Thursday, March 19, 2009

Winners Round 6 !! Certificate Winners

First, @TheStepster gets special certificate for First and Last guesses.


Category: What Some Might Think Is Closest to What Is in the Box

WINNER: @fistsoffolly: It's something that would make me wealthy--only not *financial* wealth.
- The item in the box is ostensibly collectible. Some collectibles bring enormous wealth and satisfaction to their owners. Unfortunately, this is not one of those collectibles – but this guess takes the Certificate! It appears that @fistsoffolly also made the most guesses - 6.

@TheStepster: Something useable. There's space.
- Well, there is space in the box, filled mostly with plastic grocery bags used as padding for the item. The grocery bags are themselves usable, but they are not the designated item in the box. The item itself, well, there are some outstanding questions as to its usefulness.

@epicdeer: It's obviously some Chinese food. Some long, thin, Chinese food, including sliced egg rolls.
- There is no food in the box, but there is something with a now-attenuated International eclat. It was made in China, at least partly, but it should not be eaten. It is thin, but not particularly long. So, there are arguments, but none strong enough to seize the Certificate in this category.

@1sjcorbett: A needle point sampler of the type so prevelant in our memories and Norman Rockwell paintings.
- This guess is on the short list in this category because the item is of a type, and it is designed to evoke nostalgia and fellow-feeling. The sense of craft conveyed by this guess, however, is not echoed in the item itself.

@andreakremer
: The Rosetta Stone.
- Again, the International eclat of this item is invoked, but it is not a stone, has no relevance to the translation of texts, and no relation even to the British Museum. International-ness is not enough.

@fistsoffolly: It's something whose intended use involves two or more senses.
- The item in the box has intended uses that involve the senses of sight and touch, but without more detail I cannot award the Certificate on those grounds.

@fistsoffolly: The name of this mystery item has a repeat letter in it. Like "book" or "oboe". (Though it might not be an O, or even a vowel.)
- The name of the mystery item has several repeat letters, but again, without more detail (and in light of the caveat in the guess) I cannot award the Certificate on those grounds

@TheStepster: Something rather contemporary, that contains an old soul.
- It is a modern item that celebrates something ancient, so this guess comes close, but the item itself is not rather contemporary. It is pretty cheesy.

@The_No_Show: The ark of the covenant, rendered entirely in cheese.
- This item is in some sense rendered almost entirely in cheese (see “cheesy” remark above), but there is little that is spiritual enclosed within it.


Category: Best Otherwise Inaccurate Guess

WINNER: @jonathaneunice: Something LOVERLY.
- It is LOVERLY, in its way, but mainly this guess made me laugh the most of any of the guesses.

@The_No_Show: Debauchery, decadence and an endless parade of illicit paraphernalia
- This guess almost made it into the “what some might think” category with a reference to illicit paraphernalia. The item is ostensibly licit, and the occasion that occasioned it had a great deal of paraphernalia. There were accusations of malfeasance, but as far as I know, no debauchery and decadence.

@toddadamson:It's the Kirlian Aura of Harry Crews' barber.
- I looked at a picture of Harry Crews, and I am not sure he has a barber. I always enjoy things associated with Kirlian Auras, but if there is no living being to generate it (assuming it could then be separated from their body), that could mean there was nothing in the box. But there is!

@toldorknown: Something that is less than the sum of its parts.
- This is an excellent guess, very funny, but wrong! This item has very little relation to the sum of its parts – I am pretty sure its parts do not add up.

@fistsoffolly: Please, please, please let it be something that will help me sleep at night. Please.
- I hope that things get better, but this item would do nothing to help you.

@jonathaneunice: It's something that would help a friend in need, or that would enable me to do so.
- This is not a very helpful item. I can imagine a few extremely precise circumstances where this item could be of assistance, but it strains the mind a bit.

@toldorknown: Something to soften the blows.
- This item would be even less assistance in this regard than with sleep or assisting friends. And I can do nothing to help you all.

@fistsoffolly: A carrot and not a stick.
- This item is potentially both, probably more carrot, but really neither.

@fistsoffolly: PEEPS.
- I eat PEEPS. I do not give them away.

@whlteXbread: All the emoticons I was going to use for my #gwiitb guess are in there.
- I will see what I can do about that for a future round, maybe. I apologize if my commentary on your last round guess was a little harsh.

@lindstifa: Is it my dignity? I've been looking for it everywhere.
- Unfortunately, there is no dignity in the box. This item is excessively undignified.

@andreakremer: A mirror.
- There is an argument for this guess, but a vague one. Indeed, I studied some literary theory in college and could probably find whole books that would support arguments that any given thing is a mirror. This item has some shininess and is connected with a form of measurement. But really, it is not a mirror.

@TheStepster: A useful DIY object.
- This item is somewhat useful, but not for DIY. It is almost completely unuseful for that.

@TheStepster: A file/packet of services.
- This item does something, but just the one thing, really. Not a “services” provider or container.

@TheStepster: A bunch of guesses which cost me another follower.
- this guess did not register as on the list ahead of my post about the end of gessing, though it looks to have been a very close thing. Even counting it as a guess, however, it is sad for me to think of people’s participation in this contest driving others away.

Category: Guesses that Seem to Have Something to Do with Paper

The Box in this round was very thin, and I believe this led many to imagine tangible items that would fit in a very thin box. Many of these imaginings seem to have devolved toward an assortment of things connected with paper. The item in the box has some paperiness, but that is not one of its essential characteristics. I have grouped these guesses together, and have decided to judge a Certificate winner closest to what is in the box from among these guesses.

WINNER: @suelyn:a place for trees, flowers, sky, mountains and sea, smiles and tears, the young & old a holder of pictorial memories.
- A photograph album often made of paper and holds pictures that are themselves printed on photographic paper. This guess takes the Certificate in this category because it provokes contemplation of nature, the commemmoration of events, and celebration of human life.

@LidMo: For better or for worse. Stationery of sorts.
- Stationery is made of paper.

@BrianPike: [Guess 1/2] An unglazed photograph frame containing a Braille description of a photograph.
- Photographs are printed on photographic paper.

@BrianPike: [Guess 2/2] A glazed photograph frame, behind whose glass is a Braille description of a photograph.
- Photographs are printed on photographic paper.

@d_g_: What is in the box? A novel way to pass the time.
- A novel is usually printed on paper.

@KT30003k: Box contains small flat things that can be assembled into a larger, three-dimensional thing (models, card houses...).
- Models and cards are usually made of paper, cardstock, or cardboard.

@jshelly: Moleskine notebook
- Notebooks are made of paper.

@1sjcorbett: Fine monogrammed stationery with matching envelopes.
- Stationery is made of paper

@1sjcorbett: I so want this to be an illuminated manuscript from the middle ages. Art in the service of knowledge.
- An illuminated manuscript from the middle ages would probably not be on rag paper as we know it today, but some kind of vellum. Paper-like.