FED PHRASE GAME (Early Edition)
Wednesday 10 January
by Gwaptiva
Studio 1 was filled to near-capacity this Wednesday, as four people turned up to play the Phrase Game. The host, Gwaptiva, welcomed Mythic, Dragonslayer, Joules and Madadder, who were eager to take on each other and the fickle wheel, and win a much-coveted slithy tove.
After spinning to determine the order of play, Mythic started the first puzzle, looking for a 3-word place. He guessed the T correctly but then asked for an N, which did not appear in the phrase. Dragonslayer guessed an R, but then the wheel landed on Bankrupt, and it was Madadder's turn. The crazy mathematician chose a S, but he too lost control of the game by asking for the letter M. Joules then guessed the H correctly, but wanted the C too, and that brought us back to the beginning. 4 letters guessed and every player had had a turn. Mythic then made good inroads into solving the puzzle, but, as is so often the case, got stuck with his opponents having long since seen the solution. When Mythic then lost control, Dragonslayer cashed in by spinning a few more letters to build up his points total and then telling us quite correctly that the solution was "Swift-fix Ship Repairs". This scored him 1300 points.
Dragonslayer then also started the second game, in which the players had to look for a 3-word phrase in the category Famous Persons. However, the guess-one-lose-one syndrome struck again for him, and when Mythic guessed the wrong letter after building up a pretty decent score, it was Joules turn to find nearly all the letters but to be the only one not to see the solution. In the end, a desperate gamble failed and letting Mythic in to score 750 points by finding Adjudicator Victor Ludorum was the famous person.
Madadder kicked off round 3 to look for a 3-word phrase in the category Places but his first choice of a T was not in the phrase and Joules could have another go at building some points. However, just the R was in the phrase, and not the N he wanted next. Mythic found a few more missing letters, bought two vowels, but then came unstuck and let in Dragonslayer who appeared to know the solution. His self-assured conduct turned out to be nothing but an act, as with
_ _ D D _ M E M O R I A L W A R D
showing on the board, he guessed an H and let in Madadder, who could not believe his luck and had paid attention when visiting the hospital on Earth. He guessed the P and the Y to try to build up some points, and then gleefully told Dragonslayer that the word he had been looking for was PUDDY.
Going into the final round, Dragonslayer had 1300 points, with Madadder on 1000, Mythic on 750 and Joules yet to score. With the way the wheel can work, this left it totally up to the final puzzle, and Joules relatively in the driving seat as he would be starting the search for a six-word Institution.
As it turned out, Lady Luck wasn't smiling on Joules, as after guessing one letter correctly, he lost his turn by spinning a Bankrupt. Mythic then found two more letters, and lost his turn. He should not have, but due to a fault with the letter board, control of the game went to Dragonslayer. When the fault was eventually corrected but that did not help Mythic, and the maintenance droid responsible for the lights has now been disassembled. Dragonslayer guessed a letter or two, then lost control to Madadder who eased his way to finding Six Sigmas West of Strange Llc as the solution, scoring 750 points and taking the overall victory, with Dragonslayer in second.
Petting his newly-won Chrysoberylian slithy tove (one of the ones Catspaws swears can replicate themselves), Madadder skipped out of Studio 1, cheered on by the crowd and the other, very sporting, contestants.
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