Weekly Puzzle / Trivia contest

[erwin]

Hi all,

There will be a weekly puzzle / trivia contest, starting next Sunday at 27th July, 9pm EST, and will run for at least two months. The contest goes as follows:

-A category will be chosen for the week, and there will be eight items from the category selected.
-There will be cryptic clues for each of the eight items, and players will try to guess what the items are.
-The first correct guess for each item wins a bronze token, as well as the first person to guess what the category is.
-So in total, you can win up to 9 bronze tokens per week.

An example:

Gunmen's favourite doll;soft grass

could be a clue, and this would correspond to: Moll; lea, and you would guess that the answer is: "Molly".

If you want to submit in your own puzzle, feel free to do so!

[erwin]

We've started the first puzzle / trivia contest early, since we have active players Vryce, Shannara, Tairn, and Wolfsbane. Here are the clues, and answers.

Category:

1. Female seductress, structure for burning
2. Key resolves this,home for avians
3. Forum dweller
4. Ricoletti's wife,drug slang,boys after military training
5. Table tennis rhyme
6. Italian dessert, powers of three
7. Yellow stinger with half a laugh might be drawn to flame
8. European country, curved headgear, fantastic story

Kvetch has donated 9 bronze tokens, and Pix donated 1, and they go to the following players:

Tairn: 4 (answered 4,6,7, simultaneously guessed category with Shannara)
Shannara: 4 (answered 1,3,8, simultaneously guessed category with Tairn)
Wolfsbane: 1 (answered 2)
Vryce: 1 (answered 5)


Answers are below (spoilers):

Category: Monsters

1. Female seductress (vamp), structure for burning (pyre): Vampire
2. Key resolves this (lock), home for avians (nest): Loch Ness Monster
3. Forum dweller: Troll
4. Ricoletti's wife (abominable - it's a Sherlock Holmes reference) ,drug slang (snow) ,boys after military training (men): Abominable Snowman
5. Table tennis rhyme: King Kong
6. Italian dessert (gelato), powers of three (cube): Gelatinous cube
7. Yellow stinger (bee) with half a laugh (hee) might be drawn to flame (moth): Behemoth
8. European country (Hungary), curved headgear (horns), fantastic story (tale): Hungarian Horntail

We took about 21 minutes for this contest - great job everyone!

We'll have the second contest at Sunday around the same time - hope to see more players there!

[erwin]

Hi all,

Here are this week's clues (as modern haikus). Remember, a bronze  token for the first person (either on gossip to brag or by sending me a note) for each item, and another bronze token for the category! Prizes will be given out once all clues and category are solved.

Category:

1.

Theft for survival
Redemption
Cat and mouse both die

2.

A mask hides many things
Not just my face
But distortion in my soul

3.

Eight people in my way
Carefully planned murders
Left plans in cell. Oops.

4.

My ambitious mother
Pushes the best for me
I do strip teases now

5.

Innocent woman
No money or connections
Dies in rope trick

6

Country girl in city
Establishes ambition, dies young
A nation mourns

7

Unwanted and unloved
Girl develops psychic powers
Finds a new home

8

Tries to help people
No good deed goes unpunished
Crap.

Happy puzzling!

[erwin]

This week's puzzle was apparently too hard, and number 3, 5, and 8 were left unsolved. However, Bane has answered 1,4, and 7 ; Hesper has answered 2, and guessed the category, and Kvetch has answered 6.

Here are the answers:

The category I was looking for was Musicals, but I accepted Broadway plays from Hesper, since *technically* all of them showed on Broadway.

So for a bit of culture (and because when we MUD, we should also learn something new , here are the answers, some explanations, and YouTube links!

1.

Theft for survival
Redemption
Cat and mouse both die

The answer to this is Les Miserables. This describes Jean Valjean, the main character in the musical, where he stole a loaf of bread for his sister's child (and was sent to prison for 19 years). After his release, he strove for redemption. Javert, one of the prison guards, did not believe he could turn over a new leaf, and was hunting him down over the course of the musical. Sadly, both die in the end. This was the first ever musical I watched, and it holds quite a few memories for me.

Here's a Youtube link to the 10th anniversary of Les Mis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAVrm3wjzq8

2.

A mask hides many things
Not just my face
But distortion in my soul

This was the first to be guessed by Hesper (and other players), and of course, this is the Phantom of the Opera. It is set in France as well (did you know Les Miserables, and the current Phantom were derivatives of previous musicals?), and tells the tale of Christine, Raoul, and the Phantom. In the song "Down Once More", the Phantom sings: "This face which earned a mother's fear and loathing, a mask, my first unfeeling scrap of clothing..." to which Christine sings back: "..it's in your soul, where the true distortion lies".

Here's a Youtube link to the 25th anniversary of Phantom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8gEw57r98Q

3.

Eight people in my way
Carefully planned murders
Left plans in cell. Oops.

This was not guessed by anyone at all - but it is a relatively new musical, which came out on Broadway last year. It's A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, and was inspired by the movie Kind Hearts and Coronets, which was inspired by the book Israel Rank: the Autobiography of a Criminal. This musical is set in Victorian England (presumably), where the protagonist decides to murder people in the way to his inheritance. It's extremely funny too, and reminds me of Gilbert and Sullivan operas when I watched it last year. Guess what happens in the end?

Anyway - here's a YouTube link to the soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44nHi_rXIxI&index=2&list=PLGA_rouGAHXbcV02UDT0a9rDQzdZTgPyM

4.

My ambitious mother
Pushes the best for me
I do strip teases now

The musical here changes location to the United States - and of course, this is Gypsy. It's loosely based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous burlesque striptease artiste in the 1950s. The musical shows how young Gypsy Rose Lee became the striptease artiste eventually. Surprisingly, I can connect with some of the characters in this musical....

Here's a Youtube link to the Gypsy soundtrack for the movie (not the Broadway production alas): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpOhdv2DV6s

5.

Innocent woman
No money or connections
Dies in rope trick

This is a hard one, and no one guessed this. The musical is Chicago, and is set in the United States, in the city of - you've guessed it, Chicago. From the Wikipedia entry, the musical is a "satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice, and the concept of the celebrity criminal". But the entire musical follows the protagonist (can we even call her that?) Roxie Hart - from when she shot her lover, to her prison time, and after she gets acquitted. What's the haiku about?

Well, in the prison she gets sent to, everyone (except one) is guilty of murdering their spouses / lovers, but no one gets hanged. Except the innocent Hungarian woman, who dies in a "rope trick"....

The Youtube link is to the movie soundtrack (well - it's continuous!) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxyzp6LoeQo

6

Country girl in city
Establishes ambition, dies young
A nation mourns

We now take a detour to South America, for this musical is Evita, guessed by Kvetch. I goofed up a bit because I was sleepy when I hosted this last Sunday, and when Shannara said "Marilyn", I said she was close, and then slightly later realized I screwed up - I was thinking of Madonna, who played as Evita in the movie. The musical depicts the life of Eva Peron. The musical depicts Eva's rise to Colonel Juan Peron's wife, and "leader" of Argentina - and actually humanizes her.

Here's a Youtube link to the Evita soundtrack (Madonna is singing!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVyU_gdCnek&list=PL5AC61F8206235E52

7

Unwanted and unloved
Girl develops psychic powers
Finds a new home

After going from France to England, to America, and then to South America, we go back to England again with Matilda. Probably most people has read Roald Dahl's Matilda, so I won't say much. Except maybe the set design, dances, and some special effects which I like - I watched this in January this year, and this has got to be one of my favourite musicals. For those of you in England, go take advantage of the £5 rush tickets and watch this musical - you'll never get to watch a musical that cheap across the ocean!

Here's the Youtube link to the Matilda soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCQst9ruq0w&list=PLnnZSd9hTNDiDTfWIgDh4752-42QmfoZY


8

Tries to help people
No good deed goes unpunished
Crap.


I thought this was the easiest actually, only because of the "No good deed goes unpunished", but way too many people were guessing Spiderman and Batman. This is none other than Wicked. It's the only musical in this contest which is set in a fictional world of L. Frank Baum - Oz. But instead of chronicling the adventures of Dorothy, we see the viewpoint of the "Wicked Witch of the West", who really isn't.. wicked through the musical. She's looked down upon because of her green skin, and is misunderstood when she tries to help people (hence her song: "No good deed"). And in the end she dies - or does she? Watch the musical and find out!

The Youtube link to the soundtrack is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li8cryWN2ew&list=PLD52A49BC06032D3D


And there we go - all eight musicals! See you this weekend for the third contest.

[erwin]

Here are the puzzles for the third week.

First - the clues

1. Bovine computing device
2. Rat-catcher disaster
3. Criticizing clothing concealing predator
4. A hounding growth from within.
5. Terribly large insect
6. King's pendant
7. Egyptian sheep
8. Explosive spider

Now here are the solutions

Category: Words containing animals

1. Bovine computing device - Calculator
2. Rat-catcher disaster - Catastrophe
3. Criticizing clothing concealing predator - Lambast (to criticize)
4. A hounding growth from within - Endogeny
5. Terribly large insect - Giant
6. King's pendant - Medallion
7. Egyptian sheep - Pyramid
8. Explosive spider - Dynamite

Shannara wins 5 tokens (guessed Category, 1, 5, 6,
Serimia wins 1 token (guessed 2)
Stile wins 1 token (guessed 7)
Ivana wins 1 token (guessed 3)

[erwin]

We've had the 4th puzzle contest for this week - with the questions as such:

Category: ??
1. Best amongst men, heavyweight
2. Pitched fight, candle material
3. A beast of burden crossing bodies of water at shallow places
4. Exchanging old lamps, Redneck area, aquatic animal
5. Painful feet syndrome, Lithuania's capital
6. Dunderhead, famous Filipina singer
7. Veni, a nautical place of meeting
8. Redealing a bridge hand, pivot, revolution

The answers are shown below:

A hint was given on the MUD: The category is something associated with what most of the players have done, except Once, which possibly explains why Once is probably the most successful player in real life, and why he solved most of the questions.

Category: Colleges (guessed by Bane)

1. Best amongst men (prince), heavyweight (ton) - Princeton (guessed by Shannara)
2. Pitched fight (war), candle material (wick) - Warwick (guessed by Once)
3. A beast of burden (ox) crossing bodies of water at shallow places (ford) - Oxford (guessed by Once)
4. Exchanging old lamps (for new), Redneck area (south), aquatic animal (whale) - New South Wales (guessed by Once)
5. Painful feet syndrome (corns), Lithuania's capital (L) - Cornell (guessed by Once)
6. Dunderhead (berk), famous Filipina singer (Lea Salonga) - Berkeley (no one guessed this)
7. Veni (came), a nautical place of meeting (bridge) - Cambridge (guessed by Tadrielith)
8. Redealing a bridge hand (wash), pivot (hinge), revolution (turn) - Washington (guessed by Once)

Tokens for this week were donated by Kvetch, and here is the breakdown:
Bane: 1
Once: 5
Shannara: 1
Tadrielith: 1

[erwin]

Here's the questions for the 5th puzzle contest, which was a short one.

Category:
1. Animals star, frog rides motorcar
2. Ageless via paint, evil deeds does leads to soul taint
3. Wager on travelling ride, end up marrying Indian bride
4. Dinosaur trip for proof indicated, scientist vindicated
5. Monster created, leads to hatred
6. Although circumstances vicious, London pickpocket elevated to riches
7. French revolutionary damning, mistaken identity hanging
8. Identical as if a clone, impersonating a king to save a throne

The answers are shown below:

Category: Books (classics) - or if you want to be precise, classics written by English novelists in the 19th century.

1. Wind in the Willows
2. Picture of Dorian Grey
3. Around the world in 80 days
4. Lost World
5. Frankenstein
6. Oliver Twist
7. A Tale of Two Cities
8. Prisoner of Zenda

All of these books are available to read online (eg such as Project Gutenberg), and if you're looking for some fiction to read, why not try them out?

The breakdown of the tokens are as such:
Tadrielith: 7
Once: 1
Loran: 1
with Loran guessing 2, Once guessing 3, and Tadrielith guessing the rest and the category.

[erwin]

Here are the questions for the sixth puzzle contest, which was extremely difficult. Two questions were unsolved.

Category:

1. Day of especial colour, unsightly face disfigurement, zero
2. Donkey, night accommodation, flower
3. Common woody plant, old-fashioned gun
4. A girl's best friend, square container
5. Crows, deep regret, before a funeral
6. Famous polymath, secret symbols
7. To find a cardinality, sandwich
8. Bad posture, near bridge of locks

The category was: Novels set in France

Hopefully, this contest will provide you with some interesting reading material

1. Day of especial colour (red), unsightly face disfigurement (pimple), zero (null): The Scarlet Pimpernel (unsolved)
2. Donkey (ass), night accommodation (inn), flower (lupin) : Arsene Lupin (Kitolani)
3. Common woody plant (tree), old-fashioned gun (musket): Three Musketeers (Once)
4. A girl's best friend (chocolate), square container (box): Chocolate Box (unsolved)
5. Crows (murder), deep regret (rue), before a funeral (morgue): Murders in the Rue Morgue (Serimia)
6. Famous polymath (Da Vinci), secret symbols (code): The Da Vinci Code (Once)
7. To find a cardinality (count), sandwich (Monte Cristo): The Count of Monte Cristo (Once)
8. Bad posture (hunchback), near bridge of locks (Notre Dame): The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Vryce)

Some trivia:
1. You might want to check out The Scarlet Pimpernel (and sequels) - while trying not to give away too much of the plot, it's about an Englishman rescuing French royalists during the Reign of Terror in France. Surprisingly, there were lots of "copycats" in real life, such as the American Pimpernel who rescued people during WW2, etc. Check this out!

2. Most of the Arsene Lupin novels have been translated into English, and he's the French equivalent of Sherlock Holmes (and surprisingly, not of A.J. Raffles). There are some famous novels like 813, the Teeth of the Tiger featuring Arsene Lupin, and they're certainly must-reads.

3. Chocolate Box is a short story featuring Hercule Poirot - one of his rare failures. Every detective needs a story about his failures - else he/she will have a super inflated ego...

The breakdown of the tokens are as such:
Kitolani: 1
Serimia: 1
Vryce: 1
Once: 3

[Parnassus]

Off topic, I'd like to point out that some of the Scarlet Pimpernel books can be found online:
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/o#a45

The Laughing Cavalier (a prequel)
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel (short stories)
I Will Repay
The Elusive Pimpernel
Lord Tony's Wife
Eldorado

[erwin]

Might as well:

Here's the link for (some) Arsene Lupin novels and short stories:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1358

The books on Gutenberg in chronological order (for the Lupin universe):

Arsene Lupin Gentleman Thief (short stories)
The Confessions of Arsene Lupin (short stories)
The Crystal Stopper
Arsene Lupin (play / novel)
Arsene Lupin versus Sherlock Holmes (aka The Blonde Lady)
The Hollow Needle
The Eight Strokes of the Clock (short stories)
813
The Golden Triangle
The Secret of Sarek
The Teeth of the Tiger

If you understand French, the complete collection of Arsene Lupin novels and short stories can be found online, eg at:
http://www.ebooksgratuits.com/ebooks.php?auteur=Leblanc_Maurice

If you are interested in A.J. Raffles (briefly mentioned above - interestingly, his author was a brother in law to Arthur Conan Doyle), the entire collection of novels and short stories can be found here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/364

The Amateur Cracksman (short stories)
Mr Justice Raffles (novel)
A Thief in the Night (in betweenish ; short stories)
Raffles: Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman (short stories)

Personally, I prefer Lupin over Raffles, but others may think differently.

[erwin]

Here are the questions for the seventh puzzle contest which was easy!

1. Soldier's accommodation, almost a terrorist
2. Kingly name, cleanse with water, heavy
3. Great wealth, to express denial, operating
4. End of month headache, place of confinement, supported by a surface
5. Famous Portugal football player, stink, projectile weapon
6. Boy wizard, bereft of falsehood, Leonardo's drawing
7. Small insect sketched by descendant of a giant-killer
8. Dragon killer, tribute for Knights of Ni

The answers are shown below.

Category: US Presidents (Kvetch)

1. Soldier's accommodation (barrack), almost a terrorist (osama): Barrack Obama (Serimia)
2. Kingly name (George), cleanse with water (wash), heavy (ton): George Washington (Kvetch)
3. Great wealth (rich), to express denial (nix), operating (on): Richard Nixon (Serimia)
4. End of month headache (bill), place of confinement (clink), supported by a surface (on): Bill Clinton (Kvetch)
5. Famous Portugal football player (Ronaldo), stink (reek), projectile weapon (gun): Ronald Reagan (Serimia)
6. Boy wizard (Harry), bereft of falsehood (true), Leonarng (Vitruvian man): Harry Truman (Kvetch)
7. Small insect (ant) sketched (drew) by descendant (son) of a giant-killer (jack): Andrew Jackson (Serimia)
8. Dragon killer (George), tribute for Knights of Ni (shrubbery): George Bush (Serimia)

The breakdown is as follows:
Kvetch: 4
Serimia: 5

[erwin]

Here are the questions for the eighth puzzle contest, sponsored by Vegas.

1. A day to celebrate trees and the earth
2. A place of eternal felicity
3. Preserves made of oyster irritants
4. Smooth screws 3 inches less than a foot
5. Something naughty kids do on Halloween
6. Stereo cranium
7. A rabbit's friend is held captive
8. Sleep, perchance to dream, or so Nathaniel Kleitman seems to think

The answers are shown below:

Category: 90s bands (Tadrielith)
1. A day to celebrate trees and the earth: Green Day (Kvetch)
2. A place of eternal felicity: Nirvana (Kvetch)
3. Preserves made of oyster irritants: Pearl Jam (Tadrielith)
4. Smooth screws 3 inches less than a foot: Nine inch nails (Tadrielith)
5. Something naughty kids do on Halloween: Smashing pumpkins (Kvetch)
6. Stereo cranium: Radiohead (Tadrielith)
7. A rabbit's friend is held captive: Alice in Chains (Kvetch)
8. Sleep, perchance to dream, or so Nathaniel Kleitman seems to think: R.E.M. (Tadrielith)

Tadrielieth gets 5 tokens!
Kvetch gets 4 rooms...

[Kvetch]

You mean 90's bands is not the same as bands of the 90's?  I know... you're going to say it's because I gave you multiple guesses, but truthfully when no one's answering to let anyone know whether they're on the right track or not, and someone has to leave, it's all I can do - since the last time "more detail" was needed.  Oh, and I don't get credit for Smashing Pumpkins - that wasn't my guess, check your note again.  Though I know I guessed R.E.M for the last one.  And there is no way you can tell me someone guessed before I did.. There was no one on doing the puzzle except me until I started guessing (and getting nothing in response) until Rosey showed up and then no one until after I sent my note and left.  I also take credit for Pearl Jam - that was the first one I guessed.  Nine Inch Nails was the second - and the one I used as an example to try to teach Rosey how the game is played.

Here is the note for all to see - includes the time sent, though I was guessing right after Pixie posted it - but again.. no response....  Can't rule against me for that.

       From: Kvetch
    Subject: puzzle
     Posted: Sun Sep  7 22:00:17 2014
         To: pix vegas loria calypso
=================================================
If you're not even going to be here to let us know whether or not we have the
answers right, why post it (other than my complaining)?
category is one of the following:
musicians, bands, bands of the 80's, bands of the 90's, or something similar.
1) Green Day
2) Nirvana
3) Pearl Jam
4) Nine Inch Nails
5) Cheap Trick
6)  Dunno.. currently drawing a blank
7) Alice In Chains
R. E. M.

The reason for my multiple guesses on category was this:  1) I confused Green Day with Green Jelly (Three Little Pigs), which I knew was before 1990 and I was sure R.E.M had been around for a while (they have - first album released in 1983).  And if my cheap trick guess had been right then 90's would have been out of it completely.   Though, I did guess the 90's because no one was telling me anything different.

So, the count should go like this:

Category: Kvetch - bands of the 90's
1) Kvetch - Green Day
2) Kvetch - Nirvana
3) Kvetch - Pearl Jam
4) Kvetch - Nine Inch Nails
5) whoever said smashing pumpkings - probably Tad
6) Tadrielith - Radiohead
7) Kvetch - Alice in Chains
Kvetch - R.E.M.
That gives Kvetch 7 and Tad 2.  Shoot.. I'll even give him the category since I "didn't word it right" or something so: Kvetch 6, Tad 3.

[erwin]

Urhm.. actually I wanted to give Tad more tokens...encourage him

That's why on the Old West board it says Kvetch: 8, Tad 5...

[Kvetch]

Yeah, pay for ties!