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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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The Laser Display Board?
A bifurcation?
Points?
Ignore my last effort, which is not even abstract were it to actually exist.
Game of MC? No. substantial applause from audience
Abstract Display Board? No. (actually, I would have thought the LDB was very definitely abstract)
Bifurcation? 1. No. 2. Yes. Congratulations! You won on the second strand! Unfortunately you still need to get the answer on the original strand.
Points? No.
The rules of Mornington Crescent?
Rules of MC? No.
Is it a technical term in MC (such as knip)?
Knip (or some such)? Kno. (The audience is now concerned that it applauded too hard after Botherer's question.)
Is it game other than MC played in the Morniverse?
Morniverse game other than MC? No. loud applause from audience
Is it the Morniverse?
ISIHAC?
ISIHAC? No.
Morniverse? No.
Mornington Crescent?
MC? No. (a rather confused response from the audience; a few people applauding enthusiastically but most remaining silent)
Connected with a pastime or form of entertainment not in the Morniverse?
(Three questions for the price of one!)
Connected with Non-morniverse entertainment? Yes (but I doubt if that is particularly helpful).
A Tim-Tam slam?
Tim-tam slam? No. I'd keep focusing on the morniverse, if I were you.
mc5?
mc^5? No. (some applause)
Orange?
Orange? No. (stony silence from the audience)
A winning move?
A pilgrimage?
A winning move? Yes, but that is not sufficient. (loud and sustained applause from audience)
A pilgrimage? No.
*The* winning move?
A lurker's victory in a game of MC?
The final move of the MC^5 long game?
The winning move? No.
Lurker's victory? No.
End of the long game? No.
hmmmmmm...
actually, you might be very very close with *the* winning move, but I need a clarification...
A cry of "Mornington Crescent"?
The final move of a game of MC?
The first move of a game of Reverse MC?
No, no, and no ... you weren't quite as close as I thought you might be. :-)
That's lucky, it's time someone else got a chance to set one.
The winner?
Do eeither of the words 'mornington' or 'crescent' appear in the answer?
The winner? No.
M or C? No.
Is the answer the winning move of a game?
Is the answer the winning move of a game? Yes. (ushers are moving among the audience to try to get them to be quiet, and the riot police are starting to look nervous)
Baker Street?
(cconnection to another form of entertainment - but then again it wasn't supposed to appear in a fictional work)
Baker Street? No. (I said that the other form of entertainment might not be helpful. I simply meant that the form of entertainment in question exists outside the morniverse as well as inside it.)
is it theMC5 Audience when it *shouts, screams and generally goes wild for someone*?
Stora Mossen?
I never met a winning move I didn't like
MC5 audience? No.
Stora Mossen? No.
You're running out of time today, folks; it's gone 11pm here...
Is the answer the name of a station?
name of a station? No.
Boardo!?
sorry CdM - are we keeping you up? :-)
Boardo? No. And no you are not -- I have been working up to now. But you are probably going to have to wait until tomorrow, now...
The Last Line Of A Limerick?
Checkmate?
Limerick?
Said Gertrude, that master of prose
"A rose is a rose is a rose"
There's wisdom, you see
In tautology:
An answer's an answer, I s'pose.

Checkmate? No.
The end of this game?
Is it a punchline?
[Raak] I think that is close enough!
The answer to this round of AVMA is "the answer to this round of AVMA". Over to you
After that rarefied flight of circular fancy, a very down to earth MINERAL.
Is it man-made?
Is it found on Earth?
[GL] Yes.
[all] Yes.
Is it a building?
[Néa] No.
Are there many of these?
Is it bigger than a bread box?
[Rosie] No. (But there are more than one.)
[all] Yes. (All of them are. Each of them is.)
Does it move?
[INJ] No. At least, they're not supposed to.
Are it made of stone?
Are they to be found in Britain?
[all] Um...no.
[GL] Yes.
That's all for today, I'm off shortly to a concert at the Aldeburgh Festival.
Were they all made after 1900?
I hope you enjoyed your evening the programme, not that I am in the least bit jealous.
Are these objects identical, more or less?
Would these consist of a soft, earthy substance, of a white, grayish, or yellowish white color, consisting of calcium carbonate, and having the same composition as common limestone?
[Inkspot] Yes. (The Orlando Consort, giving a concert of Baroque recreational depression -- Tallis, Purcell, Tomkins, etc. There was a BBC OB van there, so it might get broadcast at some point, but of course, that's nothing like being there.)
[Rosie] They're similar.
[Dujon] Soft? No.
Are they composed entirely of a single substance?
[INJ] They are known for it!
Is the substance liquid?
[INJ] No.
Does the name of the substance appear in the answer?
[GL] Yes.
Is the substance iron?
Is it made to be decorative?
Are they all in the same city or town?
A brick outhouse?
[GL] No.
[Inkspot] Yes.
[Darren] Yes.
[INJ] No.
The Crown Jewels?
Concrete cows?
[Rosie] No.
[GL] YES! The Concrete Cows of Milton Keynes.
(Gusset Login) Coo-oo!
[Gusset Login) Coo-ee!
Sorry, I was away for a few days
I assumed I had it wrong. um...

Vegetable

A potato?
[Raak] - No
Is it edible?
[Darren] - Yes, or part of it is
Is it processed?
Can you buy it in a typical U.K. supermarket?
[Darren] - No.
[Raak] - No
Does it grow wild in the U.K.?
[Raak] - Yes
Is the edible part of it a fruit?
Is it a nettle?
Is it later processed into a product?
Is it a magic mushroom?
[Kim] - No
[CdM] - No
[Rosie] - Yes
[rab] - No.
Is it rhubarb?
Is it nicer with custard?
Is it a type of grain?
Is the edible bit green?
Dandelion and Burdoch?
Is it a mustard seed?
[Darren] - No
[Irouléguy] - No
[Raak] - No
[Tuj] - The websites I've checked are undecided about the green bit being edible.
[Dujon] - No
[CdM] - No
Hops?
Would you (well, not necessarily you personally) ever eat the edible bit in its unprocessed form?
[Chalky] - No
[CdM] - Yes
It might be worth clarifying that most products produced from it are not intended to be edible
Are those products flowers?
Oil See Rape?
or perhaps Linseed?
[Irouléguy] - No
[Chalky] - No (nor Oilseed Rape)
[Chalky] - No
Are the products produced from it mostly liquid?
Is it a tree?
[Darren] - No
[Rosie] - Yes
Is the edible part a nut?
[Darren] - No
Is the product produced from it decorative?
Is the non-edible product timber?
[Darren] - That depends, can you think of any decorative uses for wood?
[Raak] - Yes
Is the answer a particular tree (such as a maple tree, for example)?
Are we looking for the final product?
[CdM] - Yes
[Darren] - No, it's a tree
So we are looking for a tree that grows wild in Britain and which has an edible part that is not a leaf or a fruit or a nut or a blossom...
A pine tree?
Licorice?
If I'm right, someone else needs to carry the torch...
The mighty oak?
My "other" computer is an Acorn but I've never eaten one.
Is the edible bit a vegetable?
[CdM] - Good summary, But you forgot to mention that the edible part can be eaten raw and it is mainly used for non-edible products.

[Raak] - No
[Botherer] - No
[Rosie] - No
[Irouléguy] - No, the whole thing is a tree.

Willow
The bark is edible in small quantities but is mostly used for medicinal ones
[ImNotJohn] - No, but you're thinking along the right lines
Is the edible part the sap?
Alder?
[Raak] - Yes, but also the bark.
[Inkspot] - No
Is it from the salicaceae family of trees?
[Inkspot] - No
Family Fagaceae?
Jesuit's bark aka cinchona?
[Darren] - No
[Irouléguy] - I've never heard quinine bark called that before... No

Would a clue be useful at this point?

WE will ask the questions, Mr Login. Er, yes please. :-)
Very well.

It's a conifer and easy to recognise from a distance.

The Larch?
[Darren] - YES! Well done, it would have been easier if no one had asked about it being edible, which it is, apparently.
Ah, but it's the unexpected questions that can produce misleading answers which are so much fun!

So, this one is primarily VEGETABLE but I wouldn't be surprised if MINERAL or indeed ANIMAL could be involved in some cases.

Stovold's Mornington Crescent Almanac 2002 ?
Is the vegetable still alive?
[Chalky] I can see your reasoning, but no.
[Gusset Login] No.
Is it man-made?
Austrian wine?
GL] I know the name from the Patrick O'Brian 'Master and commander' books.
[ImNotJohn] Yes.
[Irouléguy] Not typically, but some of them may well be.
[Irouléguy] Whoops, I thought you said "Austrian made?". It's not Austrian wine.
Is it monochromatic or multi-coloured?
[irach] Normally multi-coloured.
Is it largely wooden?
[Rosie] Sometimes it can be.
A set of children's building blocks?
[Raak] No.
A work of art?
Are you using, eating or viewing one now?
Does one normally use it at home?
Is it a book?
[Rosie] Could be, I suppose, but not normally.
[irach] (1) No, no and no. (2) Yes.
[Irouléguy] No.
Can it be read?
[Raak] No.
A chopping board?
[all] No.
Is it an item of furniture?
A cupboard of some kind?
[Raak] No.
[Rosie] No.
Is it generally found in the kitchen? In the living room? In the bedroom?
[irach] (1) No. (2) I suppose if anywhere, you might find it there. (3) No. Well... depends on whose bedroom, I suppose!
Were you being sneakily literal in your earlier response to the question "is it man-made?"?
*slinks off to hide in the corner*
Eeeek... I didn't mean to post that question; it was prompted by a stupid misreading on my part. Sorry. Please carry on.
[CdM] It's not the product of a bodily function, if that's what you mean. It's a manufactured product.
Can one curl up on or in it if one is larger than an average-sized domestic cat?
Does it generally have a glass component to it, in addition to sometimes being wooden?
Is it elongated, and sometimes made of metal?
A coaster?
Is it a bookshelf?
[irach] (1) No.
[RedSnapper] No.
[irach] (2) Yes (elongated), but as far as I know, no (not metal).
[Raak] No.
[all] No.
In its normal use or state of being, is it found above eye-level when one (of usual adult height of say, five to seven feet) is standing and looking straight ahead in its direction ?
[irach] No.
Is it an implement of some kind?
[Rosie] Not really.
Would most players of this game be likely to have one in their homes?
[Darren] er, no, I didn't mean that at all. I simply had misread, and thought you had said it was not man-made. Then I realized my mistake, but posted instead of editing my question. In other words I was confused, which is a not unusual state-of-being for me.
[CdM] I would say no. As for your other unquestion, well, just look on it as getting an extra answer for free.
Is it smaller than a breadbin?
[Raak] Yes.
Is it connected with a hobby or interest?
Summary (is it just me, or are we having these more often?)

It is: man-made (as in constructed by humans); possibly, but not typically, Austrian; multi-coloured; possibly wooden; possibly, but not normally, a work of art; used at home, most likely in the living-room; elongated; smaller than a bread-bin; normally found below the eye-line of the average-height person.

It is (or was) not: Austrian wine; a set of children's building blocks; being used, eaten or viewed by Darren at 09.38 BST on Friday; a book; readable; a chopping-board; furniture; a cupboard; generally found in the kitchen or the bedroom; something you can curl up on or in (if larger than a cat); containing glass or metal; a coaster; a bookshelf; really an implement; something that most players of this game would have in their houses.

Who was it who said 'knowledge is power'?

Is it culturally specific?
[Rosie] Almost anything could be!
[Irouléguy] Hmmm... its name would suggest so.
[Irouléguy] So as not to be too misleading, though, it's not something I'd say is culturally specific.
bric-a-brac?
[Raak] No.
A walking-stick?
[Rosie] No.
A ouija board?
[Raak] No.
Is the vegetable part solely wood?
A pencil-case?
[Irouléguy] As I implied above, no. There doesn't have to be any wood involved, although there sometimes is.
[Raak] No.
If no wood, then necessarily plastic?
a ruler?
[Rosie] Not necessarily.
[all] No.
Is the vegetable part some form of dried grass (straw, hay, etc)?
A window box?
[Irouléguy] The funny thing is, it can be, but that's such an incredibly misleading answer!
[Raak] No.

Does anyone want a clue?

(Darren) Yes please. Most of the answers seem to be a Pythonesque "could be". I detect widespread bafflement, of which I'm part. :-)
"Could be" is partly because I'm a vague person, and partly because I don't like leading people up too many dark alleys. Anyway, a clue: it's a kind of puzzle.
Is it generally placed on the floor, or is it in fact part of the floor?
Can one place umbrellas in it? As part of its normal usage, that is?
[irach] No and no.
[RedSnapper] No.
puzzled
Does this have any physical manifestation at all? Or is it purely conceptual?
confused
(Ansering my own questions) we're looking for the physical object. Is it essential to the game or puzzle? That is, can one play without the thing?
Dominoes?
[Effable] No, one cannot do this puzzle without the thing.
[Gusset Login] No.
Can it be turned off, or easily hidden away when house guests arrive?
Would you allow house guests to use yours? Even if they were only casual acquaintances ?
[irach] Turned off? No. Hidden away? Yes.
[RedSnapper] House guests? Yes. Casual acquaintances? Yes.
Is it typically held in one's hand when in use?
A Rubik Cube?
[irach] Yes... and yet no.
[Rosie] No.
A "Fifteen" puzzle?
Is the 'puzzle' a word game?
Su doku?
I hope I'm wrong.
pick-a-stix [that game with long pointy things]
[Rosie] No.
[Dujon] No.
[all] No.
[Chalky] No.
irach's question about holding it is a potentially rewarding line of enquiry.
Scoubi-dou? (spelling?)
A Magic Wand?
One of those stick-like things that will spin one way but not the other?
Spinning plates?
Is it some form of writing implement?
Playing cards?
[Irouléguy] No.
[ImNotJohn] No.
[Raak] No.
[Kim] No.
[irach] No.
[all] No.
A computer mouse?
A crossword puzzle?
paddle ball?
[irach] No.
[Rosie] No.
[all] No.
Could you take it on a camping trip with you without having to lug an electrical generator? Can you leave home without it?
Is the vegetable part of it part of its name?
[irach] (1) Yes. (2) Yes.
[Irouléguy] No.
Is it used in a recreation involving more than one person?
pooh-sticks?
Was this puzzle around in 1950?
Jigsaw puzzle?
[Raak] As far as I know, no.
[Chalky] No.
[Rosie] Yes.
[irach] No.
Solitaire?
A piece of juggling apparatus?
[Rosie] No.
[Raak] No, unless you were a very unusual juggler.

Another clue, anyone?

(Darren) Go on.
Is it normal to have more than one?
Does the puzzle/game involve trying to catch something?
Is it rectangular with specific places where one's fingers go?
[all] (1) Neither normal nor abnormal. (2) No.
[RedSnapper] Rectangular? Depends which way you look at it. Specific places for fingers? Yes.
It is hollow?
[Raak] Yes.
Does it have moving parts?
Does it have keys or buttons to place one's fingers on?
Does it rhyme with "cord"?
[Effable] No. It's got flexible parts though.
[irach] (1) No. (2) No.
Is is a folded paper puzzle?
[Dazed5] No.
Does the puzzle involve getting things into or out of this thing?
Are you going to give us the clue Rosie asked for?
Are building blocks involved in any way?
Is it for children as well as adults?
Can you easily bend it? (assuming you have average, and not Herculean strength)
[Raak] Yes.
[all] I was going to but you seem to be getting pretty close now.
[Irouléguy] No.
[Chalky] Yes.
[irach] Yes.
Cat's Cradle?
A Chinese finger-trap?
[Rosie] No.
[Raak] YES! Well done!

So, it goes over to Raak for the next round.

A finger-trap made of wood?

The next one is MINERAL

[Raak] Yep, they can be made of wood.
Is it metallic?
is it solid?
Is it larger than a teacup? (An average one, not the spinning kind in Disneyland)
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