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AVMA Take 2
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Yes, it's another round of that classic guessing game - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Abstract [or any combination thereof]. This effort - '03/'04 should address any queries, but then again, may just serve to confuse and baffle which some might say is the point of the game. Patience, integrity and a decent search engine may be useful ....
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Is it related to sound?
A still life painting?
An imaginary baton?
A novel?
Something mathematical?
Lust?
[Tuj] - No, unless you speak it out loud.
[Dujon] - No.
[Boolbar] - No.
[Software] - No, although the expression has been used in the titles of novels.
[SimonsMith] - No.
[Rosie] - No, although if you do something about it, a vague link may appear.
Does it begin with P?
Post-coital tristesse?
Does the AOTC contain the word "birth"?
A well known phrase or saying?
Is there more than one word in the AOTC?
Improbability?
Connected to emotions?
Is it a human construct?
Old Times?
The existence of Superman?
[Tuj] No. One does make an appearance.
[Raak] No.
[Rosie] No.
[Softers] No.
[Bism] No. Some desultory applause.
[Radox] No. Some more desultory applause.
[Simons] On balance, no.
[CdM] No, though philosophers may demur.
[Chalky] No.
[Rosie #2] No.
A scientific concept?
[Raak] No.
Is mathematics involved?
Medical?
Luck-related - e.g. gambling?
Some sort of pseudo science?
[Raak] No.
[Chalky] No.
[Simons] No.
[Software] No.
That all denied, it is possible to relate all of the propositions made to the word, as in a medical AOTC, etc. But I still hold to NO.
An emergency?
The cold?
A compilation?
Is it to do with politics?
Anticipation?
[Raak] No.
[Rosie] No.
[Simons] No.
[Radox] Well now, not as I imagined it, but while checking I found several countries have a ministry for it.
[Chalky] No.
To do with food?
Silly Walks?
Religion?
Is the AOTC hyphenated?
[Bism] No.
[Raak] Hopefully no country has that ministry. No.
[Rosie] No.
[Simons] No.
A sensation?
'Development'?
A Surprise?
Privacy?
[Raak] No.
[Simons] The Zoom audience suddenly wake up and applaud. No.
[Chalky] isn’t everything? Some more Zooming.
[Bism] No.
Unexpected?
Productivity/Production?
Competition?
That's got a 'p' in it
[Chalky] vide supra, "surprise"
[Simons 1] Audience posts a couple of comments. No.
[Simons 2] Audience definitely all awake, in so far as sixty-one thumbnails are in any way visible on Zoom. No.
Related to economics?
Pertaining to LMIC?
Imports / Exports ?
[CdM] Yes, definitely.
[Chalky] No. Not specifically
[Simons] Could well be.
Zoom getting quite animated, though I really don’t want to know what three up and eight across is doing.
Transport?
The bank rate?
Income tax?
Money?
Getting close?
[Simons] No.
[Software] No.
[Rosie] No.

Audience all seem to have switched off their microphones again.
It's related to economics, but it's not economics, it's like development but it isn't development. There is one word and one 'p' in the word and you find government departments named after it. The rest can be summed up as "No."
Whoops. [Raak] No.
Sport?
Oops
*hurriedly turns off video*
Monopolies?
Anything to do with festivities?
Corporations? Companies?
[Raak] No.
[Simons] No, though thay may fall under the responsibility of the said department.
[Radox] No.
[Simons] Very much to do with such things, but a more general term is needed. No.
The economy?
Employment?
Unemployment?
[Raak] No.
[Simons] No.
[CdM] No.
All worthy guesses but all circling round the plug hole. A little more ...oomph... is needed. The Zoom-ers are practising singing in chorus, the effect is terrible.
The National Debt?
Enterprise?
I'm scraping the government department-speak barrel so hard I'm getting splinters. There's got to be something else in here
[Raak] No.
[Simons] Yes! It is! You are! Correct! Take this faintly glowing baton into the new year with a beaming smile on your face! And don't forget to leave some deathless words in conclusion for the Zoom.
VEGETABLE
'nother vegetable one.

[Deathless words for Zoom: arpeggio, manganese, pantaloon and clamp.]

Is it unique?
Is it edible?
Is it a vegetable?
Wooden?
Pomegranate?
Beginning with "P"?
Fictional?
Is it larger than a toaster?
[Unique] In the sense I intended, yes
[Edible] No
[A vegetable] No
[Wooden] No
[Pomegranate] Nuh uh
[Pegetable] No
[Fictional] Ironically, no.
[>Toaster] No.
Poisonous?
Is it in a museum?
Does it belong to one particular person?
Is it like coffee a substrate for a drinkable decoction?
Is it a fruit?
Is it a plant?
[Poisonous] No
[Museum] No
[Single owner] No
[Drinkable substrate] No
[Fruity] No
[Planty] No
Is it currently alive?
Is it in Europe?
Is it art?
Parasitic?
[alive] No
[In Europe] Yes
[art] No
[parasitic] No
This game is a lot harder if you're strict about your Yes/Nos.
Is it a fungus?
Coal?
A small dead european thing?
Did this exist in the year 1900?
Brussels sprout?
A punt from just outside my own penalty-area.
Is it green in colour?
Does it have writing on it?
[fungoid] No
[coal] No
[S.D.E.T.] No
[1900] No
[Sprout] No
[Green] No
[Writing] Yes
Are the words a work of fiction?
Is it a physical copy of a book?
Does it belong to you?
An inscription ... on to parchment of some sort?
Written by one specific person?
I've never felt so useful! That'll wear off.
Phew, suddenly homing in from miles away
[fiction] yes
[physical] yes
[mine] no
[inscription] no
[one author] yes
1984?
Is it in on public display?
Written last century?
Does it have pictures?
[1984] No
[Display] No
[20C] Yes
[Pictures] No
Is the following a correct (not necessarily exhaustive) summary of what we have learned? We are seeking to identify a single specific physical copy of a not-green less-than-toaster-sized book that is a single-authored work of 20th century fiction without pictures, is located in Europe, is not on public display or in a museum, would not be classified as art, is not 1984, does not begin with P, and—and this is the most puzzling bit—does not have a single owner.
And a follow-up question on the puzzling bit: is the ownership of this book none the less clearly defined?
(For example, owned by a household or an institution such as a school or library)
Is it a forgery?
Is it poetry?
Written in English?
Is it hidden away because of its dangerous content?
[shopping list] No. Pretty good summary, but not perfect.
[clearly-defined owner] No.
[forgery] No.
[poetry] No.
[English] Yes.
[dangerous] No.
Are there multiple copies of this book?
Does it have the word 'The' in the title?
[multiple copies] Yes.
[The] Yes.
Is this a work of reference?
Biographical?
[Reference, Biographical] No, fiction.
Is the author still alive?
Was it written by an American person?
[living author] No
[American] Yes
Does the book contain a collection of stories?
The stories of O. Henry?
Is it a single physical copy of a book?
Just trying to work out where I am confused.
[Collection] No
[Oh, Enry] No
[single physical] Yes. I'll break my yes-no rule and say that it's not a specific physical copy, just any old physical copy. This hypothetical copy happens to be in Europe.
Great Gatsby?
[GG] Yes!
That's right, a copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 30,000,000-seller. Came out of US copyright at the start of the year.
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
Lucky guess there, I feel. So try your luck on the next subject which is ANIMAL.
Is it a blue footed booby?
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