2009.01.19
It's a humbling time! I gotta remember, though, that the people I'm with are at the far side of the bellcurve for both general smarts, and probably love of challenging puzzles. So I should be happy to be able to contribute to some puzzles and then brute force my way through other things, like 3D minesweeper and certain types of clue-free crossword challenges. I'm curious about the team that won, "Beginner's Luck", if it was a new team, and what size... bigger teams definitely have many advantages.
And man, these puzzles! Brutal. "Here's a collection of pictures and words, figure out what to do with them" kind of things. They're kind of like super-devious cryptography exercises, each a totally new and obnoxious way of disguising a simple word, and there were few limits on what they wouldn't assume you could find a knowledgeable helper on.
There were also some events, I participated a mixer based on the game "Set", and a scavenger hunt based on "Scattegories", where you got points only if no one in your sections of groups (each section was based on if you said breakfast lunch or dinner.. ideally it was in your interest to try and guess which response would be the least popular, so of course it was a hall of mirrors exercise in prisoner's dilemma type thinking.)
Overall I liked it, but I'm glad these only happen like once a year...
Video of the Moment
--Recommend by HarveyJames...
The font of #s on the Raven's uniform is pretty awful... is that a drop shadow? http://tinyurl.com/9nu73w
Also, wikipedia says that the name "Ravens" works because the poem is a tale of loss, ala the Colts? And doesn't mention the "Orioles"?
Books are to my efforts to declutter what NEA programs are to budgeting Republicans in the 90s, the easy target; valuable, but vulnerable
HAHAHAHA - Bush might be a victim of what he did to the job market and the economy in general! http://www.slate.com/id/2208936/
Superiority of Dvorak over QWERTY a myth? http://tinyurl.com/86oj3c - but good if you don't like others using your keyboard, and vice versa
kerri9494 Mall Cop was shot at Burlington Mall? Wow. Now I feel .000003% more famous, plus it explains the eerie "I've seen this" trailer.