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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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[Spangle] YES and NO, depending. You could probably argue it either way for quite a few cases. Unlikely to help!
[Raak] Sometimes plastic? YEEES. I did google an example up of a plastic one, but certainly wouldn't have known that if I hadn't.
Can you find these in hardware stores?
[Raak] Hardware? I don't recall seeing one in a hardware store. Then again, I can't say I frequent hardware stores.
The wooden one - solid wood or a by-product of wood?
[Spangle] I'll pick one of the wooden ones, for which the answer is YES, solid wood.
Do people who have one usually make it themselves?
[Raak] Self-made? NO.
A wedge?
[FGzstar] A wedge? NO, but you are absolutely at the right level of generality.
A plinth?
This message will self-destruct in 36 hours
[Raak] Some day my...? NO, but again, the right level of generality

I'm going to be without net access for a week as of late Thurs evening, so perhaps I can do a summary + hints in case it jogs your thoughts. We are looking for the one-word name for a set of mainly functional objects, (at the same level of generality as "chip" or "wedge"). They can be metal or wood. There are a couple other "vegetable" types which are not wood. All of these are typically smaller than a toaster by volume. There is an abstract type too. You could put The Answer into an Amazon search and be offered a couple of types of this. One of the wooden types of this is all wood and has a musical connection. The metal type has a symbolic function.
Does the word begin with a vowel?
... apart from the indefinite article, naturally
[Spangle] Vowelish? NO.
A figurehead?
[Raak] Figurehead? NO. Think smaller.
(I have found fibreglass and plastic examples of this on further research)
A bookend?
WRT the wooden/musical one - do you hit it?
A Wh
A Whistle?
You're totally gonna kick yourselves and everything.
[Raak] And the murderer was...? NO
[INJ] Do you hit it? NO
[FGZstar] Just purse your lips? NO
A pipe?
[FGZstar] A pipe? NO *applause*
Is this a model or miniature of something?
Is it basically cylindrical in shape?
A drum?
Do most people have one of these?
[Spangle] Model/miniature? NO
[INJ] Basically cylindrical? YES *applause*, most cases are cylindrical, if you're not too Platonic about it.
[FGZstar] A drum? NO
[Raak] Do most people have one? NO.
A recorder? or a flute?
[FGZstar] Recorder? Flute? NO (not a musical instrument per se, in fact).

I realise this is probably a slightly annoying one (altho you will kick yourselves) but can I just say how gratified I am by the ingenuity of the guesses? Thank you.
A stick?
[FGZstar] Stick? OF SORTS! *tumultuous applause, and stirrings of anticipation for the endgame*
A crutch?
A drumstick?
[INJ] Item best used in pairs? NO
[FGZstar] Drumstick? NO (there's no animal type of this)

Well, about five more hours before I might have to hand this over.
Does the letter string 'stick' appear on the card?
Well, the only wooden, sticky, musical things that aren't instruments that I can think of are a baton (disqualified because they come in animal types and aren't obviously abstract) and the pole that some C18 & 19 conductors would use to beat time.
Oh and I'm quite glad my previous guess was wrong, now I start to think of the 'edible' case.
[INJ] In that case, as we might disagree on the definition and you might have guessed it otherwise, I think it only fair to hand over the BATON to you, hoping to be enlightened about the animal case! The cases of which I was thinking are the wooden (or sometimes, apparently, fibreglass) conductor's baton, the military baton, the metal relay baton, the well-known small loaf, carrot batons and police batons, plus of course the abstract Baton Sinister from heraldry. Challenging subject, but I enjoyed attempting something a bit more hard to get hold of, as it were. Apols to anyone else who had foregone that guess on non-animal grounds, too.
They make them in bone and ivory
Anyway, moving on - Let's have a nice simple ANIMAL
An amoeba?
They don't come much simpler than that.
A duck-billed platypus?
[Raak] amoebic? - NO (not quite that simple)
[irach] monotremic? - NO (but I had been thinking about that, so you were close to the quickest ever win)
Reptilian?
[ImNotJohn] Great minds think alike; what more can I say?
Extinct?
Human?
[Raak] Gone forever - NO *some audience reaction*
[GL] Human? - NO
Coelacanth?
[jim] Latimeria chalumnae? - NO
Actually, I think I set that a few years ago.
Mammal?
[Software] Mammalian? - NO
*coughs and gestures towards irach's last question*
Endangered?
Ah yes, sorry
[irach] Reptilian? - YES
[Raak] Endangered? - YES *applause*
the audience were rather helpful earlier on, but they're a fair-minded lot
Software is hereby awarded one free guess.
A sea turtle?
Said this was going to be simple
[FGZstar] Chelonioidiac? - NO *further applause*
A tuatara?
[Raak] Tuatara? - Happy to admit I had to look that one up, from which I assume you can guess that the answer is NO
A Komodo Dragon?
[irach] Varanidaeic? - NO
Did Darwin likely see them during his voyages?
Would one fit in a toaster (perhaps coiled up)?
[irach] Darwinian? - YES! - (to all intents and purposes)*applause*
[Raak] Pop-uppable? - NO *some audience laughter*
Galápagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra), which ironically is genus Chelonoidis, but not in Family Chelonidae?
Nearly there
[irach] Galapagos Giant Tortoise? - YES - but curiously enough, none of those words are on the card (*the audience are shuffling towards the exit*)
"Harriet of Australia Zoo" fame?
[irach] Hattie? - Sorry, never heard of her, so NO
Lonesome George?
There, that wasn't so hard
We have a winner! The words on the card are: 'Lonesome George': probably the last Pinta Island giant tortoise.
I'll send him over with the baton.
This is gonna be a tricky one
Abstract, with Animal connections.
Sorry, forgot to include Mineral connections also
A saying or phrase?
[irach] adage? NO
Connected with a work of fiction?
Fictitious? NO
A human concept?
A human concept? Erm, not sure how to answer this one. The animal connection is human, and so I would say YES.
Connected to science?
Is the mineral connection metal?
[CdM] Science-y? There is definitely a major connection, but you need to look further than just the thought of science.
[INJ] Metallic? YES, but not exclusively

LOOK AT THIS! Erm.. okay, minor f*** up, realised that vegetable also comes into this. To make up for this, I shall give you a clue. This whole thing is related to heat and oxygen produced by one reaction.
Internal Combuxtion?
That is combustion...
Photosynthesis?
Combustion? YES, but this is not the only rection involved, and there is another, seperate reaction
Photosynthesis? NO
You need to back up a bit, as my clue was maybe a bit too close up for now. It will help you when you are closer to the answer.
Is the (human) animal a specific human?
Not a specific human, but a specific group.
Pertaining to only one of the sexes?
Are dams involved?
[irach] Single-sex? No.
[Dujon] Dammit!? No.
Is the combustion reference figurative?
Does this relate to a visible phenomenon?
A specific nation?
[Rosie] Figurative Combustion? NO, literal
[INJ] Visible phenomenon? If you are thinking northern lights, then no.
[SW] Specific Nation? No, even smaller than that.
Artistic?
(also, could you actually answer INJ's question? :-) )
[CdM] Artistic? No
Well, I wouldn't define it as a visible phenomenon.
Anything to do with ozone?
[irach] Ozone? NO
Anything involving Guy Fawkes?
Burn it all down? NO
Is the mineral connection a fossil fuel or derivative thereof?
Is this an industrial process?
[irach] Fossil Fuels? Yes, but this is not the only mineral connection.
[Raak] Industrial? NO
Smelting?
Is another mineral connection one of the states of water?
Human connection artisanal?
[Rosie] Smelty, smelty? NO, but metals are involved.
[irach] Water? YES, and in its liquid state
[Software] Artisanal? I'm not quite sure how you mean, but I can say that one artist that I know of is connected, but others are also connected. Please note that people are both directly and indirectly connected to this, but it will be easier if I refer to the people directly connected, because those are the ones I am able to confidently answer about.
Firing a steam engine?
Forgive me.
[Rosie] Light the Rocket? No. But you are close on one aspect...
Are the metals in direct contact with the water or an aqueous solution?
[irach] Not initially, although most of them end up in direct contact with water or an aqueous solution.
Is the water or aqueous solution saline?
Rocket science?
[irach] under the sea? NO
[SW] It's NOT rocket science.
Is one of the metals lead?
[irach] Lead balloon? NO
Does the metal ionise during the reaction that produces oxgen and heat?
The electrolysis of water?
You did say oxygen was produced.
[irach] I am not sure of the answer to that question, but I cna tell you that no radiation is involved.
[Rosie] Electrolysis? I like your thinking, but no.
Is this a means of propulsion?
[Raak] The combustion reaction is a means of propulsion, but the Oxygen-producing reaction has a self-explanatory purpose.
Propulsion of manned spacecraft?
Is the metal component a part of an actual chemical reaction that produces oxygen and heat, or merely a receptacle?
Anything to do with fireworks?
I'm thinking KNO3.
[Raak] To infinity... NO
[irach] The metal is certainly a reaction vessel, but I am not sure if it is present in the reaction, but I think it is.
[Rosie] Sparks will fly? NO
To do with projectile weapons?
[Raak] Fire? NO
Is / are the metal(s) in question found in Group III of Dmitri Mendeleev's Periodic Table?
[irach] Group III? I would presume some would be.
Are the objects propelled routine means of transport, eg. bus, train, car, plane?
[Rosie] Tranport? YES *Audience awakens from its slumber*
Propulsion of the mode of transport through a fluid (liquid or gaseous) matrix?
Fuel cells?
[irach] You've lost me completely. If that includes air, then yes.
[Raak] Eco-cell? NO
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