John Ratite's Custodia Islands Getaway [Round 11: Movement]]

[Duphrates]

I shall go to the Cram...

[RequiemEternam]

Shop til you Drop

I really like this. Now, if I get the wrong answer, I can just claim "strategy"

[Qaqaq]

I'll face off against Saxifrage at Queen for a Day.

[RequiemEternam]

O Constable, My Constable:

Now that I have a chance to rest before visiting the next attraction, perhaps you could tell me: was a decision made on who won the Whammy guessing game? I've been so busy, I nearly forgot about it. Thanks!

[mikeamok]

the classic Remote Control.

[T McAy]

Now that I have a chance to rest before visiting the next attraction, perhaps you could tell me: was a decision made on who won the Whammy guessing game? I've been so busy, I nearly forgot about it. Thanks!

A museum docent approaches and gives this answer. "I believe that those results are still being tabulated, but I'm sure the name of winner will be announced soon. Oh, and the names of the other players and their guesses will be also be announced--we certainly hope that the non-winners won't harbor any resentment."

[T McAy]

Round 9: Action

The following visitors have been randomly assigned to locations.

Agamemnon (Let’s Make a Deal)
Corsato (Concentration)
Hitchhiker (Play the Percentages)
jadesmar (Let’s Make a Deal)
mikegoo (Remote Control)
PuzzleProdigy (The Newlywed Game)
Sofis (Friend or Foe)
Tablesaw (The Newlywed Game)
Termital (Play the Percentages)

At The Crystal Maze exhibit, visitor jesternl strolls through a hallway decked with gothic portraits of Richard O’Brien. The hallway leads to a room with miniature models of the various "worlds" used in the Crystal Maze over its five-year run. jesternl then encounters a sign with this message: "The trivia question in this location has already been answered and the coins have been collected. We hope you have enjoyed this exhibit despite the lack of added incentives."

Visitors Hitchhiker and Termital inspect the Play the Percentages exhibit. "I expect we will get some kind of math question at this exhibit," muses Hitchhiker. "I don’t know," says Termital. "It’s dangerous to make assumptions at this resort. We could be asked about hosted Play the Percentages host Geoff Edwards and the famous murder he witnessed when he worked as a reporter in Texas." Hitchhiker is about to follow up on this odd remark when one of the exhibit guides approaches the visitors and presents them with question card. "This question is worth eight coins," reads the card.

What is the highest proof value of rum currently manufactured by the Bacardi company?

Visitors Agamemnon, jadesmar and mole are invited to don silly costumes in order to enhance the experience of the Let’s Make a Deal exhibit. The visitors are reticent, but are nonetheless chosen by the Monty Hall impersonator to demonstrate the making of a deal for the other museum patrons. "This won’t involve calculating the odds of switching after you show us one of three curtains, will it?" one visitor moans. The Monty Hall impersonator lets this remark pass and instead offers the visitors a beautifully decorated box, containing either eight coins or a zonk, if they correctly answer this question.

In contract bridge, the least common suit distribution to be dealt is 13-0-0-0 (i.e. thirteen cards of one suit and voids in the other three). What is the most common suit distribution to be dealt?

The Friend or Foe exhibit features the actual "trust box" used on the game show hosted by Kennedy. Visitors Tahnan and Sofis wonder if there will be some way to use the trust box to snooker coins away from the Ocagru tour group. A video monitor blinks on and displays the image of a museum official who asks this question worth eight Struthio coins.

The Dutch spy and dancer Margarteha Geertruida Zelle chose the performing name Mata Hari, which is a term meaning "sun" in what Southeast Asian language?

Visitors Dragon Phoenix, PuzzleProdigy and Tablesaw enjoy watching the television screens in the exhibit for The Newlywed Game. The screens broadcast classic clips from the Bob Eubanks game show. Just as a female contestant is about tell Bob the most unusual place that she and her husband had made whoopee, the screens go blank and then flash with this message: "Prepare for a question worth eight Struthio coins." After a few moments, the visitors read this question.

According to WeddingBells.com, a traditional gift for a couple’s first anniversary of marriage should incorporate what material?

mikeamok and mikegoo meet at the Remote Control exhibit and are delighted to take a nostalgia trip back to the classic days of MTV. They try out the timeworn easy chairs that were used on the game show and are thrilled when snack chips are dumped on their heads from chutes built in the ceiling. mikeamok finds a remote clicker and zap this eight coin question onto a nearby television screen

What mythological spirit is also the name of the company that began producing radio-controlled residential garage door openers in 1954?

The Queen For a Day exhibit abounds with teary-eyed women telling their woes to anyone who will listen. Visitors Qaqaq and Saxifrage are beset by sob stories of various complexions. "I’m sorry that your husband was cheating on you," Saxifrage remarks to a weeping woman, "but doesn’t that make the fact that he was blown away by a hurricane a blessing?" Finally, a dowager holding a purse bulging with eight coins approaches the two visitors. "I have a question that to which I don’t know the answer," the dowager bawls, "but if you can answer it correctly, I’ll give you the contents of my purse."

John Deacon, Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor all held advanced academic degrees when they formed the rock band Queen, although none of these degrees was in music. Name one of the fields of study in which one of the members of Queen did hold an advanced degree.

Visitor Corsato is anxious to see if the Concentration exhibit sports examples of the big novelty rebus puzzles used on the game show. Only one picture puzzle is present. It depicts a Hindu woman in a wraparound dress, the remains of an eaten apple, a woodcutting tool and an arrow pointing to the hallux of a bare foot. Corsato is about to make a guess at the rebus when a voice is heard from behind. "That’s not the important puzzle in this exhibit," a shady figure whispers to Corsato. "This question is what you should be concentrating on. It’s worth eight coins after all." The shady figure points to a puzzle board where this question is plainly printed.

In chemistry, what term refers to the concentration of a solution expressed as the amount of solute—in multiples of 6.022 x 10^23 molecules—per one kilogram of solvent?

Duphrates is interested to see the large hamster wheel at the Cram exhibit. "This shouldn’t be that hard," Duphrates observes, "since the Custodia Islands visitors are not sleep-deprived like the contestants on Cram." Duphrates hops on the hamster wheel and starts it moving. When the wheel reaches a rotation speed of ten miles per hour, a recording is triggered and this question (worth eight coins) is aired.

What four personality tendencies are represented by the coded result ENFP according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test?

A large portion of the Twenty-One exhibit is dedicated to the Charles Van Doren scandal. Visitor referee is amused by the isolation booths containing mannequins of Van Doren and Herbert Stempel. "Do you think anyone watching the show figured out before the scandal broke that the show was fixed?" referee asks an exhibit official. "Supposedly, Robert Redford could tell that Van Doren’s responses were coached," the official replies, "and that’s why years later he wanted to make the movie ‘Quiz Show’." referee enters Van Doren’s booth and awaits the transmission of the eight coin question.

The Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Presidents Day, Veterans Day, Washington’s Birthday—which of these observances is not currently a traditional occasional for a twenty-one gun salute fired by members of the U.S. Military?

A campy facsimile of a shopping mall is found by RequiemEternam at the Shop ‘Til You Drop exhibit. RequiemEternam explores the various stores but only finds cheesy clock radios and croquet sets. RequiemEternam has better luck at the information desk where a question worth eight coins has been posted for any of the Custodia Islands competitors who visit this exhibit.

Old Navy and Banana Republic are subsidiaries of what clothing retailer founded by Donald and Doris Fisher?

Lano-Catru Balance: $32
Ocagru Balance: $47

[Qaqaq]

The answer at the Queen for a Day exhibit is underwater basket-weaving.

[Qaqaq]

By the way, I'd just like to point out to Ocagru that there are no Lano-Catru people at the Shop Til You Drop, Play the Percentages, Cram, and Let's Make a Deal exhibits, so please try to get the right answers at those exhibits! Everyone else: De-fense! De-fense! De-fense!

[Agamemnon]

That was fecking quick!

Since I don't really have a studious idea I think that they must be evened out within a decreasing level, from possible 5 of one suit at the start to better chance 4 and lesser 3.
Thinking to my poor attempts at playing, and comparing it to other trick winning games such as Whist and Solo, I would edge towards one of either of the following;
4-4-3-2
4-3-3-3
4-4-4-1
4-3-4-2

Now, being shite at calculational math, but taking a thought trip back to past games of Solo. I believe that statistically thinking, and taking the no suit senario into account of hands being 6-5-2-0, 5-5-3-0, 7-5-1-0 etc, my average hands were in the region of the first two as stated above of
4-4-3-2
and
4-3-3-3

I think if one of you two could mathmatically work out the probabilities of the deal, then we are home and dry.

Either that or i'm talking complete Hippo shit and both of you know what the answer is.

[RequiemEternam]

Qaqaq:

I wonder if it's time to abandon the strategy for now. Part of it hinged on the idea that we would be able to get each of our ten members to each of the attractions. With Corsato the lone LC at Concentration, and Sofis and Tahnan holding Friend or Foe for the LCs, they have the potential to make their ferry fares even if Ocagru intentionally misses at all three of the shared attractions.

If we can't block them from advancing, there's no point in shooting ourselves in the foot and not splitting the money. We might need that money to purchase items when we get off the boat at the next stop.

Our group will definitely have enough money to buy tickets for everyone. Immediately after this phase is over, everyone should move to Swepia Harbor, purchase a ticket, and board the ferry (all acceptable in a single movement round, as evidenced the last time this motley crew tried to board a ferry).

Just a thought.

[RequiemEternam]

Oh, and I'm not quite sure, but it's probably Gap since all of their nasty clothing seems to be of the same quality. And their ad campaigns are nowhere near as good as A&F's.

[Qaqaq]

My feeling is that the strategy could still be valid. They have 3 spots where we can't sabotage (21, Friend or Foe, and Concentration). But if we sabotage all the shared spots, they'd have to get 2 of those 3 in order to board the ferry the same turn we do. And those questions aren't easy.

But, of course, I can't speak for the whole team. Although I think it's the right strategy for this turn, everyone should do what they think is the right thing to do.

[Tahnan]

Ah hell. Sofis, are you out there? (I knew I should have gone with Cram or Concentration.) You're from, like, overseas, right? ;-)

Southeast Asian. I don't even know enough geography to be sure which parts of Asia are southeast. Thai? Vietnamese? (It doesn't seem to have the right consonant/vowel structure for Vietnamese, does it?) Maybe an Indian language? Help?

[mole]

Aga's analysis looks good. I'd be more likely to go with 4-3-3-3 at the moment, but there's nothing preventing us from calculating it ourselves, when we have time. In the meantime, I have a (maths, funnily enough) class to go to.

[PuzzleProdigy]

I know ours, so I'll take it.

Paper

[Hitchhiker]

I want to say "eighty proof," but I'm scared to bold it yet. I'll wait awhile for Termital. Maybe he's a drinker.

[Werebear]

*telegram from the mainland* I know most of the answers this round! Here they are---*

The rest of the telegram has, unfortunately, been shredded into confetti for an actor who looks like Rip Torn to throw around the old set of the Gong Show.

[Saxifrage]

Damn you, Qaqaq!

Then again, I didn't know it anyway.

[This message has been edited by Saxifrage (edited 03-26-2003 10:26 PM).]

[mikegoo]

I believe it is Genie but will wait until tomorrow to bold.

[Qaqaq]

[Rip Taylor comes along and takes his rightful confetti out of the hands of Rip Torn.]

[Dragon Phoenix]

Good job PP (I knew that one too).

Request to mod: can I be replaced by the eager beaver who has expressed his interest to do so?

It has been fun (thanks), but I am having too little access the coming time to keep on playing.

[mikeamok]

Genie is ringing some faint bells for me, now that you mention it. i don't have any surer thoughts, and i don't think i'm going to, so just in case you might change your mind and bold a bogus answer, i'll go ahead and say Genie.

[Duphrates]

Sorry people, but I don't even understand the question

Emotional, Neuro, Feeling, Physical

[jadesmar]

Let's see:

(13C4)*(13C3)*(13C3)*(13C3)*4! should give you the number of hands in a 4-3-3-3 distribution. Now to remembers how to do the C operation.

Methinks: 13 choose 4 =

13!
----
4!9!

So this gives us:

code:

---

 13!     13!     13!      13!     4!


 ---- x ----- x ----- x ------ x 


 4!9!   3!10!   3!10!    3!10!








Ok, number of hands in 4,3,3,3 distribution = 


umm, are we allowed to use calculators?





I will assume not and do this bloody thing longhand.


= 13x12x11x10x13x2x11x13x2x11x13x2x11


= 17160x286x286x286


= 17160x81796x286


= 401435136960

---

Ok, sample calculation is done, so someone can tell me if my method is wrong. Using this method, however, produces the following values for different hands.
4-4-3-2 - 273705775200
4-3-3-3 - 401435136960
4-4-4-1 - 114044073000
4-3-4-2 - 273705775200 - bah! of course this is the same as the first one.

Looks to me like 4-3-3-3 takes it.

Mole or Aga, feel free to check my math. After that, please bold this answer.

[T McAy]

Request to mod: can I be replaced by the eager beaver who has expressed his interest to do so?

I'm sorry that you need to bow out, DP, but I understand your reasons. I hope you will be able to participate in similar games in the future.

As was explained earlier, there is no need to bring in new players at this time, so I am not going to offer any replacement players your position. I do have a suggestion -- as your final message in this post, indicate that you want to move to the Swepia harbor as soon as possible. One of your comrades can purchase a ticket for you and you will be in a position automatically board the ferry. That way, your tour group will increase their chances in the race to be the first tour group to leave Swepia. If your tour group comes in second, your comrades could vote for you knowing that you have become inactive. If your comrades do not vote for you, or your tour group comes in first, you will simply be removed from the next island by normal inactivity rules.

-- mod

[jesternl]

Sorry team, I thought I had to go to the Crystalmaze, through there to another part of the island. I'll pay more attention next time.

[referee]

I'm guessing. I'm not American and I'm alone here.

Washington's Birthday

[Corsato]

6.022 x 10^23 = 1 mole. Which gives us molarity and molality.
Molarity is with liters if I remember correctly, so I'm guessing molality.

[Tahnan]

Ah hell. We're so doomed, aren't we.

Hey, constable, what's the policy again on removing idle players? I mean, no offense to Sofis, he's all beautiful and decadent and all, but he hasn't posted to this thread for well over a week, since Movement Round 7.

Thai, and let's pray for the best.

[mathgrant]

[outsider]
Is this name-your-home-city thing actually important to the game? Or is it just something to have fun with?
[/outsider]

[referee]

This was made as a way to forming the groups

[Tablesaw]

Sorry team, I was dead the other day and was unable to move myself or sabotage the other team. Posting pointlessly just to make sure I'm not slammed for inactivity.

------------------
(It's the saw of the table!)

[T McAy]

Hey, constable, what's the policy again on removing idle players?

A museum docent glides over to Tahnan, happy to address his question. "The original policy was to remove an idle visitor when s/he requires random placement twice in a row, but it was changed to random placement three times in a row to allow players to get used to the pace. Once visitors reach the third island, Custodia Islands management may assume that all visitors have had ample time to adjust and that the ones who have lost interest in the competition will have left the resort one way or another. At that time, the policy may revert to its original form."

[T McAy]

Round 10: Movement

visitor jesternl studies the map at The Crystal Maze exhibit. The adjacent locations are the To Tell the Truth exhibit, the Ready…Set…Cook! exhibit and the Bumper Stumpers exhibit.

Hitchhiker and Termital offer no answer to the Play the Percentages question. The exhibit guide lets the visitors know that they won’t win any coins at this location since they did not know that "151" is the highest proof of Bacardi. The visitors check the map, which simply shows that they passed the Family Feud exhibit in order to reach their current location, and make plans to move on.

The correct answer "4-4-3-2" eludes visitors Agamemnon, jadesmar and mole at the Let’s Make a Deal exhibit. "Wouldn’t 4-3-3-3 be a more likely distribution?" One of the visitors asks after the fact. The Monty Hall impersonator sighs as if he has had his share of debates involving probability. "The 4-4-3-2 distribution occurs about 21% of the time," the faux Monty remarks, "while the 4-3-3-3 distribution has about a 10% chance of occurring." The visitors accept this as face value and leave the exhibit having won no coins. The map shows the way back to the Family Feud exhibit.

Visitors Tahnan and Sofis consider the Friend or Foe exhibit question carefully and finally decide upon the answer "Thai." A hostile-sounding buzzer blares from somewhere within the exhibit. Two "Foe" panels light up on the trust box indicating that the answer was incorrect and that all of the coins available at this exhibit have been lost. The official on the video monitor reveals the correct answer: "Malay." The map at this location simply shows the route back to the High Rollers exhibit.

"Paper" is the answer agreed upon by Dragon Phoenix, PuzzleProdigy and Tablesaw at The Newlywed Game exhibit. The video screen return to the display of the female contestant, who lifts a white card from her lap and reveals the correct answer "Paper." The eight coins are split evenly between Lano-Catru and Ocagru and the visitors consult the map to see where they can go next. The two locations revealed on the map are Ticket Machine 1 (mikeamok) and High Rollers exhibit.

Visitors mikeamok and mikegoo try the answer "Genie" at the Remote Control exhibit. An upbeat guitar riff plays and the television screen displays two happily dancing astronauts planting the MTV flag on the moon. The eight Struthio coins rain from the ceiling and mikeamok and mikegoo each deposit half in their respective tour group expense accounts. The map at this exhibit show the way to Ticket Machine 2 (Qaqaq) and the I’ve Got a Secret exhibit.

At the Queen For a Day, visitors Qaqaq and Saxifrage give the answer "Underwater basket-weaving." An exhibit official checks the answer on the applause meter, but the meter’s indicator barely moves. The dowager erupts into heavy sobbing and parts the company of the visitors. She will not be giving any coins because she did not receive a correct answer (Astronomy (May), biology (Taylor), electronics (Deacon), illustration/design (Mercury)). The women at this exhibit continue wailing in misery – even Saxifrage develops something of an emotional response to the events at this exhibit (but the author digresses). The map holds directions to the exhibit for I’ve Got a Secret.

"Molality" is the answer confidently stated by visitor Corsato at the Concentration exhibit. Corsato hears triumphant organ chords and sees the image of the Hindu woman on the original puzzle board replaced by icons showing a female sheep and a medium-sized boulder. Lano-Catru’s expense account is benefited by Corsato’s answer to the tune of eight coins and the map at this exhibit can be completely cleared of gray film. The locations adjacent to this exhibit, Corsato discovers are Ticket Machine 3 (RequiemEternam) and the exhibit for Bumper Stumpers.

Duphrates, confounded by the question at the Cram exhibit, responds with "Emotional, Neuro, Feeling, Physical." There is a loud buzzer that startles Duphrates to the point of falling off the hamster wheel. A museum actress impersonating Miss Pickwick reads the correct answer in a lulling tone. "On the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test," she purrs, "ENFP represents extroverted, intuitive, feeling, and perceiving." Duphrates thinks to himself, "Well, I had ‘feeling’ right so I was close." But, since this is not a game of horseshoes, the map at this exhibit only shows the route to the Bumper Stumpers exhibit.

In the Charles Van Doren Booth at the Twenty-One exhibit, the air conditioning suddenly clicks off and sweat begin to bead on referee’s brow. referee finally decides upon the answer "Washington’s Birthday," but unfortunately "Veteran’s Day" is the correct choice. referee is a bit disappointed at not receiving any coins, but presses on to do well at new locations. The nearby map points out that the Tic Tac Dough exhibit is adjacent to referee’s current location.

RequiemEternam gives the answers the Shop ‘Til You Drop question with "The Gap." This is the correct answer, and a young married couple arrives at the exhibit to smother RequiemEternam with congratulatory kisses. RequiemEternam retreats from the couple and says, "the eight coins will suffice." With the Ocagru account eight coins richer, RequiemEternam is ready to move on. The map mentions two possibilities: Ticket Machine 4 (PuzzleProdigy) and the Tic Tac Dough exhibit.

Lano-Catru Balance: $48
Ocagru Balance: $63

Next update on Monday, March 31

[Qaqaq]

Hmm. Both teams, as I feared, have enough coins to make the ferries now, so we're down to a race. But before I boldface anything....

Dear constable: An earlier post suggested that the boats were waiting in the port, and that the fee was 5 coins per person; are the maps suggesting that each person has an individual ticket machine that they must reach in order to get on board? Or does this work the same as the previous island, where we go to the port in order to purchase the ticket and then board directly?

Or are we not supposed to know that?

[T McAy]

An earlier post suggested that the boats were waiting in the port, and that the fee was 5 coins per person; are the maps suggesting that each person has an individual ticket machine that they must reach in order to get on board? Or does this work the same as the previous island, where we go to the port in order to purchase the ticket and then board directly?

A museum docent oozes up to Qaqaq to deliver a cheerful answer. "Oh my, I suppose it's a good thing you brought that up," the docent begins. "A visitor who went to the harbor now would find that the ticket vendor is sick today and that tickets must be purchased from the machines within the museum. There are enough machines in the museum to handle all of the visitors, though some may be difficult (read: impossible) to find when map directions are covered with gray film."

"The machines that are available are equipped to handle multiple visitors, so everyone should eventually be able to receive a ticket. It may just take a little longer."

"Of course, all of this information would have come to the fore soon enough had you not asked. How diligent you are to assert your curiosity and not allow any of the designs of this particular travel package to be construed as, dare I say, sneaky surprises on the part of the Custodia Islands Getaway organizers."

[This message has been edited by T McAy (edited 03-28-2003 11:10 PM).]

[Qaqaq]

In that case, I will rush over to Ticket Machine 2 (Qaqaq)

[Tahnan]

Good lord, this island just gets stranger by the minute. And can I just say, Corsato, jolly good show on that "molality" one--I would have had it entirely wrong, and had we missed even one more question than we did, we'd be out right now?

Thank heavens the Qaqaq Maneuver failed.

As for me: tempting as it is to rush over to Qaqaq's machine to see what happens, I think I'll go to Machine 1 (mikeamok).

[Hitchhiker]

Since I have no idea what's going on, I'll go to Ticket Machine 3 (RequiemEternam)