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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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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?
Human?
Is it unique?
Is it bigger than a toaster?
Is it a red footed booby?
Is it extinct?
[Boolbar] Nay.
[Chalky] Nay.
[Tuj] Nay.
[Bismarck] Yea.
[Simons Mith] see above, Boolbar.
[Superman] Nay.
Is it alive?
Is it found in a zoo?
[Raak] Nay, not in any conventional sense.
[Tuj] Yea.
Is it tiger food?
Is it an artefact made from animal material?
[Simons Mith] Nay.
[Raak] Nay.
Is it something animals grow and/or shed?
Is it a dead horse?
Is it a part of an animal?
Is it an animal product?
Does it begin with P?
[Simons Mith] Nay.
[CdM] Neigh.
Hidden textYou didn't see that coming, did you?

[Boolbar] Nay.
[Raak] Nay.
[Tuj] Hooray. One of the words does and it's the most important one.
Is it an apex predator?
Is it fictional?
Wondering how an animal in a zoo can be not dead yet not alive "in any conventional sense".
[Simons Mith] Nay, not in real life.
[Raak] Yea.
Is this an individual, named animal?
Is it something like an empty cage containing a 'water otter' or a drop bear or something?
Or is it something like a dog masquerading as a lion or similar?
Has it four legs?
A cartoon character?
[Raak] Nay.
[Simons Mith] Nay to both.
[Tuj] Nay.
[Boolbar] Hooray! Not quite a Yea, though.
Is it a pushmi-pullyu?
Does it speak for the trees?
Is it a collection of cartoon characters?
[Simons Mith] Nay.
[Raak] Nay.
[Bismarck] Yea.
Is it a mascot?
Are a tiger and a six-year-old involved?
Pingus?
Do they live in a zoo?
I think they come from China . . .
Is one of the words pandas?
[Raak] Nay.
[Dujon] Nay.
[Simons Mith] Pingus: Hooray ! but Nay. Zoolife: Yea!
[KagomeShuko] Nay²
Is Dr. Doolittle involved?
[Raak] Nay.
Related to the Harry Potter franchise?
Is a lion involved?
Are these animals movie stars?
[Raak] Nay.
[Boolbar] The zoo has a lion which has been known to interact with the AOTC, but that is not what the AOTC refers to. Nay.
[Simons Mith] Yea.
Related to a London Tube station?
P-p-p-p-latypus?
[Raak] Nay.
[KagomeShuko] N-n-n-nay.
Is it a bird?
Are rabbits involved?
Are the animals found in the farmyard?
[Raak] Yea. Or Nay if I were feeling pernickety, as we've already established there's more than one of them.
[Boolbar] Nay.
[Bismarck] Nay.
Did they appear in the film “Creature Comforts”?
[Raak] As far as I can work out, Nay. Certainly not in the pilot and not one of the regular creatures.
Do these animals live in the water?
Perhaps something fishy is going on here.
Penguins?
So we still don't know what these animals are?
Parasites?
Pelicans?
I've been struggling to think of non-four-legged animals beginning with P
Psloths?
(Psee what I mean?)
Got whiskers?
[KS] Nay.
[Boolbar] Yea. And Hooray!
[Chalky] Nay.
[SM] Nay, and Pnay.
[Tuj] Nay.
Could it be 3-2-1 Penguins?
Is it the penguins from the Madagascar films?
C'mon everyone, let's endgame.
The penguin waiters from Mary Poppins?
Do you p-p-pick up one?
Smile and wave, smile and wave.
[Tuj] Hooray! Hooray! Yea, it is indeed the group of penguins from the Madagascar films. Take this stick that might just be dangerous and leave some deathless words for the assembly.
The rest - Nay. Special mention though to KagomeShuko and Simons Mith who were not far behind/ahead.
[RTG] Ta! I suspect there may have needed to be some abstract in the introduction. Anyway!
MINERAL
Natural as opposed to man made?
Is there just one of it?
A positive start
[Dujon] Yes!
[Raak] Yes!
Is it the Blarney Stone?
Rock?
Fictional?
The Ever Given?
[KS] No!
[Rosie] Yes!
[Bool] No!
[Raak] No!
A mountain?
In the UK?
In the middle of Australia?
Is it found outdoors?
[Raak] No!
[Rosie] No!
[SM] No!
[Bool] Yes!
Is it in (or under) the sea?
Not on (or in) planet Earth?
[Raak] No!
[Bool] Yes! Extra-terrestrial!
An asteroid?
Oo! Mwa! Mwa! ?
[Rosie] No!
[Raak] *makes confused face, looks for option to turn on subtitles*
'Oumuamua?
Thanks, it defied my internet search attempts!
[Rs] No!
On Mars?
A dwarf planet?
(Tuj) Do you have to shout?
Closer to Earth than Voyager 1?
[SM] No!
[Rosie] Yes! and No!, but I've started so I'll finish
[Bool] Yes! There's an ambiguity there I'm choosing not to think about...
Ceres?
The Oordt Cloud?
[Rosie] No.
[Bism] Um, no.
Does it begin with a 'P'? ;)
[Dujon] No, not Pluto :D
Is it a cubewano?
A meteorite?
Research, research...
[SM] No!
[Rosie] No!
If it wasn't clear, the answer to Rosie's question "A dwarf planet?" was "Yes!" – the "No!" was to whether I had to shout.
Pallas?
Come on da Palace.
[Rosie] No! (not a P-)
Should
Should I be silly enough to read this name backwards would it bring up images of an earthly mountain range?
Sorry about the stutter.
Is it a cubewano?
Is it a Kuiper Belt object?
[Duj] Um... ah! No! Not Sedna :D
[Bool] Still no.
[Rosie] No!
One of Haumea, Gonggong, or Eris?
Three strikes...
[Raak] Yes!
Those three are all Kuiper Belt objects.
Wikipedia calls them trans-Neptunian, while calling some other bodies KBOs, so I think there is a distinction being made.
Raak's found the distinction I'd found. I should've known there'd be debatable categorisations when I picked the AOC, alas!
Gonggong?
Strike one...
[Rr] Nono!
Haumea?
Strike two...
[Bool] No!
Eris?
Gotta be.
Home run
[Rosie] YES!
Eris it is, named for the Greek goddess of strife and discord. A frozen methane baton is yours, sir!
Fear not, the baton will be stored in liquid nitrogen until such time . . . . . .
And the next object is

ABSTRACT

Anarcho-syndicalism?
That moment you realise you can't remember what you went upstairs for?
(Chalky) No. I thought we'd done that.
(Boolbar) Damned cheek! Not that.
related to entertainment?
Would it exist if human beings didn't?
Just to wrap up the previous round, it's very disconcerting to set a mystery and have someone else start another game with the answer as the winning move!
(Simons) NOT related to entertainment.
(Tuj) Probably, though I have little insight into the minds of animals.
Is it a feeling?
Is the AOTC a single word?
(Raak) A feeling? NO, not really.
(Tuj) YES, a single word.
Is it a theory?
Does it rely on sight?
[forgetfulness] I was thinking of myself to be honest.
is it a cognitive ability, such as counting?
(Chalky) NO, not a theory.
(Boolbar) NO, not specifically.
(SM) NO, I wouldn't call it an ability.
(Raak) more info Could arise from a feeling.
An action?
Is it a Deadly Sin?
(Raak) NO, not an action.
(Tuj)In effect, YES.
Generally considered to be a psychiatric disorder?
Jealousy?
(Raak) NO, not normally considered a psychiatric disorder.
(SM) NO, not jealousy.
Is it imagination?
Ennui?
(KagomeShuko) Imagination? NO.
(Boolbar) Ennui? NO, wrong language for one thing.
Schadenfreude?
(Raak) Good guess, but wrong.
Late entry - Greed?
Is it a positive/beneficial trait?
(Bismarck) NOT greed though this may be one of the consequences.
(SM) Positive/beneficial? Most definitely NOT.
Does it begin with P?
Poverty?
Spite?
(Tuj, and therefore Raak) NO.
(SM) NOT spite.
Avarice?
Being a chav?
(Bismarck) Avarice? NO.
(Raak) Being a chav? Not a Sin, unfortunately, so NO.
So is it a German word?
Angst?
Ofermod?
(Tuj) NO, not German. (Dim y Gymraeg chwaith.)
(Raak I) vide supra
(Raak II) Not quite the word. *appreciative applause from a well-read audience*
Well if it's not Swedish death metal is it some other musical form?
That's what I found when I looked it up
Hubris?
Raak has it. HUBRIS it is. Now don't get cocky, mate.
I withdraw the baton from its liquid nitrogen bath and carefully hand it to you. Wear all sorts of PPE, esp. gloves.
The next is ANIMAL with MINERAL connections.
A mollusc?
Rock Lobster?
Here comes a bikini whale!
Is it unique?
[Ros,Raa] Well played.
[SM] A nice literal interpretation of mineral connections, but not a mollusc.
[B] Not Rick Lobster (in any meaning of the phrase)
[T] Not unique.
BTW, there are also VEGETABLE connections, but they seemed less salient than the MINERAl ones when I set this.
[B] Nor Rock Lobster.
An egg?
[R] Not an egg.
A mole?
Is the animal edible?
[SM] not a mole.
[R] *laughter in the audience* Not edible. At least, not customarily.
Is it an entire living animal?
[SM] If I were being curmudgeonishly strict, I'd say no. It's many entire etc.
Is it that famous relative of the elephant, the Rock Hyrax?
[RtG] Not a rock hyrax.
Found in the sea?
[B] I'm sure some of them could be, from time to time, but it's not a characteristic feature.
Are they mountain/cliff critters?
[SM] No association with mountains and cliffs.
Human?
[C] The audience heaves a sigh of relief at the first step of progress. Human.
Rock stars?
Are any of these humans still alive?
[SM] Not trolls singing music with rocks in.
[B] Some are alive.
Knights in shining armour?
Does sport come into it?
Blaenau Ffestiniog quarrymen?
[SM] Nor in white satin neither.
[B] Sport can come into it, but not primarily.
[R] Not quarrymen.
Do these humans work with the minerals referenced?
[B] Yes, they work with the minerals.
Sculptors?
[SM] Not as closely as that.
Does it begin with P?
A navvy?
[T] Not only does it not begin with a P, it does not end with a P, nor is there a P in the middle.
[R] Not that closely either.
Geologists?
[B] Not geologists.
Do these people share a nationality?
Are these people skilled?
[T] Not compatriots.
[R] The audience nods at another small step in the right direction. These people are indeed skilled.
Are they miners?
Not to be confused with minors, or even minor miners . . . .
Is the mineral metal?
[KS] Not min*rs.
[R] It can be metal.
Does building come into it?
[B] The audience swoons in ecstasy. Building comes into it! Indeed it does!
I was going to say bricklayers, even before the last clue. Bricklayers?
See? I said it.
Is it, therefore, since building comes into it, though without wanting to take a leap in the dark, builders?
[SM] Not bricklayers.
[B] Not builders.
Architects?
Are they celebrated in song?
I'm thinking of a ditty by Flanders and Swann in particular.
I don't know if F&S have ever celebrated architects, but Rosie has the answer: An Architect. Have this 1:1 scale model of the Burj Khalifa.
Precognition?
Cheers, Raak. I'll put it in the garage until I find a place for it.

Now, the next object is ABSTRACT

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