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 ....
[Inkspot] Liquid? - No. [Irouleguy] Grown in frames? - No. [INJ] Part that's eaten = leaf? - No. [INJ] Part that's eaten = stalk? - Part of the part that is eaten is a stalk. [Raak] Nut? - No.
[INJ] Name of specific mushroom? - No. (But had you phrased the question differently I might have given a different answer...) [Raak] Generic mushroom? - No, I don't think so (although I am not exactly sure what you mean by a generic mushroom).
[all] Specific variety of mushroom? - No, or at least not exactly, but see my answer to INJ below. [Raak] A mushroom? - No. [Raak] A mushroom? - Still no. [INJ] Specific fungus? - It is a specific variety of fungus. However, it is not sufficient to identify the variety. [INJ] A toadstool? - No.
[Chalky] Yeast? - No. [Chalky] Edible Fungi? - I don't understand the question. Part of this specific fungus is edible, but that has already been established. [Raak] Gigantic white truffle? - No, but a ripple of applause from the audience.
[Chalky] Just noticed that I missed a question of yours way back there -- back at a time when every time I tried to post there was another question. :-) Er, anyway, no, it isn't a tree.
Hmmmmmm... I have tried to answer very carefully, but I think I have still ended up being misleading. The edible part is a specific variety of mushroom, but it is not strictly correct to describe the whole as a mushroom. The whole is a specific variety of fungus, but as I said before it is not sufficient to identify the variety.
[Raak] Continuing my clarification, the answer is a particular fungus, which has as its fruit (spore) an edible mushroom. I would guess that the mushroom is sold in some supermarkets, but I do not think it is commonly found for sale. (By the way, some of my reading has led me to the discovery that fungi are not necessarily classified as either animal or vegetable, but are a class on their own, so we may have to rename the game AVFMA.)
I'm thinking it can't be the cultivation of mushrooms on hardwood logs because you would've given a hint when I asked about trees some time ago - I still think this is some form of parasitic mushroom.
[Chalky] Mycelium? - No, but the audience applauds the parasitic mushroom comment. Chanterelle? - No. Honey mushroom? Major applause from audience. The mushroom is indeed a honey mushroom (the fungus is actually Armillaria ostoyae, but to be honest I haven't quite figured out the differences among the different armillarias). However, as I said before, identifying the variety of fungus is not sufficient to answer the question. For clues, see some of my responses to Raak's recent questions.
"Officially known as Armillaria ostoyae, or the honey mushroom, the fungus is 3.5 miles across and takes up 1,665 football fields. The small mushrooms visible above ground are only the tip of the iceberg. Experts estimate that the giant mushroom is at least 2,400 years old, but could be 7,200 years old."
[Chalky] Yes! I mean, come on people, it's only one of the biggest and oldest living things in the world... *hands the button, sorry, baton, to Chalky*
Why thenk you, Mr CdM. What a splendid subject for AVFMA-ing! That was a steep learning curve for me - not being a mushroom eater. There's something about the thought of all that grubby foraging which quite turns my stomach. They smell gorgeous and I'll happily cook them for other people - just can't eat them. Pity.
Anyway, enough of this self-disclosure. It's high time we had ...
[Darren] Are there religious connotations? - No [Inkspot] Female? - Yes - but then again NO :-) [GL] Dead? - No [Rosie] Is it a characteristic, in the broadest sense, of humans? - I don't think so [if I understand your question correctly] [Raak] Related to religion? - No [Irouleguy] A particular human? - Yes [all] Is it connected to faith in anyway? - Can't answer such a broad sweep question - surely everything's connected to some sort of faith, even if it's faith in ones own judgement? [INJ] Lucy? - nah [ignore my 'er' - 'it' IS human ] [CdM] Linus / Charlie Brown? - nah / nah [I thought he meant the one in the sky with Diamonds ..]