FED PHRASE GAME (Early Edition)
Wednesday November 1
by Gwaptiva
Every week, on the morning before the Phrase Game, the engineers of Studio 1 on The Lattice dismantle the wheel completely; every nut, every bolt, every widget is checked, cleaned and oiled before being put back in place, under the supervision of a Galactic Administration official; all this to ensure fair play. Nevertheless, fate is a fickle mistress and the wheel serves her well.
This week, Liakell, Kblackdragon and Yuko joined me in the studio for the early edition of the Phrase Game, hoping to dodge the wheel's cruel turns and run away with the victory. After explaining the concept of the Crooner Rules to Yuko, and determining the order of play, Liakell got the game going. A three-word command was what she was looking for. It didn't prove too difficult for her: After guessing T, S and N, and then buying the E, it seems Liakell already had a good idea about the solution. She added just a D and a B, two choices that must have confirmed her suspicions, and then solved 'slide down banister' correctly, scoring 2000 points.
Kblackdragon started the second round looking for a five-word object, being helped by a number of hyphens undoubtedly. But, not for the last time this day, the wheel showed how cruel it can be because after just guessing the T correctly, he rolled up Bankrupt. Yuko's very first guess was the entirely reasonable one of 'N' but ran into the only word ever (or so it seems) not to have an N in it, and so Liakell was back in business. And it seems she must have sacrificed a whole farm to the goddess of the wheel as it kept spinning in her favor, all the way to the solution of 'a do-it-yourself cosmetic surgery kit', the solution she found despite another lightbulb failure on the board.
This puzzle may not have been a such good idea after all, as it seems to have awakened some strange notions in Liakell's mind, because after this she spent the rest of the afternoon asking, and then insisting, the host should use the machine on Earth. He of course kept his professional calm and collectedness and moved swiftly on to the third puzzle, but once again the wheel showed it does not play nice, and after one letter guessed right, the wheel came to rest at Lose a Turn. And, as the theme of the evening appeared to dictate, Liakell skillfully guessed her way to 'Rhea's Municipal Art Museum' as the correct solution.
Having now taken a lead of 4150 points over the other two, Liakell sportingly agreed to play one final round, a round that might well be winner takes all, as there were plenty of letters to overtake even a lead of the size she had. A long 4 word name was what they were looking for and after determining the order of play again, Kblackdragon got the game going. Not for long though as he again spun Bankrupt. Then it was Yuko's turn and she found that once again the word contained no N. At this point we thought it would be all over, with Liakell doing as she had done all game long. But no, her search stalled when looking to buy an A. Nevertheless, neither Kblackdragon nor Yuko could take advantage, and Liakell did get the turn back to complete the whitewash, finding the solution 'Osbert Squeegle, Zlitherworm Killer', despite once again never having heard of him. This more than doubled Liakell's score, proving that indeed she had risked it all.
So, once again, the only thing we learnt to rely on is not to rely on the wheel. Oh, and that you can rely on another Fed Phrase Game at 3.00pm EST (8pm UK, 21:00 CET). Hope to see you there.
|
