* Just For Fun Word Ladder "Contest" *

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druhutch

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Apr 14, 2013, 11:38:00 PM4/14/13
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Hey all—

 

So I know BanjoZebra is running a contest right now but I was bored and decided to hold one of my own (of sorts) that should not interfere. (I plan to participate in that one as well.)

 I’ve always been fascinated with Word Ladder “titles”. With most Word Ladders I’ve made I’ve come up with a title first and then made the ladder. I made one called “Word Ladder: Mwahahahaha” a while back before knowing what it would be about. Eventually it was published but the title was changed to “Word Ladder: Villains”. This was unfortunate since the only good thing about the quiz to begin with was the original title.

 

I’ve since realized I’m not very good at making Word Ladders. But many of you people are good at it. So I thought I could throw out a bunch of titles and you could make Word Ladders out of them.

 

If you make a word ladder with a title from the list below, and it meets the guidelines I’m about to lay out, I’ll make it an Editor Pick in the Just For Fun section. I wish I could offer more, but I can promise you that there is always a high demand for Word Ladders on the site, and an EP will certainly not hurt the chances of it being published in the Daily Dose.

 

Guidelines:

Thanks to citkeane, our amazing Word Ladder Curator, I was able to come up with some specific rules.

 

1.     These word ladders must be Daily Dose Length. So, let’s say between 12 and 45 rungs. (If your ladder has only twelve rungs and is only 4-letter words, though, it had better be damn clever.)

2.     It needs to fit the given title in some way. Some of these are pop culture references, but the Ladder doesn’t need to have anything to do with that—it just needs to somehow make sense with the title. The more clever or creative the quiz is, the less it needs to adhere to this guideline.

3.     Color it. (Colour it.) Unless not coloring it is somehow part of the theme. (Though the “Unthemed in Brown and Amber” quiz should be brown and amber.)

4.      If more than one person makes a quiz with the same title, I’ll just have to pick one of them. If you want to “lay claim” to a title, you can post dibs on it here if you like. But I can’t prevent or disqualify anyone from making the quiz anyway. If it seems like I need to “retire” a title (if it’s been used enough), I’ll post an indication here.

5.     This pseudo-contest will end on May 12 @ 11:59 PM. (It’s a full four weeks. EP’s may be given out as it goes along.)

6.     Regular Word Ladder rules apply. If you are not familiar with them and/or are new at making a Word Ladder, citkeane has wisely suggested I refer you to sproutcm’s blog entry: http://www.sporcle.com/blog/2011/03/sporcle-word-ladders-best-practices/

 

Here is the title list:

 

Word Ladder: Our Lesser Angels

Word Ladder: No Applause, Just Throw Money

Word Ladder: It’s a Trap!

Word Ladder: Zombie Apocalypse

Word Ladder: Unthemed in Brown and Amber

Word Ladder: Why ‘re You Hitting Yourself?

Word Ladder: Disco Boogie Meltdown

Word Ladder: With a Splash of Cranberry

Word Ladder: Velvety Purple Venezuela

Word Ladder: Somewhere, a Dog Barks

Word Ladder: Well Hello Mr. Fancy Pants

Word Ladder: Get Confident, Stupid

Word Ladder: Tacos for All

Word Ladder: Probably Something Churchill Said

Word Ladder: Meet Me in Montauk

Word Ladder: Oh Happenstance!

Word Ladder: Click Here for Details

Word Ladder: Chekhov’s Gun

Word Ladder: Red Dald Row

Word Ladder: A Hawk from a Handsaw

 

I think that’s it. Have fun.

 

iglew

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Apr 15, 2013, 2:23:39 AM4/15/13
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The two easy ones there are "Something Churchill said" and "It's a Trap".

iglew

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Apr 15, 2013, 2:40:05 AM4/15/13
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Probably something Churchill said:

BLOOD blond bland blank black slack stack stock Spock speck speak spear swear SWEAT sweet sleet fleet flees frees trees treys trays trams teams TEARS

(That last bit can probably be improved.)

Freely offered to anyone who wants to dress it up and make it pretty.

Spacemaniac

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Apr 15, 2013, 7:23:47 AM4/15/13
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I lay dibs to Word Ladder: A Serious Discussion (which you forgot to list, but it's on the quiz.)

JoeBeta

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Apr 15, 2013, 7:59:08 AM4/15/13
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"If you want to “lay claim” to a title, you can post dibs on it here if you like." I think this is a bad concept. I am going to start working on a ladder right now, but if my chosen theme doesn't go anywhere, I am going to try a different theme. If the resulting ladder isn't special enough, I am going to try a different different theme until I am personally satisfied with the result. It's entirely possible that I won't even launch a contest ladder at all.

" If it seems like I need to “retire” a title (if it’s been used enough), I’ll post an indication here." That would mean that if I work on a word ladder for 10 hours or more over several days, but a dozen others rush to launch word ladders on the same topic, then that title will be retired? I guess I would just launch the quiz under a different title for my own satisfaction.
 
"Have fun." I have no problem with this particular section of the contest guidelines.

 

Hullabaloo

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Apr 15, 2013, 11:01:14 AM4/15/13
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Unrelated to the contest itself, I have a question about word ladders.

I've noticed people have put the themed rungs as difference colours to the rest of the ladder. How do I do that?

Thank you.

NYYanks

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Apr 15, 2013, 11:54:16 AM4/15/13
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Do you want us to post them here? Anyway, I made one with the Why're you hitting yourself?

Spacemaniac

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Apr 15, 2013, 11:56:27 AM4/15/13
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Hope y'all like it!

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 15, 2013, at 6:54 PM, NYYanks <nyyanks...@gmail.com> wrote:

Do you want us to post them here? Anyway, I made one with the Why're you hitting yourself?

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WackyZacky

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Apr 15, 2013, 12:00:15 PM4/15/13
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 @Hullabaloo

You can assign rungs to cells as follows:

- Make sure you're logged in, and click 'Create'.
- Open the quiz, make sure that you've already entered all your data beforehand.
- Open the 'Options' panel up and tick the box reading "Use extra column for color values" and "Save Changes".
- I personally use HEX codes (I think they're called that..) that are on the 'Style' panel. Find the colour your want and copy it into the 'Extra Column'  in the desired places and then save your changes again.

Hope this helps.

-Zack

Spacemaniac

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Apr 15, 2013, 12:03:47 PM4/15/13
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Do exactly like WackyZacky said, but instead of copying the code, you could just type the color in the extra box.

Sent from my iPhone
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Hullabaloo

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Apr 15, 2013, 12:24:05 PM4/15/13
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One of those questions I could have answered myself by opening my eyes lol.

Thanks for your help everyone.

JoeBeta

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Apr 15, 2013, 12:35:41 PM4/15/13
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Don't feel so bad. I had already been wondering the same thing myself. I was glad you asked the question, and now my eyes are now also open thanks to the helpful people of this forum!

druhutch

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Apr 15, 2013, 1:12:22 PM4/15/13
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If you work on a ladder for 10 hours, by all means release it, whether the title has been retired or not. Any ladder that's been worked on for 10 hours has to be pretty killer. And I said people could try calling 'dibs' if they liked, but it would not mean that no one else was allowed to use the title.

You can post links to the quizzes here if you like, but I promise I'll see them in any case.

Also, whoops! As Spacemaniac brought to my attention, there's a title here that's not in the contest themed quiz I put out (and vice versa). But that just means there are 21 possibilities instead of 20.

EMyre

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Apr 15, 2013, 1:52:03 PM4/15/13
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Hey, guys! I'm new to this group, and I thought I'd use this opportunity to try making my very first word ladder: Chekhov's Gun

rer2121

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Apr 15, 2013, 3:47:18 PM4/15/13
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purplep...@gmail.com

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Apr 15, 2013, 8:32:21 PM4/15/13
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Tacos for Everyone will be served shortly! :)

purplep...@gmail.com

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Apr 15, 2013, 10:45:58 PM4/15/13
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citkeane

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Apr 16, 2013, 10:56:59 AM4/16/13
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I thought I ought to enter a quiz, seeing as I curate this subcategory. Here's the link:
Thanks to dru for coming up with this "contest". Always nice to see new, and no-so-new, users making ladders.

druhutch

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Apr 16, 2013, 12:11:35 PM4/16/13
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Really fantastic ladders so far guys. Honestly, every one that has been submitted thus far has been creative and well-made. I would really not be surprised if some of these are actually published before the "contest" is even over. And speaking of that, here's a couple of quick things:

1. If you have a great idea for a title that has already been used (or were in the middle of making one when someone else used it), please go ahead and make it. Titles can always be changed or "sequelized" later on down the line.
2. If we do exhaust the possibilities of all the titles here before the four weeks is up (which is looking very likely) I may add some more at the beginning of the month when users get their new quiz allotments. 

Anyway, totally amazed at the output so far. Glad people are having fun with it.
Message has been deleted

purplep...@gmail.com

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Apr 16, 2013, 1:29:58 PM4/16/13
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I always include word length in my quizzes; I list it above the "Guessed Word" column in the heading. So if the words are 4-letters long, the column heading reads "4-Letter Rung."

purplep...@gmail.com

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Apr 16, 2013, 1:37:21 PM4/16/13
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I made a quiz on March 30th that I suppose anticipated the "Word Ladder: No Applause, Just Throw Money" suggestion. It is called "Word Ladder: 6-Figure Shopping Spree," but I can change the title to the one aforementioned.
https://www.sporcle.com/games/Purple_Parrot/the-color-of-money

Mimbleton

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Apr 16, 2013, 1:59:36 PM4/16/13
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druhutch

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Apr 16, 2013, 3:02:45 PM4/16/13
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@Purple_Parrot: That's an excellent ladder, but it would be better if the ladders were made after the beginning of the contest and not other ladders re-named.

Also, the question has come up of whether users can make more than one. I would say please try not to, at least not for another week, so that more people can be given the opportunity.


NYYanks

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Apr 16, 2013, 3:39:53 PM4/16/13
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I also made this word ladder because I want to improve and make a lot more in the future. I would appreciate the feedback, although this is not part of the contest.

http://m.sporcle.com/games/NYYanks/rainbow-word-ladder

Daniel Hodgson

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Apr 16, 2013, 8:30:34 PM4/16/13
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What do you think druhutch? Thanks for the name!


On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 3:39 PM, NYYanks <nyyanks...@gmail.com> wrote:
I also made this word ladder because I want to improve and make a lot more in the future. I would appreciate the feedback, although this is not part of the contest.

http://m.sporcle.com/games/NYYanks/rainbow-word-ladder

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Josh C.

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Apr 16, 2013, 10:30:26 PM4/16/13
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I got dibs on "click here for details"


On Sunday, April 14, 2013 11:38:00 PM UTC-4, druhutch wrote:

Hey all—

 

So I know BanjoZebra is running a contest right now but I was bored and decided to hold one of my own (of sorts) that should not interfere. (I plan to participate in that one as well.)

 I’ve always been fascinated with Word Ladder “titles”. With most Word Ladders I’ve made I’ve come up with a title first and then made the ladder. I made one called “Word Ladder: Mwahahahaha” a while back before knowing what it would be about. Eventually it was published but the title was changed to “Word Ladder: Villains”. This was unfortunate since the only good thing about the quiz to begin with was the original title.

 

I’ve since realized I’m not very good at making Word Ladders. But many of you people are good at it. So I thought I could throw out a bunch of titles and you could make Word Ladders out of them.

 

If you make a word ladder with a title from the list below, and it meets the guidelines I’m about to lay out, I’ll make it an Editor Pick in the Just For Fun section. I wish I could offer more, but I can promise you that there is always a high demand for Word Ladders on the site, and an EP will certainly not hurt the chances of it being published in the Daily Dose.

 

Guidelines:

Thanks to citkeane, our amazing Word Ladder Curator, I was able to come up with some specific rules.

 

1.     These word ladders must be Daily Dose Length. So, let’s say between 12 and 45 rungs. (If your ladder has only twelve rungs and is only 4-letter words, though, it had better be damn clever.)

2.     It needs to fit the given title in some way. Some of these are pop culture references, but the Ladder doesn’t need to have anything to do with that—it just needs to somehow make sense with the title. The more clever or creative the quiz is, the less it needs to adhere to this guideline.

3.     Color it. (Colour it.) Unless not coloring it is somehow part of the theme. (Though the “Unthemed in Brown and Amber” quiz should be brown and amber.)

4.      If more than one person makes a quiz with the same title, I’ll just have to pick one of them. If you want to “lay claim” to a title, you can post dibs on it here if you like. But I can’t prevent or disqualify anyone from making the quiz anyway. If it seems like I need to “retire” a title (if it’s been used enough), I’ll post an indication here.

5.     This pseudo-contest will end on May 12 @ 11:59 PM. (It’s a full four weeks. EP’s may be given out as it goes along.)

6.     Regular Word Ladder rules apply. If you are not familiar with them and/or are new at making a Word Ladder, citkeane has wisely suggested I refer you to sproutcm’s blog entry: http://www.sporcle.com/blog/2011/03/sporcle-word-ladders-best-practices/

 

Here is the title list:

 

Word Ladder: Our Lesser Angels

Word Ladder: No Applause, Just Throw Money

Word Ladder: It’s a Trap!

Word Ladder: Zombie Apocalypse

Word Ladder: Unthemed in Brown and Amber

Word Ladder: Why ‘re You Hitting Yourself?

Word Ladder: Disco Boogie Meltdown

Word Ladder: With a Splash of Cranberry

Word Ladder: Velvety Purple Venezuela

Word Ladder: Somewhere, a Dog Barks

Word Ladder: Well Hello Mr. Fancy Pants

mrsiriustab

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Apr 18, 2013, 2:57:31 PM4/18/13
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http://www.sporcle.com/games/mrsiriustab/blows-your-mind

This is my first attempt at a word ladder. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Specifically I new some help with <br> in the game note. It doesn't seem to work there for me. Thanks!

Trevor Birenbaum

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Apr 18, 2013, 3:46:56 PM4/18/13
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I've temporarily retracted my quiz to make some improvements and to eliminate scrolling. It should be back up in a couple hours.

druhutch

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Apr 22, 2013, 3:17:09 AM4/22/13
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Congratulations to NYYanks for the first publish of this contest in today’s Daily Dose!

(Saves me the trouble of having to EP it—HUGE thanks to the admins for their support of this whole thing.)

What’s also great about that particular quiz being published is that it was actually the very first title I came up with and ultimately what inspired me to create the contest. I’m not even kidding. It's just a crazy coincidence.
So it’s probably best to retire that title, and recap where the “contest” stands. (Yes, I will continue to put that word in quotes.)

Word Ladder: Our Lesser Angels – not done
Word Ladder: No Applause, Just Throw Money – not done
And
(probably should retire that one too)
Word Ladder: Zombie Apocalypse – not done
Word Ladder: Unthemed in Brown and Amber – not done
Word Ladder: Disco Boogie Meltdown – not done
Word Ladder: With a Splash of Cranberry – not done
Word Ladder: Get Confident, Stupid – not done 
Word Ladder: Probably Something Churchill Said – not done (though if you read upthread a bit iglew did half the work for you)
Word Ladder: Oh Happenstance! – not done 
Word Ladder: Click Here for Details – not done
Word Ladder: Red Dald Row - not done

Keep up the great work, all. Thrilled how these turned out.

BanjoZebra

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Apr 22, 2013, 7:56:57 AM4/22/13
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I will probably be releasing a Disco Boogie Meltdown sometime soon.

NYYanks

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Apr 22, 2013, 8:50:56 AM4/22/13
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Thanks dru! It's nice to have the first publication in this contest.

purplep...@gmail.com

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Apr 22, 2013, 9:36:07 AM4/22/13
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I just wanted to inform everyone that I changed the title of my word ladder to "The Whole Enchilada," in case anybody was trying to find my "Tacos for All" quiz and couldn't access it.

Congrats, NYYanks!

purplep...@gmail.com

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Apr 22, 2013, 9:38:16 AM4/22/13
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So it appears that the link, despite it not having the same name, still works... who knew? Feel free to disregard my previous post.

Hullabaloo

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Apr 22, 2013, 9:41:51 AM4/22/13
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Anyone done/doing the zombie apocalypse one?

If not, I might give that a go 

Survivor

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Apr 22, 2013, 3:21:15 PM4/22/13
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I've just posted Red Dald Row.  It's my first word ladder, so please be nice.  Thanks for the fun idea, druhutch.

 

Hullabaloo

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Apr 22, 2013, 3:24:08 PM4/22/13
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Had a go at Zombie Apocalypse.

I did check, but let me know if there are any repeated letter changes!!

http://www.sporcle.com/games/Hullabaloo/word-ladder-zombie-apocalypse

Josh C.

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Apr 22, 2013, 7:29:19 PM4/22/13
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I have submitted Click Here for details!  My first word ladder, so don't be afraid to comment.  http://www.sporcle.com/games/amazingjosh/click-here-for-details


NYYanks

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Apr 22, 2013, 8:42:43 PM4/22/13
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Can we make more than one from this "contest" (I guess I'll put it in quotes also)? I'd love to try my hand at another one of these.

druhutch

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Apr 22, 2013, 9:32:47 PM4/22/13
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@NYYanks:

I'd like to give it a few more days before opening it up for users to do more than one, but stay tuned.

Caramba

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Apr 23, 2013, 6:16:44 PM4/23/13
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Had a number of ideas for Hawk from a Handsaw, but just couldn't make 'em work (to my satisfaction).
 
Disco Boogie Meltdown should be something right up my alley though!
 
Dave

Caramba

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Apr 23, 2013, 6:19:50 PM4/23/13
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Hey, what happened to Hawk from a Handsaw??
 
And the Red Dald Row ladder is awesome!
 
Dave

druhutch

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Apr 23, 2013, 11:09:20 PM4/23/13
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Whoops. Sorry Dave, left that one out for some reason. How could I neglect the Shakespeare like that?  Eh, well--might as well update the entire list given the recent additions:


Word Ladder: Our Lesser Angels – not done
Word Ladder: No Applause, Just Throw Money – not done
And
Word Ladder: Disco Boogie Meltdown – not done
Word Ladder: With a Splash of Cranberry – not done
Word Ladder: Get Confident, Stupid – not done 
Word Ladder: Probably Something Churchill Said – not done
Word Ladder: Oh Happenstance! – not done 
Word Ladder: A Hawk from a Handsaw - not done

Great work on all the new ones!
If the remaining titles/repeated titles are used up/exhausted by the end of the month I'll add a few more to see the contest through to its official end.

BanjoZebra

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Apr 24, 2013, 3:39:59 PM4/24/13
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Cryptus

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Apr 25, 2013, 8:31:41 AM4/25/13
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purplep...@gmail.com

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Apr 25, 2013, 4:23:28 PM4/25/13
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@druhutch When you said, "If the remaining titles/repeated titles are used up/exhausted by the end of the month I'll add a few more to see the contest through to its official end," does that mean that the remaining titles will only be eligible for entry until the end of the month? Or will other titles be added onto the list, in addition to the titles remaining, and all will be due by the contest's ending date?

Also, when will users be allowed to submit a second entry (if at all)? I have a "With a Splash of Cranberry" ladder ready, and I cannot wait to release it! But I would hate to release my quiz prematurely, especially if it goes against this "contest's" rules or if other people want to try their hand at making a quiz with the same name.

druhutch

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Apr 25, 2013, 5:03:28 PM4/25/13
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Oh, well if you have one ready to go feel free to release it whenever you like. I guess we can open up for users to make a second one now. 
And what I meant above (sorry it's a little confusing) is that the new titles would be added to the ones already there. The ones already there should remain usable until the end.

purplep...@gmail.com

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Apr 25, 2013, 5:42:11 PM4/25/13
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Thanks for that clarification, druhutch.

Here is my second entry: Word Ladder: With a Splash of Cranberry. It is a song-and-artist-inspired word ladder, similar to the others I have contributed recently, but this one contains 6-letter rungs (talk about a challenge, but it was very fun to make)! I'm quite excited about how it turned out, and I hope you all enjoy it as well. Please let me know what you think! All feedback is gladly welcomed and greatly appreciated!

beforever

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Apr 25, 2013, 6:38:53 PM4/25/13
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On Thursday, April 25, 2013 10:42:11 PM UTC+1, purplep...@gmail.com wrote:
Please let me know what you think! All feedback is gladly welcomed and greatly appreciated!

I gave it a nomination, and I hope to see it published. It's so good!

Spacemaniac

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Apr 26, 2013, 7:34:27 AM4/26/13
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Hope y'all like it, and please give feedback.

Sent from my iPhone
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Josh C.

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Apr 26, 2013, 9:57:29 AM4/26/13
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On the job for "Probably Something Churchill Said."  Did he say that?

Josh C.

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Apr 27, 2013, 10:03:26 AM4/27/13
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Hi, 
How do you make a certain word a different color in in the word ladder?
Thanks!

----Josh

Neil Birenbaum

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Apr 27, 2013, 10:07:29 AM4/27/13
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You click in the option to have the extra column code for colors, then type the color you want the background of the box, then a forward slash, then the color of the text. All colors are in HTML, so you have to give the six-char code or the HTML-recognized color. If you want the text to be the only thing that changes color, then keep the first HTML set the same through the entire quiz. White text on black background is #000000/#FFFFFF.

If you want to find a specific color, experiment with the color options on the style page.

Josh C.

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Apr 27, 2013, 10:36:03 AM4/27/13
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iglew

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Apr 28, 2013, 4:23:41 PM4/28/13
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Hurray!  Glad to see that ladder finished. I was afraid that my earlier comment scared everyone off of it.

One tip:  It would look better with a wider hint column and narrower word column.

druhutch

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Apr 30, 2013, 1:03:21 AM4/30/13
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Congrats to Mimbleton (already a Word Ladder extraordinaire) for the second publish of the contest with Word Ladder: Somewhere, A Dog Barked. The title was altered slightly from the original listing at my request after revisiting the Far Side comic that initially inspired it:

(Don’t worry; I won’t have some interesting tidbit to share about each title whenever one is published. I had two interesting tidbits and now they’re both spent.)

So with that, we’re having a very nice run. Here’s quick recap:

Word Ladder: Our Lesser Angels – not done
Word Ladder: Oh Happenstance! – not done 
Word Ladder: A Hawk from a Handsaw - not done

Worth a mention is the apparent extra credit project Word Ladder: Somewhere, a Great Dane Barks.

And, as semi-promised, here are twelve more titles to celebrate the beginning of a new month and hopefully see the contest through to the end. (I didn’t have time to make a quiz introducing these titles, but I may still do that. For now, they’re exclusive to people who visit this forum.) 

Word Ladder: Like a Hole in the Head

Word Ladder: All Glory to The Hypnotoad

Word Ladder: Loved You In That Thing You Were In

Word Ladder: Get Off My Lawn

Word Ladder: The Boron Ultimatum

Word Ladder: This Great Stage of Fools

Word Ladder: Terminal Velociraptor

Word Ladder: Now You’ve Gone and Done It

Word Ladder: Ooooh, Shiny!

Word Ladder: The Many Deaths of Sean Bean

Word Ladder: Made With My Own Tears

Word Ladder: Bursting With Flavor

If they all get used, great. If not, well, that’s fine too. 

If you’ve already made a ladder and wish to make a second, please go ahead and do so. If you’ve already made two, then you should not, but instead consider yourself semi-retired with honors until the last two days of the contest, when I figure it should be "anything goes" kind of rules. All other guidelines from the first post still apply. “Contest” still ends May 12 at 11:59 PM.

AdmiralMaxtreme

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Apr 30, 2013, 5:31:55 PM4/30/13
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Here's my submission (for Word Ladder: All Glory to the Hypnotoad):


I'd like to thank druhutch for organizing this "contest."  I've never made a word ladder before, and this inspired me to do it.

Neil Birenbaum

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Apr 30, 2013, 5:45:39 PM4/30/13
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http://www.sporcle.com/games/mrsiriustab/blows-your-mind

I have recontributed my quiz after making a bunch of improvements. I hope everyone enjoys it, and if anyone has a question or suggestion because this is my first ladder, it would be much appreciated! trevor.b...@gmail.com

druhutch

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Apr 30, 2013, 10:57:14 PM4/30/13
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Good God, there are now three "It's a Trap" quizzes. A few more and Sporcle could do a theme week. (I knew I should have put another Star Wars reference in there.)


@mrsiriustab: that's a great ladder--you're format is, I believe, considered a "Word Ladder Plus" but it's perfectly valid. I would add another minute for dumb people like me.

Also, I don't know how to contact untitled, who has unfortunately overlapped with three different users in making word ladders with the same title (is that like irony or something with the username? No probably not), but if you read the clues in his or her "Churchill" quiz, you'll find someone very clever, funny, and worth keeping an eye on. Sure, the quiz violates the letter position rule like crazy, but still...people who can be funny like that should be encouraged to make Sporcle quizzes.

iglew

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May 1, 2013, 4:33:47 AM5/1/13
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Are we still posting dibs on these?  I'd like to do The Many Deaths of Sean Bean.

untitled

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May 1, 2013, 7:08:24 AM5/1/13
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Whoa, this is neat.

So – way back when druhutch published his first quiz that outlined all the potential titles in the contest, I thought it sounded like fun, so I clicked the link to this page to see the rules. I copied and pasted the relevant info, and then merrily went on my way, never realizing that this page was a going concern – it wasn’t until today when I played dru’s second quiz and thought I’d check the rules link to see if anything had been updated that I realized that a whole bunch of doings had been a-transpirin’. I feel like I should apologize a bit, I didn’t set out to overlap as much as I did, or bogart any of the titles or EP bids, I just figured everyone would work on quizzes and sort it out in the end, sorry if I overstepped anywhere.  If Sporcle wants to sequelize or otherwise alter any of my titles. I am totally on board with that.

Also – when I saw, “Sure, the quiz violates the letter position rule like crazy”, I thought, “What? No it doesn’t. I’m really careful about stuff like that. Here, I’ll go and look at it now, and then I’ll prove that it doesn’tOHMYGOD HOW DID I MISS THAT?” Yeesh. Not once, not twice, but thrice! I feel appropriate shame. As I was making the big ladder, I broke it up into little mini ladders from theme word to theme word, and they all work, but when I voltronned it together I totally missed the violations. I will work on fixing it, but because I can’t just yank out the theme words in the middle, it might take a while. Ah well, much thanks for the constructive criticism -- and, you know, also much thanks for the kind words about the clues, I’m all flattered and stuff. This is a fun contest, I’ve really been digging seeing the directions different people go from the title starting points.

Cheers,

Mike

druhutch

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May 1, 2013, 1:37:51 PM5/1/13
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No worries, Mike-

You weren't overstepping or bogarting and have nothing to apologize for; just kind of bad luck with all the overlaps, really. That's what I figured had happened. But thanks for dropping a line in here, and thanks especially for using the phrase "voltronned it together" which is the greatest thing I've ever heard. I must figure out a way to work that into a conversation today.



jakethegoldfish

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May 3, 2013, 2:11:45 PM5/3/13
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Since no one else claimed it, I tried 'A Hawk from a Handsaw'.  My first attempt at a word ladder.  I'm more familiar with clickable quizzes, so the presentation might not be up to snuff.  Kept it short.
 
 
- Jake

Daniel Hodgson

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May 4, 2013, 9:28:26 PM5/4/13
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Here is my second entry:


One thing to point out, I was thinking of doing Word Ladder: Get Off My Lawn, and while researching a little bit I found a wikipedia page for it. 

Crazy how wikipedia has a page for about everything, haha.




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teddy109768

druhutch

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May 6, 2013, 2:12:51 AM5/6/13
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There's only a week left for this contest! I hope anyone who hasn't participated but would like to gives it a go. 
I would also like to stress that anyone who wants to submit a second entry should go for it.
If you want to make a third, let's say Friday-Sunday would be when you'd be free to do that.
Updated list:

(much better title, Purple_Parrot)

NOT DONE:
Only two remain from the original batch; and since no one seems to want to do them I'll offer a couple of alternatives (if someone was working on one of those titles, please continue. But I'm pretty sure you were not.):
Word Ladder: Our Lesser Angels
Word Ladder: No Pressure or Anything
Word Ladder: Oh Happenstance!   
Word Ladder: Kissed by Fire

And the rest:

Word Ladder: Like a Hole in the Head
Word Ladder: Loved You in That Thing You Were In
Word Ladder: Get Off My Lawn
Word Ladder: The Boron Ultimatum
Word Ladder: This Great Stage of Fools
Word Ladder: Now You've Gone and Done It
Word Ladder: Ooooh, Shiny! 
Word Ladder: The Many Deaths of Sean Bean 
(though iglew expressed an interest in that one and I hope gives it a shot)
Word Ladder: Made With My Own Tears
Word Ladder: Bursting With Flavor

Honestly, though, even if no more were made (though I'm confident more will be), I couldn't be happier with how this turned out. Thanks to all who have participated or plan to do so, and even those just participating in spirit (I've gotten some wonderful e-mails in support of this whole thing) -- really glad it worked out. 

Next time we do one of these, I'd love to kick off with some sort of "title suggestion" thread.

Spacemaniac

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May 6, 2013, 10:10:44 AM5/6/13
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Dru, how are you gonna be able to EP all these ladders by May 12?!

druhutch

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May 6, 2013, 1:35:34 PM5/6/13
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I'll continue to EP them after it's over. I'd only originally planned to EP a few while the contest was still going on.

Quizmaster91

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May 7, 2013, 8:24:20 PM5/7/13
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druhutch

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May 9, 2013, 12:58:19 AM5/9/13
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Congrats to AdmiralMaxtreme and the third publish of the contest, All Glory to the Hypnotoad. Next time all of the titles will be Futurama themed and published immediately. (Know your admins, people.)

Okay I’m (half) kidding about that last part. But I would also like to welcome rer2121 as the new Word Ladder Curator! citkeane is essentially irreplaceable but since he’s a fancypants editor now I’m thrilled that such a talented quizmaker has taken over the job—and has also dived right in and helped punch up Quizmaster91’s word ladder.

@Quizmaster91: Your word ladder has turned out really well, and it's great you took the suggestions given. But I can’t qualify it for the contest unless you use the listed title, or come up with a better one, as another user did. I’d argue that as of right now both of our titles are equally dumb.

I’m not going to bother re-posting all the titles again. Just look four posts above this one.  But you should not let this opportunity pass: this may be the third publish, but there are potentially many more to come. Josh already figured this out. Has anyone else who has participated taken caramba’s advice?

Make one! Only THREE DAYS left!

druhutch

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May 9, 2013, 1:02:53 AM5/9/13
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No, wait; it's four days. Sorry, got a little excited there.


Quizmaster91

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May 9, 2013, 1:10:12 PM5/9/13
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The title is changed, as requested (after all, I specifically made the quiz for this contest).

JoeBeta

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May 10, 2013, 5:50:14 PM5/10/13
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I made a ladder for the contest. It's - Word Ladder: Bursting With Flavor

purplep...@gmail.com

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May 10, 2013, 6:22:00 PM5/10/13
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I, too, have a new word ladder ready. I was originally going to call it "Bursting with Flavor," but since JoeBeta already submitted a lovely word ladder by that name, here is Word Ladder: Lips, Teeth, Tip of the Tongue. Enjoy!

JoeBeta

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May 10, 2013, 8:41:08 PM5/10/13
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You have a lovely ladder as well. A Hershey bar by any other name would taste as sweet. It's interesting how we were each inspired by the same title and headed off in different directions.

druhutch

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May 11, 2013, 12:02:04 AM5/11/13
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Those are both excellent ladders. Well done.

Purple_Parrot, since yours was originally intended for the contest and it's really good and I certainly recognize (and have fond memories of) the vocal exercise your new title is a reference too, I'll qualify and include it in the contest as well. Great job all. 

(Two days left)  

Daniel Hodgson

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May 11, 2013, 6:01:52 PM5/11/13
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I know I've seen in a few places on this thread that within the last two days we might be able to make a third.  Is that open still, I hate so see all those titles go to waste?


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teddy109768

druhutch

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May 11, 2013, 6:57:19 PM5/11/13
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Go for it

Daniel Hodgson

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May 11, 2013, 9:52:40 PM5/11/13
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As promised here is my third,


On Sat, May 11, 2013 at 6:57 PM, druhutch <wanna...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Go for it


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teddy109768

Daniel Hodgson

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May 11, 2013, 9:53:32 PM5/11/13
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As promised here is my third:

Spacemaniac

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May 11, 2013, 10:49:30 PM5/11/13
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Here's Word Ladder: Terminal Velociraptor, it exceeds the limit a bit, but I think it's needed for the ladder.

On May 12, 2013, at 4:53 AM, Daniel Hodgson <teddy...@gmail.com> wrote:

As promised here is my third:

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druhutch

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May 13, 2013, 12:44:25 AM5/13/13
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Congrats to citkeane for the fourth publish of the contest with Word Ladder: Meet Me in Montauk.

This publish is very timely, because now we are SOOOO done. It's over! Great job to everyone who participated. I'm confident that there will be many more publishes, even in the very near future. But no matter what happens, I will make good on my promise to EP all the quizzes that were submitted. This of course will be done over time in spaced out intervals so that your quiz gets the attention it deserves. It's very good, after all.

Speaking of very good, I met Henry Winkler yesterday.

 
What does that have to do with the contest? Absolutely nothing. But if YOU had met Henry Winkler yesterday, wouldn't you find a way to work it into every conversation? Of course you would. I'm only human after all.

Here's the final list:
Word Ladder: Meet Me in Montauk – citkeane (published today)Word Ladder: Chekhov’s Gun - amazing joshWord Ladder: All Glory to the Hypnotoad - Admiral Maxtreme (published)

spacemaniacsporcle

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May 13, 2013, 2:07:23 AM5/13/13
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Haha, dru, I've met him a coupla times... At family reunions :P


On Monday, May 13, 2013, druhutch <wanna...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Congrats to citkeane for the fourth publish of the contest with Word Ladder: Meet Me in Montauk.
> This publish is very timely, because now we are SOOOO done. It's over! Great job to everyone who participated. I'm confident that there will be many more publishes, even in the very near future. But no matter what happens, I will make good on my promise to EP all the quizzes that were submitted. This of course will be done over time in spaced out intervals so that your quiz gets the attention it deserves. It's very good, after all.
> Speaking of very good, I met Henry Winkler yesterday.
>
> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wKhaoG9Zb-4/UZBtWfb9EZI/AAAAAAAAAHI/7AsfbV2M1d4/s320/winkler2.jpg>

>
>  
> What does that have to do with the contest? Absolutely nothing. But if YOU had met Henry Winkler yesterday, wouldn't you find a way to work it into every conversation? Of course you would. I'm only human after all.
> Here's the final list:
>
> Word Ladder: No Applause, Just Throw Money – Cryptus
> Word Ladder: It’s a Trap! – untitled
> And
> Word Ladder: It’s a Trap! – teddy109768
> And
> Word Ladder: It's a Trap! - Word Ladder: Probably Something Churchill Said – amazing josh

druhutch

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May 13, 2013, 2:18:25 AM5/13/13
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You're related to The Fonz? That means you have coolness, like...in your genes.

iglew

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May 13, 2013, 2:20:28 AM5/13/13
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I still intend to finish the Sean Bean one, but I missed the contest deadline. It may be a while. I don't like to rush quizzes before they're ready.

spacemaniacsporcle

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May 13, 2013, 3:27:29 AM5/13/13
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OK, so I lied a bit, I'm related to him though I've never met him.
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Trevor Birenbaum

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May 13, 2013, 6:16:49 AM5/13/13
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Just realized that you have an extra s in my name for Its a Trap.

-MST

Josh C.

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May 14, 2013, 6:43:53 AM5/14/13
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The fifth publish is here! A Hawk from a Handsaw by jakethegoldfish was published today, his first publish!
Congrats!

Josh C.

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May 14, 2013, 6:47:54 AM5/14/13
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And on a completely unrelated, but still awesome, note, Sprout's State Abbr. Blitz with Booby Traps has reached a million plays.  Also, his first!  
He's a real Sporcle millionaire (apologies to Puckett86).

jakethegoldfish

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May 14, 2013, 4:38:24 PM5/14/13
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Thanks Josh!

druhutch

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May 15, 2013, 12:08:22 AM5/15/13
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Hadn't really planned to continue updating this, but since he was the one who pointed out the publish yesterday, it's only right to congratulate amazingjosh on the sixth publish, today's Word Ladder: Probably Something Churchill Said.

iglew

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May 15, 2013, 12:25:47 AM5/15/13
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It feels like that's been edited quite a bit since last time I saw it.

mcory

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May 15, 2013, 4:33:40 PM5/15/13
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Looks like fun.  I wish I could participate but my account's been suspended.

Josh C.

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May 16, 2013, 7:31:26 AM5/16/13
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And a seventh- Unthemed in Brown and Amber from goseaward!
I would post the link, but my phone does not like, unfortunately. Yay!

Spacemaniac

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May 16, 2013, 7:59:47 AM5/16/13
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Just wanted y'all to know that my Terminal Velociraptor one is now mega!!!

As this is my first Mega Word Ladder, I would really appreciate feedback.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 16, 2013, at 2:31 PM, "Josh C." <joshm...@gmail.com> wrote:

And a seventh- Unthemed in Brown and Amber from goseaward!
I would post the link, but my phone does not like, unfortunately. Yay!

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Quizmaster91

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May 16, 2013, 10:45:01 AM5/16/13
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I think the ladder first went HEAD-HERD-HERE-HIRE, and now there 6 rungs between HEAD and HIRE. First of all, I don't know exactly what these kind of changes add to the ladder, since there are no themed rungs inbetween and the ladder was, IMO, long enough already. More importantly, it seems like you forgot to change some clues. The clue for BEAD is large animal group (probably was HERD) and for BEND the clue says .... comes the sun (probably from the HERE rung).

Op donderdag 16 mei 2013 13:59:47 UTC+2 schreef Spacemaniac het volgende:

Spacemaniac

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May 16, 2013, 10:57:02 AM5/16/13
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OK, thanks for the clues pointing out, it's all fixed now.

About the extra clues, it turns out that I had one bung, and I removed that bung but that put me at 68 rungs which would make it uneven on 3 columns (which I like) so I had to get it 72 rungs.

Sent from my iPhone
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Josh C.

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May 17, 2013, 2:22:18 PM5/17/13
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And the 8th today!


 
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