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November 2004 Games
The November 2004 issue of Games is out - feel free to discuss.
Comments
I think Sir William S. Gilbert put it best:
"Oh, joy unbounded, with wealth surrounded, the knell is sounded of grief and woe."
Thank God there is Henry Hook; I love puzzles like this.
...
Bob's great too! ;)
Posted by: Stephen | Sep 9, 2004 10:19:15 PM
For those who competed in the "Wish You Were...Where? 5" contest from July 2004, the answers have been revealed, but due to the printing schedule, winners won't appear until the next issue.
1. Savannah (Georgia)
2. Trakoscana Castle (Croatia)
3. Fiji
4. Carthage (Mississippi)
5. Singapore
6. New Brunswick (Canada)
7. Mackinac Bridge (Michigan)
8. Lake Champlain (New York and Vermont)
9. Adelaide (Australia)
10. Nanaimo (British Columbia)
11. Bourbon Street (New Orleans)
12. Patmos (Greece)
13. Yale University
14. Orange County (California)
15. Curacao (Netherlands Antilles)
16. Thailand
17. Carcassonne (France)
18. Saudi Arabia
19. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
20. Mexico City
Posted by: Sean | Sep 10, 2004 12:06:33 AM
(Sorry for the double post -- an error occurred between the two, and I didn't know the first one would eventually post. JM or Nichole, Feel free to delete one, if possible.)
Anyway, I hope we see some familiar names as winners for the postcard contest. I just checked out the answers that Laurie provided in the July 2004 thread, and (aside from the final "a" left off "Trakoscana") she appears to have a perfect 20/20! Good Luck!
Posted by: Sean | Sep 10, 2004 12:18:39 AM
Every reference that I saw called the castle "Trakoscan", without an "a" at the end.
Posted by: Laurie | Sep 10, 2004 6:55:28 AM
Laurie, I didn't even participate in that contest, but I would imagine you were given the benefit of the doubt to preserve your perfect score. Good job!
Posted by: Sean | Sep 10, 2004 7:10:13 AM
I was just wondering if anyone else had "Trakoscana" for #2.
Posted by: Laurie | Sep 10, 2004 3:15:14 PM
A quick Google check appears to confirm both correct, just depending on which language you think and spell in. Though I can't speak for them, I'm pretty confident either spelling would be accepted by GAMES.
Posted by: Bob Lodge | Sep 10, 2004 5:33:36 PM
November 2004 Games WOP is out too...I just purchased mine this evening...
Posted by: The_Steppum | Sep 10, 2004 6:50:38 PM
Thank you Mr. Hook, for your "Name That Text" cryptogram contest. I enjoyed working on it but I didn't think this was a 3-star puzzle. I had expected it to be much tougher than it was. (Does anyone agree with me on that?) I received my issue yesterday, and I was able to solve it in several hours.
Posted by: Toni | Sep 10, 2004 9:16:40 PM
I, too, wish Laurie "Good Luck!" on the postcard contest...I hope you win, Laurie. Some of those locations were tough to find. Nicely done.
Posted by: Toni | Sep 10, 2004 9:23:47 PM
I second that notion, Toni, with respect to the "Name That Text" contest -- definitely not 3-star caliber. I'm usually slow with these types of puzzles, but I, too, just received my issue last night and solved it in a few hours (collectively, no more than 3 hours after working bits and pieces throughout the day).
Posted by: Sean | Sep 10, 2004 10:00:19 PM
I have to agree that puzzle was less difficult than I had anticipated at first. I got an entry mailed today. Perhaps he intentionally chose easy clues in order to garner more entries. All it would take to increase the difficulty is to make the clues more cryptic, or cross-referenced, etc. I am very impressed, though, with the construction. To make all that come together, through the sieve of a crypto transformation, is an awesome task. Solving it may have been relatively easy, but constructing it was likely much more challenging. For that, a tip of the hat. It WAS still fun!
Posted by: Bob Lodge | Sep 11, 2004 4:09:17 AM
What's the GWOP contest this month?
Posted by: Mark | Sep 11, 2004 2:13:39 PM
In reply to Mark: Fellowship of the Rings Contest...
which is super hard...and they have the contest results from April 2004...
Posted by: The_Steppum | Sep 12, 2004 4:21:21 PM
Just noticed this in the contest results for the Hexed! contest: first runner-up is John Knoderer of Gravette, AR (911); then Amanda Dollarhide of Gravette, AR (909); then Arleen Knoderer of Sulphur Springs, AR (908).....
Either there's unusually concentrated lexical brilliance in a group of Arkansans, or Johnny boy got a couple family and friends to submit slightly un-identical entries to game the system. 3 t-shirts out of 10.
The really sad thing is that I don't know what reasonable rule Games could make to prevent fraud like this.
Posted by: Jim Miller | Sep 16, 2004 9:02:22 AM
Sorry, that should have gone under the October Games discussion.
Posted by: Jim Miller | Sep 16, 2004 9:03:13 AM
i smell a fraud...
after all... it is spelled SULFUR...maybe u can write a letter to the GAMES editor about this and have their T-shirts revoked...
Posted by: The_Steppum | Sep 16, 2004 4:49:17 PM
The dictionary has the word both ways. The map doesn't.
Posted by: MLR | Sep 16, 2004 4:56:47 PM
so...who's with me into writing a petition of fraud...
or maybe this is the 'hidden contest'? lol
Posted by: The_Steppum | Sep 16, 2004 5:11:37 PM
Is it still hidden?
Posted by: MLR | Sep 16, 2004 5:13:11 PM
I don't consider myself to be a good Double Cross or Cryptogram solver, but I was able to solve the "Name That Text" contest (alone) in a few hours. I agree that it was a well-constructed puzzle.
Arkansas must be a great state for word puzzle fans.
Is it against GAMES rules to collaborate with others in contests?
Posted by: Laurie | Sep 16, 2004 7:59:34 PM
Of course it isn't against the rules: if it was, we'd all be disqualified for using this site! (If Bob Lodge turned us in . . .)
Most of the contests indicate that you can enter more than once as long as you mail the entries separately. In this case, it wouldn't have made much sense for John to submit these three entries with different scores, as he would have no way of knowing whether other solvers would have the same score as one or more of his entries. Once he had achieved his best score, then it might make sense to put extra entries in under other names, as it would increase his chances in a "random draw" situation.
Myself, I usually settle for entering just the once (or, in some cases, forgetting to enter at all). I still haven't received the November issues from my subscriptions to GAMES and GWoP magazines; it's probably just as well, as it gives me a bit more time to either look for the Hidden Contest from October or [bang my head against a wall over] Bob's contest from September. Decisions, decisions!
Posted by: Bill from Canada | Sep 16, 2004 8:57:50 PM
Re: Name That Text Contest...
I NEED letters, J, K, L, M, N, Q, and U...If anyone wants to trade answers or whatever let me know...
e-mail me: [email protected]
Thanks...
Posted by: The_Steppum | Sep 17, 2004 11:22:44 PM
ok...just figured out 2 more...so I need these:
J, K, L, M, and Q
although I think I do know what each word starts with cause of the initial letters I do have but I ain't positive...
so if you wanna trade...you know the drill
thanks
Posted by: The_Steppum | Sep 18, 2004 12:31:02 PM
okay...I just figured U out....(lol...figured you out...bad pun...sorry)...
so i need J-M
thanks
Posted by: The_Steppum | Sep 18, 2004 12:33:51 PM
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