arrow_circle_left arrow_circle_up arrow_circle_right
AVMA Take 2
help
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 ....
arrow_circle_up
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.
arrow_circle_down
Want to play? Online Crescenteering lives on at Discord