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 ....
Quendalon] Does it take its name from a specific human? *some cheering* Yes Inkspot] To do with the Arts? *more cheering* Yes Tuj] Anything to do with vehicles? *dead silence* No
(Irg) - re answer to Chalky; I think that should be Nag'dy ( = no, it isn't), if I read you right. Dim means "no" in the sense of "absence of", eg dim o arian, "no (of) money". Diwedd y wers. :-)
(Irg) Well, I wouldn't say that. The problem is that there is no single word for either yes or no in Welsh. You either repeat or negate the verb. Diwedd yr ail wers. (Projoy) You must be older than you look. :-)
Projoy] Some sort of popular beat combo, m'lud? No - see irach's earlier question Botherer] An orchestra? Good to see you here! No irach - Does the group still exist? It's not a group Rosie] A Big Band/Dance Band? No. Thanks for the explanation. Interestingly Putonghua Chinese (Mandarin as it's often known) does much the same. Inkspot - Did the group form before 1990? See earlier answers
Time for a summary? The answer is a group of people with something in common, mostly male. The 'something in common' has connection with rock music, and takes its name from a specific human, but it's not a group. Questions about this involving religion, sexual activities, and being dubious have all drawn giggles or sniggers from the audience. It's not a relationship by blood, or connected with the military (though there was a connection once - sorry, should have noted that earlier), or a charity organisation. It's sometimes done for money, and it may well involve drinking. There's no connection with a particular time of year, and only a jokey connection with journeys. Writing all that out makes me think that it's glaringly obvious, but perhaps I shouldn't be cruel ;)
(Irouléguy) - Actually it was the Lactulose I handed you and you are gracious enough not to hand it back, though I hope you haven't drunk it. I'm told it's rather persuasive.Right, this one is ABSTRACT, and absolutely nothing to do with steam locos.
(Quendalon) - Hmm, difficult. Let's say each one is. But that's not very helpful. It needs humans for this abstract thing to manifest itself, so there is an Animal connection, an omission on my part.
(Inkspot) - Quality of sound? Yes, interpreting "quality" fairly broadly. (Quendalon) - Yes, connected with the human voice. *considerable applause* (irach) - Nothing to do with poetry.
(Raak) - Yes, an accent. *wild cheering from audience, who think it's all over, but it's not, quite.* (Irouléguy) - No' a glo''al stop. (Inkspot) - Not shouting.
Excellent set-piece work by Quendalon and Irouléguy, but Raak gets in at the near post and nods it in. The answer is indeed the new island that has appeared in the South Pacific recently. Well done, Raak, better luck next time to Irouleguy and Quendalon.
[Rosie] Not food or drink. Hint: The V and M are what it is made of, the A is the abstract thing it embodies. [I] Not gardening. [C] (The audience opens one eye.) Not fictional.
(Raak) Mm, I s'pose I ought to make one. Well, it can wait because there are far more important things in life, like the next subject, which is ABSTRACT.
[Chalky] I'm somewhat uncertain what should count as Abstract. What makes the thing a will is the non-physical meaning of what is written on it. On the other hand, a will generally is a single physical document, unlike, say, a book, which has an abstract existence apart from any of its individual copies.
(Raak, Chalky) I instinctively thought of a will as abstract because of its content. After all, it could be stored on a computer even if a physical document is a legal requirement. AHEM - there can be no such ambiguity about the present subject. AHEM.
Chalky, Raak, Rosie] There's also the distinction between a specific person's will, and the idea of a last will and testament. I didn't find it misleading, which is what I think matters.
[Irouleguy] No. Not an artifact [rab] Not pissing, in the wind, or otherwise. [Projoy] Not a wild stab in the dark. [kim] Not stone houses or glasses [Lib] No, not bull shit (or any other animal scat). [Raak] No. Not a proverb.
[Raak] *applause* - its plasticity is an integral part of its being, yes. (And I'm still wondering if plastic is vegetable, rather than mineral, but no matter now).
[Inkspot] Tricky one. The type I'm thinking of is very much definitely made of plastic, but there are versions that perform a similar function that aren't. [Rosie, irach] No. [Irouléguy] YES!
[Inkspot] To say "yes" would probably throw you completely off-scent; but I think that it's far to say that it might play a small part in the preparation of a particular type of food. [Kim] No.
Phenomenon? Hmmmm... my initial response was no, but I think it is fair to say yes, in a way. S's cat? No ... and yes ... and no ... and yes .. and *checks*. NO. A sound? No. A zen sound? Not even.
Someone's Effect? The word "effect" does not appear on the card, and I think the best answer is No. Astronomical? No. Nash Equilibrium? The best response is No. Visible? *audience goes "oooooh"*. I think I have to say Yes and No. Either 'Yes" or 'No' could be justified as an answer, and by the same token either would be misleading.
Schelling point? No. (the audience communicates by a subtle combination of laughter, applause and silence that, had this been the correct answer, they would have given some recognition to 'Nash equilibrium') Cerenkov radiation? No.
I think that is close enough for me to award a mercury-filled baton to irach, even though it was not posed as a guess. The answer on the card was "A Torricelli (or Torricellian) Vacuum".
The subject was prompted by the fact that I almost guessed "vacuum" for Rosie's recent AVMA about a day before it was correctly guessed (no, really, I did), but then rejected it on the grounds that Rosie had claimed no connection to the weather. :-) (That's not intended as a criticism, btw; on reflection I thought that Rosie's answer was probably right.)
(CdM) Can't see why a vacuum is temperature dependent, which is why I went for the the rather obscure Bergeron process, which certainly is. Not to worry. :-)
[Rosie] Well, I was thinking about the fact that the density of the mercury (or whatever) is affected by temperature, and hence so is the size of a Toricelli vacuum. (I think. This is your area of expertise, not mine). I certainly agree that I should have at least indicated that the connection to temperature was minor.
[Inkspot] Yes, it is semi-aquatic. [rab] No, not arboreal. [Kim] Not exclussively water-dwelling, see response to Inkspot. [Raak] Not carnoivorous. Rather the contrary. [Lib] Not a giraffe. A long way off. [CdM] Not a long necked or meat eating animal that lives in trees. It does enter water and swim, though. [Irouleguy] Not meerkats.
[Raak] As a mammal it does have fur, but not particularly known for its furriness. [rab] Not a mink [Irouleguy] Not a vole. [CdM] Found in th wild, but on only one continent. [Kim] Not a reptile. It's already been established that it is a mammal.