Ackanomic Cyclopedia of Knowledge - extra edition April 14, 1998 - Volume 1, issue 4 Special Tribute to GAMES Magazine Issue In this issue: - - Time is running out for the GAMES T-Shirt treasure - - Clerihews - - Spare Change Time is running out! - -------------------- by S. Quicksilver, contributing editor Treasure 181, buried way back in August when the GAMES Magazine hidden contest before the current one was alive, is still findable for the next nine days, then buries itself deeply until the next hidden contest which may be months from now. The hidden contest in the April issue of GAMES, long gone from newsstands now, but those who already have a copy may still find it. An inside source informs us that this hidden contest "is not really very well hidden". Sometimes Acka imitates GAMES, or vice versa - -------------------------------------------- by /dev/subeditor21 The June issue of GAMES features the results to the Clerihew contest from last December's issue. A Clerihew, for those who don't know, is a four-line form of poetry named for Edmund Clerihew Bentley, who originated it. The first two lines must rhyme, as well as the last two, and meter doesn't matter (and typically is intentionally bad, or at least unusual). Although they didn't know it, it seems many Ackans have been writing many Clerihews lately. In the contest, each entry was required to mention one or more of the games listed in that issue's Buyer's Guide (formerly the GAMES 100). The GAMES editors noted that among the over 1000 entries, many rhyme pairs were popular, and among the ones listed is one that showed up in Acka recently: "Magic" and "tragic". Over $700 up for grabs - ---------------------- by /dev/joe A contest in the current June issue of GAMES brings back memories for many old-times GAMES readers. It's another of an old favorite, the word-packing contest. This time readers are asked to pack coins into a round grid. Specifically, they are to pack the words PENNY, NICKEL, DIME, QUARTER, and HALFDOLLAR (which is treated as one word for this contest), into a roughly round grid 21 squares wide. [Exact dimensions and entry instructions available upon request.] Each word is worth as many points as its value in cents, and each word must be used at least once, and as usual, no other words besides the official ones listed above may be used, and all the words in the grid must be hooked together somehow. The winning entry gets their score in dollars, and 10 runners-up get GAMES T-Shirts (real ones, not the trinket). In two hours of working on the contest, the editorial staff at the ACK was able to produce one valid grid with a score of over 700 points. One staffer was overheard saying, "Winning this one is going to depend on how many HALFDOLLARs you can pack in the grid, since they score the most points per letter, even though they are long." Advertisement - ------------- Vote /dev/joe for President, or at least give him the A$1000000!