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 ....
[Iroul] Trekkies - NO [Raak] SciFi - NO [Tuj] Acronym - NO Time for a little help here. The human connection is with a specific subset of humankind which is neither men nor women.
[Raak] Spelling bees? - NO [CdM Connected with a work of fiction? - This has appeared in a number of works of fiction, but that is not the normal context for it; so NO is probably the most useful answer
It's that point in the day where I go to my hotel and my laptop gets locked in a drawer at work. I have every confidence that it won't take long now - you just need to pin down what sort of thing this is.
OK - an apology. I've done a bit of looking up and I now think that I should have answered YES to the Connected with a work of fiction? question, in that the majority of the references were in the context of a single work. Anyway, we're nearly there. [Inkspot] The tooth fairy? - NO (but substantial and prolonged applause) [CdM] Child labour laws? - NO [Raak] Compulsory schooling? - NO
We have a winner!! THE FAIRY GODMOTHER it is. Back to CdM Although the character appears in many stories and predates Perrault, Cinderella now appears to have a working majority.
... and this one will be easy, I think. It is ABSTRACT (possibly with VEGETABLE and and/or MINERAL connections, but I don't think those are very helpful).
Atlantis? No. A place? No (thankfully). Human Construct? Very definitely. Event in natural world? Not quite sure what you mean, but I think the answer is no.
An idea? Only in a very vague sense. work of fiction or nonfiction? No. proverb or saying? No. Belief system or philosophy, or connected thereto? No. Connected to anything? Yes. :-)
state of mind? No. Recent origin? No. (Googling suggests that the first instance of the answer was in the early 16th century, but it is probably less misleading to suggest that it has been around since the mid 19th century.)
Music? No. Style of doing something? No, except in a very very general sense. However, it is a specific abstract thing that exists in the context or a more general abstract thing.
Something alternative? No. Scientific theory? No. Hmmm... so much for my belief that this would be easy. It seems to me that you have still missed a key broad class of abstract things.
It is not mathematical. It could however be said that there is a mathematical connection. I am not sure that is a fruitful line of enquiry, however. I would still look for the 'key broad class of abstract things' that has not yet been mentioned.
Type of game? Yes! *sustained relieved applause from the audience* Imaginary? No. Computers, WWW? Well, I know you can find examples of the answer on the WWW, but I refer you to my previous answer concerning the 16th and 19th century. Topological? No. To do with time? No.
Chess? *massive applause*. Chess is one of the two words on the card. I now refer you to my earlier answer to Tuj. Specific board game? The answer is not a specific board game. Often bet on? Very rarely, I would imagine.
So this is 'a type of game', but 'not a specific board game' and one of the 2 words is 'chess'. Hmmm. [Raak] Lloyd Webber hasn't been around since the 16th century, it just seems that way.
And INJ and I keep swapping back and forth: Chess Problem (actually, the word on the card was Puzzle, but I decided earlier I would also accept Problem) is the answer. INJ's careful parsing of 'not a specific board game' was correct; that was why I answered that question even after Chess had been guessed. Finally, I hope "yes" to "type of game" wasn't misleading; I was just so relieved that someone was finally on the right track!
[N] Alive 20th century? YES [R] MC? Possibly - I haven't read ALL of the archives [C] Male? YES [Tuj] *cheers from audience* YES! [i} Monarchy? NO [I] Sarkozy? No [R] Politician? NO
OK, I'll go to the WRAVMASG one more time... ... and I will reject "a municipality in the Honduran department of Comayagua" on the basis of the Estonia experience... ... and I will also reject two succcessive entries concerning RPGs on the grounds that I would be completely unable to answer questions about them... and so today's subject is ABSTRACT with ANIMAL connections.
To do with trade unions? *some uncertain applause from the audience* Hmmmm... it depends on what you mean by "anything to do with". The answer is not a trade union.
Goodness! I wasn't expecting that. I thought a more exact answer (including the policital party) would be expected, once the relevant country had been identified. Not that I'm complaining, mind. I've been wanting to set this one for some time. It should be quite easy and I won't be surprised if one of you bright sparks gets it in one. It's ABSTRACT with both ANIMAL and VEGETABLE connotations.
(Oh, and my "not when I last checked" comment re EU membership was meant to be a clue to the fact that Croatia (like Turkey) is in the middle of negotiations.)
[Irouleguy] Nice, but no. [Raak] No, only one. [INJ] Yes. [rab] Idiom? No. [CdM] It was a generous judgement on your part, I think. Human construct? Yes. [Rosie] Green Party? No. *A few wry smiles among the audience* [INJ] Not this time, I'm afraid, but hang on in there, I'm sure your day will come.
[Rosie] Kosher diet? No. [Inkspot] Particular dish? No.*more wry smiles* [rab] Cookery programme? No. [Raak] Cannibalism? No. Yuk! [Tuj] Related to politics? No. Certainly not as far as I am aware. [Tuj] Single word? No.
[Inkspot] Event? No. [Irouléguy] Fast food? No. [Tuj] Related to a job related to food? Hmmm, I think, on balance, I would have to say Yes, but I'd be hard pressed to say what the food-related job that the answer is related to actually is.
With a single imaginative leap, Chalky lands spot on the answer, which was, indeed, the Jolly Green Giant! It was the word "Green" and the vague connection to vegetables in two of Rosie's answers that made the audience smile. Congrats, Chalks, over to you.
Irouléguy has the right answer! It's a poppy. Sorry I wasn't around much to reply to the earlier couple of questions - I'm sure someone would have got it sooner. It was one of those days *sigh*
(Chalky) Poppies, at least the ones you wear, are not Vegetable but Mineral and I rejected the idea on those grounds. Rage, rage. Woman of your calibre? I dunno. :-)
[Rosie] I looked into my Natural History book when it was my turn, randomly chose a page with wild flowers on it and picked an easy one. 'Twas as simple as that :-)
Sorry for the delay - got home late yesterday. Carrying on with the easy-ish themes, our next is ABSTRACT involving ANIMAL and VEGETABLE Chalky] I knew what you meant
Inkspot] Is it a fictional character from a book? No Rosie] The Eco-system? Gaia-d guess, but no. Raak - The Last Rose of Summer? A great song, but no.
ImNotJohn] Is the animal connection alive? Yes rab] Is a religion involved? *more applause* Yes Raak] Is it the symbol of some organisation? No Rosie] Is it a geographical location? No
rab] Holy Communion? No Rosie, irach] The Feeding of the Five Thousand? No - see INJ's question about the animal connection being alive. The wording of rab's previous question is important.
On the 3rd day before Advent, Raak has it! (with a strong assist from INJ) It is originally a religious song, and each line has a particular religious significance. One baton handed over.
Hmmm... you should have been able to type that in. Let's try again. Yeah, that works - Raak, you probably mis-typed 'href'. I'll set about producing a warning when this happens.
Well, you live and learn. I grew up Catholic, so I knew the 'underground Catholic' thing was wrong, but I had always though it was a memory thing like 'Deck of cards'. Sorry if I misdirected anyone.
sorry - all contributors - I seem to have barged in at the end and found the right phrase. After a few months of playing and never quite getting the right answer, I think I'm learning how certain minds work - ie. I would not have posted that particular phrase if the chair had been anyone other than Raak. Weird eh? :-)
Here goes ...
A N I M A L and I, too, will play down the abstract nature of this one ..
(Raak) It's true we are a bit free-and-easy with the abstract occasionally but there's nothing wrong with the last one. Being snowed in is a "state", so cannot be anything other than abstract.
I think I agree with Rosie -- perfectly legitimate to call that last one abstract. I was less sure that the partridge in the pear tree should have been so classified.
[Chalky] A propos the discussion at mcios, you should have chosen "George Best", hoping that someone would have asked the inevitable "alive?" question in time for you to answer "yes" and throw us all off the scent.
[CdM] I started my 'go' a couple of hours too late for that ruse :-) [Iroul] European? Yes [Kim] Over 50? No [Raak] In the news lately? No [irach] Elton? No
[Raak] Not Rosie [Iroul] Not Mick Smetaphor [Rosie] Not JLE ... but Projoy plays the piano amongst other musically things - so the winner is CdM! :-) *hands baton overseas*
Natural phenomenon? No. *significant non-applause* Football? It is an example of the answer, but not the answer. Period of time? Perhaps an example of the answer, but not the answer. To do with science? Many things to do with science are examples of the answer. Idea or concept? *applause* These are examples of the answer, but not the answer.
[Raak] Is the vegetable part wood? - NO [Chalky] a weapon? - NO I think it only fair to mention that there were some mutterings in the audience at my last answer to Irouléguy
[Iroul] Tequila? - NO To clarify. The answer is 'A bottle of .......', which explains the mineral, the dire consequences on eating etc. We're now just looking for the contents.
[Raak] beer - NO [Rosie] meths - NO [MadC] Poteen - NO [CdM] generic/specific - YES (Oh, all right, it's more towards the generic end of that spectrum) [Iroul] spirit - NO