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 ....
[Raak] YES! Well done. Re my error concerning edibility, I googled "shamrock recipes" and got loads of sites with "shamrock salad", "shamrock sandwiches" "shamrock pie" etc. I didn't bother to visit any but just assumed that shamrocks were edible. Later I found out these were all sham recipes [ :) ] and did not contain any shamrocks at all but were either green, cut into shamrock shapes or were green cocktails consisting mainly of Irish Whiskey and Chartreuse or lime cordial! And now over to Raak.
[K] Could be bigger or smaller. [R] Er...quite the opposite. (Laughter from the audience) But it must move for this thing to be what it is. [INJ] (Applause!) Yes.
Summary: Mostly metal, involves water as it's only moving part. Is not ornimental. A container of sorts. Is used as a component. May be bigger or smaller than a zippo lighter. Is not functional?(not a tool).
[GL] Yes, mostly. It's not a tool but does normally perform a function. And container is onyl sort of. [all] No. (The audience evolve sentience the better to appreciate the impending conclusion of the game.) [I] No. (Impressed by this sign of the end times, the audience build a temple to Nicholas Parsons and pray for the rapture.)
Raak is playing a straight bat, he should only give Yes or No answers. So yes there are words on the card, the question should realy have been phrased "Are there more than XXX words on the card". Personally I'm just as far away from any notion of what the answer as I was at the start.
Does it require to be operated for it to carry out its function?
(Inkspot) Traditionally it was legitimate to ask how many words on the card, and the answer could include a helpful addition such as "including the definite article".
Oops, missed out all those other qns. [Inkspot] Not an ice cube maker. [Inkspot] (Receives similar raptures from the audience.) Yes (usually). [Rosie,Dandalf,Projoy] (A fiery chasm opens up under your feet.) No.
[Irouléguy] Northern Hemisphere? - Yes [Projoy] Eastern Hemisphere? - Eastern hemisphere? What the hell is the eastern hemisphere? At a guess I'd say no.
Much of Godfather 2 is set on the shores of Lake Tahoe, IIRC, which is what made me think of it. Feels like ages since I've had the chair - our next is ANIMAL and ABSTRACT.
Rosie] Is the answer some characteristic of an animal rather than the animal itself? No Kim] Is it an animal of fiction? No Gusset Login] The laughing cow? No Raak] A part of an animal? No
*the audience worries that their murmurs may have been misinterpreted*
irach] An animal found in the wild in Britain? *the audience prick up their ears* Part of the answer, but not the answer. Dandalf - Dog in the manger? No
Phil] Related to a specific time? In a sense, yes, but that's not really useful Dandalf] The first cuckoo in Spring? Four legs right, two legs wrong No - see earlier answer to Inkspot
Gusset Login] Related to a specific county? No Gusset Login - Related to a specific country? No Raak - Related to a specific activity? No Rosie - Is the animal normally considered edible? *cries of "Nice one, Rosie" from the audience* Proverbially not
Dandalf] Badger? It's easy to get confused about feet - that's the advantage of the metric system *ducks* No Projoy - A crazy fox? *applause* Some might think so...
Raak] An animal puppet? No Projoy] Basil Brush? No Rosie] A rabid fox? No CdM] Is "fox" one of the words on the card? *loud cheering* Yes (though strictly speaking it's 'foxes')
What, me? Wow - that felt like a bit of a lurker's victory, although I see so many semi-urban foxes on a daily basis it jumped straight into my mind. So I'll set a nice simple one for now.
[Irouléguy] Samantha? No [Rosie] British? Yes [Projoy] Mrs Phil? In a way, yes, but those are not the two words on the card. *excited applause from audience*
[Rosie] Transport, YES *applause* [Ig] Road, no [all] Road to Hell, no, and, strangely, that doesn't even lead to your getting warmer. [All] I think it's probably wise not to get hung up on the Abstract bit, since as abstracts go, this one is pretty concrete.
[Ig] *scattered applause*, no [Rosie] *laughter*, no (at least not by the definition of that phrase I just googled) [INJ] *more laughter and some applause, no, not at all.
[Iroul ] Mammal - YES [all ] extinct - Hmmm - (after some hesitation) NO [Kim ] One specific animal? - YES [Rosie] anarcho-syndicalist wildebeeste? - Not as such [GL] Can it fly - YES (some laughter in the audience)
[INJ] Not umbilical cords (those would definitely be Animal). To make the initial words more explicit, this thing is neither Animal, nor Vegetable, nor Mineral, nor Abstract, but has Animal connections.
[Raak] Alive? No. [Chalky] TV personality? No. [Projoy] Alive-o? No-o. Not in Dublin's fair city, nor anywhere else, for that matter. [Inkspot] Born before 1940? Yes. [IG] European? Yes.
[Projoy] Philosopher? No. [Inkspot] Military person. Hmmm. On balance, I would have to say Yes. *Some members of the audience stir in their sleep* [Irach] Composer? No. [IG] English? Most of the audience now sit up, yawn and stretch* The generally accepted answer to this is Yes.
[Rosie] Anything named after him? Difficult to answer fairly without either being excessively cryptic or giving the game away, so I am going to say Yes. [INJ] Craftsman? Many are called craftsmen with more or less justification and he might have been, but he was not a craftsman in the "skilled artisan" sense.
Congrtulations, Phil! I would have accepted either answer, but you got both. *Hands over cutlass and ceremonial eyepatch to Phil*Why are pirates called pirates? Just because they Arrrr!
Dear God, really!? I thought I was just being obtuse, by trying to work out who could be naval, somehow of a military nature, possibly have something named after them, but not into politics etc. Then I searched for pirates that died in the 18th century, and picked the most famous one. I'm somewhat surprised to have got that right, to tell the truth.
[Rosie] Requires cooking? No [CdM] Typically cultivated? yes [INJ] Single "vegetable"? Yes [Irouléguy] Prticular country or culture? Yes [Dandalf] An herb? Yes - [Applause from come audience members]
(CdM) - Not associated with a particular culture. (Projoy) - A purpose? It certainly does. (Raak) - Can be smaller than a toaster, but certainly not necessarily. (CdM) - There are lots of them. (Phil) - Do I own one? No, not yet. (Irouléguy) - Made of metal? Usually, but not necessarily.
Well, that was quick because RAAK is the winner. Congratulations. A sundial it its. I'm making one for the wall of the back of the house. It faces south 25 degrees east so there's a nice bit of trigonometry involved.
[I] Not Roger Rabbit. [I] Hm, yes and no. Strictly speaking, according to the words on the card, no. [I] Hm, yes and no (see previous answer). More yes than no.
[Raak] Species-wise, one of them typically is, the other generally not. However, in this particular case, neither is found in the wild. Cryptic answer, but true.
[irach] Crazy as a loon? - NO [PJ] Dog-tired - NO [irach] Cat-nap - NO [all] a phrase - NO (except in the sense that it consists of more than one word in a meaningful grammatical relationship)
[Projoy] includes a verb? - NO [Rosie] Bovine anarcho-syndicalism? - Y...NO [ Rosie ] disease - NO [CdM ] Is the animal connection human? - Partly [ Iroul ] Bird flu? - NO [ Kim ] a fictional animal? - NO [ Inks ] anthropomorphism? - NO
[Iroul] looking at your previous question I believe my answer is correct, but it may depend on what you actually meant by it. So - to clarify (and help): as well as the human connection there is only one other type of animal, but more than 1 of them. [Rosie] property or characteristic of either an animal or a human? - NO
[Phil] Queen's Corgis? - NO [irach] King's horses? - NO [Inks] native to a particular part of the world? - NO (The audience has split up into card schools and choirs)
[Inks] Is the human part gender specific? - Hmmm. Strictly speaking NO, but in practice, YES [Phil] Does the human element relate to the possessor of the mammal? - YES Check your assumptions.
[INJ] How could you not know of Henry's Cat? Drawn by genius animator Bob Godfrey (last of the great painted-cell animators, none of your computerised rubbish) who was also the creator of "Rhubarb and Custard" and "Noah and Nellie" ("all aboard the skylark!"). Shame on you. How old are you, anyway?
[CdM] domesticated - YES [Kim] a human construct - NO is the most useful answer How old? Old enought not to have had a TV at the age when I would have watched such programs
[Raak] a pub name - NO [Inks] farm animal - YES [PJ] equine - YES (some of the audience emerge from their stupor) [Inks/Chalky] - see above The summary is reasonable except that,as Dandalf says - you have been told that there is only one type of mammal, but more than one of them. I've never taken 'domesticated' to mean the same as 'domestic'.
[Dandalf] - Good question - in retrospect, I think they should have. [Chalky] horse racing? - NO [PJ] If wishes were horses,... - NO [Dandalf] Four hoarse men - NO [Raak] herd of wild horses? - NO
Shortly going away for the long weekend - and yet I feel this one could fall quickly if someone makes the right lateral jump. I'm surprised how hard it is proving. In retrospect the 'kings horses' should have got some applause.
Charge of the light brigade is a very good guess, I think. But I am not sure why the audience would have 'nodded sagely' at my 'particular human?' question, and I would have thought that it was gender-specific in principle. Also, if it is right, then 'King's horses' definitely should have won applause!
Dandalf was right 'Charge of the Light Brigade' it is. As I later admitted - King's Horses should have won applause. I can only say that I didn't have a lot of time when I posted that and I also didn't anticipate that it would prove as difficult as it did. Particular human - NO, but 600 particular humans. Gender-specific not now, but yes, then. All arguable. Anyway, sorry to have kept you waiting, but I've had a very nice weekend away in Mid-Wales and my laptop was not going to come with me. Over to Dandalf
Well back from my long weekend to find I'd guessed right. Actually I was hesitant about C of the L.B. because of the gender thing - but then thought that the equines probably included both stallions and mares! : ) Whatever - here goes with ABSTRACT with no connections whatsoever. (Oh dear, what have I let myself in for?!?)
[Phil] NOT sleep (which is what audience is settling down to!) [Raak] NOT Success (which is what is not being achieved!) [Rosie] NOT Hope (which you shouldn't lose!).
[Raak] Singlemindedness NO [CdM] NOT visible on brain scan [Kim] NOT connected to prediction [Phil] NOT love [Chalky] One of the words on the card does end with ..ness. (Audience stirs).
[CdM] a well-known phrase or saying? - NO - not fair to call it well-known [Rosie] timorous - NO - that isn't an adjective you'd normally expect to use (but neither is 'fierce') [[CdM] One particular species? - YES - (smattering of applause) [Raak] insects? - NO [Inks] Associated with a work of fiction? - NO [Iroul] There are 2 ways of reading your penultimate question (one particular animal?).
[PJ] The multitude of swallows that *does* make a Summer - NO [Iroul] ducks in a row? - NO [Iroul] That's what I assumed in my response - (BTW I nearly chose 'Champion the Wonder Horse')
We have a winner - An Unkindness of Ravens it is. A bit tough on Projoy, plus an honourable mention for Chalky, but there you go. Over to CdM just before I have to think about logging out and going home.
I went for (and stuck with) "murder" because of the wry grins at four and twenty blackbirds (who were violently killed, of course), and you do often hear "a murder of ravens" even tho "unkindness" is the more standard term. Nemmind. CdM has it.
Fictional animals? No. Time related? The answer doesn't have anything to do with time. (There is a particular sense in which I could say it is time-related but I don't think that is helpful.) Single type of animal? Yes. A place? No.
A saying? NO. Louis XXIV? NO. One at the moment? YES. (By which I mean that the answer on the card currently exists. As a minor clue/clarification, my previous answer re "time-related" was because the answer on the card did not always exist and probably will not always exist in the future. I was probably overthinking my answers...)
[irach] NO (but at this and the previous question, the audience is starting to pay attention) [Raak] NO (but ditto) [INJ] YES -- at least, I am fairly sure about the "reasonably regular" part.
[INJ] Africa? NO. South America? NO. Central America? NO. Australia? NO. Asia? YES. (Needless to say, it was the last one you asked about. 'Tis ever so.)
[Phil] NO (audience interest remains on same level as before). Re: an-synd -- that has been something of a running gag in this game, which made it a more obvious thing to guess. (Mr Néa is active in the Swedish anarcho syndicalists. I don't sympathise with them myself, though.) [Projoy] NO (audience pricks up ears slightly)
[flerdle, irach, Dandalf, Irouléguy] NO. (The audience, having become a little restless, regains some order at flerdle's guess -- but quickly loses it again.)
OK... I think Néa is giving us a hint with "order" in reference to flerdle's guess of Jasmine. The internets tell me that Jasmine is in the order Lamiales, and also tell me that there are about 11,000 species in this order. So -- now to take a leaf out of INJ's book...
I was assuming an omitted "plant" in Inkspot's question, whereas I'm assuming that CdM is just being silly (often a safe assumption to make!) [INJ] NO -- at least, I wouldn't think so.
(Was gonna say Buddlea (sp?) but realised I have one out in the back garden, then realised that Acanthus is also grown outdoors in Europe and isn't native to Asia. I think I'd better retire from this round :) )
(BTW, while floundering about on google for possible answers, I came across this rather fetching description of an Asian houseplant: "Coral Berry - Ardisia Crenata, from southeast Asia. Very slow growing plant. Has shiny green leaves and very small pink or shite flowers followed by brilliant red berries.")
[Projoy] NO. (An elderly gentleman in the back row starts clapping, but his neighbour shushes him). Some Acanthus species are native to Asia, though -- Acanthus ilicifolius for instance.
Incidentally, I may need to make a clarification. When I say "garden plant" I mean something that actually grows in the garden and is outdoors all year round, rather than plants like olive trees for instance, which can be taken outside (in this here climate) in summer but must come in when the snow arrives.
You're looking for a plant of the order Lamiales, with (usually) red or pink flowers, which is native to a tropical part of Asia and doesn't grow very well in British (or Swedish) gardens. It will not eat your pets or children. It's not usually eaten but probably not poisonous, its colour or homeland cannot be divulged from its name -- oh, and it has a Wikipedia entry (since that's how I found it in the first place).
I think we also know that the colour is red/pink. Could it be the red-flowered Campsis grandiflora, the Trumpet Vine, of which I have an uncontrollable specimen in my garden (not UK!)? I believe it's of Asian origin.
[INJ] Thank you - I was hoping somebody would get the clue! I didn't know the plant very well myself, but now I've read up on it rather a lot. Very educational game, this.
[Iroul] found in all cultures? - NO (but be careful about your assumptions) [Raak] symbol - NO [Néa] To do with language? - NO (or only in a vague sense)
[Projoy] Related to an Asian culture? - NO not as such, but not unknown in much (most?) of Asia African - see Asian South American - see Asian North American - YES European - see N American (though some people might disagree) The audience heckles this display of generosity
[Phil/Projoy/Rosie] - NO (to clarify my response to Irouléguy - I didn't take it to mean ' do the words on the card define a form of music?' - just 'is the area of entertainment some form of music?'
Inks composer = performer - NO not normally associated as such Minor correction I think the '(though some people might disagree)' is misleading, so Related to a European Culture = YES
[Rosie] human referred to in the title? - NO [CdM] Would most people here know the composer? - NO (though I think some would) [CdM] lyrics - YES (some applause)
[Iroul] A stand-alone piece of music, or part of a larger work? - YES (oh, all right - stand-alone) [Projoy] folk - NO [Dandalf] Rock Opera - NO [Phil] orchestra involved - Frequently
[Projoy] Solo Artist? - YES (most famously) [Inks] American composer? - NO [Inks] British singer? - NO Where appropriate the expression '(most famously)' should be considered as inserted.
[Inks] French Song - YES (many of the audience look bemused) rejigged by Canadian - NO [Iroul/Dandalf] - A male singer (m.f.) [Inks] Jacques Brel - NO [Raak] Zimmerman - NO There's an unchallenged assumption in some of these questions - not yet crucial, but....
We have a winner MY WAY it is (Originally 'Comme d'habitude', written by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, English language version by Paul Anka - who is of course, Canadian, as I really did know) Passing the microphone to Inkspot
Congrats - The culture question was a bit tricky as I reckon it's known at least everywhere that knows of Sinatra or karaoke. The unchallenged assumption was the single 'composer'.
[flerdle] Is it usually brown - No [ImNotJohn] manufactured - No [Dandalf] Metal - No (it is in such very low qunatities that a Yes could be misleading)
[ImNotJohn] solid - No [Tuj] An astronomical object - Yes (loud applause from the audience) [Raak] To do with petrochemicals - No [Projoy] A geographical feature - No
[Dandalf] A meteorite - No [Néa] A moon - No (there is some uncalled for throwing of solid objects around) [Phil] A star - Yes (There is an oooooohhhh as everyone settles down again)
[Rosie] No. [Phil} Yes. (the audience sits up, taking notice) [Inkspot] Yes. In certain climes. [Irouleguy] Yes! (The audience now cheers)[Raak] No femurs or any skeletal remains involved, nor any Tibetan bovine connection [flerdle] No, unfortuntely.
[Danfdalf] No, not ivory, since it's edible... (see response to Phil above. I don't believe ivory is edible,in any culture, or even compatible with human digestion.) [Projoy]No. (Not an egg, since it it comes from an aforementioned mammalian source. No, not even a platypus or echidna egg) [Raak] No, but continue to think various ethnic (the audience nudges one another in anticipation as it holds its collective breath).
[Irouleguy] No, not yoghurt. [Raak] Yes. The mineral is indeed salt Raita. No. Think a diffrent ethnicity from Lassi and raita, yet a moo-vable feast. [Phil] No, but oh, so close- (The audience stomps its feet in apreciation)
[flerdle] Not haloumi [Phil] Not feta [INJ] Oui! The audience rises to its collective feet, kiss one another on both cheeks, and begin a raucous rendition of "Le Marseillase". [Inkspot] No [Projoy] No. [INJ] Yes, name of a specific cheese. [Irouleguy] Not labneh [Projoy]Not a dressing.
[Dandalf] While I have eaten fried alligator, and even braved a possum stew once, I have never had the opportunity of partaking of "Oreilles d'elephant au gratin d'ivoire". Do they serve it at L'Pergolese in Paris? Dined there last Wednesday, and it wasn't on the menu that day.
[irach] Not at L'Pergolese, it is a speciality of the Cote d'Ivoire. No longer served in Paris because of CITES restrictions on the export of ivory. Sadly also being phased out in C d'I as source of main ingredients considered endangered, but is being replaced by col de giraffe tranché au Roquefort (q.v.)
[INJ] Yes! It was Brie. (While Brie doesn't have as high a salt content as Cheddar for example, it does have a moderate salt content, as CdM determined by his Googling). [CdM] Not Munster [Dandolf] Good guess, but Non Take it away, ImNotJohn!
[INJ] Not only did you not get it, we still don't even know what kind of brie we were talking about. Brie de Meaux? Brie de Melun? Brie de Nangis? Brie de Reactor?
[Phil] Stone Roses - NO [Rosie] Edible - NO [CdM] geographical feature? - NO (ish) [Inks] A manufactured item? - YES (ish) (depending on definitions of feature and item)