Just make sure you keep the baton out of the rain.
[Tuj] Your welcome I didn't want you worrying the wrong end of the stick for too long. It is safe to say if it is at all fictional it did not start out that way.
To summarise: The AOTC is a physical object that has, through association with a phrase or saying, become not fictional but certainly metaphorical to the extent that it can appear on the internet (and not just as a picture). The original object may be/have been made of wood, metal or a combination of both. It is/was not a household object or related to boats and does not begin with P. Both the object and it's usage in the phrase date to before 1900, but it was not used on the internet until sometime later.
If any of the above appears to contradict anything I've said before, then assume my previous answers were accidentally wrong and use the new information.
NB, on reflection for Tuj's "Does it begin with P?" question, I should add that the most important part of the answer on the card starts with "P".
Well done! Please accept this Shepherd's Crook shaped baton!
Moving on we'll have primarily VEGETABLE with major ANIMAL connections - In fact technically, there are also significant Mineral and Abstract associations as well, but that's not going to help at this stage
Throws a baton in the air to see who will catch it.
(CdM) Couldn't you have made it 98.4 - body temperature, the percentage of H2SO4 in conc. sulphuric, the number of feet in 30 metres . . . . I could go on.
A couple of clues:
1. The format of the answer is actually 'THE something abstract OF someone AND THE something
2. Consider what else has come down to us from the Greeks apart from their myths and legends
Here, have half a baton and a quarter of a baton and an eighth of a baton, and ........
So, our next offering is
As hot as hell is on the card. Well it felt that way when I kicked this one off! I hand over the iced baton to cfm.
Twice in quick succession. Well, well!
Now what do we have here? Another ABSTRACT with ANIMAL, VEGETABLE and MINERAL connections.
* Scantily clad girl parades the answer card in front of the audience *
CLUE: there is more than one of these
SUMMARY - Concentrate on the ABSTRACT. It is not: a fairy story, a life choice, a saying, a game, a passtime, scientific, religious or other social theory, nothing to do with language, politics philosophy or art. ANIMAL connection is strong the others less so. Good luck, it ain't that hard!
Hurrah! * hands over Brighton rock shaped sticky baton to GL at last *
Let's try this, then:
MINERAL with ANIMAL and Vegetable connections.
Please accept this SpaceX shaped baton
OK, this next one is
ABSTRACT with ANIMAL CONNECTIONS
The next is MINERAL, with ABSTRACT connections.
Mine is ABSTRACT, potentially with connections to all three other categories.
ABSTRACT and MINERAL.
Phil has it. The midday sun. Well done. Stay indoors.
Next, for your amusement and intellectual delight, we shall have:
Enough of this rambling - the next object is
ABSTRACT with ANIMAL and MINERAL connections.
Clarification/Correction: The "human construct" applies to the wording rather than the idea itself.
Hint: The AOTC contains no verb - it's a description.
Now what have we here? The laser display board is showing the audience and the players are getting the clues:
This time it is ANIMAL
Recap:
male, well known, not especially TV oriented, not an actor or a presenter but (clue) newsworthy.
Recap:
male, well known, not especially TV oriented, not an actor or a presenter but (clue) newsworthy.
I didn't think that this would have taken so long, never mind, I now hand over the leaky baton to Phil!
AOTC is one word, a noun.
"Music" is not the AOTC, but.....
AOTC is one word.
ABSTRACT
In a desperate bid to do something about the terrifying speed of this one I could mention that the AOTC is connected with an interest of mine, but not steam locos.
Ah, yes!
ABSTRACT with ANIMAL, VEGETABLE and MINERAL connections.
* HINT: the ATOC has 3 words including the definite article *
Reprise:
ATOC 3 words including the definite article;
One begins with 'P';
Alcohol of some sort involved.
HINT: There are lots this time of year
So, onwards and outwards. Your next challenge is
To summarise: A specific non-fictional individual male mammal that died between 1 AD and 1899 AD. It's not a human, a dog, a bird, a bear or a sea creature, and doesn't begin with P.
One of my favourite animals, simply because the word "jumbo" didn't exist prior to his naming. cf. Little Tich
Here, Chalky, take this pre-1947 ivory baton.
And the next object is ABSTRACT
I should add, perhaps, that the AOTC has a kind of material connection and that this would normally be thought of as Mineral.
Hint: The AOTC has 4 words one being the definite article it exists on screen.
* audience shuffling *
Hands over the tacky microphone-shaped baton to Rosie
Right, time for something Animal
It's MINERAL. and nothing whatsoever to do with steam engines.
If the questions had been phrased "Are they.....?" the answers would have been:
(Boolbar) YES, probably
(Superman) They're probably found in almost every country.
(Raak) Not a work of art.
(Bismarck) Not a monument.
Over to you, Superman.
Now this one is
MINERAL and VEGETABLE and nothing whatsoever to do with steam locomotives.
Without further ado, let me announce an
ANIMAL subject on the card. Listen carefully as the mystery voice reads out the clue.
Well, it's ANIMAL
Your turn again.
The next is MINERAL.
ABSTRACT
(as well as trouble for a few geological theories when it's discovered).
Hint: the connection with light might be the most promising approach.
Right then, the next one is
MINERAL with an ABSTRACT feel
ABSTRACT ANIMAL
Let me pass you this invisible baton... which I'm sure I left around here somewhere.
objectithing for your ongoing delight.
The next object, which has but the most tenuous link with steam engines, is:
VEGETABLE and MINERAL
(boo meringues) I'm not sure the throwing angle is all that important but you must hold the asymmetric end and impart as much spin as possible. Mine is quite big (14" arms, 2" wide, marine ply) and I wouldn't like to be hit by it.
Forever onwards with ABSTRACT with strong ANIMAL connections
The next is MINERAL (I think, mostly) with ABSTRACT connections.
Um.
OK. These are usually MINERAL.
Thankf to the great generofity of Raak I have hundredf of tiny (but rather fplintery) batonf to paff over. Here, have thif one.
Is it edible?
Is it an animal?
Does it live in water?
Is it a ...bird?
Is it a duck?
We'd better quickly have another one.
This is ABSTRACT and absolutely nothing whatever to do with steam engines.
And the next object is ABSTRACT
The baton passes on.......
[Rosie] Yes.
[Boolbar] Yes.
[Raak] No.
[Bismarck] No.
[CdM] No.
[Superman] No again.
[Raak] YES
[Superman] No.
[Boolbar] No.
[pTuj] Nay.
[Raak] Aye.
[Bismarck] No.
[Tuj] No.
[Boolbar] Also no.
[Rosie] ... No.
[Superman]... No.
[Amazon] No, they don't sell 'em. That eliminates a lot.
[Rosie] No, not a thing.
[Fake rocks] This is getting philosophical, but if it's a fake rock, it's not a real rock, and if it's not a real rock, it's not a rock. Right?
[Boolbar, moistery] No, not even in Ireland or New Zealand. I admit in Kiwiland it might be close.
[Boolbar, fixed] Yes. You won't find any flying ones.
[Raak, eBay] No.
[KagomeShuko, minerals] I'd say that's a reasonable usage for this game. But a dead cat is still animal, and oxygen is still mineral even though it doesn't come out of the ground.
[KagomeShuko] No, no, and thrice no. But those are the closest guesses yet.
[Bismarck, glass] No.
[Tuj, metal] No.
[Raak, cavity] No.
[Dujon, Xmas] I don't know whether he likes them, but they are a necessary component of his professional work. Let's class that as a YES.
[Boolbar] No.
The AOTC is not in the least obscure but it is unusual for this game.
Right then. MINERAL with ANIMAL and VEGETABLE connections.
(Hands over the SS Great Britain shaped baton.)
OK, this next one is nothing to do with Bristol, or Wales, or steam engines. It is
VEGETABLE with strong ABSTRACT connections.
A recap - this is a book, uninspiring and of little use these days.
This is Animal
This next one is Abstract
Topical? Current, yes; relating to a surface, no.
Human experience? Yes, albeit diminished.
audience - *looks distractedly at Raak*
R0? No
[Bismarck] it says “social distancing” on the card so I think you can have that one.
Just thought I'd get that one out of the way.
CdM wins!
Please take this deck and deal the next round.
The judges want to award you the palm immediately out of sheer nervousness, but the audience want their money's worth. Pierluigi Collina is drafted in to restore order.
[Simons Mith] NO, its doings are well-documented with photographic evidence.
Audienceometer: in repose.
Audienceometer: Muttered off-topic conversations.
Audienceometer : Applause recorded for Simons Mith.
Audienceometer : comatose.
Audienceometer: Low buzz of conversation about Greta Thunberg, Tintin etc.
Audienceometer: dozing.
Audienceometer: Applause.
Audienceometer: Small effervescence for Radox.
Audienceometer: Hoots, cheers and mostly unprintable chants break out for CdM.
PS, also testing Whoops! facility, and it does seem to work, although from the message I first got I thought it was failing. Perhaps the Preview interaction is different now? But anyway, I've now done multiple whoopses and they've all worked.
[Toy] No.
[p] No.
[furniture] no.
[skool] yes.
[KagomeShuko] :-) we should have a rhyming game of this. As if the normal version wasn't hard enough.
[Metrics] Nuh uh.
[5cm hole] Yes!
[sports] Yes! Audience applause
[Olympic] Yes
[Javelin] No. Granted, they used to be wooden and are now metal, but y'can't get foam ones.
[Hockey Stick] No
[Essential] After quite a lot of thought, No. It's quite important, but not as essential as, say, the ball in football.
[uniquely used] I'm not 100% sure what you mean, but the AOTC is not used in any non-team variant of the sport(s).
[rethinking] No. The circumstances under which two hands are used are a giveaway.
And now you're all just toying with me, I think.
Flouting COVID restrictions, the audience claps one-handed with their neighbours.
It's all yours, CdM, although I'm afraid I haven't got a symbolic object to hand over. Some bugger ran off with it.
