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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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(actually, probably not, cos they tend to have a cork end)
With or without cork, Projoy is correct: a conductor's baton. (Invented, or at least popularised, by Louis Spohr in the 1820's.)
Oh, right-oh, then. MINERAL (maybe the odd trace of the other two, but MINERAL is by far the most sensible category)
Actually MINERAL/ABSTRACT.
A work of art?
Involves gold?
[Raak] Work of art, NO (*the merest momentary demurring murmur from just one audience member*)
[irach] Involves gold? NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE
A coin?
Metallic?
[Raak] A coin? NO
[irach] Metallic? YES, PARTIALLY
Manufactured?
[Rosie] Manufactured? YES
Does it have moving parts?
Invented since 1900?
[Inkspot] Moving Parts - YES
[INJ] Since 1900? YES
[INJ] There are two possible answers to that question, although as it happens they are both YES.
A computer?
[irach] A computer? YES *significant applause from audience*
Designed by Babbage?
[Raak] Babbage? NO (except inasmuch as all computers are)
Invented since the 2900?
I've worked on programs written for International Computers and Tabulators machines
Hmm..
[INJ] Invented since the 2900. This time the two answers bifurcate: YES and NO.
The computer HAL in 2001:A Space Odyssey?
Fictional?
[Tuj] Yes, fictional, and
[irach, who is clearly on the same astral wavelength as me today] HAL 9000? YES *audience applause*
*looks suspiciously at the monolith behind irach*
Coincidentally, I was listening to the theme music of the movie on the radio when I made my guess...Even more psychic!
The next one is very simply ANIMAL.
A person?
Alive?
A specific individual?
[Inkspot] No.
[Rosie] Yes or No.
[Raak] No.
Native to a region of the world?
[Inkspot] Fairly widespread globally.
Four-legged?
[Raak] No.
Three-legged
It's a process of deduction.
[Projoy] No.
A mammal?
[Inkspot] No.
Any legs at all?
A virus?
[Raak] No legs at all.
[Inkspot] Not a virus. Quite macroscopic.
Part of an animal?
[Rosie] No, the whole animal.
A fish?
A reptile?
A snake?
[Irouleguy] Yes ! A Fish!
[Inkspot] By deduction from comment to Irouleguy, NO.
[Tuj] ibid.
A freshwater fish?
Can a fully-grown one exceed 1 metre in length?
Cod?
A shellfish?
[Inkspot] No.
[ImNotJohn] Quite possibly.
[Irouleguy] No, not cod.
[Chalky] Not shellfish.
A deep sea fish?
[Inkspot] According to Wikipedia, not necessarily exclusively a deep sea fish.
Do we routinely catch it and eat it?
[Rosie] While I have never caught one (and I kind of doubt you have), it IS routinely caught and eaten.
Shark?
[Raak] No, not shark.
Squid?
[Projoy] Not a squid (No legs, remember? Not even a multiple-amputee squid). Think Phylum Pisces.
Squid have tentacles! :P
[Projoy] Squid are in the order Decapodiformes which literally means ten-legged, although you are correct in that the tentacles do not function really efficiently as legs. Neither do the legs on a two-legged stool. : )
Tuna?
[Inkspot] Not tuna.
Some sort of ray?
[irach] Just cos the Greeks got it wrong is no reason to perpetuate the error. :) Interestingly, Wikipedia refers to them as "arms".
A skate?
Not a skate.
Would I be likely to find it at the fish counter in the supermarket?
[Raak] Very likely to find it at the fish counter.
Some sort of ray?
[Projoy] Not a ray.
A ray-finned fish?
[Inkpot] Yes, a ray-finned fish (Class Actinopterygii).
A Salmon?
[Inkspot] Not salmon.
Haddock?
Cod?
[Irouleguy] Not haddock.
[inkspot] Not cod.
Herring?
Mullet
[Phil] Not herring.
[Inkspot] Not mullet, either.
Is this normally found in the waters around Britain?
Of the super order Acanthopterygii form the class Actinopterygii ?
Of the super order Paracanthopterygii form the class Actinopterygii?
While it is quiet ....
Of the super order Protacanthopterygii form the class Actinopterygii?
Of the super order Ostariophysi form the class Actinopterygii?
[Irouleguy] Certainly found in the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.
[Inkspot] Actinopterygii, yes, but not any of the orders mentioned.
(Time for a clue?)
[Inkspot] I retract my former comment to you. It should have been a "Yes" to Superorder Acanthopterygii.
Plaice?
[Irouleguy] Getting much warmer, but no. [The audience is on tenterhooks].
Swordfish?
That was me.
Sole?
[Chalky] No.
[Inkspot] Very warm, but not quite there. [the audience's sole response is to stand in plaice, and some begin applauding the fact that the net is finally cast in the right direction to bring in the big fish].
Gosh - the anticipation is killing me ...
Flounder?
[CdM]. Yes, flounder it is. Actually the word on the card I was looking for was "Halibut", but "flounder" is close enough for a win, since halibut are a class of flounder. Take it away, CdM....
Looks like I just lurked my way to another victory. All right.
VEGETABLE and MINERAL
A building?
Building? No.
Edible?
A mass produced manufactured item?
Edible? No.
Mass-produced manufactured item? Yes.
Made of wood and metal?
Made of plastic?
Can it be held in one's hand?
Does it use electricity?
Wood and metal? No.
Plastic? In part.
Held in one's hand? Um. Yes and No.
Use electricity? No.
Clarification: As it happens, I have held this in my hand. But under normal circumstances you would not think of it as being something you can or would hold in the hand.
Has it working parts?
Working parts? No.
Always the same size?
(not meaning to within a fraction of an inch, but roughly the same)
Always the same size? The words on the card imply no necessary specific size at all. There is considerable variation in most actual instances as well, although you might still say that most actual instances are (very) roughly the same size. (Audience applauds the question, even as they try to make sense of the answer.)
And to clarify (!) I should say that many actual instances are indeed roughly (as opposed to (very) roughly) the same size.
Is it bigger than a shoebox?
Is it used in entertainment?
Bigger than a matchbox?
Is it used in industry?
Bigger than shoebox/matchbox? In the actual instances that I referred to, it would be bigger than a shoebox (and it would pretty much always have to be bigger than a matchbox).
Used in entertainment? Broadly speaking, yes.
Used in industry? No.
Used for a recreational activity?
To do with audio reproduction?
Recreational activity? Yes. (Perhaps not always, but yes is the best answer).
audio reproduction? No.
(nothing from me for the next 18 hours or so -- about to get on a plane)
Used in sports?
[CdM] Look out for snakes.
Could it be found in a home?
Used in sports? Yes. applause
Could it be found in a home? Highly unlikely.
Used in one particular sport?
One particular sport? No, although largely confined to a small number of sports.
A ball?
Some form of protection?
Is it too big for one person to carry?
A goal?
Ball? No.
Protection? No.
Too big for one person to carry? Yes, in usual circumstances (but see earlier responses)
Goal? No.
Is the vegetable cotton?
A scoreboard?
cotton? No.
scoreboard? No.
Astroturf?
Astroturf? Not quite, but massive applause
A piece of Wembley Stadium turf?
A running track?
getting colder
Wembley? No.
Running track? No.
Astroturf was really very close indeed, but not exactly right.
A pitch?
Some form of matting, eg for high-jumpers to land on?
Actually, upon reflection, I think I should just award the victory to Raak. I was actually looking for Fieldturf, which is sort of a new generation astroturf (made of rubber, sand, and plastic, and much more like real grass). (Fieldturf, like astroturf, is a brand name, but I think there are several manufacturers of similar products.)
Number 2, I guess, at least in popular consciousness.

The next is MINERAL with ABSTRACT connections.

A sculpture?
Iron hand?
A natural feature?
[C] Not a sculpture.
[i] Not an iron hand.
[R] Not a natural feature.
Does it have religious connections?
[I] No religious connections.
Is it in a particular country?
[I] Not specific to any country.
Is it a mass-produced object?
[I] Yes, mass-produced.
Is it edible?
Is it actually an object, as opposed to a substance?
[C] Not edible.
[R] An object.
Is it made of glass?
[C] Partly made of glass.
Larger than a telephone kiosk?
[C] Smaller than a telephone book.
Was it invented?
[C] Oops, misread your question. Well, it's smaller than a telephone book.
[I] Invented. Actually, one might question whether there was an "inventive step" in first making these, or if it was an obvious application of existing inventions, but patents have been granted on slighter grounds.
A microscope?
Taking a pot shot from the halfway line.
[R] Not a microscope.
Is it a product of a particular company?
Would it have a use in a particular part of one's house?
[I] Not a particular company.
[T] Yes (although it could be used anywhere in the house).
A stationery connection?
Connected to lighting?
Connected to lighting?
[P] Not conneted to stationery.
[C] Connected to lighting? Sort of.
Anything to do with time?
[C] Nothing to do with time.
Does it have an optical function?
Is it used on its own, or is it a component of some larger entity?
A window?
[P] Yes! It has an optical function. Applause!
[C] Neither.
[P] Not a window.
Eyeglasses?
Small picture frame?
[i] Not eyeglasses.
[P] Not a picture frame.
Is a lens involved?
[P] Yes! More applause.
A camera?
[T] Yes, a camera. But that's not the whole answer.
A digital camera?
[I] Yes, but that's still not quite the whole answer.
A camera phone?
[Tuj] Not a camera phone.
A webcam?
A disposable digital camera?
[I] No.
[CdM] Yes, a webcam. Back to you.
Wow. I am on a roll again. OK
MINERAL with ABSTRACT connections.
Related to computers?
computer-related? No.
A geographical feature?
geographical feature? At least part of the answer is a geographical feature, and the whole answer is arguably also a geographical feature, at least for a broad definition of geography. applause
I'm seeing some sort of man-made structure on an island or rock - am I WAY off the mark?
Is the abstract connection in any way spiritual?
Lunar crater?
after such a good start...
manmade structure on rock? Way off the mark.    :-)
spiritual connection? No.
lunar crater? No.
A country or territory of some sort?
Country or territory? No.
Man-made?
An ocean or sea?
Man-made? No.
Ocean? No.
The face on Mars?
Is water involved?
Face on Mars? No.
Water involved? Yes. applause
A lake?
Lake? No.
Flowing water?
Is there just one of these?
Flowing water? No.
Just one of these? Yes is the least misleading answer.
Is it underground?
Underground? No.
A reservoir?
Yhough it probably counts as a lake.
Preview, dear boy. That should be, "though".
A Glacier?
Reservoir? No.
Glacier? No. smattering of applause
The Arctic ice cap?
A comet?
Arctic ice cap? No.
Comet? No.

Correction and apology: I should have answered "yes" to "a glacier?". (The technically correct answer is perhaps "no", but this is very misleading.)
In the southern hemisphere?
Southern hemisphere? Yes.
In South America?
South America? No.
An ice-shelf?
The Ross Ice Shelf?
Ice shelf? No.
Ross ice shelf? No, a fortiori
In Africa?
Yay, the Internets are back!
Africa? Yes.
A glacier in Africa? Google...

Is it in the vicinity of Kilimanjaro?

The Snows of Kilimanjaro, as in Hemingway?
YES! The words on the card are "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", with the abstract connection being the Hemingway short story and the subsequent film. *hands icicle to irach*
Thanks, CdM (he says, as the icicle begins melting and dripping)... this one is ANIMAL.
Human?
No.
A mammal?
[Irouleguy] Not a mammal.
Extinct?
Does it have legs?
Something made out of an animal?
Native to a particular continent?
Large enough to see?
Part of an animal?
[Kim] Not extinct.
[Phil] Yes, it does have legs.
[Tuj] No.
[Inkspot] Not native to any one continent.
[Raak] Yes, plainly visible and macroscopic.
[Rosie] No, not a part of an animal.
An insect?
[CdM] Not an insect.
A bird?
Amphibian?
[Raak] Yes, a bird.
[Kim] No, not amhibian.
Any emblematic significance?
A seabird?
Emu?
[Rosie] None that I'm aware of.
[Phil] Yes, a coastal bird, but not exclusively so.
[Tuj] Not an emu.
A cormorant?
Grey Gull?
A hawk of some kind?
[Irouleguy] Not a cormorant.
[Kim} Not a grey (or otherwise coloured) gull.
[Chalky] No, not a hawk of any kind.
Tern?
[Kim] Not a tern.
Native to the UK?
[Kim] Not native to the UK, according to the British Ornithologists' Union list of British birds.
[Rosie] In researching your earlier question, Yes, it is of emblematic and/or symbolic significance.
A puffin?
[Irouleguy] Not a puffin.
Waterfowl of some nature?
A vulture?
(irach) Thanks for doing that. :-)
[INJ] A waterbird that frequents water, yes.
[Rosie] No, not a vulture.
A loon?
[CdM] Not a loon.
Endangered?
[CdM] The loon is on the British list, only it's called 'Great Northern Diver'
[Irach] By waterfowl I meant a bird in the duck, coot, rail group, to distinguish it from say Fish Eagle or heron.
[CdM] Not a duck, loon, goose, swan, coot, rail or gallinule. Not Anidae.
[CdM] That should read Anatidae, of course.
[INJ] Not endangered. At least one species of this bird was endangered earlier, but has made a good recovery and is no longer considered so.
[INJ] Actually, I did a little more digging on the web, and the species in question is still considered endangered in parts of its range, while it has been removed from the list in those zones where it has made a very good comeback.
Pelican?
*waits for INJ to explain that the pelican is exclusively coastal, or some such other objection*
[CdM] Yes, Pelican, it is! Bravo! Take it away...
I actually thought of pelican much earlier, but then misread a Q&A and thought it had been ruled out. Anyway.

ABSTRACT (perhaps with VEGETABLE and MINERAL connections)
An activity?
An activity? No.
An organisation?
An organisation? No.
A human construct?
(oblig.)
Human construct? Yes.
Is this found in all cultures?
Begins with a P?
Found in all cultures. No, but it is widespread.
Begins with a P? No.
An academic study?
Academic study? No.
The audience, very belatedly, decides it should offer some applause in response to Inkspot's question.
Is the vegetable connection edible?
An anarcho-syndicalist flag?
Edible vegetable? No.
A-s flag? No. Some laughter in the audience
To do with politics?
Politics? No.
Any religious connections?
A connection with music?
A philosophy, in the broadest sense?
Religious? No.
Music? No.
Philosophy? No, unless you want to be very broad.
Is it fictional?
Fictional? No.
Anything to do with clothing?
To do with clothing? Yes, though not exclusively. applause
Appearance?
Appearance? No.
The Shield of British Fair Play?
To do with a particular item of clothing?
shield of British fair play? No.
particular item of clothing? No. some applause
Is the answer on the card one word?
The Emperor's New Clothes?
An insignia?
one word? Two words plus a definite article.
Emperor's new clothes? No.
An insignia? Yes, broadly defined. applause
The Union Flag (Union Jack)?
Union Flag? No.
Is it normally attached to clothing?
A designer label?
Normally attached to clothing? Most often, yes. applause
Designer label? Yes, broadly defined (though not exactly). applause
a care label?
A logo?
Care label? No.
A logo? Yes. applause
The Nike Symbol?
Nike? Yes! The words on the card are actually "The Nike Swoosh", but that's close enough. *hands branded baton to Projoy*
Oh dear, that was a bit of a lurker's victory. Nevermind...
VEGETABLE/MINERAL/ABSTRACT
A natural product?
Whaddya meeeen Never mind? I'm furious, as always.
Begins with a P?
[Rosie] There, there. Mine usually don't take long to get... A natural product? NO.
[Tuj] Begins with a P? YES
Yes!!
(no question)
Smaller than a phone box?
Oh alright then.
[Tuj] Smaller than a phone box? YES
A Mr. Potato Head?
[Raak] Kartoffelkopf? NEIN
Is the vegetable wood?
Is it mass produced?
The peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?
[Ig] Wood? PROBABLY
[Ink] Mass-produced? I DOUBT IT
[CdM] The sum of stewed squash stolen by some silly sod? NO
Primarily produced for artistic, rather than practical, reasons?
[INJ] I'm not sure there's anything other than a misleading answer to that other than IT DEPENDS.
Is it found in the home?
[Raak] Found in the home? NOT NORMALLY
Does music come into this?
[Chalky] Music connection? NO
Smaller than a shoe-box?
[Ig] Smaller than a shoe-box? NO
Found on a ship?
[Raak] On a ship? NO
Is it street furniture?
[Rosie] Street Furniture, YES *applause, although there are some dissenting voices*
[INJ] On further reflection, there are two separate answers to the "artistic, rather than practical" question. One is an unequivocal YES, the other is a tentative NO.
Festive ornamentation of some sort?
[Raak] Festive Ornamentation? NO
Parking meters?
[Ig] Parking meters? NO (but a sensitive ear can make out the sound of one hand clapping)
A shelter of some kind?
[Rosie] A shelter? YEAH, I GUESS
Bus stop?
[ir] Bus stop, NOPE
A bench?
[ir] Bench, NOPE
Parking garage?
[ir] Parking garage, NOPE (don't forget - is smaller than a phone box)
parasol?
[INJ] Parasol, NO * a slight chill breeze wafts from the audience *
A Parking/No parking sign
(no) parking sign, NOPE
A pissoir?
[Rosie] Pissoir? NOPE
[all] I know it seems like it's been narrowed down quite a bit, but critical information about the answer has yet to be unearthed, hence most of these guesses missing.
A café umbrella?
[Raak] Café Umbrella? NOPE
Specific to one culture/country?
Is the shelter for people?
Park bench?
And it begins with P!
Is the vegetable wood?
[INJ] Specific to one culture/country? NO, NOT REALLY
[Ig] Shelter for people? SORT OF (it's not for any other species either)
[Tuj] Park bench, NOPE
[Raak] Wood? PROBABLY, BUT MIGHT NOT BE
Is it put there by the local authority?
[Rosie] Local Authority, NO
(put where, btw?)
Would it normally be found on the UK pavement as opposed to the US pavement?
[INJ] UK/US? NO. Wouldn't normally be found in either place.
Is it found in a particular type of location?
Some kind of fencing?
A pier?
[Rosie] Particular type of location? YES and NO. The most helpful answer is NO.
[Tuj] Fencing? NO
[Ig] Pier? NO
[Rosie] Actually, it could be that the most helpful answer is YES, come to think of it. Sorry, not wishing to be perverse, but there's still something you don't yet know about this thing that, one you have found it out, would enable me to give much less equivocal answers.
A pier?
I am so blind - apols for such blatant repitition
Is it fictional?
Pillarbox?
[Phil] apology accepted :)
[Tuj] Fictional? YES *relieved applause and cheering*
[Phil] Pillarbox? NO, although the notion of taking shelter in a pillarbox is amusing me as I type.
From a book?
Pfff blimey. Can't believe we hadn't questioned the abstract sooner.
[Tuj] From a book? YES
One specific, individual thing?
[Raak] Specific, individual? YES
[Projoy] It's only "sort of" a shelter for people, so I thought it might be a shelter for things, that people use. But, you could shelter one hand at a time in one :-)
Is the book science fiction?
[Raak] SF? NO.
A porch?
[Raak] Porch, NO.
A Priesthole?
(only they have them in non-fiction too, but it's all I can think of)
[Phil] Priesthole? NOPE
Is it a 20th century book?
[Ig] C20th book? YES
Is the book set, broadly speaking, in the present day (as opposed to being obviously historical fiction or obviously set in the future)?
[CdM] Broadly present-day, YES
(there is a case for a NO answer, but that would be a bit obnoxious)
Are there multiple instances of this one specific thing? (I'm trying to reconcile "specific individual thing" with "not specific to one culture")
[CdM] Multiple instances? NO (there's no especial reason there couldn't be, but only one is mentioned - there's nothing about the one instance encountered that is (particularly) specific to one culture)
Is the book set in a recognisable real location or locations?
(I'm making up for all the questions I didn't ask earlier.)
[CdM] Real/recognisable location? NO (and YES, but mostly NO)
Would the book be considered as basically for children?
[CdMaddendum] Which is to say in terms of "recognisable", the answer is definitely NO, and in terms of "real", it's MOSTLY NO.
[INJ] Basically for children? YES *applause*
In a Harry Potter book?
[INJ] Harry Potter? NO.
In a Narnian chronicle?
[CdM] I'm not that far back in the closet. NO. ;-)
In a Philip Pullman book?
[Ig] Philip Pullman? NOPE (even though he begins with P twice!)
Book from the last 50 years?
[Tuj] From the last 50 Years, YES
A Tolkien book?
Is the writer British?
Pub sign?
Pinocchio?
Just one book, or a series?
[Phil] Tolkien? NO
[Inkspot] British? NO
[Tuj] Pub sign? NO
[ir] Pinocchio, NO
[Ig] Just one book? YES
Da Recap
So, it's a fictional, single, individual object which is smaller than a phone-box, larger than a shoe-box and appears in a one-off C20th children's novel by a non-British author, which is mostly set in unreal locations, published some time in the last fifty years. It may be described as "street furniture" (with some potential for controversy) and The Answer begins with a 'P'. More dubious are the details of what it's made of (probably wood), where it is most likely to be found, and whether it is likely to be mass-produced (unlikely, IMO). I won't go thru all the things it's not, but will note that some people will have heard of it, others will probably require google.
French?
[INJ] French? NO
European?
OK, let's be systematic about this.
Phantom Tollboth?
And can I just say that, if that isn't right, then it ought to be.
[INJ] European, NO...
[CdM] Phantom Tollbooth? YES!! *collects checkpoint fee and hands baton back to CdM*
Never heard of it, nor will many others, thus excluding them from the game. Google it? What do you type into Google? "Something I have never heard of". Go! This is by no means the worst example of an inappropriate subject, there being many of them so arcane that you just give up, bored, knowing that eventually some clever clogs will winkle out the answer. I could retaliate, of course, if I ever win again. It will be a steam engine. Not just any old steam engine. Oh dear me no. A particular type and not only that, a particular class. And not just any old loco of that class but a particular engine. And will it be notable in any way? Not necessarily. Wouldn't that be clever? The point I am making is that this game has departed a long way from the original concept, which was conducted live and necessarily needed maybe unusual but universally-known subjects. It needs to stop being a research project or a showcase for clever boys and return to its more modest origins.
Ditto, never heard of it :-(
[Rosie] Oh, rubbish. If we stuck to obvious stuff, this game would have run out of steam much earlier. I enjoyed finding out about, for example, Bobrikov, set by Néa earlier in the game. I'd never heard of him, but that hardly excluded me from the game (in fact it was me who dug up the answer after about 20 minutes' research).
Besides, anyone who hasn't heard of the Phantom Tollbooth has just had the good fortune to discover it. It is one of the classics of literature and they should read it at once (preferably in an edition with the original Jules Feiffer cartoons).
Bobrikov, and Bluebeard (which I found through Google) were good - difficult, and involved learning something new, but they were relatively "googlable". Luckily, the Phantom Bluetooth appears to be well enough known for someone to get it, it's just us grumpy old men that have never heard of it ;-)
Lets move on and work the next one out :-)
(Projoy) There is an absolutely huge number of subjects that are universally known. The skill is in picking one that is a little off-beat and needs a little imagination to guess. That's what the original Animal, Vegetable and Mineral was about. Turning it into a research project is a negation of the original idea. I have no interest whatever in which particular species of South American lizard, or which character from some science fiction novel the questioner is thinking of. That is just so nerdy. And boring! It's meant to be a game. Time for another extended absence from this one, I feel.
[Rosie] Please don't deprive us of your presence from this game. Surely now your opinions have been aired and taken into account by the rest of us there should be less of a problem? I'm in the "never heard of it" camp for the last one, but that happens every now and then - and I'm sure it does for everyone. Trying to come up with subjects every single time that every member of a multi-national group of people from a fair age range have heard of wouldn't be too easy. Yes, if there happens to be another subject soon that the majority of people consider inappropriate we can have this kind of discussion, but shall we just get on with things for now?
[CdM] By the way, no pressure on choosing the next topic ;)
(Tuj) That's very kind, and I actually enjoy the game, yes really, but only up to the point where I reckon the answer must be something I've never heard of, at which I just switch off and hope for something better next time. OK, I'll put in some questions then, if you insist. :-)
[Tuj] Well, I was thinking about picking a particular steam engine...
[Rosie] I understand where you are coming from -- halfway through the last AVMA I remember thinking "well, if this is from a Philip Pullman book I might as well give up now." At the same time this game, like so many that we play, is different from its antecedent, and I think this is a good thing, not a bad thing. This online version is played using google from time to time, and that does open us up to more obscure topics. As to whether Projoy's particular choice was too obscure, I am inclined to think not (but then, I did know the answer). The answer was the title to the book, not something from within the book, and I do think the book is acknowledged as at least a minor classic of children's literature -- maybe not in the A.A. Milne or Lewis Carroll or C.S. Lewis league, but comparable to perhaps the works of Roald Dahl or Arthur Ransome. Like Tuj, though, I would urge you to keep playing. On which note,
ABSTRACT
A human construct?
Human construct? Yes is the least misleading answer.
Does it have religious connotations?
fictional?
To do with language?
Religious connotations? No.
Fictional? No.
To do with language? No.
To do with computers?
To do with emotions?
Computers? No, except in a very tangential sense.
Emotions? No.
To do with numbers?
Reality TV?
Is there just one of these?
Begins with a P?
Stephenson's Rocket?
No forget that - it's got to be Mallard.
A space of some kind?
To do with numbers? Hmmmmm... Not as such, yet numbers do play an important role in practice.
Reality TV? No.
Just one of these? No.
Begins with P? No.
Stephenson's Rocket? Not even close. :-)
A space of some kind? That is also a tricky one. I would say Yes, but I worry that that answer will mislead.
To do with mathematics?
Is it a game of some kind?
Connected with Physics?
[Rosie] Since it's abstract, it would have to be the Mallard Imaginaire.
"Something I've never heard of"?
A relationship of some sort between humans?
Moebius loop?
To do with mathematics? No.
Game of some kind? No.
Connected with physics? No.(There are very vague connections to physics and math, but I think they are unhelpful)
Something Projoy has never heard of? :-) No.
Relationship between humans? No. (Except in a very vague sense!)
Moebius loop? No.

Not to be discouraging, but nothing is hitting anywhere near the mark yet...
Anything to do with environmental issues?
To do with the arts?
To do with perception?
To do with environmental issues? No. (Again, I suppose there is a very vague connection.)
To do with the arts? No.
To do with perception? No.
To do with the internets?
To do with the internets? No. Although, as a clue, I might point out that it had absolultely nothing to do with the internets at all until relatively recently, and now it does have something to do with the internets, as in fact I proved when I originally set this AVMA.
AVMA?
To do with music?
To do with motion?
"Mallard" did 125 mph, you know.
To do with randomness?
Music? No.
Motion? Yes. *some applause*
Randomness? *tosses coin, checks* No.
*ahem*
To do with holidays?
The diesel land speed record?
Journey? Ticket?
The speed of light?
Some sort of delivery?
Would it have been known about/understood pre 1700?
Does it refer to the absence, rather than the presence of something?
Forget the speed of light, it's obviously not that.
oops
A clearing of the throat? No.
AVMA? No.
Holidays? No.
Diesel land speed record? No.
Speed of light? *forgets* Delivery? No.
Understood pre 1700? No. *ripple of applause*
Absence vs presence? Presence rather than absence.
Some sort of taxon?
The Hubble constant?
Technology-related?
A force?
The Poincare Conjecture?
Gravity?
Is it associated with/a product of a particular branch of science?
Kinetic energy?
taxon? No.
Hubble constant? No.
Technology-related? Yes, in the sense that it that would not be meaningful without a particular technology.
Poincaré Conjecture? No.
Gravity? No. *some laughter in the audience mixed with a smattering of applause*
Associated with particular branch of science? Yes, if "science" includes applied sciences.
Kinetic energy? No, although there is a vague connection.
Anything to do with planes?
Is the technology computing?
Flight?
Railway timetable?
To do with planes? Yes. *applause*
To with computing? Well, the primary technology I was thinking of was aeronautics. There need not be a connection with computing, but in practice there usually is.
Flight? No. *significant applause*
Railway timetable? No. *sudden silence*
The simulated absence of gravity on a plane flying a parabolic path?
Bernoulli's Principle?
Lift?
Which could be correct, as Tuj's "A Force?" was not answered.
oooops again
zero g? No.
Bernouilli Principle? *tosses coin, checks* No.
Lift (or other force?)? No.
*surreptitiously removes "i" from Bernoodle*
To do also with money?
Jet lag?
Forget last question
jet lag?
...
...
...
...
No.
The gyroscopic effect?
OK, to do also with money?
gyroscopic effect? No.
to do with money? No.
Satellite Navigation?
satellite navigation? No. *more applause*
Altitude?
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