Subject: acka-games-digest V2 #196
From: [email-masked] (acka-games-digest)
To: [email-masked]

acka-games-digest      Friday, November 21 1997      Volume 02 : Number 196

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Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 22:35:23 -0700 (MST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Reply to third Salvo

> Well, this one was close, at least.  Just what computational aids, if any,
> did you use?  I went with sheer brainpower, despite offers of assistance,
> and it failed me again. :)  Is your word perhaps dopey?  I know there
> can't be more than a few other options, if I'd really watned to I could
> have spent an hour or so pouring over my dictionary and probably have
> gotten you, ah well...

Yes, "dopey" was indeed my word.

As far as 'computational aids', I did have the Official Dictionary in a
file, and a list of the five-letter words therein...  I might have used
'egrep' once or twice.

For my first salvo I picked words at random, figuring they'd be as good
as any.  Since only 'erses' had any hits, for the second salvo I picked
five words each of which crashed once with 'erses', so I could narrow
down which ones could match.  From the results of the firs two salvos I
managed to prove to myself(entirely with pen and paper)that the word was
of the form "_i_e_".  From there I just picked some words from the
dictionary.  It was sheer chance I hit upon 'sinew'; I could just as easily
have chosen 'siren'.  Feel better?  :-)

> Oh, I think you win some money for this, in case you hadn't noticed.

After the three-day inspection period passes...

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--Billy Joel:The Bridge
Current Book--Janette Oke:Once Upon A Summer
In the language of violence, death is a silence.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 23:29:08 -0700 (MST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Album Guessing

> Here goes nothing:

Damn, if I'd had a little more time today...ah, well.  Maybe not.  /dev/joe
gets his own chance to explain the treasure, but I'll list the ones I got
anyway...

> iron maiden: powerslave
> jethro tull: aqualung
> pink floyd: animals
> erasure: the innocents
> camper van beethoven: key lime pie
> barenaked ladies: gordon
> the alarm: declaration
> 13 engines: conquistador
> uriah heep: demons and wizards

These ones I figured out right away.  There was a thread several months
ago in which we discussed musical tastes, and most of these bands were
listed there, so it was those I tried first.

> marillion: misplaced childhood
> the dead milkmen: beelzebubba
> zz top: eliminator

These ones two-star got, of course.

> violent femmes: violent femmes
> tool: undertow
> offspring: smash
> yes: the yes album

These I got with a few more letters...

> soul asylum: and the horse they rode in on
> helloween: the best the rest the rare
> game theory: lolita nation
> love: forever changes
> for against: december
> red temple spirits: dancing to restore an eclipsed moon

Most of these, I had to go and search on the All-Music Guide
to get.  Especially the last one, which I was impressed I managed
to find.  (I was very sure of "temple", but it wasn't Stone Temple
Pilots...my wife suggested "red", and lo and behold I found it...)

> king's x: gretchen goes to nebraska
> q5: when the mirror cracks
> x-ray: tradition breaker
> wonder stuff: never loved elvis
> nada surf: high/low

And these ones were still puzzling me.  I was sure about "tradition",
but I bet the hyphen and apostrophe were still puzzling me.  And I
confess to only having heard of King's X and Wonder Stuff out of that
batch.

Okay, now let's hear about the actual winner.  :-)  And who get to be
the Mad Sculptors, anyway?

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--Barenaked Ladies:Enid
Current Book--Janette Oke:Once Upon A Summer
There's too much fire from a perfect match

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 01:36:07 -0500 (EST)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Reply to third Salvo

On Thu, 20 Nov 1997, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> 
> > Well, this one was close, at least.  Just what computational aids, if any,
> > did you use?  I went with sheer brainpower, despite offers of assistance,
> > and it failed me again. :)  Is your word perhaps dopey?  I know there
> > can't be more than a few other options, if I'd really watned to I could
> > have spent an hour or so pouring over my dictionary and probably have
> > gotten you, ah well...
> 
> Yes, "dopey" was indeed my word.
> 
> As far as 'computational aids', I did have the Official Dictionary in a
> file, and a list of the five-letter words therein...  I might have used
> 'egrep' once or twice.

I didn't really think you had, but I was curious.

> 
> For my first salvo I picked words at random, figuring they'd be as good
> as any.  Since only 'erses' had any hits, for the second salvo I picked
> five words each of which crashed once with 'erses', so I could narrow
> down which ones could match.  From the results of the firs two salvos I
> managed to prove to myself(entirely with pen and paper)that the word was
> of the form "_i_e_".  From there I just picked some words from the
> dictionary.  It was sheer chance I hit upon 'sinew'; I could just as easily
> have chosen 'siren'.  Feel better?  :-)
> 

Heh, its kind of ironic, really.  Since you hadn't actually said one way
or another if you were going to use your 'borg thingie again, I tried to
pick out a word that would be relatively difficult for it to find.  That
being a word which had a fairly common arrangement of letters.  I
obviously don't know for sure, but I imagine that you would have needed to
get at least 3 letters right (or a lot of letters wrong) to get a list of
possible words that had less than a dozen or so possibilities on it.  But
since you weren't using a 'borg, the fact that my word had a fairly common
arrangement meant that it wasn't too hard to think of words that might
fit and, as you said, you got a little bit lucky and thought of sinew
right off the bat.  If I had used kloof again this round, my guess is you
wouldn't have caught me so soon.  On the other hand, your word was just
unusual enough that, even though I knew 3 of the letters, I couldn't even
think of 4 words for my last salvo that had them.  Which isn't too
suprising, since (my friend who's offer of computer assistance I turned
down tells me) there were only 4 words in the entire language that fit
what I knew after the second round.

Ah well, it was fun anyway.  I see no mistakes in your crash reports, etc.
After a few days go by, you'll get your money.

                                     - Vynd

[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 02:32:41 -0500 (EST)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Lantern

The next few days were pure misery for Stutim.  Welecta had friends
waiting in Habsville, and they had a coach.  The next day, they set out
for the capital, with Stutim spending most of his time firmly tied up with
a bag covering his head. Finally, however, they arrived at the gates of
the city, and Welecta came into the cab to speak with him.

"Feeling well rested, I am sure.  It wouldn't do for anyone to see you all
tied up, once we're inside the city.  I am sure you'll behave yourself,
however."  Welecta smirked as he tossed his pistol from hand to hand, and
the wagon proceeded into the city.

Suddenly the wagon came to a halt.  "Hey there!  Clear the road!" shouted
the driver.  Welecta perked up and looked out the window, giving Stutim a
chance to take a peek himself.

The road was covered in watermellons.  Apparently a vendor's cart had
broken.  Stutim nearly jumped out of his skin when he recognized the
vendor as Brusari.  He was waving some kind of staff at the coach.  Just
then a shout went up from the other side of the street.  "They have the
Princess in there!"  The driver was fighting with someone outside the
door, but Welecta paid it no heed.  He took careful aim at Brusari, and
before Stutim could react, fired twice.

Brusari crumpled to the ground clutching his chest.  Welecta leaned out
the window to watch, laughing maniacally.  His laughter was cut short,
however, when gunfire roared from down the street, and he took a bullet in
the chest.  He fell into the street at the same time a group of dark
skinned men tore open the door to the wagon.

"We have found them!  We have found them Brusari!" shouted the leader of
the group.  "Brusari?!?"

play: watermellon vendor

                                     - Vynd

[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 07:07:01 -0600
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: *ping*

Today is Friday, the 21st day of November, 
and the Machine That Goes *ping* Has Gone *ping* today. 
Since I have been scholar, the Machine has gone *ping* 5 times. 

/dev/joe
Scholar of *ping*

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 09:04:36 -0700
From: "Aaron V. Humphrey" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Pinguess

O great scholar, let me make a premature guess for which
there is as yet insufficient evidence:

IF AND ONLY IF today the date is divisible by five, three or four,
THEN The Machine that Goes *ping* shall go *ping*.

- --
- --Alfvaen (Web page:http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/)
Song In My Head--Spice Girls:2 Become 1
Current Book--Janette Oke:Once Upon A Summer
BIG HONKIN' MUONS--The new release by Larry 'Bud' Niven!

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 16:46:54 +0000 ()
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Pinguess

On Fri, 21 Nov 1997, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> 
> O great scholar, let me make a premature guess for which
> there is as yet insufficient evidence:

O great scholar, let me also make a premature guess for which there
is similarly, as yet, insufficient evidence:

IF AND ONLY IF today the date is divisible by four, three or five,
THEN The Machine that Goes *ping* shall go *ping*.

[I had arrived at these options independently of Alfvaen, but 
wanted to wait.]

- --
Duncan C. Richer - aka Slakko the Lost Warner Brother - Now Really Lost!
Queens' College -- PhD, Pure Maths, Graph Theory -- Cambridge University
"... and entirely motivated by hormones.  Works for me!" --  Freakazoid!
http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/Nomic/27/Index.html <----- Imperial Nomic 27

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 12:34:33 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Pinguess

Student Alfavaen wrote:
> O great scholar, let me make a premature guess for which
> there is as yet insufficient evidence:
> 
> IF AND ONLY IF today the date is divisible by five, three or four,
> THEN The Machine that Goes *ping* shall go *ping*.

I hold the orb of aldur in my hands, adding its power to my own in order
to contact the machine in my house, high below the surface of Ackanomia.
The stone glowed a bright blue as I invoked its powers, and I asked,
"Dearest machine, one of my students thinks the truth is 'IF AND ONLY IF
today the date is divisible by five, three or four, THEN The Machine that
Goes *ping* shall go *ping*.'  Could he possibly be correct?"

The stone shook violently in my hands and glowed a bright red as the voice
of the machine boomed in my mind, "NO, HOW RIDICULOUS.  EVEN THE STUPIDEST
MURGO COULD FIGURE OUT THAT THAT IS NOT THE TRUTH!!"

So there you have it.

/dev/joe
Scholar of *ping*

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 12:53:15 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Pinguess

Student Slakko wrote:
> O great scholar, let me also make a premature guess for which there
> is similarly, as yet, insufficient evidence:
> 
> IF AND ONLY IF today the date is divisible by four, three or five,
> THEN The Machine that Goes *ping* shall go *ping*.
> 
> [I had arrived at these options independently of Alfvaen, but 
> wanted to wait.]

[/dev/joe is seen shuffling madly through a stack of virtual papers, which
are actually stored at muppetlabs.com]

Hmm, looks like we got rid of that silly part about not being allowed to
post a guess while a guess was pending... back in February, proposal 1714.
So I raise the orb in my hands again and pass this guess to the machine.
This time, the orb glows a blindingly bright blue as the Machine's wordless
response comes to me.  Yes, Slakko, that *is* the truth. Congratulations,
most wise Scholar.  May all your days be filled with *ping*ing. :-)

/dev/joe
Former scholar of *ping* again
Memo to myself: do the dumb things I gotta do: turn off the *ping* messages.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 19:39:08 +0000 ()
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Pinguess

On Fri, 21 Nov 1997, Joseph W. DeVincentis wrote:

> Hmm, looks like we got rid of that silly part about not being allowed to
> post a guess while a guess was pending... back in February, proposal 1714.
> So I raise the orb in my hands again and pass this guess to the machine.
> This time, the orb glows a blindingly bright blue as the Machine's wordless
> response comes to me.  Yes, Slakko, that *is* the truth. Congratulations,
> most wise Scholar.  May all your days be filled with *ping*ing. :-)
> 
I believe this is the appropriate point where I explain why I guessed it,
correct?

Okay, here goes.

I hadn't really thought about it until today - except in the vaguest
way (I thought the nine asterisks were Ackanomic or Ackanomia at that
point).  Then, when the 5th *ping* came, I realised it was almost time
for a Magic Letter, and decided to look at the clue again.
Looking at the dates the machine did not go *ping* indicated the
values 13,14,17,19.  Three of these were prime, making me think
about divisibility.  I came to "divisible" via "remainder", and
a process of elimination over the days given (13 through 21) enables
you to work out that it is one of the following four possibilities:

four, three or nine
four, three or five
five, three or four
nine, three or four

Given that nine is redundant when three is there, it seemed that 5,3,4 
was most likely, and Alfvaen forced me into an "only one option" left
phrase phase.

Sincerest commiserations to Alfvaen.

Yours,
Slakko
Newly Scholar of *ping*
- --
Duncan C. Richer - aka Slakko the Lost Warner Brother - Now Really Lost!
Queens' College -- PhD, Pure Maths, Graph Theory -- Cambridge University
"... and entirely motivated by hormones.  Works for me!" --  Freakazoid!
http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/Nomic/27/Index.html <----- Imperial Nomic 27

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 21:50:26 -0700 (MST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Pinguess

> I believe this is the appropriate point where I explain why I guessed it,
> correct?

Actually, that's normally only done for Treasures, but hey, why not...

> I hadn't really thought about it until today - except in the vaguest
> way (I thought the nine asterisks were Ackanomic or Ackanomia at that
> point).  Then, when the 5th *ping* came, I realised it was almost time
> for a Magic Letter, and decided to look at the clue again.
> Looking at the dates the machine did not go *ping* indicated the
> values 13,14,17,19.  Three of these were prime, making me think
> about divisibility.  I came to "divisible" via "remainder", and
> a process of elimination over the days given (13 through 21) enables
> you to work out that it is one of the following four possibilities:

> four, three or nine
> four, three or five
> five, three or four
> nine, three or four

I spotted "divisible" right away, and quickly realized that it would take
some time to find out what the three numbers were(two four-letter ones and
a five-letter one).  Today I sat down and figured out what set would
account for the pings seen to date, and arrived at the same combinations as
Slakko.

> Given that nine is redundant when three is there, it seemed that 5,3,4 
> was most likely, and Alfvaen forced me into an "only one option" left
> phrase phase.

I still thought that there might be a nine--that's the kind of thing I, or
maybe Rex Mundi(see the Sixteenth Truth)might pull--but I figured guessing
five first would be easier.  I chose one randomly and figured someone else
would be astute enough to guess the other.

> Sincerest commiserations to Alfvaen.

Them's the risks!  Though I do have the glimmerings of a Truth lurking in
my mind somewhere...maybe I'll try again after Christmas(who knows if
anyone would get it before I went on vacation...)

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--Savage Progress:Celebration
Current Book--Janette Oke:Once Upon A Summer
Go to Hell.  Go directly to Hell.  Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

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End of acka-games-digest V2 #196
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