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Rare Entries contest MSB77 begins
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Mark Brader
Aug 6, 2013, 5:40:01 PM8/6/13
to
Let's have another Rare Entries contest.
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 Sunday, August 25, 2013 (by
Toronto time, zone -4). I intend to post two reminders before then.
See below the questions for a detailed explanation, which is unchanged
from last time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0. Give a single word used in English, either in meteorological or
informal use, to mean a storm (or a part of it) characterized
by a more or less circular pattern of intense winds.
1. The word "color" has two related meanings. A spectral color
is one that can be produced by a light shining with a single
wavelength as seen in dark surroundings, such as red or green.
In terms of spectral colors, the yellow seen on a typical
TV or computer display is not a single color but a mixture
of two colors, red and green. But in everyday usage "color"
is a broader word and that yellow would be considered a color.
(Of course, yellow can also be a spectral color.)
Using a single word in English, name a *non-spectral color* --
that is, name something we call a color but which cannot be
produced by a light shining with a single wavelength as seen
in dark surroundings.
2. Name a famous father and son who (1) are no longer living,
(2) were not monarchs, and (3) are typically known today by the
*same name* except for an appended distinguishing term *for each
of them*, such as "senior" for one and "junior" for the other.
Fame is to be determined by Google counts. A simple Google
search for each name *as a phrase, including the distinguishing
term*, must return at least "about" 32,767 hits. In your answer
you must provide the two names in the exact way that you searched
for them, but different ways of referring to the same two people
will be taken as equivalent answers.
3. Name a TV game show, reality show, or similar competition
(televised lottery drawings do not qualify) on which at least
one individual has won a money prize or prizes totaling at
least $1,000,000 US. This refers to the announced value of the
winnings, even if it was actually the total value of an annuity,
or if taxes were withheld, etc.
Any different versions of the same show, whether existing in
different countries or as spinoffs or successors or whatever,
count as the same answer.
4. Name a past or present Olympic sport meeting the following
criteria. (1) It is always played by teams rather than
individuals. (2) The outcome is based on some objective
determination, as opposed to scores assigned by judges as is
done in gymnastics or diving. (This refers to the intent;
human referees are allowed to be involved.) And (3) the end
of the competition is *not* normally determined by a clock.
5. In general terms (see rule 2.2), give a meaning of "gondola"
that refers or relates to a vehicle.
6. Name a country now existing (see rule 4.1.1) whose current flag
shows at least one star symbol with more than 5 points.
7. Name one of the New England states.
8. Bodies of water often have names that include a word indicating
what type of body they are, such as "North Sea", "Lake Eyre",
or "Snake River". Name a word that is used in this way in
English, in one or more areas where most of the population
primarily speaks English, to mean a river or something that
would be called a river if it was larger.
9. Name a title of a movie or any sort of TV production, that
refers explicitly or implicitly to *exactly two* specific
characters in the work, such as "Jake and the Fatman" or "Caesar
and Cleopatra", but where *exactly one* of the two characters
is fictional.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 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
27 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
On questions that specifically ask for a word, 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.
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 Sunday, August 25, 2013 (by
Toronto time, zone -4). I intend to post two reminders before then.
See below the questions for a detailed explanation, which is unchanged
from last time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0. Give a single word used in English, either in meteorological or
informal use, to mean a storm (or a part of it) characterized
by a more or less circular pattern of intense winds.
1. The word "color" has two related meanings. A spectral color
is one that can be produced by a light shining with a single
wavelength as seen in dark surroundings, such as red or green.
In terms of spectral colors, the yellow seen on a typical
TV or computer display is not a single color but a mixture
of two colors, red and green. But in everyday usage "color"
is a broader word and that yellow would be considered a color.
(Of course, yellow can also be a spectral color.)
Using a single word in English, name a *non-spectral color* --
that is, name something we call a color but which cannot be
produced by a light shining with a single wavelength as seen
in dark surroundings.
2. Name a famous father and son who (1) are no longer living,
(2) were not monarchs, and (3) are typically known today by the
*same name* except for an appended distinguishing term *for each
of them*, such as "senior" for one and "junior" for the other.
Fame is to be determined by Google counts. A simple Google
search for each name *as a phrase, including the distinguishing
term*, must return at least "about" 32,767 hits. In your answer
you must provide the two names in the exact way that you searched
for them, but different ways of referring to the same two people
will be taken as equivalent answers.
3. Name a TV game show, reality show, or similar competition
(televised lottery drawings do not qualify) on which at least
one individual has won a money prize or prizes totaling at
least $1,000,000 US. This refers to the announced value of the
winnings, even if it was actually the total value of an annuity,
or if taxes were withheld, etc.
Any different versions of the same show, whether existing in
different countries or as spinoffs or successors or whatever,
count as the same answer.
4. Name a past or present Olympic sport meeting the following
criteria. (1) It is always played by teams rather than
individuals. (2) The outcome is based on some objective
determination, as opposed to scores assigned by judges as is
done in gymnastics or diving. (This refers to the intent;
human referees are allowed to be involved.) And (3) the end
of the competition is *not* normally determined by a clock.
5. In general terms (see rule 2.2), give a meaning of "gondola"
that refers or relates to a vehicle.
6. Name a country now existing (see rule 4.1.1) whose current flag
shows at least one star symbol with more than 5 points.
7. Name one of the New England states.
8. Bodies of water often have names that include a word indicating
what type of body they are, such as "North Sea", "Lake Eyre",
or "Snake River". Name a word that is used in this way in
English, in one or more areas where most of the population
primarily speaks English, to mean a river or something that
would be called a river if it was larger.
9. Name a title of a movie or any sort of TV production, that
refers explicitly or implicitly to *exactly two* specific
characters in the work, such as "Jake and the Fatman" or "Caesar
and Cleopatra", but where *exactly one* of the two characters
is fictional.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 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
27 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
On questions that specifically ask for a word, 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
Aug 15, 2013, 2:48:33 PM8/15/13
to
This is a reminder of the current Rare Entries contest. Everything
below this point is the same as in the original contest posting,
except for the obvious update in the third paragraph.
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 Sunday, August 25, 2013 (by
Toronto time, zone -4). I intend to post another reminder before then.
below this point is the same as in the original contest posting,
except for the obvious update in the third paragraph.
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 Sunday, August 25, 2013 (by
Mark Brader
Aug 21, 2013, 5:57:43 PM8/21/13
to
This is a reminder of the current Rare Entries contest. You now have
only 4 days and about 6 hours remaining to enter, so if you haven't
done so already, please hurry up! Everything below this point is the
only 4 days and about 6 hours remaining to enter, so if you haven't
done so already, please hurry up! Everything below this point is the
same as in the original contest posting, except for the obvious update
in the third paragraph.
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 Sunday, August 25, 2013 (by
Toronto time, zone -4). See below the questions for a detailed
in the third paragraph.
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 Sunday, August 25, 2013 (by
Mark Brader
Aug 26, 2013, 4:43:43 AM8/26/13
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...
There were only 25 entrants this time, but one of them is a
first-time winner. Hearty congratulations to NATE PAYMER! And he
won despite having a wrong answer, too. Impressive. In second
place was Lejonel Norling, and just behind him in third, John Gerson.
These are their slates of answers (some abbreviated). As always, you
should be reading this in a monospaced font for proper tabular alignment.
NATE PAYMER LEJONEL NORLING JOHN GERSON
[0] (wrong answer) Eyewall Willywilly
[1] Salmon Khaki Perse
[2] R.M. La Follette Lucas Cranach John Wood
[3] "Duel" "Greed" "Red or Black?"
[4] Volleyball Curling Curling
[5] Boat lift bin Balloon basket (wrong answer)
[6] Marshall Is. Croatia Nepal
[7] Rhode I. Maine Massachusetts
[8] Fork Water Run
[9] "Peter's Got Woods" "Ola & Julia" "Messalina&Son/Hercules"
| 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.)
Joshua Kreitzer, the entrant identified as "Duke Lefty", Nate Paymer,
Andrew Bull, and the entrant identified as "Calvin" (listed in random
order), you are all CHASTISED! Next time (if there is one) please
COMPLY, or you will be CHASTISED AGAIN!
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
score formula, see the questions posting.
Here is the complete table of scores.
RANK SCORE ENTRANT Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9
1. 288 Nate Paymer WR 1 1 2 6 1 2 1 1 1
2. 1080 Lejonel Norling 1 1 1 5 4 9 1 6 1 1
3. 1152 John Gerson 1 1 1 1 4 WR 4 2 2 1
4. 2160 Stephen Perry 3 1 1 1 3 6 1 5 2 4
5. 5184 James Dow Allen 3 1 1 4 3 6 1 6 2 2
6. 7776 Rob Parker 6 4 1 2 3 9 1 2 3 1
7. 8640 Don Del Grande 2 1 2 1 6 3 4 6 5 1
8. 15360 Lieven Marchand 1 2 1 1 4 4 4 6 5 4
9. 19200 Alan Curry 3 2 1 2 4 4 1 5 5 4
10. 25920 Peter Smyth 6 1 1 1 WR WR 4 5 1 1
11. 32400 Dave Filpus 3 2 2 5 3 6 2 5 1 3
12. 57600 Erland Sommarskog 2 3 2 WR 6 4 4 5 1 1
13. 92160 Nick Selwyn WR 1 4 4 2 3 2 5 1 WR
14. 103680 Joshua Kreitzer WR 3 1 4 6 6 4 5 1 1
15. 144000 Dan Unger 3 1 2 5 WR 4 2 5 WR 1
16. 155520 Andrew Bull 6 4 1 3 6 9 4 5 2 1
17. 207360 Dan Tilque WR 1 2 2 WR 9 WR 5 1 1
Bruce Bowler 3 1 1 1 WR 9 WR 6 5 WR
Chris F.A. Johnson 6 4 2 WR 1 6 WR 5 2 3
Haran Pilpel WR 1 4 4 WR 6 4 5 3 1
Mike Jones WR 3 4 3 WR 9 4 5 1 1
Nick Atty 1 4 4 3 WR 3 WR 6 3 4
Duke Lefty 6 WR WR 5 3 9 4 5 1 1
Calvin 6 2 2 WR 2 9 4 5 WR 3
Peter Chapman WR WR 2 5 WR 9 4 WR 5 2
Scores of 500,000 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).
| 0. Give a single word used in English, either in meteorological or
| informal use, to mean a storm (or a part of it) characterized
| by a more or less circular pattern of intense winds.
6 Cyclone
3 Twister
3 Waterspout (see below)
2 Typhoon
1 Eyewall
1 Hurricane
1 Tornado
1 Willywilly
WRONG:
3 Mesocyclone (need not be intense)
2 Whirlwind (need not be intense)
1 Anticyclone (not a storm)
1 Cockeyed Bob (2 words, and need not be intense and circular)
In current official terminology in North America, the two
most important types of storm that provide correct answers are
the hurricane and the tornado. Neither word was given much.
"Cyclone" is a term for hurricanes in part of the world and also an
old-fashioned word for tornadoes in the US -- both senses distinct
from its technical meaning in meteorology, where it's simply a
low-pressure area -- and it was the most popular answer.
"Twister" is another word for a tornado, while "typhoon" and
"willywilly" are other words for a hurricane (the latter somewhat
old-fashioned, I believe).
A waterspout is generally described as a tornado over water, but
some sources indicate that their winds may be substantially less
intense than those of ordinary tornadoes. Apparently they are
often of a force comparable to the milder sort of tornado, though,
so I decided I should accept this answer. I did not, however, accept
"whirlwind", which can include a quite minor phenomenon; and I would
have rejected "cockeyed Bob", which was defined somewhat differently
on different sites I looked at but doesn't seem to necessarily meet
the description, even if it hadn't had to be a single word.
As to the other wrong answer, an anticyclone is a high-pressure area,
associated with good weather. And a mesocyclone is a rotating
wind pattern that forms in some thunderstorms and *may* develop
into a tornado; I looked at many sources and found nothing to say
that the mesocyclone itself must involve intense winds.
Finally, there is one more correct answer. I said "or a part of it"
because I wanted the tornado to be a correct answer, but it's really
just a particularly intense part within a larger storm. And this
wording meant that the "eyewall", the part of a hurricane where the
winds are most intense, was also a correct answer; and it scored a 1.
| 1. The word "color" has two related meanings. A spectral color
| is one that can be produced by a light shining with a single
| wavelength as seen in dark surroundings, such as red or green.
| In terms of spectral colors, the yellow seen on a typical
| TV or computer display is not a single color but a mixture
| of two colors, red and green. But in everyday usage "color"
| is a broader word and that yellow would be considered a color.
| (Of course, yellow can also be a spectral color.)
|
| Using a single word in English, name a *non-spectral color* --
| that is, name something we call a color but which cannot be
| produced by a light shining with a single wavelength as seen
| in dark surroundings.
4 Brown
3 Gray [= Grey]
2 Pink
2 Silver
1 Beige
1 Black
1 Khaki
1 Maroon
1 Ochre
1 Olive
1 Peach
1 Perse
1 Plum
1 Rose
1 Salmon
1 White
WRONG:
1 Bright pink (2 words)
1 Phlox (not defined as a color in dictionaries)
Besides white, gray, and black, the other correct answers generally
included anything that could be described as a light or dark shade of
another color: pink is light red and therefore requires a mixture of
wavelengths, while brown is dark red and therefore can only be seen
against a lighter contrasting color. For the answers given that were
not basic colors, like khaki and salmon, I checked dictionaries to
confirm that they were defined as colors and described in a manner
that meant they could not be spectral colors.
All the correct answers among basic colors were given, with the
more medium colors of brown and gray most popular while black was
named only once. But I imagine there are quite a few more of the
more obscure colors like perse that were not named.
| 2. Name a famous father and son who (1) are no longer living,
| (2) were not monarchs, and (3) are typically known today by the
| *same name* except for an appended distinguishing term *for each
| of them*, such as "senior" for one and "junior" for the other.
|
| Fame is to be determined by Google counts. A simple Google
| search for each name *as a phrase, including the distinguishing
| term*, must return at least "about" 32,767 hits. In your answer
| you must provide the two names in the exact way that you searched
| for them, but different ways of referring to the same two people
| will be taken as equivalent answers.
4 William Pitt the Elder/Younger (English politicians, 1708-78,
1759-1806)
2 Alexandre Dumas père/fils (French writers, 1802-70, 1824-95)
2 Johann Strauss I/II (Austrian composers, 1804-49, 1825-99)
2 John D. Rockefeller Jr./III (American
businessmen-philanthropists, 1874-1960, 1906-78)
2 Martin Luther King Sr./Jr. (American clergymen-activists,
1899-1984, 1929-68)
1 Hans Holbein the Elder/Younger (German artists, c.1460-1524,
c.1497-1543)
1 James McKay Sr./Jr. (Scottish-American politicians, 1808-76,
1842-1925)
1 Jason Robards Sr./Jr. (American actors, 1892-1963, 1922-2000)
1 John Wood the Elder/Younger (English architects, 1704-54,
1728-82)
1 Lucas Cranach d. Ä./J. (German artists, c.1472-1553, 1515-86)
1 Nawab of Pataudi Sr./Jr. (Indian cricket players, 1910-52,
1941-2011)
1 Pieter Brueghel the Elder/Younger (Flemish painters, c.1525-69,
c.1565-1636)
1 Pliny the Elder/Younger (Roman naturalist, 23-79; Roman lawyer,
61-c.112) (see below)
1 Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr./Jr. (American politician, 1860-1925;
American explorer, 1888-1957)
1 Robert M. La Follette Sr./Jr. (American politicians, 1855-1925,
1895-1953)
1 Sammy Davis Sr./Jr. (American entertainers, 1900-88, 1925-90)
1 Tom Morris Sr./Jr. (Scottish golfers, 1821-1908, 1851-75)
WRONG:
1 Efrem Zimbalist Sr./Jr. (Russian-American musician,
c.1890-1985; American actor, 1918-)
Answers here were well divided, except for a collision on the pair
who were British prime ministers.
Requirement 2 was in the question, of course, because examples
of this type are so common -- the six kings named George in the
British monarchy would provide three answers all by themselves
(George I/II, III/IV, and V/VI). One correct answer, the Nawabs
of Pataudi, did refer to a hereditary title but not to a monarchy.
Requirement 1 was included simply to cut down on the number of
correct answers; one entrant fell afoul of it, naming an 94-year-old
retired actor.
The Rockefeller family has so far produced six generations of males
with the same name -- John D. Rockefeller I/Jr./III/IV/V/VI -- all
famous except for the 5-year-old VI, and therefore providing four
different possible correct answers. However, the two entrants who
decided to mine this rich field collided on the same answer, Jr./III.
| 3. Name a TV game show, reality show, or similar competition
| (televised lottery drawings do not qualify) on which at least
| one individual has won a money prize or prizes totaling at
| least $1,000,000 US. This refers to the announced value of the
| winnings, even if it was actually the total value of an annuity,
| or if taxes were withheld, etc.
|
| Any different versions of the same show, whether existing in
| different countries or as spinoffs or successors or whatever,
| count as the same answer.
5 "Greed" (Curtis Warren, $1,410,000)
4 "Twenty One" (David Legler, $1,765,000)
3 "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (Kevin Olmstead, $2,180,000)
2 "Duel" (Ashlee Register, $1,795,000)
2 "Survivor: Pearl Islands" (Sandra Diaz-Twine, $1,000,000)
1 "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" (George Smoot, $1,000,000)
1 "Jeopardy!" (Brad Rutter, $3,470,102)
1 "Pepsi Play for a Billion" (Richard Bay, $1,000,000) (see below)
1 "Pillsbury Bake-Off" (Kurt Wait, $1,000,000)
1 "Poker Face" (Dominic Jackson, £1,000,000)
1 "Red or Black?" (Kevin Cartwright, £1,000,000) (see below)
WRONG:
1 "Big Brother" (no winners of enough money)
1 "The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime" (no individual
contestants)
1 (no answer)
All winnings that provided correct answers were either in US
dollars or UK pounds and are shown above accordingly using $
or £. The winners listed are not necessarily the highest-winning
contestants from each show, just examples to show that the answers
are correct. In some cases I had to rely on Wikipedia for details.
It seems somehow appropriate that the show that drew the biggest
collision of entrants was "Greed".
It was also interesting, considering the many different titles
used by different versions of "Survivor", that the two entrants who
named that show both picked the same one. This made no difference
to the scoring, of course, since the question specified that any
of them would have counted as the same answer.
"Pepsi Play for a Billion" and "Red or Black?" each had elements
resembling a lottery draw, but they had game elements as well
(such as deciding whether to accept a guaranteed amount in order
to withdraw from the competition), so I decided they qualified as
correct answers.
On the other hand, "The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime" was played
by couples, not individuals. Ony one member of each couple played
at a time, but they both played during the game and shared the
winnings. This refers to the American show of that title, which
is what the entrant had in mind; there was also an Australian game
show with the same or a similar title, but I could find very little
about it and as far as I could tell the top prize was never won
(and therefore it's moot whether the Australian or US dollar was
worth more at the time). So, wrong answer.
| 4. Name a past or present Olympic sport meeting the following
| criteria. (1) It is always played by teams rather than
| individuals. (2) The outcome is based on some objective
| determination, as opposed to scores assigned by judges as is
| done in gymnastics or diving. (This refers to the intent;
| human referees are allowed to be involved.) And (3) the end
| of the competition is *not* normally determined by a clock.
6 Volleyball [= Indoor volleyball]
>>> 1 [WRONG] Men's volleyball
4 Curling
3 Beach volleyball
>>> 1 [WRONG] Women's beach volleyball
3 Tug-of-war (last played 1920)
2 Cricket (last played 1900)
1 Softball (last played 2008)
WRONG:
1 4×400 m relay (event, not sport)
1 Finnish baseball (not an Olympic sport)
1 Men's volleyball (event, not sport)
1 Rugby (last played 1924) (timed game)
1 Swimming medley relay (event, not sport)
1 Synchronized diving (event, not sport, and scores assigned
by judges)
1 Water polo (timed game)
1 Women's beach volleyball (event, not sport)
See http://www.olympic.org/sports for a list of the current Olympic
sports. I didn't worry about the exact words entrants used to
name them, but the question did require them to "name a sport",
not an event.
Unless I missed something, there are just four correct answers
among current sports. Volleyball was the most popular answer;
curling and the separate sport of beach volleyball were named;
but nobody tried the bobsleigh (bobsled).
Three past Olympic sports supplied additional correct answers;
another one, which was not given, was baseball (last played 2008).
I have not checked whether there are others. Finnish baseball or
pesäpallo, however, was not one; that was only ever a demonstration
sport.
The entrant who named rugby argued that "the end of the competition
is not normally determined by a clock" because, as in football,
play does not immediately end with the clock runs out. However --
I'll express this in football terminology since I don't know rugby
-- the clock still determines which play is the last play, and that
means it determines the end of the competition. So, wrong answer.
| 5. In general terms (see rule 2.2), give a meaning of "gondola"
| that refers or relates to a vehicle.
9 Basket, sling, or enclosure under a balloon [= Basket under
a hot-air balloon; Airship passenger compartment;
Airship crew car; Basket under a balloon; Basket under
a gas-filled balloon]
6 Open-topped railroad freight car
4 Long narrow flat-bottomed rowboat [= Traditional flat-bottomed
Venetian rowboat; Venetian rowboat]
3 Aerial cableway car [= Ski-lift cabin]
1 Boat carrier in a rotating boat lift
WRONG:
1 Island counter (not related to a vehicle)
1 Roller-coaster car (no such meaning)
Some of the answers were fairly long and detailed here, which risks
running afoul of the "in general terms" requirement, but I decided
in all cases that people were just making it clear what the meaning
they were giving was, not trying to be unduly specific.
In the case of a basic passenger balloon, the passengers ride in
a "gondola" in the form of an open basked. With an airship --
that is, a blimp or dirigible -- or some long-distance balloons,
they ride in an enclosed cabin. I was willing to treat these as
distinct meanings of the word, but one entrant gave the answer
"Basket, sling, or enclosure under a balloon" (actually, the full
wording was "A basket, enclosure, or instrument sling suspended from
and carried aloft by a balloon"), and I felt that the other two
answers were more specific cases of this. And since this was an
"in general terms" question, all of these answers were therefore
combined and scored as the same, making this the most popular answer.
Various different wordings were given for the railway car and the
Venetian-style boat, but it seemed to me that all of these entrants
were describing the same two types of vehicle. Some sources actually
distinguish a second type of boat called a gondola, a type of barge,
but there were no answers that clearly referred to this.
The other correct answer I had in mind when I wrote the question is
the one about an aerial cableway one. The similarly enclosed and
suspended cabins on some amusement-park rides, such as Ferris wheels,
may likewise be called gondolas, but the one entrant who went in
that direction referred to roller coasters, whose cars are different.
One entrant scored a 1 by thinking of rotating boat lifts such
as the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, whose compartments are called
gondolas according to the Wheel's own web site.
| 6. Name a country now existing (see rule 4.1.1) whose current flag
| shows at least one star symbol with more than 5 points.
4 Australia (5 × 7 points)
4 Burundi (3 × 6 points)
4 Nepal (12 points)
2 Jordan (7 points)
2 Marshall Islands (24 points)
1 Azerbaijan (8 points)
1 Croatia (2 × 6 points)
1 Israel (6 points)
1 Malaysia (14 points)
1 Nauru (12 points)
WRONG:
2 Uruguay (16-pointed symbol not a star symbol)
1 Antigua and Barbuda (9-pointed symbol not a star symbol)
1 Pakistan (5 points)
I thought people might avoid Australia because its flag came up
recently in rec.games.trivia, but they didn't.
As to the wrong answers, I take it as self-evident that a "star
symbol" is symmetrical and has a plain center with no markings
other than perhaps the continuations of the boundary lines.
I'm not aware of any correct answers that weren't given, but I only
made a cursory search for them after all the entries were in.
| 7. Name one of the New England states.
6 Maine
5 Connecticut
5 New Hampshire
5 Vermont
2 Massachusetts
1 Rhode Island
WRONG:
1 New South Wales
Only 6 possible answers here, and all were given... but with a strong
tendency to avoid Massachusetts, the most populous, and Rhode Island,
the smallest in area.
There is another New England *in* the state of New South Wales, but
that doesn't make it "one of the New England states". You wouldn't
say that Florida is "one of the Everglades states".
| 8. Bodies of water often have names that include a word indicating
| what type of body they are, such as "North Sea", "Lake Eyre",
| or "Snake River". Name a word that is used in this way in
| English, in one or more areas where most of the population
| primarily speaks English, to mean a river or something that
| would be called a river if it was larger.
5 Creek (Mimico Creek, ON, Canada)
3 Brook (Burbage Brook, England, UK)
2 Rill (Monan's Rill, CA, USA)
2 River (Canoe River, MA, USA)
>>> 1 [WRONG] Canoe River
2 Run (Saw Mill Run, PA, USA)
1 Afon (Afon Lwyd, Wales, UK)
1 Arm (North Arm, BC, Canada)
1 Beck (Briggle Beck, England, UK)
1 Burn (Kindallachan Burn, Scotland, UK)
1 Falls (Gunpowder Falls, MD, USA)
1 Fork (Clark Fork, ID, USA)
1 Ghyll (Stock Ghyll, England, UK)
1 Kill (Batten Kill, NY, USA)
1 Rio (Rio Grande, CO, USA)
1 Water (Water of Leith, Scotland, UK)
WRONG:
1 Canoe River (2 words)
1 Channel (no such usage)
For each correct answer I have given one example of its use.
The native-English words "creek" and "brook" were the most popular
answers, while the tricky correct answer "river" only given once in
a correct answer (but under rule 2.2, I scored the incorrect answer
"Canoe River" against it).
I was surprised at the answer "falls", as I had worded the question
so that words meaning "waterfall" would be incorrect answers, but
it turns out to be used for some rivers in Maryland, hence correct
after all.
| 9. Name a title of a movie or any sort of TV production, that
| refers explicitly or implicitly to *exactly two* specific
| characters in the work, such as "Jake and the Fatman" or "Caesar
| and Cleopatra", but where *exactly one* of the two characters
| is fictional.
4 "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" (1966) (see below)
(Jesse James)
3 "The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle"
(2005 TV-movie) (Arthur Conan Doyle)
2 "Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl" (1954) (William Kidd)
1 "Billy the Kid vs. Dracula" (1966) (William Bonney)
1 "George and the President" (1976 episode of "The Jeffersons")
(Thomas Jefferson)
1 "Kate & Leopold" (2001) (Leopold, Duke of Albany) (see below)
1 "Me and Orson Welles" (2008) (Orson Welles)
1 "Messalina vs. the Son of Hercules" (1964) (Messalina, wife
of Emperor Claudius) (see below)
1 "Napoleon und die kleine Wäscherin" (1920) (Napoleon)
1 "Ola & Julia" (1967) (Ola Håkansson)
1 "Peter's Got Woods" (2005 episode of "Family Guy") (James Woods)
1 "Prinz und Bettelknabe" (1915, 1920, 1937) (the future King
Edward VI)
1 "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1941) (Daniel Webster)
1 "The Lady and the Bandit" (1951) (Dick Turpin)
1 "The Prince and the Pauper" (many versions 1937-2000) (the
future King Edward VI)
1 "Winchell-Mahoney Time" (1965-68) (Paul Winchell)
1 "Winnie the Pooh: Imagine That, Christopher Robin" (1999
direct-to-video short movie) (Christopher Robin) (see
below)
WRONG:
1 "James Dean and Me" (1995 TV-movie) (no fictional character)
1 "Mork and Mindy" (1978-82) (both fictional characters)
Along with each I have shown the real person that it refers to.
There were lots of choices, mostly about stories where the fictional
person meets a famous real person, but for some reason "Jesse
James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" was the most popular of these.
Some titles described a different relationship, like Sherlock Holmes
and Arthur Conan Doyle, as in the next most popular title.
In two cases the title mentions three people but only two of them
are characters in the work: as far as I could tell, Frankenstein
does not appear in "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" and
Hercules does not appear in "Messalina vs. the Son of Hercules",
so these are correct answers.
There are three cases where the real-or-fictional status of a
character is questionable; I decided to allow them all. First,
Leopold, the Duke of Albany in "Kate & Leopold", was named Leopold
Alexis Elijah Walker Gareth Thomas Mountbatten, while the real-life
duke was Prince Leopold George Duncan Albert Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
I decided that the change of surname was basically a "translation"
from one old royal family name into another for the convenience of a
modern audience that might well not know the old one, and the other
changes amounted to the same degree of fictionalization as having
him involved with the development of the elevator and visiting the
21st century; so he still counted as real.
Second, in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories it is unclear whether
"Christopher Robin" is a double given names or what; he is not
identified as the author's son Christopher Robin Milne. But, again,
it seems appropriate to consider him a fictionalization of the real
Milne, even though as an adult the latter was unhappy about being
identified with the character. On another point, a direct-to-video
movie shorter than feature length would not have been an acceptable
answer in many of my Rare Entries contests, but this one allowed
"any sort of TV production" and therefore it was.
Third, I could find no information about "Ola & Julia" to confirm
that Ola Håkansson was playing himself rather than a fictional
musician with the same first name, not even on Swedish web sites.
However, I was able to confirm that Ola's band in the movie had
the same name as his band in real life, so I decided that this,
too, must be a correct answer.
Finally, "Prinz und Bettelknabe" is simply the German translation of
the title of "The Prince and the Pauper", and at least one version
of the movie was known by both titles in different countries.
They still count as distinct answers because the question asked
entrants to "Name a title", not "Name a movie". I write it that
way because I didn't want people to submit different movies with
the same title, but I didn't think about the case where there were
different titles (each correct) for the same movie.
Thank you all for playing.
--
Mark Brader | lying
Toronto | abort reply.
m...@vex.net | -- random words at end of a spam message
| 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...
There were only 25 entrants this time, but one of them is a
first-time winner. Hearty congratulations to NATE PAYMER! And he
won despite having a wrong answer, too. Impressive. In second
place was Lejonel Norling, and just behind him in third, John Gerson.
These are their slates of answers (some abbreviated). As always, you
should be reading this in a monospaced font for proper tabular alignment.
NATE PAYMER LEJONEL NORLING JOHN GERSON
[0] (wrong answer) Eyewall Willywilly
[1] Salmon Khaki Perse
[2] R.M. La Follette Lucas Cranach John Wood
[3] "Duel" "Greed" "Red or Black?"
[4] Volleyball Curling Curling
[5] Boat lift bin Balloon basket (wrong answer)
[6] Marshall Is. Croatia Nepal
[7] Rhode I. Maine Massachusetts
[8] Fork Water Run
[9] "Peter's Got Woods" "Ola & Julia" "Messalina&Son/Hercules"
| 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.)
Andrew Bull, and the entrant identified as "Calvin" (listed in random
order), you are all CHASTISED! Next time (if there is one) please
COMPLY, or you will be CHASTISED AGAIN!
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.
"More specific" scoring did not arise on this contest. For the penalty
score formula, see the questions posting.
Here is the complete table of scores.
RANK SCORE ENTRANT Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9
1. 288 Nate Paymer WR 1 1 2 6 1 2 1 1 1
2. 1080 Lejonel Norling 1 1 1 5 4 9 1 6 1 1
3. 1152 John Gerson 1 1 1 1 4 WR 4 2 2 1
4. 2160 Stephen Perry 3 1 1 1 3 6 1 5 2 4
5. 5184 James Dow Allen 3 1 1 4 3 6 1 6 2 2
6. 7776 Rob Parker 6 4 1 2 3 9 1 2 3 1
7. 8640 Don Del Grande 2 1 2 1 6 3 4 6 5 1
8. 15360 Lieven Marchand 1 2 1 1 4 4 4 6 5 4
9. 19200 Alan Curry 3 2 1 2 4 4 1 5 5 4
10. 25920 Peter Smyth 6 1 1 1 WR WR 4 5 1 1
11. 32400 Dave Filpus 3 2 2 5 3 6 2 5 1 3
12. 57600 Erland Sommarskog 2 3 2 WR 6 4 4 5 1 1
13. 92160 Nick Selwyn WR 1 4 4 2 3 2 5 1 WR
14. 103680 Joshua Kreitzer WR 3 1 4 6 6 4 5 1 1
15. 144000 Dan Unger 3 1 2 5 WR 4 2 5 WR 1
16. 155520 Andrew Bull 6 4 1 3 6 9 4 5 2 1
17. 207360 Dan Tilque WR 1 2 2 WR 9 WR 5 1 1
Bruce Bowler 3 1 1 1 WR 9 WR 6 5 WR
Chris F.A. Johnson 6 4 2 WR 1 6 WR 5 2 3
Haran Pilpel WR 1 4 4 WR 6 4 5 3 1
Mike Jones WR 3 4 3 WR 9 4 5 1 1
Nick Atty 1 4 4 3 WR 3 WR 6 3 4
Duke Lefty 6 WR WR 5 3 9 4 5 1 1
Calvin 6 2 2 WR 2 9 4 5 WR 3
Peter Chapman WR WR 2 5 WR 9 4 WR 5 2
Scores of 500,000 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).
| 0. Give a single word used in English, either in meteorological or
| informal use, to mean a storm (or a part of it) characterized
| by a more or less circular pattern of intense winds.
3 Twister
3 Waterspout (see below)
2 Typhoon
1 Eyewall
1 Hurricane
1 Tornado
1 Willywilly
WRONG:
3 Mesocyclone (need not be intense)
2 Whirlwind (need not be intense)
1 Anticyclone (not a storm)
1 Cockeyed Bob (2 words, and need not be intense and circular)
In current official terminology in North America, the two
most important types of storm that provide correct answers are
the hurricane and the tornado. Neither word was given much.
"Cyclone" is a term for hurricanes in part of the world and also an
old-fashioned word for tornadoes in the US -- both senses distinct
from its technical meaning in meteorology, where it's simply a
low-pressure area -- and it was the most popular answer.
"Twister" is another word for a tornado, while "typhoon" and
"willywilly" are other words for a hurricane (the latter somewhat
old-fashioned, I believe).
A waterspout is generally described as a tornado over water, but
some sources indicate that their winds may be substantially less
intense than those of ordinary tornadoes. Apparently they are
often of a force comparable to the milder sort of tornado, though,
so I decided I should accept this answer. I did not, however, accept
"whirlwind", which can include a quite minor phenomenon; and I would
have rejected "cockeyed Bob", which was defined somewhat differently
on different sites I looked at but doesn't seem to necessarily meet
the description, even if it hadn't had to be a single word.
As to the other wrong answer, an anticyclone is a high-pressure area,
associated with good weather. And a mesocyclone is a rotating
wind pattern that forms in some thunderstorms and *may* develop
into a tornado; I looked at many sources and found nothing to say
that the mesocyclone itself must involve intense winds.
Finally, there is one more correct answer. I said "or a part of it"
because I wanted the tornado to be a correct answer, but it's really
just a particularly intense part within a larger storm. And this
wording meant that the "eyewall", the part of a hurricane where the
winds are most intense, was also a correct answer; and it scored a 1.
| 1. The word "color" has two related meanings. A spectral color
| is one that can be produced by a light shining with a single
| wavelength as seen in dark surroundings, such as red or green.
| In terms of spectral colors, the yellow seen on a typical
| TV or computer display is not a single color but a mixture
| of two colors, red and green. But in everyday usage "color"
| is a broader word and that yellow would be considered a color.
| (Of course, yellow can also be a spectral color.)
|
| Using a single word in English, name a *non-spectral color* --
| that is, name something we call a color but which cannot be
| produced by a light shining with a single wavelength as seen
| in dark surroundings.
3 Gray [= Grey]
2 Pink
2 Silver
1 Beige
1 Black
1 Khaki
1 Maroon
1 Ochre
1 Olive
1 Peach
1 Perse
1 Plum
1 Rose
1 Salmon
1 White
WRONG:
1 Bright pink (2 words)
1 Phlox (not defined as a color in dictionaries)
Besides white, gray, and black, the other correct answers generally
included anything that could be described as a light or dark shade of
another color: pink is light red and therefore requires a mixture of
wavelengths, while brown is dark red and therefore can only be seen
against a lighter contrasting color. For the answers given that were
not basic colors, like khaki and salmon, I checked dictionaries to
confirm that they were defined as colors and described in a manner
that meant they could not be spectral colors.
All the correct answers among basic colors were given, with the
more medium colors of brown and gray most popular while black was
named only once. But I imagine there are quite a few more of the
more obscure colors like perse that were not named.
| 2. Name a famous father and son who (1) are no longer living,
| (2) were not monarchs, and (3) are typically known today by the
| *same name* except for an appended distinguishing term *for each
| of them*, such as "senior" for one and "junior" for the other.
|
| Fame is to be determined by Google counts. A simple Google
| search for each name *as a phrase, including the distinguishing
| term*, must return at least "about" 32,767 hits. In your answer
| you must provide the two names in the exact way that you searched
| for them, but different ways of referring to the same two people
| will be taken as equivalent answers.
1759-1806)
2 Alexandre Dumas père/fils (French writers, 1802-70, 1824-95)
2 Johann Strauss I/II (Austrian composers, 1804-49, 1825-99)
2 John D. Rockefeller Jr./III (American
businessmen-philanthropists, 1874-1960, 1906-78)
2 Martin Luther King Sr./Jr. (American clergymen-activists,
1899-1984, 1929-68)
1 Hans Holbein the Elder/Younger (German artists, c.1460-1524,
c.1497-1543)
1 James McKay Sr./Jr. (Scottish-American politicians, 1808-76,
1842-1925)
1 Jason Robards Sr./Jr. (American actors, 1892-1963, 1922-2000)
1 John Wood the Elder/Younger (English architects, 1704-54,
1728-82)
1 Lucas Cranach d. Ä./J. (German artists, c.1472-1553, 1515-86)
1 Nawab of Pataudi Sr./Jr. (Indian cricket players, 1910-52,
1941-2011)
1 Pieter Brueghel the Elder/Younger (Flemish painters, c.1525-69,
c.1565-1636)
1 Pliny the Elder/Younger (Roman naturalist, 23-79; Roman lawyer,
61-c.112) (see below)
1 Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr./Jr. (American politician, 1860-1925;
American explorer, 1888-1957)
1 Robert M. La Follette Sr./Jr. (American politicians, 1855-1925,
1895-1953)
1 Sammy Davis Sr./Jr. (American entertainers, 1900-88, 1925-90)
1 Tom Morris Sr./Jr. (Scottish golfers, 1821-1908, 1851-75)
WRONG:
1 Efrem Zimbalist Sr./Jr. (Russian-American musician,
c.1890-1985; American actor, 1918-)
Answers here were well divided, except for a collision on the pair
who were British prime ministers.
Requirement 2 was in the question, of course, because examples
of this type are so common -- the six kings named George in the
British monarchy would provide three answers all by themselves
(George I/II, III/IV, and V/VI). One correct answer, the Nawabs
of Pataudi, did refer to a hereditary title but not to a monarchy.
Requirement 1 was included simply to cut down on the number of
correct answers; one entrant fell afoul of it, naming an 94-year-old
retired actor.
The Rockefeller family has so far produced six generations of males
with the same name -- John D. Rockefeller I/Jr./III/IV/V/VI -- all
famous except for the 5-year-old VI, and therefore providing four
different possible correct answers. However, the two entrants who
decided to mine this rich field collided on the same answer, Jr./III.
| 3. Name a TV game show, reality show, or similar competition
| (televised lottery drawings do not qualify) on which at least
| one individual has won a money prize or prizes totaling at
| least $1,000,000 US. This refers to the announced value of the
| winnings, even if it was actually the total value of an annuity,
| or if taxes were withheld, etc.
|
| Any different versions of the same show, whether existing in
| different countries or as spinoffs or successors or whatever,
| count as the same answer.
4 "Twenty One" (David Legler, $1,765,000)
3 "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (Kevin Olmstead, $2,180,000)
2 "Duel" (Ashlee Register, $1,795,000)
2 "Survivor: Pearl Islands" (Sandra Diaz-Twine, $1,000,000)
1 "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" (George Smoot, $1,000,000)
1 "Jeopardy!" (Brad Rutter, $3,470,102)
1 "Pepsi Play for a Billion" (Richard Bay, $1,000,000) (see below)
1 "Pillsbury Bake-Off" (Kurt Wait, $1,000,000)
1 "Poker Face" (Dominic Jackson, £1,000,000)
1 "Red or Black?" (Kevin Cartwright, £1,000,000) (see below)
WRONG:
1 "Big Brother" (no winners of enough money)
1 "The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime" (no individual
contestants)
1 (no answer)
All winnings that provided correct answers were either in US
dollars or UK pounds and are shown above accordingly using $
or £. The winners listed are not necessarily the highest-winning
contestants from each show, just examples to show that the answers
are correct. In some cases I had to rely on Wikipedia for details.
It seems somehow appropriate that the show that drew the biggest
collision of entrants was "Greed".
It was also interesting, considering the many different titles
used by different versions of "Survivor", that the two entrants who
named that show both picked the same one. This made no difference
to the scoring, of course, since the question specified that any
of them would have counted as the same answer.
"Pepsi Play for a Billion" and "Red or Black?" each had elements
resembling a lottery draw, but they had game elements as well
(such as deciding whether to accept a guaranteed amount in order
to withdraw from the competition), so I decided they qualified as
correct answers.
On the other hand, "The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime" was played
by couples, not individuals. Ony one member of each couple played
at a time, but they both played during the game and shared the
winnings. This refers to the American show of that title, which
is what the entrant had in mind; there was also an Australian game
show with the same or a similar title, but I could find very little
about it and as far as I could tell the top prize was never won
(and therefore it's moot whether the Australian or US dollar was
worth more at the time). So, wrong answer.
| 4. Name a past or present Olympic sport meeting the following
| criteria. (1) It is always played by teams rather than
| individuals. (2) The outcome is based on some objective
| determination, as opposed to scores assigned by judges as is
| done in gymnastics or diving. (This refers to the intent;
| human referees are allowed to be involved.) And (3) the end
| of the competition is *not* normally determined by a clock.
>>> 1 [WRONG] Men's volleyball
4 Curling
3 Beach volleyball
>>> 1 [WRONG] Women's beach volleyball
3 Tug-of-war (last played 1920)
2 Cricket (last played 1900)
1 Softball (last played 2008)
WRONG:
1 4×400 m relay (event, not sport)
1 Finnish baseball (not an Olympic sport)
1 Men's volleyball (event, not sport)
1 Rugby (last played 1924) (timed game)
1 Swimming medley relay (event, not sport)
1 Synchronized diving (event, not sport, and scores assigned
by judges)
1 Water polo (timed game)
1 Women's beach volleyball (event, not sport)
See http://www.olympic.org/sports for a list of the current Olympic
sports. I didn't worry about the exact words entrants used to
name them, but the question did require them to "name a sport",
not an event.
Unless I missed something, there are just four correct answers
among current sports. Volleyball was the most popular answer;
curling and the separate sport of beach volleyball were named;
but nobody tried the bobsleigh (bobsled).
Three past Olympic sports supplied additional correct answers;
another one, which was not given, was baseball (last played 2008).
I have not checked whether there are others. Finnish baseball or
pesäpallo, however, was not one; that was only ever a demonstration
sport.
The entrant who named rugby argued that "the end of the competition
is not normally determined by a clock" because, as in football,
play does not immediately end with the clock runs out. However --
I'll express this in football terminology since I don't know rugby
-- the clock still determines which play is the last play, and that
means it determines the end of the competition. So, wrong answer.
| 5. In general terms (see rule 2.2), give a meaning of "gondola"
| that refers or relates to a vehicle.
a hot-air balloon; Airship passenger compartment;
Airship crew car; Basket under a balloon; Basket under
a gas-filled balloon]
6 Open-topped railroad freight car
4 Long narrow flat-bottomed rowboat [= Traditional flat-bottomed
Venetian rowboat; Venetian rowboat]
3 Aerial cableway car [= Ski-lift cabin]
1 Boat carrier in a rotating boat lift
WRONG:
1 Island counter (not related to a vehicle)
1 Roller-coaster car (no such meaning)
Some of the answers were fairly long and detailed here, which risks
running afoul of the "in general terms" requirement, but I decided
in all cases that people were just making it clear what the meaning
they were giving was, not trying to be unduly specific.
In the case of a basic passenger balloon, the passengers ride in
a "gondola" in the form of an open basked. With an airship --
that is, a blimp or dirigible -- or some long-distance balloons,
they ride in an enclosed cabin. I was willing to treat these as
distinct meanings of the word, but one entrant gave the answer
"Basket, sling, or enclosure under a balloon" (actually, the full
wording was "A basket, enclosure, or instrument sling suspended from
and carried aloft by a balloon"), and I felt that the other two
answers were more specific cases of this. And since this was an
"in general terms" question, all of these answers were therefore
combined and scored as the same, making this the most popular answer.
Various different wordings were given for the railway car and the
Venetian-style boat, but it seemed to me that all of these entrants
were describing the same two types of vehicle. Some sources actually
distinguish a second type of boat called a gondola, a type of barge,
but there were no answers that clearly referred to this.
The other correct answer I had in mind when I wrote the question is
the one about an aerial cableway one. The similarly enclosed and
suspended cabins on some amusement-park rides, such as Ferris wheels,
may likewise be called gondolas, but the one entrant who went in
that direction referred to roller coasters, whose cars are different.
One entrant scored a 1 by thinking of rotating boat lifts such
as the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, whose compartments are called
gondolas according to the Wheel's own web site.
| 6. Name a country now existing (see rule 4.1.1) whose current flag
| shows at least one star symbol with more than 5 points.
4 Burundi (3 × 6 points)
4 Nepal (12 points)
2 Jordan (7 points)
2 Marshall Islands (24 points)
1 Azerbaijan (8 points)
1 Croatia (2 × 6 points)
1 Israel (6 points)
1 Malaysia (14 points)
1 Nauru (12 points)
WRONG:
2 Uruguay (16-pointed symbol not a star symbol)
1 Antigua and Barbuda (9-pointed symbol not a star symbol)
1 Pakistan (5 points)
I thought people might avoid Australia because its flag came up
recently in rec.games.trivia, but they didn't.
As to the wrong answers, I take it as self-evident that a "star
symbol" is symmetrical and has a plain center with no markings
other than perhaps the continuations of the boundary lines.
I'm not aware of any correct answers that weren't given, but I only
made a cursory search for them after all the entries were in.
| 7. Name one of the New England states.
5 Connecticut
5 New Hampshire
5 Vermont
2 Massachusetts
1 Rhode Island
WRONG:
1 New South Wales
Only 6 possible answers here, and all were given... but with a strong
tendency to avoid Massachusetts, the most populous, and Rhode Island,
the smallest in area.
There is another New England *in* the state of New South Wales, but
that doesn't make it "one of the New England states". You wouldn't
say that Florida is "one of the Everglades states".
| 8. Bodies of water often have names that include a word indicating
| what type of body they are, such as "North Sea", "Lake Eyre",
| or "Snake River". Name a word that is used in this way in
| English, in one or more areas where most of the population
| primarily speaks English, to mean a river or something that
| would be called a river if it was larger.
3 Brook (Burbage Brook, England, UK)
2 Rill (Monan's Rill, CA, USA)
2 River (Canoe River, MA, USA)
>>> 1 [WRONG] Canoe River
2 Run (Saw Mill Run, PA, USA)
1 Afon (Afon Lwyd, Wales, UK)
1 Arm (North Arm, BC, Canada)
1 Beck (Briggle Beck, England, UK)
1 Burn (Kindallachan Burn, Scotland, UK)
1 Falls (Gunpowder Falls, MD, USA)
1 Fork (Clark Fork, ID, USA)
1 Ghyll (Stock Ghyll, England, UK)
1 Kill (Batten Kill, NY, USA)
1 Rio (Rio Grande, CO, USA)
1 Water (Water of Leith, Scotland, UK)
WRONG:
1 Canoe River (2 words)
1 Channel (no such usage)
For each correct answer I have given one example of its use.
The native-English words "creek" and "brook" were the most popular
answers, while the tricky correct answer "river" only given once in
a correct answer (but under rule 2.2, I scored the incorrect answer
"Canoe River" against it).
I was surprised at the answer "falls", as I had worded the question
so that words meaning "waterfall" would be incorrect answers, but
it turns out to be used for some rivers in Maryland, hence correct
after all.
| 9. Name a title of a movie or any sort of TV production, that
| refers explicitly or implicitly to *exactly two* specific
| characters in the work, such as "Jake and the Fatman" or "Caesar
| and Cleopatra", but where *exactly one* of the two characters
| is fictional.
(Jesse James)
3 "The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle"
(2005 TV-movie) (Arthur Conan Doyle)
2 "Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl" (1954) (William Kidd)
1 "Billy the Kid vs. Dracula" (1966) (William Bonney)
1 "George and the President" (1976 episode of "The Jeffersons")
(Thomas Jefferson)
1 "Kate & Leopold" (2001) (Leopold, Duke of Albany) (see below)
1 "Me and Orson Welles" (2008) (Orson Welles)
1 "Messalina vs. the Son of Hercules" (1964) (Messalina, wife
of Emperor Claudius) (see below)
1 "Napoleon und die kleine Wäscherin" (1920) (Napoleon)
1 "Ola & Julia" (1967) (Ola Håkansson)
1 "Peter's Got Woods" (2005 episode of "Family Guy") (James Woods)
1 "Prinz und Bettelknabe" (1915, 1920, 1937) (the future King
Edward VI)
1 "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1941) (Daniel Webster)
1 "The Lady and the Bandit" (1951) (Dick Turpin)
1 "The Prince and the Pauper" (many versions 1937-2000) (the
future King Edward VI)
1 "Winchell-Mahoney Time" (1965-68) (Paul Winchell)
1 "Winnie the Pooh: Imagine That, Christopher Robin" (1999
direct-to-video short movie) (Christopher Robin) (see
below)
WRONG:
1 "James Dean and Me" (1995 TV-movie) (no fictional character)
1 "Mork and Mindy" (1978-82) (both fictional characters)
Along with each I have shown the real person that it refers to.
There were lots of choices, mostly about stories where the fictional
person meets a famous real person, but for some reason "Jesse
James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" was the most popular of these.
Some titles described a different relationship, like Sherlock Holmes
and Arthur Conan Doyle, as in the next most popular title.
In two cases the title mentions three people but only two of them
are characters in the work: as far as I could tell, Frankenstein
does not appear in "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" and
Hercules does not appear in "Messalina vs. the Son of Hercules",
so these are correct answers.
There are three cases where the real-or-fictional status of a
character is questionable; I decided to allow them all. First,
Leopold, the Duke of Albany in "Kate & Leopold", was named Leopold
Alexis Elijah Walker Gareth Thomas Mountbatten, while the real-life
duke was Prince Leopold George Duncan Albert Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
I decided that the change of surname was basically a "translation"
from one old royal family name into another for the convenience of a
modern audience that might well not know the old one, and the other
changes amounted to the same degree of fictionalization as having
him involved with the development of the elevator and visiting the
21st century; so he still counted as real.
Second, in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories it is unclear whether
"Christopher Robin" is a double given names or what; he is not
identified as the author's son Christopher Robin Milne. But, again,
it seems appropriate to consider him a fictionalization of the real
Milne, even though as an adult the latter was unhappy about being
identified with the character. On another point, a direct-to-video
movie shorter than feature length would not have been an acceptable
answer in many of my Rare Entries contests, but this one allowed
"any sort of TV production" and therefore it was.
Third, I could find no information about "Ola & Julia" to confirm
that Ola Håkansson was playing himself rather than a fictional
musician with the same first name, not even on Swedish web sites.
However, I was able to confirm that Ola's band in the movie had
the same name as his band in real life, so I decided that this,
too, must be a correct answer.
Finally, "Prinz und Bettelknabe" is simply the German translation of
the title of "The Prince and the Pauper", and at least one version
of the movie was known by both titles in different countries.
They still count as distinct answers because the question asked
entrants to "Name a title", not "Name a movie". I write it that
way because I didn't want people to submit different movies with
the same title, but I didn't think about the case where there were
different titles (each correct) for the same movie.
Thank you all for playing.
--
Mark Brader | lying
Toronto | abort reply.
m...@vex.net | -- random words at end of a spam message
Bruce Bowler
Aug 26, 2013, 8:21:29 AM8/26/13
to
(I fully expect to lose on both of these challenges, but I know I will if
I don't at least try)
them, don't specify that Olympic sports are only ones in which medals are
awarded.
> | 6. Name a country now existing (see rule 4.1.1) whose current flag |
> shows at least one star symbol with more than 5 points.
>
> 4 Australia (5 × 7 points)
> 4 Burundi (3 × 6 points)
> 4 Nepal (12 points)
> 2 Jordan (7 points)
> 2 Marshall Islands (24 points)
> 1 Azerbaijan (8 points)
> 1 Croatia (2 × 6 points)
> 1 Israel (6 points)
> 1 Malaysia (14 points)
> 1 Nauru (12 points)
> WRONG:
> 2 Uruguay (16-pointed symbol not a star symbol)
> 1 Antigua and Barbuda (9-pointed symbol not a star symbol)
> 1 Pakistan (5 points)
>
'Sun of May'. The sun is, by all definitions a star. What is on the
Uruguan flag is a symbol representing a star.
I don't at least try)
> Finnish baseball or
> pesäpallo, however, was not one; that was only ever a demonstration
> sport.
As the entrant who used Finnish Baseball, the quiz rules, unless I missed
> pesäpallo, however, was not one; that was only ever a demonstration
> sport.
them, don't specify that Olympic sports are only ones in which medals are
awarded.
> | 6. Name a country now existing (see rule 4.1.1) whose current flag |
> shows at least one star symbol with more than 5 points.
>
> 4 Australia (5 × 7 points)
> 4 Burundi (3 × 6 points)
> 4 Nepal (12 points)
> 2 Jordan (7 points)
> 2 Marshall Islands (24 points)
> 1 Azerbaijan (8 points)
> 1 Croatia (2 × 6 points)
> 1 Israel (6 points)
> 1 Malaysia (14 points)
> 1 Nauru (12 points)
> WRONG:
> 2 Uruguay (16-pointed symbol not a star symbol)
> 1 Antigua and Barbuda (9-pointed symbol not a star symbol)
> 1 Pakistan (5 points)
>
> As to the wrong answers, I take it as self-evident that a "star symbol"
> is symmetrical and has a plain center with no markings other than
> perhaps the continuations of the boundary lines.
Clearly not 'self-evident'. The 'name' of the star in the Uruguan flag is
> is symmetrical and has a plain center with no markings other than
> perhaps the continuations of the boundary lines.
'Sun of May'. The sun is, by all definitions a star. What is on the
Uruguan flag is a symbol representing a star.
Dan Tilque
Aug 26, 2013, 9:17:56 AM8/26/13
to
Mark Brader wrote:
>
>
> | 2. Name a famous father and son who (1) are no longer living,
> | (2) were not monarchs, and (3) are typically known today by the
> | *same name* except for an appended distinguishing term *for each
> | of them*, such as "senior" for one and "junior" for the other.
> |
> | Fame is to be determined by Google counts. A simple Google
> | search for each name *as a phrase, including the distinguishing
> | term*, must return at least "about" 32,767 hits. In your answer
> | you must provide the two names in the exact way that you searched
> | for them, but different ways of referring to the same two people
> | will be taken as equivalent answers.
>
>
>
>
> | 2. Name a famous father and son who (1) are no longer living,
> | (2) were not monarchs, and (3) are typically known today by the
> | *same name* except for an appended distinguishing term *for each
> | of them*, such as "senior" for one and "junior" for the other.
> |
> | Fame is to be determined by Google counts. A simple Google
> | search for each name *as a phrase, including the distinguishing
> | term*, must return at least "about" 32,767 hits. In your answer
> | you must provide the two names in the exact way that you searched
> | for them, but different ways of referring to the same two people
> | will be taken as equivalent answers.
>
>
> The Rockefeller family has so far produced six generations of males
> with the same name -- John D. Rockefeller I/Jr./III/IV/V/VI -- all
> famous except for the 5-year-old VI, and therefore providing four
> different possible correct answers. However, the two entrants who
> decided to mine this rich field collided on the same answer, Jr./III.
There are only two valid answers from that family: Sr/Jr and Jr/III. And
> with the same name -- John D. Rockefeller I/Jr./III/IV/V/VI -- all
> famous except for the 5-year-old VI, and therefore providing four
> different possible correct answers. However, the two entrants who
> decided to mine this rich field collided on the same answer, Jr./III.
since Sr is frequently called just John D Rockefeller without
qualification, I couldn't be certain you wouldn't rule the first one wrong.
IV/V/VI are all still living and so are disqualified. But even if that
didn't disqualify them, neither IV nor V uses the name John. IV goes by
Jay and V goes by Jamie.
--
Dan Tilque
Who needs TV when you can have the whole Internet insulting your
intelligence? -- Ziggy
Ted Schuerzinger
Aug 26, 2013, 9:56:41 AM8/26/13
to
On Mon, 26 Aug 2013 03:43:43 -0500, Mark Brader wrote:
> There were only 25 entrants this time, but one of them is a
> first-time winner. Hearty congratulations to NATE PAYMER! And he
> won despite having a wrong answer, too. Impressive. In second
> place was Lejonel Norling, and just behind him in third, John Gerson.
Did you not get my entry? I sent it Saturday evening and never received
> first-time winner. Hearty congratulations to NATE PAYMER! And he
> won despite having a wrong answer, too. Impressive. In second
> place was Lejonel Norling, and just behind him in third, John Gerson.
a confirmation email.
--
Ted S.
fedya at hughes dot net
Now blogging at http://justacineast.blogspot.com
James Dow Allen
Aug 26, 2013, 1:51:55 PM8/26/13
to
I'm pleased with my 5th place showing. I wonder if my comrade-in-arms with Monan's Rill
made the same mistake I made: misreading the question but lucking out since there
happened to be a proper-named Rill.
As usual I did poorly on the "pick a number from 1 to 6" item, in this case New England
state. I don't know whether to blame my autistically bad social skills -- not knowing what
state others would pick, or to claim possible normalcy (at last!) in old age -- making the
same pick as others. There is a third possibility: You all are weirdos like me, so of course
we blunder in unison :-)
James Dow Allen
made the same mistake I made: misreading the question but lucking out since there
happened to be a proper-named Rill.
As usual I did poorly on the "pick a number from 1 to 6" item, in this case New England
state. I don't know whether to blame my autistically bad social skills -- not knowing what
state others would pick, or to claim possible normalcy (at last!) in old age -- making the
same pick as others. There is a third possibility: You all are weirdos like me, so of course
we blunder in unison :-)
James Dow Allen
Mark Brader
Aug 26, 2013, 2:01:21 PM8/26/13
to
Mark Brader:
>>| 4. Name a past or present Olympic sport meeting the following
>>| criteria...
>>
>> Finnish baseball or pesäpallo, however, was not one; that was only
>> ever a demonstration sport.
Bruce Bowler:
>> Finnish baseball or pesäpallo, however, was not one; that was only
>> ever a demonstration sport.
> As the entrant who used Finnish Baseball, the quiz rules, unless I missed
> them, don't specify that Olympic sports are only ones in which medals are
> awarded.
I didn't specify that demonstration sports were Olympic sports either.
> them, don't specify that Olympic sports are only ones in which medals are
> awarded.
Protest denied.
>>| 6. Name a country now existing (see rule 4.1.1) whose current flag
>>| shows at least one star symbol with more than 5 points.
>> As to the wrong answers, I take it as self-evident that a "star symbol"
>> is symmetrical and has a plain center with no markings other than
>> perhaps the continuations of the boundary lines.
>
> Clearly not 'self-evident'. The 'name' of the star in the Uruguan flag is
> 'Sun of May'. The sun is, by all definitions a star. What is on the
> Uruguan flag is a symbol representing a star.
Yes, but it's not a star symbol representing a star. Protest denied.
>> is symmetrical and has a plain center with no markings other than
>> perhaps the continuations of the boundary lines.
>
> Clearly not 'self-evident'. The 'name' of the star in the Uruguan flag is
> 'Sun of May'. The sun is, by all definitions a star. What is on the
> Uruguan flag is a symbol representing a star.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "Do right; have fun; make money."
m...@vex.net --Ian Darwin on Yuri Rubinsky (1952-96)
Mark Brader
Aug 26, 2013, 2:02:01 PM8/26/13
to
Mark Brader:
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "Don't be silly -- send it to Canada"
m...@vex.net -- British postal worker
>> The Rockefeller family has so far produced six generations of males
>> with the same name -- John D. Rockefeller I/Jr./III/IV/V/VI -- all
>> famous except for the 5-year-old VI, and therefore providing four
>> different possible correct answers. However, the two entrants who
>> decided to mine this rich field collided on the same answer, Jr./III.
Dan Tilque:
>> with the same name -- John D. Rockefeller I/Jr./III/IV/V/VI -- all
>> famous except for the 5-year-old VI, and therefore providing four
>> different possible correct answers. However, the two entrants who
>> decided to mine this rich field collided on the same answer, Jr./III.
> There are only two valid answers from that family: Sr/Jr and Jr/III. And
> since Sr is frequently called just John D Rockefeller without
> qualification, I couldn't be certain you wouldn't rule the first one wrong.
>
> IV/V/VI are all still living and so are disqualified. But even if that
> didn't disqualify them, neither IV nor V uses the name John. IV goes by
> Jay and V goes by Jamie.
Oops.
> since Sr is frequently called just John D Rockefeller without
> qualification, I couldn't be certain you wouldn't rule the first one wrong.
>
> IV/V/VI are all still living and so are disqualified. But even if that
> didn't disqualify them, neither IV nor V uses the name John. IV goes by
> Jay and V goes by Jamie.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "Don't be silly -- send it to Canada"
m...@vex.net -- British postal worker
Mark Brader
Aug 26, 2013, 2:11:45 PM8/26/13
to
Mark Brader:
>> There were only 25 entrants this time...
Ted Schuerzinger:
name "fedya" or from a name containing the string "erzinger" at any time
in August. Are you sure you sent it to the correct address?
Although the rules state that "Entries must reach here by" the deadline,
I am inclined to accept Ted's entry as being on time if it actually was
correctly addressed and blocked by a technical problem so that it was
dropped or delayed by, now, over 36 hours. Anyone have a problem with that?
If it was wrongly addressed or never actually sent, that's Ted's mistake
and it's too bad.
--
Mark Brader Safire's Rule on Who-Whom:
Toronto "Whenever 'whom' sounds correct, recast the sentence."
m...@vex.net -- William Safire, NY Times Magazine
>> There were only 25 entrants this time...
Ted Schuerzinger:
> Did you not get my entry? I sent it Saturday evening and never received
> a confirmation email.
Neither my mailbox nor my spambox has received any message from the login
> a confirmation email.
name "fedya" or from a name containing the string "erzinger" at any time
in August. Are you sure you sent it to the correct address?
Although the rules state that "Entries must reach here by" the deadline,
I am inclined to accept Ted's entry as being on time if it actually was
correctly addressed and blocked by a technical problem so that it was
dropped or delayed by, now, over 36 hours. Anyone have a problem with that?
If it was wrongly addressed or never actually sent, that's Ted's mistake
and it's too bad.
--
Mark Brader Safire's Rule on Who-Whom:
Toronto "Whenever 'whom' sounds correct, recast the sentence."
m...@vex.net -- William Safire, NY Times Magazine
Mark Brader
Aug 26, 2013, 2:15:13 PM8/26/13
to
James Dow Allen:
mailed about 7 hours late. It duplicated two of your answers (although
the New England question was not one of those) and, if on time, would
have knocked you down 2 places in the standings.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "UNIX ... the essential partner for
m...@vex.net | eyespot or rynchosporium control in barley."
> There is a third possibility: You all are weirdos
> like me, so of course we blunder in unison :-)
Well, by way of evidence for this, this morning I received a 26th entry
> like me, so of course we blunder in unison :-)
mailed about 7 hours late. It duplicated two of your answers (although
the New England question was not one of those) and, if on time, would
have knocked you down 2 places in the standings.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "UNIX ... the essential partner for
m...@vex.net | eyespot or rynchosporium control in barley."
swp
Aug 26, 2013, 2:57:29 PM8/26/13
to
On Monday, August 26, 2013 2:15:13 PM UTC-4, Mark Brader wrote:
> James Dow Allen:
> > There is a third possibility: You all are weirdos
> > like me, so of course we blunder in unison :-)
>
> Well, by way of evidence for this, this morning I received a 26th entry
> mailed about 7 hours late. It duplicated two of your answers (although
> the New England question was not one of those) and, if on time, would
> have knocked you down 2 places in the standings.
count it! count it!
> James Dow Allen:
> > There is a third possibility: You all are weirdos
> > like me, so of course we blunder in unison :-)
>
> Well, by way of evidence for this, this morning I received a 26th entry
> mailed about 7 hours late. It duplicated two of your answers (although
> the New England question was not one of those) and, if on time, would
> have knocked you down 2 places in the standings.
:-)
swp
Ted Schuerzinger
Aug 26, 2013, 2:56:59 PM8/26/13
to
On Mon, 26 Aug 2013 13:11:45 -0500, Mark Brader wrote:
> Neither my mailbox nor my spambox has received any message from the
> login name "fedya" or from a name containing the string "erzinger" at
> any time in August. Are you sure you sent it to the correct address?
According to my proxy server's mail logs, it was sent to <m...@vex.net>.
> Neither my mailbox nor my spambox has received any message from the
> login name "fedya" or from a name containing the string "erzinger" at
> any time in August. Are you sure you sent it to the correct address?
At any rate, I looked through the scores, and I only would have finished
in the middle of the pack, so it's not a huge deal.
(Well, I would have protested your ruling on Uruguay being a wrong
answer, too. But most of the rest of my answers weren't particularly
good either.)
bigg...@gmail.com
Aug 26, 2013, 4:49:14 PM8/26/13
to
On Monday, August 26, 2013 1:43:43 AM UTC-7, Mark Brader wrote:
> There were only 25 entrants this time, but one of them is a
> first-time winner. Hearty congratulations to NATE PAYMER!
Woohoo! I went with Rhode Island because my last name starts with P, which sort of looks like an R. That's the impeccable logic of champions!
> There were only 25 entrants this time, but one of them is a
> first-time winner. Hearty congratulations to NATE PAYMER!
Thanks for running the contest, Mark, it was lots of fun. Hope there's another!
- Nate
Erland Sommarskog
Aug 26, 2013, 6:01:40 PM8/26/13
to
Mark Brader (m...@vex.net) writes:
> There are three cases where the real-or-fictional status of a
> character is questionable; I decided to allow them all.
Wow! That means you were able to confirm ""Napoleon und die kleine
> There are three cases where the real-or-fictional status of a
> character is questionable; I decided to allow them all.
W�scherin" as correct. I am impressed! I was quite exhausted when I
found that title, and when I could not find anything that said that
little washing girl was a real-life person, I decided to use it.
Previously I had found something about Napoleon and a British sailor,
but that was supposedly based on a true story.
From what I can read in Swedish Wikipedia, Ola and Julia must be
considered to be a correct answer.
--
Erland Sommarskog, Stockholm, esq...@sommarskog.se
Mark Brader
Aug 26, 2013, 6:18:36 PM8/26/13
to
Mark Brader:
No, I didn't find anything explicit to say so, but it seemed a reasonable
assumption and not worth mentioning.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "*Nature*, Mr. Allnutt, is what we are put in this
m...@vex.net | world *to rise above*." -- The African Queen
> > There are three cases where the real-or-fictional status of a
> > character is questionable; I decided to allow them all.
Erland Sommarskog:
> > character is questionable; I decided to allow them all.
> Wow! That means you were able to confirm ""Napoleon und die kleine
> Wäscherin" as correct. I am impressed!
No, I didn't find anything explicit to say so, but it seemed a reasonable
assumption and not worth mentioning.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "*Nature*, Mr. Allnutt, is what we are put in this
m...@vex.net | world *to rise above*." -- The African Queen
Alan Curry
Aug 26, 2013, 6:47:35 PM8/26/13
to
In article <1IednZP7ZI2iiIbP...@vex.net>,
> 1 Black
A single-wavelength ultraviolet source, in dark surroundings, would not only
be seen as black but might even be called a "black light".
>
>| 9. Name a title of a movie or any sort of TV production, that
>| refers explicitly or implicitly to *exactly two* specific
>| characters in the work, such as "Jake and the Fatman" or "Caesar
>| and Cleopatra", but where *exactly one* of the two characters
>| is fictional.
>
> 4 "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" (1966) (see below)
> (Jesse James)
[...]
title, search imdb for the word "meets", and pick the most awesome title on
page.
--
Alan Curry
Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> wrote:
>| Using a single word in English, name a *non-spectral color* --
>| that is, name something we call a color but which cannot be
>| produced by a light shining with a single wavelength as seen
>| in dark surroundings.
[...]
>| Using a single word in English, name a *non-spectral color* --
>| that is, name something we call a color but which cannot be
>| produced by a light shining with a single wavelength as seen
>| in dark surroundings.
> 1 Black
A single-wavelength ultraviolet source, in dark surroundings, would not only
be seen as black but might even be called a "black light".
>
>| 9. Name a title of a movie or any sort of TV production, that
>| refers explicitly or implicitly to *exactly two* specific
>| characters in the work, such as "Jake and the Fatman" or "Caesar
>| and Cleopatra", but where *exactly one* of the two characters
>| is fictional.
>
> 4 "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" (1966) (see below)
> (Jesse James)
>
>Along with each I have shown the real person that it refers to.
>There were lots of choices, mostly about stories where the fictional
>person meets a famous real person, but for some reason "Jesse
>James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" was the most popular of these.
The other 3 probably did what I did: imagine the general form of the movie
>Along with each I have shown the real person that it refers to.
>There were lots of choices, mostly about stories where the fictional
>person meets a famous real person, but for some reason "Jesse
>James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" was the most popular of these.
title, search imdb for the word "meets", and pick the most awesome title on
page.
--
Alan Curry
Mark Brader
Aug 26, 2013, 11:30:00 PM8/26/13
to
Mark Brader:
Alan Curry:
>> for some reason "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" was
>> the most popular of these.
> The other 3 probably did what I did: imagine the general form of the movie
> title, search imdb for the word "meets", and pick the most awesome title on
> page.
Hah! Could be.
--
Mark Brader | In the face of such devastating logic as "despite
Toronto | what you say you mean, you must mean this and you
m...@vex.net | are wrong", I cede the territory. --Truly Donovan
>>| Using a single word in English, name a *non-spectral color* --
>>| that is, name something we call a color but which cannot be
>>| produced by a light shining with a single wavelength as seen
>>| in dark surroundings.
>> 1 Black
>>| that is, name something we call a color but which cannot be
>>| produced by a light shining with a single wavelength as seen
>>| in dark surroundings.
Alan Curry:
> A single-wavelength ultraviolet source, in dark surroundings, would not only
> be seen as black but might even be called a "black light".
All the same, in this context that is not a light.
> be seen as black but might even be called a "black light".
>> for some reason "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" was
>> the most popular of these.
> The other 3 probably did what I did: imagine the general form of the movie
> title, search imdb for the word "meets", and pick the most awesome title on
> page.
--
Mark Brader | In the face of such devastating logic as "despite
Toronto | what you say you mean, you must mean this and you
m...@vex.net | are wrong", I cede the territory. --Truly Donovan
Dr Nick
Aug 27, 2013, 1:31:47 AM8/27/13
to
and Costello Meets Frankenstein" and look to see if there were other
examples of the form.
Duke
Aug 27, 2013, 4:57:23 PM8/27/13
to
I move a vote of thanks for Mark for spending the time to bring us all another fine diversion. Thanks, Mark.
swp
Aug 27, 2013, 8:57:19 PM8/27/13
to
On Tuesday, August 27, 2013 4:57:23 PM UTC-4, Duke wrote:
> I move a vote of thanks for Mark for spending the time to bring us all another fine diversion. Thanks, Mark.
seconded.
> I move a vote of thanks for Mark for spending the time to bring us all another fine diversion. Thanks, Mark.
Thank You, Mark
swp
Mark Brader
Aug 27, 2013, 11:50:26 PM8/27/13
to
I just noticed that Joshua didn't post to rec.puzzles. Repeating...
Mark Brader:
> I'm not asking for a re-scoring on this, especially because I know that
> none will be forthcoming, but Thomas Jefferson is not actually a
> character in this episode...
Oops, I read enough to know that. Apologies to all.
This is now a wrong answer. I won't post a complete table, but
this correction drops Peter Smyth down from his previously announced
10th-place finish into a 16th-place tie with Dan Tilque at 207,360
points. Nobody else's score is affected, but people in between move
up one place.
One other point while I'm posting. Following the discussion of the
answers like "rio" and "afon" on the river question, I realized that
this was a "name a word" question but I had not looked up answers
like these in any dictionaries. But on further consideration,
I realized that this was not an issue, because the question did not
say that the word had to be an *English* word, and presumably these
answers could be found in dictionaries of Spanish or Welsh. And for
this purpose I'm not concerned about the spelling variation between
"río" and "rio".
--
Mark Brader "Three minutes' thought would suffice to
Toronto find this out; but thought is irksome and
m...@vex.net three minutes is a long time." --A.E. Housman
Mark Brader:
>>| 9. Name a title of a movie or any sort of TV production, that
>>| refers explicitly or implicitly to *exactly two* specific
>>| characters in the work, such as "Jake and the Fatman" or "Caesar
>>| and Cleopatra", but where *exactly one* of the two characters
>>| is fictional.
>>
>>| refers explicitly or implicitly to *exactly two* specific
>>| characters in the work, such as "Jake and the Fatman" or "Caesar
>>| and Cleopatra", but where *exactly one* of the two characters
>>| is fictional.
>>
>> 1 "George and the President" (1976 episode of "The Jeffersons")
>> (Thomas Jefferson)
Joshua Kreitzer:
>> (Thomas Jefferson)
> I'm not asking for a re-scoring on this, especially because I know that
> none will be forthcoming, but Thomas Jefferson is not actually a
> character in this episode...
Oops, I read enough to know that. Apologies to all.
This is now a wrong answer. I won't post a complete table, but
this correction drops Peter Smyth down from his previously announced
10th-place finish into a 16th-place tie with Dan Tilque at 207,360
points. Nobody else's score is affected, but people in between move
up one place.
One other point while I'm posting. Following the discussion of the
answers like "rio" and "afon" on the river question, I realized that
this was a "name a word" question but I had not looked up answers
like these in any dictionaries. But on further consideration,
I realized that this was not an issue, because the question did not
say that the word had to be an *English* word, and presumably these
answers could be found in dictionaries of Spanish or Welsh. And for
this purpose I'm not concerned about the spelling variation between
"río" and "rio".
--
Mark Brader "Three minutes' thought would suffice to
Toronto find this out; but thought is irksome and
m...@vex.net three minutes is a long time." --A.E. Housman
gerson
Sep 5, 2013, 8:51:01 PM9/5/13
to
"swp" wrote
> Duke wrote:
>> ... thanks ...
>
> seconded
thirded
0 new messages