfs29cu.jpg
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/582343.jpg
Furthermore, I quickly found cases where different photos of the same
area taken in different years showed different colors of markings.
I decided to resolve this by checking photos of the home arenas of all
30 NBA teams, and using the first one I found for each arena that had
sufficiently high resolution. Even this was tricky because the Google
Images search often produced false hits, at a web site for a video game
*based on* the NBA. But in the end I found line markings for the NBA
in two or more colors at 17 of the 30 arenas. I decided that a majority
of the arenas was enough to make this the "typical" game, so I accepted
this answer.
In Australian football, again the rule book
http://www.afana.com/drupal5/customfiles/afllaws_11.pdf
does not specify different colors of lines, while Wikipedia claims
that they are used. A quick look at some fields using Google Maps
seemed to show all the lines as being in white, but when I looked more
closely at the specific places where Wikipedia said color was used,
I realized it was correct: certain lines are marked in a combination
of colors and this doesn't show up very clearly in the aerial imagery.
The entrant also cited sources to show that other lines are yellow.
In track, the entrant cited the IAAF files
http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/Competitions/TechnicalArea/04/63/95/20081202044225_httppostedfile_Fig_2.2.1.6a_Marking_Outdoor_7462.pdf
which specify colored markings to be used in relay races, and I accepted
that.
In roller hockey, it was again difficult to identify details relating
to the "highest level of play", and there are few photos that Google
Images can find that show the playing surfaces. Further complicating
things is the fact that several versions of the game exist. I was able
to find these pages
http://www.inf.fh-dortmund.de/rollhockey/forms/TechnicalRules_31_12_2010_English.pdf
http://rollerhockey.isport.com/rollerhockey-guides/roller-hockey-rink-dimensions
The first implying that all lines are the same color, and the second
implying that they are all red. (The dot markings, of course, are not
"lines that divide the surface into sections".) The entrant found a
different site where the center circle was shown as blue, but on doing
further checking, got to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS-JYae5Z7s
which he says "shows the 2011 World Championships and the lines do
all appear to be red". So, wrong answer.
Finally, in golf, the USGA rules
http://www.usga.org/uploadedFiles/USGAHome/rules/CompleteROGbook.pdf
allow for different colored lines marking two types of hazards (as
well as the outer boundary of the course, which is irrelevant to the
question); but since every golf course is unique, these lines do not
follow a "standard pattern" as required. (I did not check rules of
any other governing bodies.)
Thank you all for playing and keeping this contest series alive.
--
Mark Brader | "There is ample evidence that Mr. Coyote was
Toronto | violating both the laws of gravity and inertia
m...@vex.net | at the time of this incident, and thus he is
| responsible for his own woes." --Stephen Menard
gerson
Dec 20, 2011, 6:47:35 AM12/20/11
to
"Mark Brader" wrote
(Answers like
> | "road", that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
> 1 Causeway
but a causeway is a road !
noun
?
a raised road or path across ground that is wet or is sometimes covered by water
more...
gerson
Dec 20, 2011, 7:02:04 AM12/20/11
to
"gerson" (that's me) wrote
>> ... that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
>> | are not acceptable ...
>
>> 1 Causeway
>
> but a causeway is a road !
>
> noun
> ?
> a raised road ...
>
>> 1 Causeway
>
> but a causeway is a road !
>
> noun
> ?
and 'ford' too, because not only is it like a road, but more particularly,
you can walk or drive across, so this answer doesn't relate to how the
river is crossed either !
verb
?
to cross a stream or river by walking or driving through the water
more...
noun
?
a place in a stream or river where the water is not deep and you can walk or drive across
more...
gerson
Dec 20, 2011, 7:11:46 AM12/20/11
to
"Mark Brader" wrote
> | 6. Name a state or province (see rule 4.1.1) now existing, ...
> 1 New Ireland (Papua New Guinea, 118,000;
that "still exists" meant "still exists by that name" (in earlier contests) -
[not sure]
Alan Curry
Dec 20, 2011, 7:53:15 AM12/20/11
to
In article <8cKdnUY-8oX1oW3T...@vex.net>,
http://tvtropes.org/LiteraryAllusionTitle
> 1 "I See Dead People" ("Alias" TV series episode, quoting the
> M. Night Shyamalan movie "The Sixth Sense")
Here I remembered the last time you asked a question about "works of
fiction", where I avoided TV episodes not knowing whether they'd count, and
someone used the Simpsons and got away with it. So this time I wanted to take
advantage. A few people picked TV episodes this time, all of them Star Trek
except mine. Do rec.puzzles posters love Star Trek that much or does Star
Trek just love this episode naming scheme that much?
Also I knew that Shakespeare would be the easy way to answer, so I wanted
both of my works of fiction to be more recent and not so high-brow. Like an
episode of The Heart, She Holler named after a line from Night of the Comet.
Unfortunately there was no such thing.
>
>I knew there were lots of possible answers here, but I was hoping
>people would find some way to collide. But almost nobody did.
>Perhaps it would have helped if I'd specified that the quotation
>must be from an author other than Shakespeare!
It could have been 2 questions: 1 Shakespeare and 1 other. Or 3 questions:
Hamlet, other Shakespeare, and other other.
>
>Some of the answers were quite long in the form actually given, and I've
>ruthlessly edited them down to produce the above summary. My favorite for
>creativity was the "attempt to cheat in Rare Entries", for which the full
>answer was given as follows:
>
> Person in the elevator is Rare Entries Contest participant
> deliberately inventing unique scenario by stopping at each floor
> and yelling "I'm getting a 1 on this question for sure! Purple
> monkey dishwasher."
>
> (I realized after writing answer 7 that the elevator passenger
> would be violating rule 4.4 by "changing the facts" so he shouldn't
> actually get the 1. But I didn't do it, I just described what a
> hypothetical person might do, which is all that question 7 asked
> for. The ineffectiveness of the hypothetical person's action
> doesn't seem to be relevant.)
The question was practically an invitation to write a short story involving
an elevator. With the more-specific rule in effect, more detail couldn't
hurt. The sad part of this is that I actually worried about collision enough
to weigh the humor value of "purple monkey dishwasher" (a well-known Simpsons
quote pretending to be a unique key) vs. an actual unique key.
>
>
>| 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
>| into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
>| lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
>| highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
>| marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
>| boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
>| for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
>| Sports involving vehicles do not count.
>
> 10 Hockey
Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific. There are even
places where it's not the default. I realize as a Canadian you may be
prohibited to know this or use it in scoring the question. Sorry.
> 5 Curling
Are the rings around the target being counted as "lines"? They're a bit
thick for that.
--
Alan Curry
Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> wrote:
>
>
>| 3. Name a title of a work of fiction, that is also a direct
>| (and apparently deliberate) quotation from a previously
>| existing work of fiction. For purposes of this question,
>| holy books of religions do not count as works of fiction.
>
tvtropes has a page for this. Only 9 of the answers given are listed there.
>
>
>| 3. Name a title of a work of fiction, that is also a direct
>| (and apparently deliberate) quotation from a previously
>| existing work of fiction. For purposes of this question,
>| holy books of religions do not count as works of fiction.
>
http://tvtropes.org/LiteraryAllusionTitle
> 1 "I See Dead People" ("Alias" TV series episode, quoting the
> M. Night Shyamalan movie "The Sixth Sense")
fiction", where I avoided TV episodes not knowing whether they'd count, and
someone used the Simpsons and got away with it. So this time I wanted to take
advantage. A few people picked TV episodes this time, all of them Star Trek
except mine. Do rec.puzzles posters love Star Trek that much or does Star
Trek just love this episode naming scheme that much?
Also I knew that Shakespeare would be the easy way to answer, so I wanted
both of my works of fiction to be more recent and not so high-brow. Like an
episode of The Heart, She Holler named after a line from Night of the Comet.
Unfortunately there was no such thing.
>
>I knew there were lots of possible answers here, but I was hoping
>people would find some way to collide. But almost nobody did.
>Perhaps it would have helped if I'd specified that the quotation
>must be from an author other than Shakespeare!
Hamlet, other Shakespeare, and other other.
>
>Some of the answers were quite long in the form actually given, and I've
>ruthlessly edited them down to produce the above summary. My favorite for
>creativity was the "attempt to cheat in Rare Entries", for which the full
>answer was given as follows:
>
> Person in the elevator is Rare Entries Contest participant
> deliberately inventing unique scenario by stopping at each floor
> and yelling "I'm getting a 1 on this question for sure! Purple
> monkey dishwasher."
>
> (I realized after writing answer 7 that the elevator passenger
> would be violating rule 4.4 by "changing the facts" so he shouldn't
> actually get the 1. But I didn't do it, I just described what a
> hypothetical person might do, which is all that question 7 asked
> for. The ineffectiveness of the hypothetical person's action
> doesn't seem to be relevant.)
an elevator. With the more-specific rule in effect, more detail couldn't
hurt. The sad part of this is that I actually worried about collision enough
to weigh the humor value of "purple monkey dishwasher" (a well-known Simpsons
quote pretending to be a unique key) vs. an actual unique key.
>
>
>| 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
>| into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
>| lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
>| highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
>| marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
>| boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
>| for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
>| Sports involving vehicles do not count.
>
> 10 Hockey
places where it's not the default. I realize as a Canadian you may be
prohibited to know this or use it in scoring the question. Sorry.
> 5 Curling
Are the rings around the target being counted as "lines"? They're a bit
thick for that.
--
Alan Curry
Remysun
Dec 20, 2011, 11:31:58 AM12/20/11
to
On Dec 20, 7:53 am, pac...@kosh.dhis.org (Alan Curry) wrote:
> > 5 Curling
>
> Are the rings around the target being counted as "lines"? They're a bit
> thick for that.
I doubt it. They are colored concentric zones around the button, with
> > 5 Curling
>
> Are the rings around the target being counted as "lines"? They're a bit
> thick for that.
the borders referred to as the four-foot and such.
swp
Dec 20, 2011, 12:40:48 PM12/20/11
to
On Tuesday, December 20, 2011 2:42:32 AM UTC-5, Mark Brader wrote:
> Contest MSB73 drew a barely acceptable 23 entrants, and long-time
> entrant DAVE FILPUS has not only won for the first time, but done it
> by a considerable margin. Moderately hearty congratulations!
perhaps you should use social media sites to popularize this more. just a thought.
> Contest MSB73 drew a barely acceptable 23 entrants, and long-time
> entrant DAVE FILPUS has not only won for the first time, but done it
> by a considerable margin. Moderately hearty congratulations!
> In second place was Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, and Alan Morgan
> came third.
> | 0. Name a person who is now (see rule 4.4) alive and has been
> | Prime Minister of Canada.
>
> 7 Brian Mulroney (born 1939, PM 1984-93)
> 4 Kim Campbell (born 1947, PM 1993)
> 3 Joe Clark (born 1939, PM 1979-80)
> 3 Paul Martin (born 1938, PM 2003-06)
> 2 Jean Chrétien (born 1934, PM 1993-2003)
> 2 John Turner (born 1929, PM 1984)
> 2 Stephen Harper (born 1959, PM 2006-)
>
> I thought the "most obvious" answers were Mulroney, Chrétien, and
> Harper, being the two longest-serving ones among the 7 correct answers
> and the current one; and I expected people would collide on the others.
> But no, they collided on Mulroney instead! He may have a good deal
> to answer for, but what did he ever do to deserve that?
> | 1. Name a person or organization that has won more than one
> | Nobel Prize, either outright or shared.
>
> 9 Linus Pauling (chemistry 1954; peace 1962)
> 8 John Bardeen (physics 1956, 1972)
> 4 Marie Curie (physics 1903; chemistry 1911)
> 2 UN High Commissioner for Refugees* (peace 1954, 1981)
>
> With six correct answers available here, the collisions on Pauling
> and Bardeen were stunning. Not one entrant named the Red Cross
> (the only 3-time winner: peace 1917, 1944, 1963) or Frederick Sanger
> (chemistry 1958, 1980).
> | 2. Name a prime number that has been used as a contest number
> | in the MSB series of Rare Entries contests.
>
> 2 17
> 2 23
> 2 3
> 2 37
> 2 41
> 2 43
> 2 67
> 2 73
> 1 11
> 1 19
> 1 31
> 1 47
> 1 61
> 1 7
> 1 71
>
> Answers were much better divided this time. I thought there might be
> a collision on the double-bluff answer "73", but no, not really.
>
> The 6 correct answers that weren't given were 2, 5, 13, 29, 53, and 59.
> | 7. A passenger elevator in good working order will sometimes
> | arrive at a floor, stop, and leave again in the same
> | direction, with the doors opening and closing but with
> | no one getting on or off. Give a reason (not a method)
> | why a person might cause this to happen. Reasons that are
> | sufficiently similar will be treated as identical.
>
> 5 Change of mind
> >>> 4 Called elevator, didn't board
> >>> 2 Gave up on long wait
> >>> 1 Realized cellphone call would be cut off
> 4 Pushed wrong button [= Pushed wrong button due to dyslexia;
> Called elevator for wrong direction]
> 3 Got off at earlier floor
> >>> 2 To fool a pursuer
> 3 Prankster pushed buttons [= To be a dick]
> 2 Elevator overcrowded
> 1 Attempt to cheat in elevator race
> 1 Attempt to cheat in Rare Entries with unique scenario
> 1 Distracted and forgot to get off
> 1 Fell asleep
> 1 Safety inspection
> 1 Security guard inspecting floors
> | 8. In general terms (see rule 2.2), name a means for a regular
> | traffic of people and/or vehicles to cross between two
> | specific points on opposite sides of a river. (Answers like
> | "road", that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
> | are not acceptable. Answers like "swimming", that could
> | allow a crossing between any points, are not acceptable.)
>
> 5 Aerial tramway [= Roosevelt-Island-style tram; Transporter
> bridge; Transporter bridge gondola]
> 4 Ferry [= Roll-on roll-off ferry; Cable ferry]
> 4 Ford
> 3 Flying fox [= Zip line; Wire-bridge gondola]
> 3 Tunnel [= Underwater tunnel]
> 1 Bridge-tunnel
> 1 Causeway
> WRONG:
> 1 Fallen tree (not suitable for regular traffic)
> 1 Human-powered cable ferry (too specific)
> | 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
> | into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
> | lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
> | highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
> | marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
> | boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
> | for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
> | Sports involving vehicles do not count.
>
> 10 Hockey
> 5 Curling
> 1 Australian football
> 1 Basketball
> 1 Track
> WRONG:
> 2 Rugby League (colored markings only typical in Australia)
> 1 Golf (no standard pattern of markings)
> 1 Roller hockey (typically only one color)
> 1 Track cycling (uses vehicles)
>
> I hate sports questions.
> Finally, in golf, the USGA rules
>
> http://www.usga.org/uploadedFiles/USGAHome/rules/CompleteROGbook.pdf
>
> allow for different colored lines marking two types of hazards (as
> well as the outer boundary of the course, which is irrelevant to the
> question); but since every golf course is unique, these lines do not
> follow a "standard pattern" as required. (I did not check rules of
> any other governing bodies.)
THANK YOU for doing this, again. I will now go on to crush various people in the qftci and other contests as a way to vent my frustrations at once again doing so poorly in your rare entries series.
and I will be having one of my own in january; you've been warned.
swp
Mark Brader
Dec 20, 2011, 2:39:10 PM12/20/11
to
Mark Brader:
> It still exists, but it's not called that anymore...
The CIA World Factbook disagrees:
# 18 provinces, 1 autonomous region*, and 1 district**; Bougainville*,
# Central, Chimbu, Eastern Highlands, East New Britain, East Sepik,
# Enga, Gulf, Madang, Manus, Milne Bay, Morobe, National Capital**,
# New Ireland, Northern, Sandaun, Southern Highlands, Western, Western
# Highlands, West New Britain
--
Mark Brader "I think [they] wanted ... us ... to try [them] out
Toronto and then tell the world how good they are, and
m...@vex.net it's tempting to do just that." -- Steve Summit
> > | 6. Name a state or province (see rule 4.1.1) now existing, ...
>
> > 1 New Ireland (Papua New Guinea, 118,000;
John Gerson:
>
> > 1 New Ireland (Papua New Guinea, 118,000;
> It still exists, but it's not called that anymore...
The CIA World Factbook disagrees:
# 18 provinces, 1 autonomous region*, and 1 district**; Bougainville*,
# Central, Chimbu, Eastern Highlands, East New Britain, East Sepik,
# Enga, Gulf, Madang, Manus, Milne Bay, Morobe, National Capital**,
# New Ireland, Northern, Sandaun, Southern Highlands, Western, Western
# Highlands, West New Britain
--
Mark Brader "I think [they] wanted ... us ... to try [them] out
Toronto and then tell the world how good they are, and
m...@vex.net it's tempting to do just that." -- Steve Summit
Mark Brader
Dec 20, 2011, 2:41:53 PM12/20/11
to
Mark Brader:
>>> | Answers like "road", that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
> and 'ford' too, because not only is it like a road, but more particularly,
> you can walk or drive across...
You cross by traveling through the water while supported by the bottom.
This is possible only where the river is shallow enough, so it also
passes the "fixed location" test.
--
Mark Brader "As penance, I suppose I should read the standard
Toronto again, but I've already lost as much hair as
m...@vex.net I can afford." -- Tom Kelly
>>> | Answers like "road", that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
>>> | are not acceptable ...
>>
>>> 1 Causeway
John Gerson:
>>
>>> 1 Causeway
>> but a causeway is a road !
It's a form of bridge, which tells you how it crosses the river.
> and 'ford' too, because not only is it like a road, but more particularly,
You cross by traveling through the water while supported by the bottom.
This is possible only where the river is shallow enough, so it also
passes the "fixed location" test.
--
Mark Brader "As penance, I suppose I should read the standard
Toronto again, but I've already lost as much hair as
m...@vex.net I can afford." -- Tom Kelly
Mark Brader
Dec 20, 2011, 2:46:14 PM12/20/11
to
Mark Brader:
> The sad part of this is that I actually worried about collision enough
> to weigh the humor value of "purple monkey dishwasher" (a well-known Simpsons
> quote pretending to be a unique key) vs. an actual unique key.
If the "in general terms" rule had been in effect, I would have rejected
the answer as too specific. As it was, I just ignored the little-known
Simpsons quote.
>> | 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
>> | into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
>> | lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
>> | highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
>> | marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
>> | boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
>> | for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
>> | Sports involving vehicles do not count.
>>
>> 10 Hockey
>
> Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific.
No, that's just a longer name for the same game.
> There are even
> places where it's not the default. I realize as a Canadian you may be
> prohibited to know this or use it in scoring the question. Sorry.
Entrants are allowed to describe things in terms of their local vocabulary.
I will standardize it when reporting answers.
>> 5 Curling
>
> Are the rings around the target being counted as "lines"? They're a bit
> thick for that.
I considered this a marginal case and decided to allow it. Perhaps I should
have said something in the results posting, but the comments on this question
were long enough as it was!
--
Mark Brader | "Europe contains a great many cathedrals, which were
Toronto | caused by the Middle Ages, which means they are very old,
m...@vex.net | so you have to take color slide photographs of them."
| -- Dave Barry
>> Some of the answers were quite long in the form actually given, and I've
>> ruthlessly edited them down to produce the above summary. My favorite for
>> creativity was the "attempt to cheat in Rare Entries", for which the full
>> answer was given as follows:
>>
>> Person in the elevator is Rare Entries Contest participant
>> deliberately inventing unique scenario by stopping at each floor
>> and yelling "I'm getting a 1 on this question for sure! Purple
>> monkey dishwasher."
>>
>> (I realized after writing answer 7 that the elevator passenger
>> would be violating rule 4.4 by "changing the facts" so he shouldn't
>> actually get the 1. But I didn't do it, I just described what a
>> hypothetical person might do, which is all that question 7 asked
>> for. The ineffectiveness of the hypothetical person's action
>> doesn't seem to be relevant.)
Alan Curry;
>> ruthlessly edited them down to produce the above summary. My favorite for
>> creativity was the "attempt to cheat in Rare Entries", for which the full
>> answer was given as follows:
>>
>> Person in the elevator is Rare Entries Contest participant
>> deliberately inventing unique scenario by stopping at each floor
>> and yelling "I'm getting a 1 on this question for sure! Purple
>> monkey dishwasher."
>>
>> (I realized after writing answer 7 that the elevator passenger
>> would be violating rule 4.4 by "changing the facts" so he shouldn't
>> actually get the 1. But I didn't do it, I just described what a
>> hypothetical person might do, which is all that question 7 asked
>> for. The ineffectiveness of the hypothetical person's action
>> doesn't seem to be relevant.)
> The question was practically an invitation to write a short story involving
> an elevator. With the more-specific rule in effect, more detail couldn't
> hurt.
True.
> an elevator. With the more-specific rule in effect, more detail couldn't
> hurt.
> The sad part of this is that I actually worried about collision enough
> to weigh the humor value of "purple monkey dishwasher" (a well-known Simpsons
> quote pretending to be a unique key) vs. an actual unique key.
the answer as too specific. As it was, I just ignored the little-known
Simpsons quote.
>> | 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
>> | into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
>> | lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
>> | highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
>> | marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
>> | boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
>> | for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
>> | Sports involving vehicles do not count.
>>
>> 10 Hockey
>
> Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific.
> There are even
> places where it's not the default. I realize as a Canadian you may be
> prohibited to know this or use it in scoring the question. Sorry.
I will standardize it when reporting answers.
>> 5 Curling
>
> Are the rings around the target being counted as "lines"? They're a bit
> thick for that.
have said something in the results posting, but the comments on this question
were long enough as it was!
--
Mark Brader | "Europe contains a great many cathedrals, which were
Toronto | caused by the Middle Ages, which means they are very old,
m...@vex.net | so you have to take color slide photographs of them."
| -- Dave Barry
Willem
Dec 20, 2011, 3:07:54 PM12/20/11
to
Mark Brader wrote:
) Mark Brader:
) Alan Curry;
)> Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific.
)
) No, that's just a longer name for the same game.
Only in North America.
SaSW, Willem
--
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for any of the statements
made in the above text. For all I know I might be
drugged or something..
No I'm not paranoid. You all think I'm paranoid, don't you !
#EOT
) Mark Brader:
) Alan Curry;
)> Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific.
)
) No, that's just a longer name for the same game.
Only in North America.
SaSW, Willem
--
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for any of the statements
made in the above text. For all I know I might be
drugged or something..
No I'm not paranoid. You all think I'm paranoid, don't you !
#EOT
Mark Brader
Dec 20, 2011, 4:00:01 PM12/20/11
to
Alan Curry;
> Only in North America.
Not really, but even if it was, so what?
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pedantic and
m...@vex.net that's just as good." -- D Gary Grady
>>> Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific.
Mark Brader:
>> No, that's just a longer name for the same game.
"Willem":
> Only in North America.
Not really, but even if it was, so what?
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pedantic and
m...@vex.net that's just as good." -- D Gary Grady
Erland Sommarskog
Dec 20, 2011, 4:03:30 PM12/20/11
to
Mark Brader (m...@vex.net) writes:
> I thought the "most obvious" answers were Mulroney, Chrétien, and
> Harper, being the two longest-serving ones among the 7 correct answers
> and the current one; and I expected people would collide on the others.
> But no, they collided on Mulroney instead! He may have a good deal
> to answer for, but what did he ever do to deserve that?
In my case: he was the first that came to mind, and I was too lazy to
> I thought the "most obvious" answers were Mulroney, Chrétien, and
> Harper, being the two longest-serving ones among the 7 correct answers
> and the current one; and I expected people would collide on the others.
> But no, they collided on Mulroney instead! He may have a good deal
> to answer for, but what did he ever do to deserve that?
make any research. (Several of the questions in this quiz did not
appeal to me, and I did feel that I would score well, so I made it
rather quick.)
> More interestingly, nobody gave the most obvious answer -- a bridge!
Maybe that was not your intention, but it may have create a mental
blockage against everything a road may run on.
> Thank you all for playing and keeping this contest series alive.
--
Erland Sommarskog, Stockholm, esq...@sommarskog.se
Erland Sommarskog
Dec 20, 2011, 4:04:49 PM12/20/11
to
Willem (wil...@toad.stack.nl) writes:
> Mark Brader wrote:
> ) Mark Brader:
> ) Alan Curry;
> )> Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific.
> )
> ) No, that's just a longer name for the same game.
>
> Only in North America.
Nah, in Sweden and Finland too. And probably a few more European
> Mark Brader wrote:
> ) Mark Brader:
> ) Alan Curry;
> )> Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific.
> )
> ) No, that's just a longer name for the same game.
>
> Only in North America.
countries, including Russia. But maybe not the Netherlands, I reckon
that.
But of course, since this is an international contest, I can agree that
it would be better to standardise on "Ice hockey". In difference to
the other game Marks runs, I don't think the Rare Entries include any
rules about a pub in Toronto. :-)
Whether field hockey uses lines in different colours I don't know, but
if it did, and I were the quizmaster, I would not rule "ice hockey" and
"field hockey" as specifics of "hockey". Rather I would either ask for
the clarification, or simply make an assumption from the origin of
the poster. That is, I would assume someone from North America to
be thinking of ice hockey, and someone from Australia or the UK to be
mean field hockey.
(I entered "ice hockey" myself, as I was too lazy to do any research.)
Mark Brader
Dec 20, 2011, 4:08:43 PM12/20/11
to
Mark Brader:
# Questions worded in the present perfect tense include the present
# unless something states or implies otherwise. (For example, Canada
# is a country that "has existed", as well as one that "exists".)
>> | 7. Give a reason (not a method) why a person might cause this to happen.
>> 3 Prankster pushed buttons [= To be a dick]
>> | 8. In general terms (see rule 2.2), name a means for a regular
>> | traffic of people and/or vehicles to cross between two
>> | specific points on opposite sides of a river...
>> WRONG:
>> 1 Fallen tree (not suitable for regular traffic)
because...
> and how is a fallen tree not suitable for regular traffic?
...it's not likely to have a safe walking surface, and it is likely to
shift position over time and become unusable.
>> | 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
>> | into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
>> | lines. Name such a sport where...
>> Finally, in golf, the USGA rules
>>
>> http://www.usga.org/uploadedFiles/USGAHome/rules/CompleteROGbook.pdf
>>
>> allow for different colored lines marking two types of hazards (as
>> well as the outer boundary of the course, which is irrelevant to the
>> question); but since every golf course is unique, these lines do not
>> follow a "standard pattern" as required...
> damn! and here I thought the "standard pattern" was that the distance
> from each hazard is exactly the same and the size of the drop zone is
> also identical. so much for that. won't you please reconsider? pretty
> please, oh sagaciously wise and beneficent one?
No.
--
Mark Brader | "No woman in my time will be Prime Minister or Chancellor
Toronto | or Foreign Secretary ... Anyway, I wouldn't want to be
m...@vex.net | Prime Minister." -- Margaret Thatcher, 1969
>> Contest MSB73 drew a barely acceptable 23 entrants, and long-time
>> entrant DAVE FILPUS has not only won for the first time, but done it
>> by a considerable margin. Moderately hearty congratulations!
>> entrant DAVE FILPUS has not only won for the first time, but done it
>> by a considerable margin. Moderately hearty congratulations!
>> | 2. Name a prime number that has been used as a contest number
>> | in the MSB series of Rare Entries contests.
Stephen Perry:
>> | in the MSB series of Rare Entries contests.
> ok, why is 73 allowed? "has been used" means a past contest not the
> current one, right?
Wrong. Rule 4.4:
> current one, right?
# Questions worded in the present perfect tense include the present
# unless something states or implies otherwise. (For example, Canada
# is a country that "has existed", as well as one that "exists".)
>> | 7. Give a reason (not a method) why a person might cause this to happen.
>> 3 Prankster pushed buttons [= To be a dick]
> I protest that "to be a dick" is not the same as "prankster pushed
> buttons" since the former is done with malicious intent and the latter
> is done with humorous intent. unless you think hurting people is funny,
> that is.
If you are one, you do.
> buttons" since the former is done with malicious intent and the latter
> is done with humorous intent. unless you think hurting people is funny,
> that is.
>> | 8. In general terms (see rule 2.2), name a means for a regular
>> | traffic of people and/or vehicles to cross between two
>> WRONG:
>> 1 Fallen tree (not suitable for regular traffic)
> I protest! a fallen tree is the first form of a bridge ever used by man!
You make a decent case for allowing it, but I stand by my ruling,
because...
> and how is a fallen tree not suitable for regular traffic?
shift position over time and become unusable.
>> | 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
>> | into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
>> Finally, in golf, the USGA rules
>>
>> http://www.usga.org/uploadedFiles/USGAHome/rules/CompleteROGbook.pdf
>>
>> allow for different colored lines marking two types of hazards (as
>> well as the outer boundary of the course, which is irrelevant to the
>> question); but since every golf course is unique, these lines do not
> damn! and here I thought the "standard pattern" was that the distance
> from each hazard is exactly the same and the size of the drop zone is
> also identical. so much for that. won't you please reconsider? pretty
> please, oh sagaciously wise and beneficent one?
--
Mark Brader | "No woman in my time will be Prime Minister or Chancellor
Toronto | or Foreign Secretary ... Anyway, I wouldn't want to be
m...@vex.net | Prime Minister." -- Margaret Thatcher, 1969
Mark Brader
Dec 20, 2011, 4:11:31 PM12/20/11
to
Erland Sommarskog:
> In difference to the other game Marks runs, I don't think the
> Rare Entries include any rules about a pub in Toronto. :-)
Exactly.
> Whether field hockey uses lines in different colours I don't know, but
> if it did, and I were the quizmaster, I would not rule "ice hockey" and
> "field hockey" as specifics of "hockey". Rather I would either ask for
> the clarification, or simply make an assumption from the origin of
> the poster. ...
Which, as you know, *is* how I do it.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "Remember that computers are very,
m...@vex.net very fast..." -- Steve Summit
> But of course, since this is an international contest, I can agree that
> it would be better to standardise on "Ice hockey".
If you mean for reporting the results, there's no need for such verbosity.
> it would be better to standardise on "Ice hockey".
> In difference to the other game Marks runs, I don't think the
> Rare Entries include any rules about a pub in Toronto. :-)
> Whether field hockey uses lines in different colours I don't know, but
> if it did, and I were the quizmaster, I would not rule "ice hockey" and
> "field hockey" as specifics of "hockey". Rather I would either ask for
> the clarification, or simply make an assumption from the origin of
Which, as you know, *is* how I do it.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "Remember that computers are very,
m...@vex.net very fast..." -- Steve Summit
Mark Brader
Dec 20, 2011, 5:31:40 PM12/20/11
to
It turns out that I misplaced an entry, which isn't going to win, but
will place fairly high. I've asked the entrant about a couple of his
or her answers, and once I've heard back, I'll rescore the contest.
My apologies for the error.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Asteroid Nearly Misses Earth"
m...@vex.net | --Washington Post, June 24, 2002
will place fairly high. I've asked the entrant about a couple of his
or her answers, and once I've heard back, I'll rescore the contest.
My apologies for the error.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Asteroid Nearly Misses Earth"
m...@vex.net | --Washington Post, June 24, 2002
Mark Brader
Dec 20, 2011, 6:21:55 PM12/20/11
to
I (Mark Brader) wrote:
> It turns out that I misplaced an entry, which isn't going to win, but
> will place fairly high. I've asked the entrant about a couple of his
> or her answers, and once I've heard back, I'll rescore the contest.
To my surprise, both of these answers turned out to be wrong, which means
> It turns out that I misplaced an entry, which isn't going to win, but
> will place fairly high. I've asked the entrant about a couple of his
> or her answers, and once I've heard back, I'll rescore the contest.
that this additional entrant doesn't place fairly high after all.
Contest MSB73 now turns out to have a slightly more acceptable 24 entrants,
and Dave Filpus, Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, and Alan Morgan retain their
1-2-3 positions.
Here are the complete score tables as revised. The answers given in
the entry that I misplaced are marked "+". For commentary, see the
original results posting.
RANK SCORE ENTRANT Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9
1. 540 Dave Filpus 3 2 2 1 3 1 3 1 1 5
3. 17280 Alan Morgan 2 4 3 1 3 3 10 2 4 1
4. 18900 John Gerson 7 9 2 1 1 1 10 3 5 1
5. 34560 Haran Pilpel 3 9 1 1 1 4 4 2 4 10
6. 43200 Peter Smyth 3 9 2 1 1 4 1 2 5 WR
7. 48000 Dan Tilque 2 4 1 1 1 3 10 4 5 10
8. 54000 Alan Curry 3 9 1 1 5 5 2 1 4 10
9. 64800 Dan Blum 3 9 2 1 1 5 3 2 4 10
10. 100800 Ted Schuerzinger 7 4 2 1 1 2 10 3 3 10
11. 103680 Nick Selwyn 4 9 2 1 3 1 2 3 4 WR
12. 116640 Don Del Grande 3 9 2 1 3 3 WR 4 3 1
13. 126000 Dan Unger 7 9 1 1 5 1 WR 4 1 5
14. 134400 Erland Sommarskog 7 4 2 1 3 2 10 1 4 10
15. 179200 Joshua Kreitzer 7 2 2 1 5 4 4 2 4 10
16. 180000 Don Piven 2 9 2 1 WR 5 1 1 5 WR
17. 194400 Bruce Bowler 3 9 3 1 3 1 4 4 WR 5
Adrian Bailey 3 9 1 2 3 2 10 2 4 10
Kevin Stone 7 9 2 1 3 5 10 1 4 5
Lieven Marchand 3 9 3 WR 1 2 10 1 4 WR
Calvin 2 9 1 1 5 WR 10 4 3 WR
Stephen Perry 7 9 1 1 3 5 4 3 WR WR
Chris Johnson 4 9 2 1 WR 4 10 5 4 10
Duke Lefty 4 9 2 2 5 WR WR 1 5 10
Scores of 200,000 or worse are not shown.
| 0. Name a person who is now (see rule 4.4) alive and has been
| Prime Minister of Canada.
7 Brian Mulroney (born 1939, PM 1984-93)
4 Kim Campbell (born 1947, PM 1993)
3 Joe Clark (born 1939, PM 1979-80)
3 Paul Martin (born 1938, PM 2003-06)
3 Paul Martin (born 1938, PM 2003-06)
2 John Turner (born 1929, PM 1984)
2 Stephen Harper (born 1959, PM 2006-)
2 Stephen Harper (born 1959, PM 2006-)
| 1. Name a person or organization that has won more than one
| Nobel Prize, either outright or shared.
9 John Bardeen (physics 1956, 1972) (+)
| Nobel Prize, either outright or shared.
9 Linus Pauling (chemistry 1954; peace 1962)
4 Marie Curie (physics 1903; chemistry 1911)
2 UN High Commissioner for Refugees* (peace 1954, 1981)
2 UN High Commissioner for Refugees* (peace 1954, 1981)
| 2. Name a prime number that has been used as a contest number
| in the MSB series of Rare Entries contests.
3 73 (+)
| in the MSB series of Rare Entries contests.
2 17
2 23
2 3
2 37
2 41
2 43
2 67
2 23
2 3
2 37
2 41
2 43
2 67
1 11
1 19
1 31
1 47
1 61
1 7
1 71
1 19
1 31
1 47
1 61
1 7
1 71
1 "The Sea, the Sea" (Iris Murdoch novel) (+) (quoting a
translation of the nonfiction book "Anabasis" by
Xenophon)
| 4. Name a country (see rule 4.1.1) then existing, whose
| government at some time since 1888 ordered or allowed the
| killing of at least 25,000 of its own civilian residents
| as part of a deliberate program of genocide, political
| suppression, or the like.
5 Cambodia
3 Ottoman Empire [= Turkey]
3 Rwanda
3 USSR
1 China
1 Croatia
1 Equatorial Guinea
1 Ethiopia
1 North Korea
1 Pakistan
1 Uganda
WRONG:
1 Chile (a few thousand deaths)
1 German Southwest Africa (not then a country)
1 Pakistan
1 Uganda
WRONG:
1 Chile (a few thousand deaths)
1 German Southwest Africa (not then a country)
| 5. Give the Italian name of a city in Italy that has a
| different name (not a nickname) in English. It is all right
| if the Italian name is used in English as well. For example,
| if I had said "French name" and "in Belgium", you might
| answer with "Bruxelles", whose name in English is Brussels.
5 Padova (Padua)
4 Genova (Genoa)
3 Roma (Rome)
2 Firenze (+)
| different name (not a nickname) in English. It is all right
| if the Italian name is used in English as well. For example,
| if I had said "French name" and "in Belgium", you might
| answer with "Bruxelles", whose name in English is Brussels.
5 Padova (Padua)
4 Genova (Genoa)
3 Roma (Rome)
>>> 1 [WRONG] Florence
2 Livorno (Leghorn)
2 Torino (Turin)
>>> 1 [WRONG] Turin
1 Bressanone (Brixen)
1 Milano (Milan)
1 Napoli (Naples)
1 Siracusa (Syracuse)
1 Trento (Trent)
1 Venezia (Venice)
WRONG:
1 Florence (not Italian name)
1 Turin (not Italian name)
2 Torino (Turin)
>>> 1 [WRONG] Turin
1 Bressanone (Brixen)
1 Milano (Milan)
1 Napoli (Naples)
1 Siracusa (Syracuse)
1 Trento (Trent)
1 Venezia (Venice)
WRONG:
1 Florence (not Italian name)
1 Turin (not Italian name)
| 6. Name a state or province (see rule 4.1.1) now existing, whose
| name has the superficial meaning that it is the "new" version
| of another, more populous place now existing. For example,
| if I had asked about cities instead of states or provinces,
| "New London" (Connecticut, USA) would be a correct answer.
10 New Mexico (USA, 2,060,000; 112,000,000 in Mexico) (+)
| name has the superficial meaning that it is the "new" version
| of another, more populous place now existing. For example,
| if I had asked about cities instead of states or provinces,
| "New London" (Connecticut, USA) would be a correct answer.
4 Nova Scotia (Canada, 943,000; 5,220,000 in Scotland, UK)
3 Nueva Vizcaya (Philippines, 398,000; 1,150,000 in Biscay, Spain)
2 New Hampshire (USA, 1,320,000; 1,740,000 in ceremonial county
of Hampshire, UK)
1 New Ireland (Papua New Guinea, 118,000; 4,580,000 in Ireland)
1 Nova Gorica (Slovenia, 32,100; 142,000 in Gorizia, Italy)
WRONG:
2 Nuevo León (Mexico, 4,650,000) (only 2,560,000 in whole
of Castilla y León, Spain)
1 New South Wales (Australia, 6,550,000) (only 3,010,000 in whole
of Wales, UK)
3 Nueva Vizcaya (Philippines, 398,000; 1,150,000 in Biscay, Spain)
2 New Hampshire (USA, 1,320,000; 1,740,000 in ceremonial county
of Hampshire, UK)
1 New Ireland (Papua New Guinea, 118,000; 4,580,000 in Ireland)
1 Nova Gorica (Slovenia, 32,100; 142,000 in Gorizia, Italy)
WRONG:
2 Nuevo León (Mexico, 4,650,000) (only 2,560,000 in whole
of Castilla y León, Spain)
1 New South Wales (Australia, 6,550,000) (only 3,010,000 in whole
of Wales, UK)
| 7. A passenger elevator in good working order will sometimes
| arrive at a floor, stop, and leave again in the same
| direction, with the doors opening and closing but with
| no one getting on or off. Give a reason (not a method)
| why a person might cause this to happen. Reasons that are
| sufficiently similar will be treated as identical.
5 Change of mind
>>> 4 Called elevator, didn't board
>>> 2 Gave up on long wait
>>> 1 Realized cellphone call would be cut off
4 Pushed wrong button [= Pushed wrong button due to dyslexia;
Called elevator for wrong direction]
3 Got off at earlier floor
>>> 2 To fool a pursuer
3 Prankster pushed buttons [= To be a dick]
2 Elevator overcrowded
1 Attempt to cheat in elevator race
1 Attempt to cheat in Rare Entries with unique scenario
1 Distracted and forgot to get off
1 Fell asleep
1 Safety inspection
1 Security guard inspecting floors
1 To see sign posted on floor (+)
| arrive at a floor, stop, and leave again in the same
| direction, with the doors opening and closing but with
| no one getting on or off. Give a reason (not a method)
| why a person might cause this to happen. Reasons that are
| sufficiently similar will be treated as identical.
5 Change of mind
>>> 4 Called elevator, didn't board
>>> 2 Gave up on long wait
>>> 1 Realized cellphone call would be cut off
4 Pushed wrong button [= Pushed wrong button due to dyslexia;
Called elevator for wrong direction]
3 Got off at earlier floor
>>> 2 To fool a pursuer
3 Prankster pushed buttons [= To be a dick]
2 Elevator overcrowded
1 Attempt to cheat in elevator race
1 Attempt to cheat in Rare Entries with unique scenario
1 Distracted and forgot to get off
1 Fell asleep
1 Safety inspection
1 Security guard inspecting floors
| 8. In general terms (see rule 2.2), name a means for a regular
| traffic of people and/or vehicles to cross between two
| specific points on opposite sides of a river. (Answers like
| "road", that do not relate to how the river is crossed,
| are not acceptable. Answers like "swimming", that could
| allow a crossing between any points, are not acceptable.)
5 Aerial tramway [= Roosevelt-Island-style tram; Transporter
bridge; Transporter bridge gondola]
4 Ferry [= Roll-on roll-off ferry; Cable ferry]
4 Ford
3 Flying fox [= Zip line; Wire-bridge gondola]
1 Bridge-tunnel
1 Causeway
WRONG:
1 Fallen tree (not suitable for regular traffic)
1 Human-powered cable ferry (too specific)
1 Causeway
WRONG:
1 Fallen tree (not suitable for regular traffic)
1 Human-powered cable ferry (too specific)
| 9. In many sports the players move about on surfaces divided
| into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
| lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
| highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
| marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
| boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
| for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
| Sports involving vehicles do not count.
10 Hockey
5 Curling
1 Australian football
1 Basketball
1 Track
WRONG:
3 Rugby League (+) (colored markings only typical in Australia)
| into sections by a standard pattern of straight or curved
| lines. Name such a sport where (in typical games at the
| highest level of play) these standard lines are not all
| marked in the same color. Note: Lines marking the outer
| boundary of the playing area, or provided incidentally
| for purposes unrelated to the sport, do not count.
| Sports involving vehicles do not count.
10 Hockey
5 Curling
1 Australian football
1 Basketball
1 Track
WRONG:
1 Golf (no standard pattern of markings)
1 Roller hockey (typically only one color)
1 Track cycling (uses vehicles)
--
1 Roller hockey (typically only one color)
1 Track cycling (uses vehicles)
Mark Brader, Toronto | "A good programmer is someone who looks both ways
m...@vex.net | before crossing a one-way street." -- Doug Linder
Ted Schuerzinger
Dec 20, 2011, 9:26:38 PM12/20/11
to
On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:04:49 +0100, Erland Sommarskog wrote:
> Nah, in Sweden and Finland too. And probably a few more European
> countries, including Russia. But maybe not the Netherlands, I reckon
> that.
My old Oxford Russian-English dictionary (published in the UK) has an
> Nah, in Sweden and Finland too. And probably a few more European
> countries, including Russia. But maybe not the Netherlands, I reckon
> that.
interesting entry for the Russian word хоккей. It gives the definition
"hockey", and then has the sub-entry "хоккей с шайбой" (literally
"hockey with a puck" for "ice hockey". I don't think I saw anything
other than plain old hockey in Russia for ice hockey, and still don't
see anything other on Russian language web-sites.
Unrelated, but the English-Russian dictionary has the interesting entry,
"Clue (Am. 'clew')" Now, there's such a thing as a clew of yarn, but
clue and clew are two completely different words.
--
Ted S.
fedya at hughes dot net
Now blogging at http://justacineast.blogspot.com
Joachim Parsch
Dec 21, 2011, 2:11:37 AM12/21/11
to
Erland Sommarskog schrieb:
>
> Willem (wil...@toad.stack.nl) writes:
> > Mark Brader wrote:
> > ) Mark Brader:
> > ) Alan Curry;
> > )> Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific.
> > )
> > ) No, that's just a longer name for the same game.
> >
> > Only in North America.
>
> Nah, in Sweden and Finland too. And probably a few more European
> countries, including Russia. But maybe not the Netherlands, I reckon
> that.
Whether "hockey" means "field hockey" or "ice hockey" depends on
> Willem (wil...@toad.stack.nl) writes:
> > Mark Brader wrote:
> > ) Mark Brader:
> > ) Alan Curry;
> > )> Didn't I submit "ice hockey"? Surely that's more-specific.
> > )
> > ) No, that's just a longer name for the same game.
> >
> > Only in North America.
>
> Nah, in Sweden and Finland too. And probably a few more European
> countries, including Russia. But maybe not the Netherlands, I reckon
> that.
which sport is more popular in the country in question. I guess
it's ice hockey for North America, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe,
while it's field hockey for the rest of Western Europe, the Commonwealth
and South America. And then there's "indoor hockey" as well, though I
guess, that's just what the field hockey guys do during the winter.
(Weicheier ;-))
BTW, in Germany "hockey" generally refers to field hockey,
though both sports are on a similar level regarding popularity.
> But of course, since this is an international contest, I can agree that
> it would be better to standardise on "Ice hockey". In difference to
> the other game Marks runs, I don't think the Rare Entries include any
> rules about a pub in Toronto. :-)
>
> Whether field hockey uses lines in different colours I don't know, but
> if it did, and I were the quizmaster, I would not rule "ice hockey" and
> "field hockey" as specifics of "hockey". Rather I would either ask for
> the clarification, or simply make an assumption from the origin of
> the poster. That is, I would assume someone from North America to
> be thinking of ice hockey, and someone from Australia or the UK to be
> mean field hockey.
>
> (I entered "ice hockey" myself, as I was too lazy to do any research.)
tried something like handball, but I'm pretty sure there are no rules
about the colour of the lines for most indoor sports.
Joachim
Erland Sommarskog
Dec 21, 2011, 3:44:44 AM12/21/11
to
Joachim Parsch (s...@bunuel.franken.de) writes:
> And then there's "indoor hockey" as well, though I
> guess, that's just what the field hockey guys do during the winter.
And that's apparently something else than indoor bandy! (A sport which
> And then there's "indoor hockey" as well, though I
> guess, that's just what the field hockey guys do during the winter.
is very popular in Sweden.)
> BTW, in Germany "hockey" generally refers to field hockey,
> though both sports are on a similar level regarding popularity.
you actually play field hockey. As far as Swedes are aware of field
hockey, we think of it something which is played in India.
> while it's field hockey for the rest of Western Europe, the Commonwealth
> and South America.
results for "hockey". It was the semifinals in some Pan-american cup. In
one of the games Argentina and played against Uruguay and in the other
had sported USA and Canada. I wondered how it could be that came to meet
each other already in the semifinal.
Later I did actually see a couple of girls in the age ten to twelve play
field hockey in a park. Quite exotic for me.
> In field hockey all the lines are white, I think. I would have rather
> tried something like handball, but I'm pretty sure there are no rules
> about the colour of the lines for most indoor sports.
most often yellow, but there is not really any standard. Many halls have
lines for several sports, with *one* colour per sport.
Alan Morgan
Dec 27, 2011, 11:57:41 PM12/27/11
to
>Once again, I wrote:
>| As usual, for each of the items above, your objective is to give a
>| response that (1) is correct, and (2) will be duplicated by as FEW
>| other people as possible. Feel free to use any reference material...
>
>Contest MSB73 drew a barely acceptable 23 entrants, and long-time
>entrant DAVE FILPUS has not only won for the first time, but done it
>by a considerable margin. Moderately hearty congratulations!
>
>In second place was Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, and Alan Morgan
>came third.
I knew that my cunning strategy of picking the first answer that came
>| As usual, for each of the items above, your objective is to give a
>| response that (1) is correct, and (2) will be duplicated by as FEW
>| other people as possible. Feel free to use any reference material...
>
>Contest MSB73 drew a barely acceptable 23 entrants, and long-time
>entrant DAVE FILPUS has not only won for the first time, but done it
>by a considerable margin. Moderately hearty congratulations!
>
>In second place was Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, and Alan Morgan
>came third.
to mind (or, in the cases where nothing came to mind, doing the absolute
minimum amount of research needed to get an answer) would work.
Although it appears that I narrowly dodged a bullet with basketball.
As always, thanks for running the contest.
Alan
--
Defendit numerus
Mark Brader
Dec 28, 2011, 12:20:44 AM12/28/11
to
Mark Brader:
--
Mark Brader "I used to own a mind like a steel trap.
Toronto Perhaps if I'd specified a brass one, it
m...@vex.net wouldn't have rusted like this." --Greg Goss
"I have a mind like a steel trap.
It's hard to pry open." --Michael Wares
>> In second place was Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, and Alan Morgan
>> came third.
Alan Morgan:
>> came third.
> I knew that my cunning strategy of picking the first answer that came
> to mind (or, in the cases where nothing came to mind, doing the absolute
> minimum amount of research needed to get an answer) would work.
Yes, well, if you call third place "working"!
> to mind (or, in the cases where nothing came to mind, doing the absolute
> minimum amount of research needed to get an answer) would work.
--
Mark Brader "I used to own a mind like a steel trap.
Toronto Perhaps if I'd specified a brass one, it
m...@vex.net wouldn't have rusted like this." --Greg Goss
"I have a mind like a steel trap.
It's hard to pry open." --Michael Wares
Dr Nick
Dec 28, 2011, 9:32:14 AM12/28/11
to
clue to solving a mystery is something you follow like Theseus in the
labyrinth.
For example:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Y7m0qQGICN8C
--
Online waterways route planner | http://canalplan.eu
Plan trips, see photos, check facilities | http://canalplan.org.uk
Alan Morgan
Dec 28, 2011, 7:48:32 PM12/28/11
to
In article <pPSdnexvgtKxOmfT...@vex.net>,
recorded", so I'm pretty happy with a podium finish.
Alan
Defendit numerus
Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> wrote:
>Mark Brader:
>>> In second place was Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, and Alan Morgan
>>> came third.
>
>Alan Morgan:
>> I knew that my cunning strategy of picking the first answer that came
>> to mind (or, in the cases where nothing came to mind, doing the absolute
>> minimum amount of research needed to get an answer) would work.
>
>Yes, well, if you call third place "working"!
My previous finishes were "odious", "megasuck", and "scored too high to be
>Mark Brader:
>>> In second place was Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, and Alan Morgan
>>> came third.
>
>Alan Morgan:
>> I knew that my cunning strategy of picking the first answer that came
>> to mind (or, in the cases where nothing came to mind, doing the absolute
>> minimum amount of research needed to get an answer) would work.
>
>Yes, well, if you call third place "working"!
recorded", so I'm pretty happy with a podium finish.
Alan
>--
>Mark Brader "I used to own a mind like a steel trap.
>Toronto Perhaps if I'd specified a brass one, it
>m...@vex.net wouldn't have rusted like this." --Greg Goss
> "I have a mind like a steel trap.
> It's hard to pry open." --Michael Wares
--
>Mark Brader "I used to own a mind like a steel trap.
>Toronto Perhaps if I'd specified a brass one, it
>m...@vex.net wouldn't have rusted like this." --Greg Goss
> "I have a mind like a steel trap.
> It's hard to pry open." --Michael Wares
Defendit numerus
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