Hello/hi/hey/howdy everyone!

I'm new to this board, started reading it while the 2nd Trivia Scavenger Hunt
was going on. I've been waiting for Round 3 to start...but I guess I can't
wait anymore.

Your idea of using pictures to make the questions (relatively) Google-proof
reminded me of a puzzle in the old GAMES Magazine (hi Ken!) that
had pictures in a 3x3 grid, each row/column/diagonal of 3 pictures sharing
some kind of common theme. I decided to see if I could create something
like that....

...well, you be the judge. I guess I can't wait for the next Puzzle Potluck
to start, but there's plenty of puzzle here to go around. I suppose you could
do this like the hunt: each line is like a separate question, with an additional
bonus question for the center picture. You'll have to see the puzzle to know
what I'm talking about.

Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to create a table with BBCode, so
instead I created a web page with the puzzle at my personal website.

Click here to see the page I created.

I'm happy to provide clues to the unguessed lines on a regular basis, as
long as there's interest. Believe me, some of these themes are far from
obvious. You guys might actually see better themes in some of the lines
than I did.

One small proviso: if you're going to guess the "center square," I ask that
you also tell me the theme of one of the four lines (1 row, 1 column, and
2 diagonals) that it lies in. If you get the theme wrong, I won't tell you if
you got the image wrong. If you get it right...well, you probably got the
image right as well.

Please check it out and let me know what you think.

Peace.

---Todd
[/url]

tOdd, I loved these puzzles as a kid, too. I think I've figured out some of them.

Center Square: Starlight Express
Down 1: Both musicals and movies?
Down 2: Celestial bodies (Sun King, Starlight Express, Planets)
Down 3: Mountains (Sermon on the Mount, Alps, Montana)
Across 2: Musicals

That's all I could figure out. I think you did a great job!

Hey, Pic-Tac-Toe! When I was posting the picture-chain on my blog today, I was pondering doing a pic-tac-toe...in the age of the Internet and PhotoShop, it's a lot easier to get the right photos.

I was pretty sure Down 2 didn't involve The Sun King--my guess of Charles I proved to be right though. So is Down 2 "Stars"? (Star Chamber, Starlight Express, solar system)?

Ken, porpoise:

Wow, that was fast! I see you're using hidden text instead
of like the Scavenger Hunt format. OK, I'm game...

So let's go in order:

Down 1:[You're right, of course. But I'll invoke the ghost of Alex
and ask you to BE MORE SPECIFIC. Yes, really.]

Down 2:[You're both on the same track. The same WRONG track, I'm afraid.
But I'll tell you that Ken is right: that is Charles I in the top center.
But prove me wrong, make the other lines work. ]

Down 3:[DING! We have a winner! My thinking was that Montana is in the Mountain
Time Zone...but I see the name of the state actually comes from the Spanish
word for mountain. Go figure...]

Across 2:[NO! You accuse me of using the same category twice?? Insolence! ]

Anyone else then? I'll be back soon...

---Todd

The only thing that I can come up with for 2 Down (and I'm reeeeaaaalllly reaching here) is Lost -- Charles I lost his head and the solar system lost a planet. But I can't get any of the middle pictures to fit.

Thank you all for playing!

Since you all seem stuck on "2 Down", let me give you
a clue about that. For the theme I had in mind, I could
replace the picture of Charles I with any British monarch
and the theme would still hold. It's the theme of the
top row that made me choose Charles I.

And since it's a really tricky theme (not intentional,
just the way it came out), let me offer a further clue:
the picture of the planets at the bottom. For this theme,
don't think of the planets in terms of astronomy, but
instead in terms of astrology.

I must say, this fill-in-the-blank on the center square
is working out better than I thought.

Peace out.

---Todd

Speaking of which, is there going to be another scavenger hunt soon?


_________________
In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. They promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground.

My wife thinks the top row is "people with robes"--Max Bialystock, Charles I, and Jesus. But I'm dubious.

If the middle picture is in fact the nun, maybe two down is "rulers"? (Ruler of England, nun holding a ruler, Jupiter is the "ruler" of the Roman gods?) And then two across could be, um, Catholics? I give up.

If I knew what the lower left picture was, it would probably help. It looks like some road company doing Guys and Dolls.

I second Ken's answer to 2 down. In astrology planets are said to "rule" the signs of the zodiac.

Ken Jennings wrote:

I give up.

You give up? But you've made great progress! See below.

Ken Jennings wrote:

My wife thinks the top row is "people with robes"--Max Bialystock, Charles I, and Jesus. But I'm dubious.

Like I said, not all rows are gems. The top row is probably the most contrived
of all of them. I'll give you my answer, you can see which one your wife thinks
is better.

THEME OF THE TOP ROW: Divineness (Jesus is obviously divine, Charles I believed
strongly in the Divine Right of Kings, and they called the old ladies in the Producers
who gave them their money "angels", which are divine in the sense of being heavenly)

Ken Jennings wrote:

If the middle picture is in fact the nun, maybe two down is "rulers"? (Ruler of England, nun holding a ruler, Jupiter is the "ruler" of the Roman gods?)

Part of your answer hidden, part not. What to do... Let me just say...you are correct!
The center picture is indeed the nun! And your answer for two down is also correct, although
I see it slightly differently: in astrology, the planet primarily associated with any sign of the zodiac or any house of the horoscope is called its ruler.

Ken Jennings wrote:

And then two across could be, um, Catholics?

Um, not the answer I was looking for. But a little quick fact checking showed that
your answer is as valid as mine. But I still like mine better. See if you agree...

MY THEME FOR THE MIDDLE ROW: Maria (a song from West Side Story, Maria von Trapp,
and, uh, Ave Maria for the nun)

Ken Jennings wrote:

If I knew what the lower left picture was, it would probably help. It looks like some road company doing Guys and Dolls.

The lower left scene is indeed from Guys and Dolls. If you know the play well,
that should make the theme of the bottom row leap out at you. If not, go read some
synopsis of the play. And I'll just add that this particular scene from the musical
is particularly good for figuring out the two non-musical themes.

You've made such great progress, I hope you don't quit now. Anyone else out there
still working on the puzzle?

---Todd

The theme for the bottom row:


sky

Again, reaching ...

Across 3 (Sky Masterson (Left), Big Sky Country (Right), but nothing in the middle.... the night sky?)

heh, seems billiej and I came to the same conclusion.

3 Across: Sky (Sky Masterson, Planets in the sky, Big Sky Country)
Lower Left to Upper Right: Salvation ? (Sister Sara, Nun, Sermon on the Mount)

I told you guys you were smart! The bottom row theme is indeed Sky, as
several of you noted. And the forward diagonal as noted by bwouns is about
salvation (in my notes, I called the theme "saving souls," six of one...).
Way to go team!

That leaves the backward diagonal...and a more specific answer for
the left row. Actually, I'm really shocked no one has given the more
specific answer. I'll tell you why later.

Anyone need a clue for the diagonal theme?

---Todd

Is the left row movies set in New York?

Ooooh, I like this new puzzle! Thanks, tOdd!!!

Next time do one I can get though, kthx.

(I thought the theme of the top was Charlie or Charles something...but the picture of Jesus didn't fit it. Oh, and neither did the picture of Gene Wilder not starring in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.)

Ken Jennings wrote:

Is the left row movies set in New York?

DING! We have a winner!!!!

The reason I was surprised this took so long: a few hours after I get this puzzle
all worked out, I decided to watch America's Favorite Quiz Show (tm). It was
a celebrity episode, at Radio City Music Hall. And one of the categories was
NYC Musicals (or something like that). An amazing coincidence!

By they by, they used West Side Story and Guys and Dolls, but not The Producers.

OK, we're almost there! And we've saved the best for last. The theme that
started the whole thing off! If you aren't yet convinced I have a twisted little
mind, this theme will remove all doubt.

I'm really glad to see y'all getting into this puzzle like this.

---Todd

P.S.: Yes, Virginia, I meant to say the left column, not row. My bad.

missbitesalot wrote:

Ooooh, I like this new puzzle! Thanks, tOdd!!!

My first compliment! I'm so verklempt! I'll give you a topic.
The Daily Double is neither daily nor a double. Discuss.

missbitesalot wrote:

Next time do one I can get though, kthx.

I wasn't intentionally trying to make this puzzle hard (but with all y'all
versus me I thought they would be less difficult than they turned out
to be). Getting 9 not-too-obscure pictures to fit 8 different themes,
3 to a theme, is very constraining. Believe me, I was scouring through
Wikipedia, looking for any shred of a connection between different
possible images. Having a twisted mind helps though.

Of course, if someone else wants to try their hand at it, maybe
they can make it more user friendly. And admit it, this puzzle
has helped you form some new connections (and maybe new
ways of thinking). And I think that's a good thing.

Oh, and as for creating easier questions. I have become addicted
to Grand Slam, and have been spending much of the past few
days thinking up sample questions that would be tricky and clever,
but doable. I've got a few dozen now. These questions don't
take as long to solve.

EXAMPLE [Numbers and Logic]: A car traveling at 50 MPH takes how many minutes to go 10 miles?

Peace out.

---Todd

How about Zero for the last one. (Zero Mostel, Lord Zero - the antagonist in the anime series Montana Jones, and for the nun - ???)

bwouns wrote:

How about Zero for the last one. (Zero Mostel, Lord Zero - the antagonist in the anime series Montana Jones, and for the nun - ???)

Oh my god! You're so close! ... and I hadn't heard of Lord Zero.
Look again. See how the center image kinda sorta fits your theme?
Make the connection and I'll tell you what I was thinking for the
lower right image.

Man, you're good!

---Todd

Quote:

A car traveling at 50 MPH takes how many minutes to go 10 miles?

OK- takes 60 minutes to go 50 mi, so one-fifth as far would take 12 minutes. Right?
Or did I oversimplify it?

tOdd wrote:

Ken Jennings wrote:

Is the left row movies set in New York?

DING! We have a winner!!!!

The reason I was surprised this took so long: a few hours after I get this puzzle
all worked out, I decided to watch America's Favorite Quiz Show (tm). It was
a celebrity episode, at Radio City Music Hall. And one of the categories was
NYC Musicals (or something like that). An amazing coincidence!

By they by, they used West Side Story and Guys and Dolls, but not The Producers.

OK, we're almost there! And we've saved the best for last. The theme that
started the whole thing off! If you aren't yet convinced I have a twisted little
mind, this theme will remove all doubt.

I'm really glad to see y'all getting into this puzzle like this.

---Todd

P.S.: Yes, Virginia, I meant to say the left column, not row. My bad.

Drat, I was SO going to say that, but I thought it was too simplistic an answer. That's what I get for overthinking...

tOdd wrote:

bwouns wrote:

How about Zero for the last one. (Zero Mostel, Lord Zero - the antagonist in the anime series Montana Jones, and for the nun - ???)

Oh my god! You're so close! ... and I hadn't heard of Lord Zero.
Look again. See how the center image kinda sorta fits your theme?
Make the connection and I'll tell you what I was thinking for the
lower right image.

Man, you're good!

---Todd

OK, how's this:

all are terms for null: "Zero" Mostel, Nun ("none"), MT ("empty")

billiej wrote:

tOdd wrote:

bwouns wrote:

How about Zero for the last one. (Zero Mostel, Lord Zero - the antagonist in the anime series Montana Jones, and for the nun - ???)

Oh my god! You're so close! ... and I hadn't heard of Lord Zero.
Look again. See how the center image kinda sorta fits your theme?
Make the connection and I'll tell you what I was thinking for the
lower right image.

Man, you're good!

---Todd

OK, how's this:

all are terms for null: "Zero" Mostel, Nun ("none"), MT ("empty")

Very good!

Congratulations to billiej for figuring out the last (and best) theme!

I'm not sure what it says about me, that when I first started
working on this I decided a nun should be in the center, and
quickly came up with that theme and those 3 images. I'm
not Catholic (not even Christian) and definitely not an expert
on musicals.

From there, it was quite a piece of work filling in the rest
of the grid. I was just lucky I chose Guys and Dolls as the
third NYC musical (a play I've never seen and know little
about) and then saw there was a character named Sky
and another that worked at the Save-a-Soul Mission.

I'm really glad to see so many of you tried my puzzle.
One of the things I like about the Trivia Scavenger Hunt—
which may be unique to it—is the give and take between
the person who created the puzzle and everyone else
trying to solve it. Trying to tell enough but not too much.
Most people who write trivia just give you the question
and hope you can answer it. I got to talk to you, find out
where you were getting stuck, and nudge you in the right
direction. And you got to interact with each other as well,
so you could help each other figure things out.

I was truly amazed to see Ken say "I give up." To me,
that was like Simon Legree saying "Sorry, my bad."
I was really thinking I may have made it too difficult.
But with time and effort, you got almost every theme
(yeah, I gave you the top row, but that was the suckiest
theme).

I wonder if you/we could compose a pic-tac-toe using
this same sort of give and take. Would it come out
better than the one I created?

Thank you all for playing.

---Todd