Week 3 Puzzle Results

Much better week puzzlers! It’s good to see most of the pitchforks have been set down for the time being. There were a couple perfect scores, though nobody gave me the bonus answer.

The theme of the puzzle was “Take it or leave it”. So all the answers either had the word “it” left in them, or were a word/phrase that had “it” taken out of them. To earn the bonus you had to send me a list of those words/phrases with the “it” put back in.

8A: One-armed Band(it)
15A: Electrical Perm(it)
19A: Bean Burr(it)o
21A: Babys(it)ting
6D: Hobb(it)s
14D: Microcircu(it)s

I’m pretty sure several of you knew this, but didn’t consider it a bonus. Bret came the closest by doing this with a few of them.

I allowed multiple alternatives to 14D Microcircus as so many fit. There were a couple alternates for 15A. I learned something new with “Electric Plaits”. I also allowed “Dog Biscuit” for 10A, though I don’t know that those of you who answered that way knew it was pejorative for hardtack.

Hope you enjoyed! The PDF with the answers is right below, as well as the standings for Pure & Power.

pure_week3_answers

Week 3 Top Performers
————————-
Matthew — 24
Brooks — 24
Andy — 23
Randy — 23
Bret — 22

Top 5 in Standings
——————–
Matthew — 75
Brooks — 69
Andy — 67
Randy — 66
Bret — 61

Power Standings
—————–
Bret Highum    94
Matt Novak    88
Kelly Wells    86
Brooks Maki    82
Andrew Haugen    79
Erik Dikken    64

Diplomacy – Spring 1903

The Build/Disband orders are in:

Austria: Builds A bud

England: No builds

France: Builds F bre

Germany: Removes F hel

Italy: No builds

Russia: Removes A mos

Turkey:
Builds F ank
Builds F smy

We’re going to head right into the move orders for Spring 1903.

Orders are due Monday night before midnight central time.

 

Diplomacy – 1902 Gain/Lose

On to the retreat order:

Russia: F bla -> sev

And with that, here’s the new map:

Now onto the Gain/Lose phase of 1902:

Austria: Supply centers were gained. Units that may be built: 1.

England: No change.

France: Supply centers were gained. Units that may be built: 1.

Germany: Supply centers were lost. Units that must be removed: 1.

Italy: No change.

Russia: Supply centers were lost. Units that must be removed: 1.

Turkey: Supply centers were gained. Units that may be built: 2.

Those who are due builds, or those who have to disband, your orders are due TONIGHT, before midnight. Some of you have already sent in your orders, so those will be good.

Turbo: Challenge 11

Word Limit:  600 words (HARD)
Time Limit: 80 minutes
Due Date:  Tuesday, 6:30 pm CST (challenge must be started by then)

 Tip:  Convince your boss to let you have an 80 minute lunch

Diplomacy – Fall 1902 Retreat/Disband

Now we have a game folks! After some bold moves in the first few moves, Germany and Russia have the tables turned on them and lose territories. Austria regains some of her homeland, while France finishes her conquest of the Low Countries by taking Holland.

Germany’s unit in Vienna had nowhere to retreat to and was forced to disband. Russia’s fleet in the Black Sea was dislodged and must now retreat to Sevastopol, Bulgaria, or Armenia, or disband. Russia, your retreat/disband order is due before midnight tonight.

For those who will receiving builds/disbands this year, you can start to think about it, but those orders won’t be due until Saturday night before midnight.

On to the orders:

Austria:
Austria: F adr -> ven
Bounced with ven (1 against 1).
Austria: A bud -> vie
Austria: A tri Supports A bud -> vie

England:
England: F eng Holds
England: A lon -> den
Bounced with swe (1 against 1).
Convoy path taken: lon -> nth -> den.
England: F nth Convoys A lon -> den
England: A nwy -> stp
Bounced with lvn (1 against 1).

France:
France: A bel -> hol
France: A bur -> pic
France: F lyo -> wes
France: A mar Holds
France: F mao -> nao
France: F pic -> bel

Germany:
The Army in Vienna cannot retreat; unit destroyed.
Germany: A boh Supports A vie
Germany: F hel -> den
Bounced with swe (1 against 1).
Germany: A pru Supports A sil -> war
Germany: A sil -> war
Bounced with war (2 against 2).
Germany: A vie Holds
Dislodged from bud (3 against 2).

Italy:
Italy: F ion -> alb
Italy: A pie -> tyr
Italy: F tys -> ion
Italy: A ven Holds

Russia:
Russia: F bla Holds
Dislodged from ank (2 against 1).
Russia: A gal Supports A bud -> vie
Russia: F lvn -> stp/sc
Bounced with nwy (1 against 1).
Russia: A mos Supports A war
Russia: F swe -> den
Bounced with lon (1 against 1).
Russia: A war Holds

Turkey:
Turkey: F ank -> bla
Turkey: A bul -> rum
Turkey: F con Supports F ank -> bla
Turkey: A gre Holds

Turbo: Elimination Ten

As already mentioned, the tenth elimination from Turbo Survivor is AMR.  And with that, The Submitters are no more.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of your work.  I’d like to see what you could do in a long game if you think you could handle the time commitment.  You do slice of life pretty well; it just usually takes more space.

Turbo, Week 10 Results: We Come In Peace!

So it looks like this challenge was tougher than I intended.  Perhaps with a week instead of an hour people would have felt more comfortable.  Hopefully you had fun anyway.  This is a learning process for me and I appreciate your patience.  There were still several inspiring entries, so read on!

So many books and movies about extraterrestrial life focus on the silly humans. It’s all fraidy-cat this and don’t-kill-us that.

Your job is to write about the first encounter another species has with Earth and it must entirely be from their perspective.  This can be taken many different ways and they’re all okay; just keep the perspective with the alien.

Word Limit:  400 (HARD LIMIT)

Time Limit:  One hour

Poorly Described Movies

Is this site not enough of a distraction? Well, if the answer is no, then Matthew Gilman has suggested the next fun little…uh, thing.

I will poorly or vaguely describe three movies here, and the first person to get all three will be the next one to write three poor film descriptions.

EXAMPLE: A man full of dysfunction, having already lusted after his sister, murders his father.
ANSWER: Star Wars

I suppose answers can be public if you think you have all three, but otherwise, you can always email me at foreverunchanged@gmail.

1. A foolish young man denies a future to others by claiming, and then abandoning, spots on a rescue boat
2. A charming rebel with long hair and face paint bangs another dude’s wife, then kills hundreds of guys the dude knows
3. A group of flamboyantly-dressed men embark on an epic journey to return some bad jewelry

Turbo: Challenge 10

Word Limit:  400 (HARD Limit)
Time Limit:  1 hour
Due Date:  Thursday @ 5 PM CST

Diplomacy – Fall 1902

Some interesting developments. No retreats were necessary.

The game will be suspended until Wednesday while one of the players is out of town without internet access. Play will resume Wednesday morning, and you will have until Thursday night before midnight to submit moves for the Fall.

Here are this season’s moves:

Austria:
Austria: F adr Supports A tri -> ven
Austria: A ser -> bud
Austria: A tri -> ven
Bounced with ven (2 against 1).

England:
England: F eng Holds
England: A lon Holds
England: F nth Supports A bel -> hol
Support failed. Supported unit’s order does not match support given.
England: A nwy Holds

France:
France: A bel Supports A par -> bur
France: F bre -> pic
France: F mar -> lyo
France: A par -> bur
France: F por -> mao
France: A spa -> mar

Germany:
Germany: A ber -> pru
Germany: F hol -> hel
Germany: A mun -> boh
Germany: A sil Holds
Germany: A vie Supports A ven -> tri

Italy:
Italy: F nap -> tys
Italy: A pie Holds
Italy: F tun -> ion
Italy: A ven -> tri
Bounced with tri (2 against 1).

Russia:
Russia: F bla Holds
Russia: A rum -> gal
Russia: F stp/sc -> lvn
Russia: F swe Holds
Russia: A ukr -> mos
Russia: A war Holds

Turkey:
Turkey: F ank Holds
Turkey: A bul -> gre
Turkey: A con -> bul
Turkey: F smy -> con

Some of you may be confused about what happened in Venice and Trieste this turn. Both moves had a strength of 2 agains 1, which normally would be enough to dislodge the unit. However, the rules state that units cannot trade places without the use of a convoy. Therefore, both moves failed, and the units stayed where they are. Hopefully that makes sense.