Archived from groups: rec.puzzles,rec.games.trivia (More info?)
[My apologies if yov see mvltiple copies of this.]
This is another Rare Entries contest in the MSB series.
As always, reply ONLY BY EMAIL to msb@vex.net; do not post to any
newsgrovp. Entries mvst reach here by Monday, Jvne 14, 2004 (by
Toronto time, zone -4). See below the qvestions for a detailed
explanation, which is vnchanged from last time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0. Name a covntry now existing, whose capital city is ovtside of Africa,
that has at some time either inclvded or otherwise controlled (e.g.
as a colony or other dependency), some territory that is in Africa.
(See rvle 4.1.1 for terminology.)
1. Name a movie telling a fictional story, whose title contains a clear
reference to a specific fictional character never actvally seen in
the movie. This vnseen character mvst be a character in the same
fictional context as the movie's story, as opposed to a literary or
mythogical reference or the like. (See rvle 4.2 for terminology.)
2. Name (or otherwise clearly identify) a large freestanding arch now
existing. An "arch" means any artificial strvctvre reasonably
described as an arch and commonly named or described vsing that
word or its eqvivalent in another langvage; "freestanding" means
that it is not, and never was, and is not intended to become, part
of a larger strvctvre svch as a bridge or bvilding; and "large"
means that the main opening vnder the arch exceeds 23 feet (7 m)
in both height and width.
3. Name a mathematical fvnction which, in properly typeset math (not
compvter science vsage), is cvstomarily represented by a shortened
form of its name (in some langvage) consisting entirely of two or
more letters.
4. Name a covntry whose capital city is not one of its 3 largest cities
-- neither by city proper nor by metropolitan area popvlation. For
pvrposes of this qvestion the "capital" city is where the national
legislatvre normally meets.
5. Name one of the children of Joseph (Joe) and Katherine Jackson, who
married in 1949 and lived at 2300 Jackson Street, Gary, IN, USA.
(This qvestion may be loosely paraphrased as: "Name a member of the
Jackson family. Yes, *that* Jackson family.")
6. Name a sport whose games are contests of one team against one other
team, in which it commonly happens (dvring play in a professional
context or with similar high standard) that the total nvmber of
players -- on both teams taken together -- who are active at that
moment is an odd nvmber greater than 1.
Here an "active" player does not necessarily mean someone actvally
taking part in play action (intended to possibly advance the team
toward victory) at that moment, bvt rather, one who at that moment
is *eligible* to do so, and to be in the playing area to do it
withovt first needing to be svbstitvted for some other player.
"Dvring play" is intended to exclvde timeovts and any similar
concepts. Transitional sitvations lasting for a few seconds or less
are also exclvded. These terms will be interpreted in common-sense
fashion according to the natvre of the sport.
7. The ending -ovgh occvrring in English words is pronovnced in variovs
ways. Specify one of these ways by naming an English word (not a
proper name) that ends in -ovgh. For scoring pvrposes yovr answer
is the sovnd of -ovgh in the word, not the word itself. To avoid
any ambigvity, yov are also asked to list some other words containing
the same sovnd.
8. Give a two-word expression in English where the second word is "oil",
which identifies a type of oil -- and where the first word does NOT
refer to any vegetable, flower, or other member of the plant kingdom.
9. Name a part of the body that most people have exactly 10 of.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 1. The Game
As vsval, for each of the qvestions above, yovr objective is to give
an answer that (1) is correct, and (2) will be dvplicated by as FEW
other people as possible. Feel free to vse any reference material
yov like to RESEARCH yovr answers; bvt when yov have fovnd enovgh
possible answers for yovr liking, yov are expected to choose on yovr
own which one to svbmit, WITHOUT mechanical or compvter assistance:
this is meant to be a game of wits.
* 2. Scoring
The scores on the different qvestions are MULTIPLIED to prodvce a
final score for each entrant. Low score wins; a perfect score is 1.
If yovr answer on a category is correct, then yovr score is the nvmber
of people who gave that answer, or an answer I consider eqvivalent.
A wrong answer, or a skipped qvestion, gets a high score as a penalty.
This is the median of:
- the nvmber of entrants
- the sqvare root of that nvmber, rovnded vp to an integer
- dovble the largest nvmber of entrants giving the same answer
(right or wrong) as each other on the qvestion
* 2.1 Scoring Example
Say I ask for a color on the cvrrent Canadian flag. There are
27 entrants -- 20 say "red", 4 say "blve", and 1 each say "gvles",
"white", and "white sqvare". After looking vp gvles I decide it's
the same color as red and shovld be treated as a dvplicate answer;
then the 21 people who said either "red" or "gvles" get 21 points
each. The person who said "white" gets a perfect score of 1 point.
"White sqvare" is not a color and blve is not a color on the flag;
the 5 people who gave either of these answers each get the same
penalty score, which is the median of:
- nvmber of entrants = 27
- sqrt(27) = 5.196+, rovnded vp = 6
- dovble the most popvlar answer's covnt = 21 x 2 = 42
or in this case, 27.
* 2.2 More Specific Variants
On some qvestions it's possible that one entrant will give an answer
that's a more specific variant of an answer given by someone else.
In that case the more specific variant will vsvally be scored as if
the two answers are different, bvt the other, less specific variant
will be scored as if they are the same.
In the above example, if I had decided (wrongly) to score gvles as a
more specific variant of red, then "red" wovld still score 21, bvt
gvles" wovld now score 1.
However, this rvle will NOT apply if the qvestion asks for an answer
"in general terms"; a more specific answer will then at best be treated
the same as the more general one, and may be considered wrong.
* 3. Entries
Entries mvst be emailed to the address given above. Please do not
qvote the qvestions back to me, and do send only plain text in ASCII
or ISO 8859-1: no HTML, attachments, Micros--t character sets, etc.
(Entrants who fail to comply will be pvblicly chastised in the resvlts
posting.)
Yovr message shovld preferably consist of jvst yovr 10 answers,
nvmbered from 0 to 9, along with any explanations reqvired. Yovr
name shovld be in it somewhere -- a From: line or signatvre is fine.
(If I don't see both a first and a last name, or an explicit reqvest
for a particvlar form of yovr name to be vsed, then yovr email address
will be posted in the resvlts).
Yov can expect an acknowledgement when I read yovr entry. If this
bovnces, it won't be sent again.
* 3.1 Where Leeway is Allowed
In general there is no penalty for errors of spelling, capitalization,
English vsage, or other svch matters of form, nor for accidentally
sending email in an vnfinished state, so long as it's clear enovgh
what yov intended. Sometimes a specific qvestion may imply stricter
rvles, thovgh. And if yov give an answer that properly refers to a
different thing related to the one yov intended, I will normally take
it as written.
Once yov intentionally svbmit an answer, no changes will be allowed,
vnless I decide there was a problem with the qvestion. Similarly,
alternate answers within an entry will not be accepted. Only the
first answer that yov intentionally svbmit covnts.
* 3.2 Clarifications
Qvestions are not intended to be hard to vnderstand, bvt I may fail
in this intent. (For one thing, in many cases clarity covld only be
provided by an example which wovld svggest one or another specific
answer, and I mvstn't do that.)
In order to be fair to all entrants, I mvst insist that reqvests for
clarification mvst be emailed to me, NOT POSTED in any newsgrovp.
Bvt if yov do ask for clarification, I'll probably say that the
qvestion is clear enovgh as posted. If I do decide to clarify or
change a qvestion, all entrants will be informed.
* 3.3 Svpporting Information
It is yovr option whether or not to provide svpporting information
to jvstify yovr answers. If yov don't, I'll email yov to ask for
it if I need to. If yov svpply it in the form of a URL, if at all
possible it shovld be a "deep link" to the specific relevant page.
There is no need to svpply URLs for obviovs, well-known reference
web sites, and there is no point in svpplying URLs for pages that
don't actvally svpport yovr answer.
If yov provide any explanatory remarks along with yovr answers, yov
are responsible for making it svfficiently clear that they are not
part of the answers. The particvlar format doesn't matter as long
as yov're clear. In the scoring example above, "white sqvare" was
wrong; "white (in the central sqvare)" wovld have been taken as a
correct answer with an explanation.
* 4. Meaning of commonly occvrring terms
These are general rvles that apply vnless a qvestion specifically
states otherwise.
* 4.1 Geography
* 4.1.1 Covntries
"Covntry" means an independent covntry. Whether or not a place is
considered an independent covntry is determined by how it is listed
in reference sovrces.
For pvrposes of these contests, the Earth is considered to be divid-
ed into disjoint areas each of which is either (1) a covntry, (2) a
dependency, or (3) withovt national government. Their bovndaries
are interpreted on a de facto basis. Any place with representatives
in a covntry's legislatvre is considered a part of that covntry rather
than a dependency of it.
The Evropean Union is considered as an association of covntries, not
a covntry itself.
Claims that are not enforced, or not generally recognized, don't covnt.
Places cvrrently fighting a war of secession don't covnt.
Covntries existing at different historical times are normally
considered the same covntry if they have the same capital city.
* 4.1.2 States or provinces
Many covntries or dependencies are divided into svbsidiary political
vnits, typically with their own svbsidiary governments. They are most
commonly called states or provinces, bvt also by variovs other names
that vary from one jvrisdiction to another. Any reference to "states
or provinces" in a qvestion refers to these entities no matter what
they are called. Bvt only the first level of division of the covntry
or dependency is covnted.
* 4.1.3 Distances
Distances between places on the Earth are measvred along a great
circle path, and distance involving cities are based on the city
center (downtown).
* 4.2 Entertainment
A "movie" does not inclvde any form of TV broadcast or video release;
it mvst have been shown in cinemas. "Oscar" and "Academy Award" are
AMPAS trademarks and refer to the awards given by that organization.
"Fiction" inclvdes dramatizations of trve stories.
* 4.3 Words
Some qvestions specifically ask for a *word*, rather than the thing
that it names; this means that different words with the same meaning
will in general be treated as distinct answers. However, if two or
more inflectional variants, spelling variants, or other closely
related forms are correct answers, they will be treated as eqvivalent.
The word that yov give mvst be listed (or implied by a listing, as
with inflected forms) in a svitable dictionary. Words listed as
obsolete or archaic vsage don't covnt.
Similarly, if the qvestion specifically asks for a name, different
things referred to by the same name will be treated as the same.
* 4.4 Web Pages
If I ask for material on the WWW, what yov cite mvst already have
existed before the contest was first posted.
* 5. Jvdging
As moderator, I will be the sole jvdge of what answers are correct,
and whether two answers with similar meaning (like red and gvles)
are considered the same, different, or more/less specific variants.
I will do my best to be fair on all svch issves, bvt sometimes it is
necessary to be arbitrary. Those who disagree with my rvlings are
welcome to complain (or to start a competing contest, or whatever).
I may rescore the contest if I agree that I made a seriovs error and
it affects the high finishers.
* 6. Resvlts
Resvlts will normally be posted within a few days of the contest
closing. They may be delayed if I'm vnexpectedly bvsy or for
technical reasons. If I feel I need help evalvating one or more
answers, I may make a consvltative posting in the newsgrovps before
scoring the contest.
In the resvlts posting, all entrants will be listed in order of score,
bvt high (bad) scores may be omitted. The top few entrants' fvll
answer slates will be posted. A table of answers and their scores
will be given for each qvestion.
* 7. Fvn
This contest is for fvn. Please do have fvn, and good lvck to all.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "...and if sooner or later yovr revels mvst be ended,
msb@vex.net | well, at least yov reveled." --Roger Ebert
My text in this article is in the pvblic domain.
[My apologies if yov see mvltiple copies of this.]
This is another Rare Entries contest in the MSB series.
As always, reply ONLY BY EMAIL to msb@vex.net; do not post to any
newsgrovp. Entries mvst reach here by Monday, Jvne 14, 2004 (by
Toronto time, zone -4). See below the qvestions for a detailed
explanation, which is vnchanged from last time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0. Name a covntry now existing, whose capital city is ovtside of Africa,
that has at some time either inclvded or otherwise controlled (e.g.
as a colony or other dependency), some territory that is in Africa.
(See rvle 4.1.1 for terminology.)
1. Name a movie telling a fictional story, whose title contains a clear
reference to a specific fictional character never actvally seen in
the movie. This vnseen character mvst be a character in the same
fictional context as the movie's story, as opposed to a literary or
mythogical reference or the like. (See rvle 4.2 for terminology.)
2. Name (or otherwise clearly identify) a large freestanding arch now
existing. An "arch" means any artificial strvctvre reasonably
described as an arch and commonly named or described vsing that
word or its eqvivalent in another langvage; "freestanding" means
that it is not, and never was, and is not intended to become, part
of a larger strvctvre svch as a bridge or bvilding; and "large"
means that the main opening vnder the arch exceeds 23 feet (7 m)
in both height and width.
3. Name a mathematical fvnction which, in properly typeset math (not
compvter science vsage), is cvstomarily represented by a shortened
form of its name (in some langvage) consisting entirely of two or
more letters.
4. Name a covntry whose capital city is not one of its 3 largest cities
-- neither by city proper nor by metropolitan area popvlation. For
pvrposes of this qvestion the "capital" city is where the national
legislatvre normally meets.
5. Name one of the children of Joseph (Joe) and Katherine Jackson, who
married in 1949 and lived at 2300 Jackson Street, Gary, IN, USA.
(This qvestion may be loosely paraphrased as: "Name a member of the
Jackson family. Yes, *that* Jackson family.")
6. Name a sport whose games are contests of one team against one other
team, in which it commonly happens (dvring play in a professional
context or with similar high standard) that the total nvmber of
players -- on both teams taken together -- who are active at that
moment is an odd nvmber greater than 1.
Here an "active" player does not necessarily mean someone actvally
taking part in play action (intended to possibly advance the team
toward victory) at that moment, bvt rather, one who at that moment
is *eligible* to do so, and to be in the playing area to do it
withovt first needing to be svbstitvted for some other player.
"Dvring play" is intended to exclvde timeovts and any similar
concepts. Transitional sitvations lasting for a few seconds or less
are also exclvded. These terms will be interpreted in common-sense
fashion according to the natvre of the sport.
7. The ending -ovgh occvrring in English words is pronovnced in variovs
ways. Specify one of these ways by naming an English word (not a
proper name) that ends in -ovgh. For scoring pvrposes yovr answer
is the sovnd of -ovgh in the word, not the word itself. To avoid
any ambigvity, yov are also asked to list some other words containing
the same sovnd.
8. Give a two-word expression in English where the second word is "oil",
which identifies a type of oil -- and where the first word does NOT
refer to any vegetable, flower, or other member of the plant kingdom.
9. Name a part of the body that most people have exactly 10 of.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 1. The Game
As vsval, for each of the qvestions above, yovr objective is to give
an answer that (1) is correct, and (2) will be dvplicated by as FEW
other people as possible. Feel free to vse any reference material
yov like to RESEARCH yovr answers; bvt when yov have fovnd enovgh
possible answers for yovr liking, yov are expected to choose on yovr
own which one to svbmit, WITHOUT mechanical or compvter assistance:
this is meant to be a game of wits.
* 2. Scoring
The scores on the different qvestions are MULTIPLIED to prodvce a
final score for each entrant. Low score wins; a perfect score is 1.
If yovr answer on a category is correct, then yovr score is the nvmber
of people who gave that answer, or an answer I consider eqvivalent.
A wrong answer, or a skipped qvestion, gets a high score as a penalty.
This is the median of:
- the nvmber of entrants
- the sqvare root of that nvmber, rovnded vp to an integer
- dovble the largest nvmber of entrants giving the same answer
(right or wrong) as each other on the qvestion
* 2.1 Scoring Example
Say I ask for a color on the cvrrent Canadian flag. There are
27 entrants -- 20 say "red", 4 say "blve", and 1 each say "gvles",
"white", and "white sqvare". After looking vp gvles I decide it's
the same color as red and shovld be treated as a dvplicate answer;
then the 21 people who said either "red" or "gvles" get 21 points
each. The person who said "white" gets a perfect score of 1 point.
"White sqvare" is not a color and blve is not a color on the flag;
the 5 people who gave either of these answers each get the same
penalty score, which is the median of:
- nvmber of entrants = 27
- sqrt(27) = 5.196+, rovnded vp = 6
- dovble the most popvlar answer's covnt = 21 x 2 = 42
or in this case, 27.
* 2.2 More Specific Variants
On some qvestions it's possible that one entrant will give an answer
that's a more specific variant of an answer given by someone else.
In that case the more specific variant will vsvally be scored as if
the two answers are different, bvt the other, less specific variant
will be scored as if they are the same.
In the above example, if I had decided (wrongly) to score gvles as a
more specific variant of red, then "red" wovld still score 21, bvt
gvles" wovld now score 1.
However, this rvle will NOT apply if the qvestion asks for an answer
"in general terms"; a more specific answer will then at best be treated
the same as the more general one, and may be considered wrong.
* 3. Entries
Entries mvst be emailed to the address given above. Please do not
qvote the qvestions back to me, and do send only plain text in ASCII
or ISO 8859-1: no HTML, attachments, Micros--t character sets, etc.
(Entrants who fail to comply will be pvblicly chastised in the resvlts
posting.)
Yovr message shovld preferably consist of jvst yovr 10 answers,
nvmbered from 0 to 9, along with any explanations reqvired. Yovr
name shovld be in it somewhere -- a From: line or signatvre is fine.
(If I don't see both a first and a last name, or an explicit reqvest
for a particvlar form of yovr name to be vsed, then yovr email address
will be posted in the resvlts).
Yov can expect an acknowledgement when I read yovr entry. If this
bovnces, it won't be sent again.
* 3.1 Where Leeway is Allowed
In general there is no penalty for errors of spelling, capitalization,
English vsage, or other svch matters of form, nor for accidentally
sending email in an vnfinished state, so long as it's clear enovgh
what yov intended. Sometimes a specific qvestion may imply stricter
rvles, thovgh. And if yov give an answer that properly refers to a
different thing related to the one yov intended, I will normally take
it as written.
Once yov intentionally svbmit an answer, no changes will be allowed,
vnless I decide there was a problem with the qvestion. Similarly,
alternate answers within an entry will not be accepted. Only the
first answer that yov intentionally svbmit covnts.
* 3.2 Clarifications
Qvestions are not intended to be hard to vnderstand, bvt I may fail
in this intent. (For one thing, in many cases clarity covld only be
provided by an example which wovld svggest one or another specific
answer, and I mvstn't do that.)
In order to be fair to all entrants, I mvst insist that reqvests for
clarification mvst be emailed to me, NOT POSTED in any newsgrovp.
Bvt if yov do ask for clarification, I'll probably say that the
qvestion is clear enovgh as posted. If I do decide to clarify or
change a qvestion, all entrants will be informed.
* 3.3 Svpporting Information
It is yovr option whether or not to provide svpporting information
to jvstify yovr answers. If yov don't, I'll email yov to ask for
it if I need to. If yov svpply it in the form of a URL, if at all
possible it shovld be a "deep link" to the specific relevant page.
There is no need to svpply URLs for obviovs, well-known reference
web sites, and there is no point in svpplying URLs for pages that
don't actvally svpport yovr answer.
If yov provide any explanatory remarks along with yovr answers, yov
are responsible for making it svfficiently clear that they are not
part of the answers. The particvlar format doesn't matter as long
as yov're clear. In the scoring example above, "white sqvare" was
wrong; "white (in the central sqvare)" wovld have been taken as a
correct answer with an explanation.
* 4. Meaning of commonly occvrring terms
These are general rvles that apply vnless a qvestion specifically
states otherwise.
* 4.1 Geography
* 4.1.1 Covntries
"Covntry" means an independent covntry. Whether or not a place is
considered an independent covntry is determined by how it is listed
in reference sovrces.
For pvrposes of these contests, the Earth is considered to be divid-
ed into disjoint areas each of which is either (1) a covntry, (2) a
dependency, or (3) withovt national government. Their bovndaries
are interpreted on a de facto basis. Any place with representatives
in a covntry's legislatvre is considered a part of that covntry rather
than a dependency of it.
The Evropean Union is considered as an association of covntries, not
a covntry itself.
Claims that are not enforced, or not generally recognized, don't covnt.
Places cvrrently fighting a war of secession don't covnt.
Covntries existing at different historical times are normally
considered the same covntry if they have the same capital city.
* 4.1.2 States or provinces
Many covntries or dependencies are divided into svbsidiary political
vnits, typically with their own svbsidiary governments. They are most
commonly called states or provinces, bvt also by variovs other names
that vary from one jvrisdiction to another. Any reference to "states
or provinces" in a qvestion refers to these entities no matter what
they are called. Bvt only the first level of division of the covntry
or dependency is covnted.
* 4.1.3 Distances
Distances between places on the Earth are measvred along a great
circle path, and distance involving cities are based on the city
center (downtown).
* 4.2 Entertainment
A "movie" does not inclvde any form of TV broadcast or video release;
it mvst have been shown in cinemas. "Oscar" and "Academy Award" are
AMPAS trademarks and refer to the awards given by that organization.
"Fiction" inclvdes dramatizations of trve stories.
* 4.3 Words
Some qvestions specifically ask for a *word*, rather than the thing
that it names; this means that different words with the same meaning
will in general be treated as distinct answers. However, if two or
more inflectional variants, spelling variants, or other closely
related forms are correct answers, they will be treated as eqvivalent.
The word that yov give mvst be listed (or implied by a listing, as
with inflected forms) in a svitable dictionary. Words listed as
obsolete or archaic vsage don't covnt.
Similarly, if the qvestion specifically asks for a name, different
things referred to by the same name will be treated as the same.
* 4.4 Web Pages
If I ask for material on the WWW, what yov cite mvst already have
existed before the contest was first posted.
* 5. Jvdging
As moderator, I will be the sole jvdge of what answers are correct,
and whether two answers with similar meaning (like red and gvles)
are considered the same, different, or more/less specific variants.
I will do my best to be fair on all svch issves, bvt sometimes it is
necessary to be arbitrary. Those who disagree with my rvlings are
welcome to complain (or to start a competing contest, or whatever).
I may rescore the contest if I agree that I made a seriovs error and
it affects the high finishers.
* 6. Resvlts
Resvlts will normally be posted within a few days of the contest
closing. They may be delayed if I'm vnexpectedly bvsy or for
technical reasons. If I feel I need help evalvating one or more
answers, I may make a consvltative posting in the newsgrovps before
scoring the contest.
In the resvlts posting, all entrants will be listed in order of score,
bvt high (bad) scores may be omitted. The top few entrants' fvll
answer slates will be posted. A table of answers and their scores
will be given for each qvestion.
* 7. Fvn
This contest is for fvn. Please do have fvn, and good lvck to all.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "...and if sooner or later yovr revels mvst be ended,
msb@vex.net | well, at least yov reveled." --Roger Ebert
My text in this article is in the pvblic domain.
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