The final turn! The answer was Niggardly, and ( this is what happenedCollapse )

Well, if anyone else wants to have a go at running the game some time in the future, I'm sure you'll be able to improve on this effort ;-) but for now that'll do I think!

The answer was:

Niggardly

and ( these were the questionsCollapse )

Deadline is 3pm Monday! (I'm away this weekend.)

The Ernie Wise one. My own question was ( as followsCollapse )

so it's all to do to catch mooism!

Right then, this is the climactic final turn, and the answer you're looking for is:

Niggardly

Make of it what you will: deadline is 3pm Thursday!

These are the questions for the Ernie Wise one:

( Wise before the eventCollapse )

Deadline is 3pm Thursday, get voting!

The question was A trapeze artist hanging by her teeth, ( and this is what happenedCollapse )

Time to start making the final push, folks!

The last-but-one turn, so gird your loins for a desperate final push... the answer is:

Ernie Wise

Good luck! -- deadline for questions is 3pm Tuesday.

These are the questions for A trapeze artist hanging by her teeth:

( The questionsCollapse )

Deadline is 3pm Tuesday, and as usual anyone can vote and score points wether or not they submitted a question. And, as before, nominate which one you think is mine, and also your favourite.

The answer was 39, 27, and my question was: 6,How many books are there in the Old and New Testaments of the Authorized Version of the Bible (aka "King James")?

( The detailsCollapse )

So we have a new leader! -- but no-one can be ruled out just yet, with plenty of time left to score heavily if you can just plug into that elusive group psyche...

This is the new answer, deadline 3pm Saturday 7th January.

A trapeze artist hanging by her teeth

You just have to say what question might produce that answer. make it convincing enough to seem more like mine than my own one does, and top-of-table glory can be yours!

Looking for the answer 39, 27, these are the questions:

( The questions and settersCollapse )

Get voting! -- deadline is 3pm Saturday 7th January. As usual, vote for the one you think is mine, and also for your favourite -- they can be the same -- and please do say which is which...
 And as last turn, anyone can guess and score points, whether or not they submitted a question.

The "The Fair" one. We had 10 different questions, which made a nice change, albeit three of them drew on popular phrases or sayings... which found little favour with the voters, sorry to say.

( The detailsCollapse )

Here's the next answer:

39, 27

Submit your suggested questions below! Deadline is 3pm Thursday 5th January.

Here are the questions looking for the answer "The Fair":

( The questionsCollapse )

Deadline is 3pm Thursday 5th January.

( The detailsCollapse )

Halfway through the game, and it's still all to play for!

I've been through the old turns and sorted out the scoring system to make it a bit fairer and more logical. ( Details concealed for the sanity of anyone who really doesn't careCollapse )

(And yes, I did have far too much time on my hands this afternoon. I've got all this in SQL now, which I'm sure will be very handy some day.)

The next one, deadline 3pm Tuesday -- it's not too late to join in!

And the answer is:

The Fair

Good luck!

These are the questions for the answer "Kent":

1,During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 which English Duke escaped death by riding to freedom on a goat?
2,In which county is Leeds Castle?
3,In which county would you find the historic houses of Chartwell, Penshurst Place and Knole House?
4,The name of which English county links a superhero with a U.S. senator?
5,What can you be a man of or a ish man?
6,What is the surname of Superman's human-appearing alter ego?
7,What was Superman's alter ego's Surname?
8,Where did the britpop group Salad want to live in a house?
9,Where is Leeds Castle?
10,Which County Cricket ground was famous for having a tree within the boundary?
11,Which member of the Roman-Catholic church was also General Secretary of CND?
12,Who was the architect of Holkham Hall?

And these were the setters:

bateleur
bibliogirl
cuthbertcross
fractalgeek
jiggery_pokery
karohemd
liriselei
mooism
nickeyb
queenortart
undyingking
wimble

Deadline is 3pm Tuesday 3rd Jan, to allow for bank holidays and the like. As before, say which you think was my one, and which is your favourite. A bit more variety this time, so that's good.

The "Silvester" one! It was a bit of a feeble answer in hindsight, sorry about that... ah well, we live and learn. These were the eligible players, who both submitted a question and guessed one:

al_fruitbat
bateleur
bibliogirl
jiggery_pokery
liriselei
mooism
queenortart
wimble

Mine was #4, so correct were jiggery_pokery and liriselei, plus al_fruitbat, bateleur, bibliogirl and wimble chose the equivalent #5 or #6. (And a [dis]honourable mention for nickeyb, who also chose #6 -- but hadn't submitted a question herself, so it didn't count.)

I'll retrospect this "point for choosing an equivalent one" back to cover the earlier turns, it only seems fair. But not just yet.

As for voting points, bateleur and queenortart get 1 vote each, bibliogirl gets 4 for somehow being more convincing than I am myself. (My brain cell!)

As for the People's Choice award, wimble romps home with his tribute to Victor of that ilk.

So the scores are now (with the "equivalent answer" points applied only to this turn so far):

7/2 dr_bob
3/1 nickeyb
8/4 bibliogirl
4/4 wimble
2/2 brixtonbrood
2/2 bateleur
1/1 al_fruitbat
1/1 ar_gemlad
3/4 queenortart
2/3 fractalgeek
2/4 liriselei
1/3 mooism
1/4 jiggery_pokery

Right then, the next answer is:

Kent

Deadline is 3pm Friday 30th December. And let's hope we end up as newly-educated about that as we now are about Tom Cruise...

These are the questions for "Silvester":

( DetailsCollapse )

Deadline for guesses is 3pm Friday 30th December. Remember, as well as identifying the one you think is my one, also vote for the one which is your favourite. And may God have mercy on your soul...

The Tom Cruise one! The correct question was #4, "Which Hollywood actor was born Thomas Mapother?"

( ResultsCollapse )

I'm planning to do 10 turns of this and then stop -- otherwise we'll all get bored to death, I suspect? So it's still all to play for!

And the next answer, the deadline for which is 3pm Wednesday 28th, is:

Silvester

As before, suggest in a comment below a question to which that is the (correct) answer. Good luck!

The "400" one. These were the eligible players, ie. those who both submitted a questiona nd voted for one:

bibliogirl
brixtonbrood
cardinalsin
cuthbertcross
dr_bob
fractalgeek
jiggery_pokery
liriselei
mooism
queenortart
thecesspit
wimble

Edit: the above list is now correct: previously it was showing last turn's equivalent.

Of which these got the correct one, which was #10:

bibliogirl
dr_bob

So both get a point! Top work by dr_bob who submitted the other cricket top-score one himself, but had the courage of his convictions to vote for my one. (Which, if you're curious, was worded as it was because the innings was actually 400* rather than 400 -- but that would have been a bit of a giveaway I thought!)

And finally the votes for other people's. 4 people voted for verlaine's, but as he didn't guess himself, he wasted another 4 points to go with the 2 lost last turn... what might have been! Instead, 2 for brixtonbrood, 2 for dr_bob, 1 for fractalgeek, and 1 for queenortart.

So the raw scores on the doors so far are:

7/2 dr_bob
3/2 bibliogirl
2/2 brixtonbrood
2/2 wimble
1/1 ar_gemlad
1/2 fractalgeek
1/2 queenortart

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and is using Boxing Day to recover!

Here are the questions for "Tom Cruise":

1 Which Maverick Actor's break-through into the big time is best remembered by a skid through a doorway, half dressed....
2 Which actor's movies have earnt the most money at the worldwide box office without that actor having won an Oscar?
3 Which former Franciscan seminary student told us to Respect the cock! in a floral 90s movie?
4 Which Hollywood actor was born Thomas Mapother?
5 Which Hollywood movie star appeared in a fake documentary following the work of one of his own stunt doubles?
6 Which Scientologist had an uncredited cameo appearance in the 1988 film Young Guns?
7 Which star recently bought his own sonogram machine to track the progress of the child which his girlfriend Katie Holmes is carrying?
8 Which well-known actor's birth surname was Mapother?
9 Who is William Mapother's more famous cousin?
10 Who lost almost 3 stone in order to look more authentic for his role in the 1990s film of Interview with a Vampire?
11 Who played the vampire Lestat in the film of Interview With a Vampire?
12 Who was Nicole Kidman married to?
13 Who was the first actor to star in five consecutive films that grossed $100 million in the USA?

As before, say in a comment (which will be screened) which you think is the one I chose originally.

The setters were:

bateleur
bibliogirl
brixtonbrood
cuthbertcross
dr_bob
fractalgeek
jiggery_pokery
liriselei
mooism
nickeyb
queenortart
undyingking
wimble


For this round we'll introduce a new feature, which is that as well as guessing the "correct" question, you can also vote for your favourite question. You could like it for being clever, well-phrased, obscure, amsing, or just plain on a basis of whimsy. Whoever gets the most votes as favourite (you can't vote for your own one, of course) gets a bonus point!

Deadline is 3pm on Wednesday.

And here's the next answer:

Tom Cruise

Anyone who wants to join in, submit a comment of a question to which that is the answer.

Deadline for this is also 3pm Boxing Day.

Here's the next set of questions, looking for the answer "400":

1 How many Members of Parliament are there in the National Assembly of South Africa?
2 How many miles short would you be if you walked three fifths of the distance the proclaimers said they would in the chorus of the song \500 miles\?
3 How many pounds did David Beckenham spend on religious shrines to bring him good luck when he moved to Real Madrid?
4 How many Spartan soldiers defended Greece from the armies of Persia at the battle of Thermopylae, in 480 B.C.?
5 How many Spartans were there at the hot gates?
6 How many years does it take for the Western (Gregorian) calendar to repeat, ignoring Easter?
7 If you add Neneh Cherry's seconds to the number of steps to heaven, and multiply the result by the last track on U2's album \War\, what do you get?
8 What do you get when you multiply 6 by 9?
9 What is 20 squared?
10 What is the highest number of runs scored by an individual batsman in a Test cricket innings?
11 What is the highest score by a batsman in a single test match innings?
12 What is the square of 20? [1]
13 What is the square of 20? [2]
14 What number is represented by the letters CD in Roman numerals?
15 Which Rover series was the biggest loss maker for the British car-maker?

and these are the setters:

bibliogirl
brixtonbrood
cardinalsin
cuthbertcross
dr_bob
fractalgeek
jackfirecat
jiggery_pokery
liriselei
mooism
queenortart
thecesspit
undyingking
verlaine
wimble

So as before, just post in a comment saying which question # you want to vote for. Deadline is 3pm Boxing Day.

Here are the results!

( DetailsCollapse )

Thoughts, comments, improvements?

OK then, here's the answer for the next question:

400

Same rules as before: anyone can enter, whether or not you did so last time. Deadline is midday tomorrow, as I'm one of those unfortunate people who's tied to the computer all through the Christmas period.

(Next time I'll combine this into the voting for the last turn's questions, unless that looks hideously confusing.)

OK then, we've got some good questions in! Here they are, in an arbitrary order:

( Questions and answersCollapse )

Any questions, put them in comments, and I'll answer / unscreen as appropriate. Good luck!

Deadline is 3 pm this afternoon. And I'll announce next turn's "answer" shortly!

Edit: OK then, I'll extend the deadline to 5. But only because it's Christmas!
Another edit: blimey! -- OK, 8 pm then.

OK then, here's the first go at this. Let's see how it works out!

So, I've thought of a question which I'll put in a screened comment to this post. The answer to it is:

Gibbon

So your first task now is to think of a question which has that as the correct answer, and which you hope other people will think is the one that I was thinking of in the first place. Add your question in a comment (NB not anonymous), which will also be screened. The deadline is 3pm UK time tomorrow 23rd December.

(Note that quite often people come up with questions similar to the "correct" one, in which case distinguishing between them by studying the grammar, precise wording etc may come into play. So best to phrase your question as a grammatically complete query sentence, as that's what I'll be doing.)

Edit: Better make it midday rather than 3, I think, as I expect you'll all be POETS(&CE)ing this afternoon...

Some of you know of a rather silly card game I have called Inspiration, where one person reads out the answer to a (factual) question, the others secretly write down possible questions that could give that answer, they're all shuffled up together and then everyone votes on which they think is the "correct" one. You keep score using cards with pictures of the nine Muses on them, for no very apparent reason. You get a point if you guess which is the correct question, but more importantly you also get a point if someone else thinks that your suggestion is the correct one. The fun aspects are (a) bamboozling people into thinking that your suggestion is more authentic-sounding than the real one, and (b) observing how scarily similar people's minds can become once they've known each other for a while...

It struck me that this sort of thing could work well over LJ. I would think  of a question every now and then, anyone who wants to can take part as and when, and it's all handled via screened comments etc. Anyone interested in giving it a go?