Thanks to everybody who played Dan’s Dingbats Challenge III; it was great to see some of your answers. Almost everybody did really well on
points this time around, but many were let down by their times.
Here’s the final scoreboard and answers:
|
Position
|
Player
|
Time Taken
|
Right Answers
|
Total Time
|
|
1
|
Faye (Aber)
Very quick; every one right…
|
3mins, 44secs
|
14
|
3mins, 44secs
|
|
2
|
Count Gonzo van der Winklestein Jones
|
2mins, 45secs
|
12
|
4mins, 25secs
|
|
3
|
Binky
The fastest time to answer all the questions, but lost marks for wrong answers.
|
2mins, 28secs
|
10.5
|
5mins, 23secs
|
|
4
|
Claire
|
4mins, 5secs
|
12
|
5mins, 45secs
|
|
5
|
A Bowl Of Candy
|
3mins, 23secs
|
11
|
5mins, 53secs
|
|
6
|
Mister JTA
|
4mins, 14secs
|
12
|
5mins, 54secs
|
|
7
|
RockMonkey
|
5mins, 13secs
|
13
|
6mins, 3secs
|
|
8
|
Statto
|
4mins, 10secs
|
11.5
|
6mins, 15secs
|
|
9
|
Ruth
|
4mins, 43secs
|
12
|
6mins, 23secs
|
|
10
|
Pacifist
|
4mins, 11secs
|
11
|
6mins, 41secs
|
|
11
|
Matt In The Hat
|
5mins, 19secs
|
10
|
8mins, 39secs
|
|
12
|
Leu
|
5mins, 58secs
|
10.5
|
8mins, 53secs
|
|
13
|
Raz
|
6mins, 15secs
|
10.5
|
9mins, 10secs
|
|
14
|
Itsme (Gaz @ SmartData)
|
8mins, 23secs
|
12
|
10mins, 3secs
|
|
15
|
Chloe
|
7mins, 31secs
|
9
|
11mins, 41 secs
|
|
16
|
Sarah
Only answered one question; as a result, came last!
|
1mins, 18secs
|
1
|
12mins, 8secs
|
Apologies to “bleh” from 82.144.227.98; your answers arrived just too late to participate, but for your reference, you took 5mins, 14secs and got 13 right (give or take some interesting
phrasing), for a total score of 6mins, 4secs.
Here are the answers. Click on a dingbat for a full-size version:
Charity begins at home
A nice simple one to begine with – the word “charity”, beginning inside a symbolic “home”. I also accepted “in the home”, “starts”, and any other derivitive of this basic phrase.
Fractional distillation
Yes, I know that this was ludicrously difficult, but a good number of people managed to get it. Incorrect answers included “distillation quarter”, “a quart of alcohol”, “Hooray!
Distillation = Whisky!” (thanks, JTA), and “I have no idea”.
Back to basics
Another simple one: at least I thought so – the word “basic”, twice (“two basics”), written backwards (hence “back two/to basics”). Nonetheless, wrong answers included “basic backeards
[sic] twice” and “two basic backwards”.
Actions speak louder than words
Several “actions” saying “blah” louder than their wordy friends. One wrong guess was “all talk and no action”: not sure where that one came from…
Every dog has it’s day
Several “dogs”, each with a “day”. What more do you want? I accepted “a dog will have it’s day” (basically the same thing), and gave half-marks for “give a dog it’s day” (there’s no
“giving” involved, I’m afraid). I also accepted Paul’s “I was going to say “Dog Day Afternoon” but I don’t think so. Every Dog Has His Day?” because he concluded the right answer in the
end and he was very sweet to lose several seconds of his time writing me an essay about how he reached that decision.
Definately wrong answers included “dog days”, “dog day afternoon” (what?), “until dog days end” (huh?), “ground-dog day” (umm?), and JTA’s deluded “Hm. Something about the ‘Dog days’ at
the arse end of August, I suspect. Er. Which means Sirius, but I can’t get it…”
Like father, like son
The word “like” appears in the place of “father” and his son in this stylised family tree, and most players understood the connection. Wrong answers included the wonderful “your mum” and the great guess “I don’t like my mother (well? It’s true!)”
Look on the bright side
The word “look” appears on the bright (or light) side of this gradient. Most folks seemed to understand, but some guessed “look lighter on the other side” or even “the right look”
(what???).
Love is blind
The word “love” is depicted here with a guide dog and cane. “Blind love” was also an acceptable answer. Half-marks were earned for “Love is like the blind leading the blind”, but I’m
afraid I can’t give any points for “guide dog of love” (wasn’t that a song by Dire Straits)?
All that glitters is not gold
Decpicted are a bunch of metals, all of which are glittering, except for gold, which is not: hence, “all that glitters is not gold”. It’s not quite what I was looking for, but full
marks go for “not everything that glitters is gold”, which still embodies the meaning of the phrase. However, no points for “black gold” or for “Something about gold being stronger or
bolder or something than something. (thanks Chloe)”
Divide and rule
It’s a divide symbol, a plus (“and”) symbol, and a rule(r). “Rule and divide”, despite turing the phrase on it’s head, was also acceptable. “Divide and measure” got half a mark, because
it was clear that the player who wrote it knew where they were coming from but just hadn’t heard of the phrase before. However, Paul’s “Divide Plus Ruler? What?” doesn’t score on this
question.
A picture is worth a thousand words
Well, a lot of words, anyway. No prizes for “weight of words”, though.
(It) takes two to tango
Probably ought to explain this one: the word “take” is repeated multiple times (“takes”); followed by the number 2 (“two”), followed by the word “tango” twice (“two/to tango”). Anything
close got the mark, but “three takes to tango” is wrong and “right to tango oh fuck it” is way out.
All is fair in love and war
Easy enough – the word “fair” is repeated throughout the words “love” and “war”. The only person to get this wrong wrote “nothing is fain in love and war”, which I don’t think is even
close to accurate.
Blood is thicker than water
Easy: the word “blood” is written in a thicker typeface. Everybody got this one.
Well there you have it. Keep an eye out for Dan’s Dingbats Challenge IV!