Monday, October 6, 2008

HUNTERS R US CHALLENGE #1 - PART 2 REVIEW: Q2

I had a gut feeling that Q2 would end up being the most challenging to solvers, and I certainly wasn't wrong. Perhaps it is because most of you have not been exposed to this rarely used, form of clueing I call The Phantom.

Q2: Ibu negara yang sah?
Ans: Viki Lim

Q2 is a charade-like clue with a twist where the solution is formed by piecing together words like a set of Lego bricks.

I crafted the first part of the question (easier) in the hope that it would lead the solvers to the solution. Cryptically, I used the Roman equivalent of 5 ie. V, to represent the capital city (ibu negara) of Peru.

The second part of the question is where The Phantom makes an appearance. The Phantom is a form of cryptic clueing that involves a silent (or non apparent) implication. Let's look at the word sah. In a lateral sense, sah is simply a reversal of has.

since, has = miliki (BM translation)
therefore, sah = ikilim (silent implication of reversal)

Piecing it all together, we will end up with V+ikilim or the solution Viki Lim.

So folks, this posting brings to a close the review of Hunters R Us Challenge #1. I will be contacting the winner within the next few days to hand over the promised prize of RM100 worth of MPH cash vouchers. For the rest of you, do check this blog over the next few days if you are interested to find out who will be crowned the winner of Hunters R Us Challenge #1.

4 comments:

Cornelius said...

I was tempted to give something very, very similar to this idea during my KK Challenge 4. However, after thinking about it for a moment, in the end I decided to withdraw the question.

I need to catch up with work right now, but later I'd like to discuss about this idea in detail, perhaps in my own blog. As far as I'm concerned, this is the second time I have seen this idea. The first time I saw it was in the RiddleRaiders blog, where only Chian Min, that Penang genius, was able to crack the clue, leading to the word SATAY.

But later... work first!!

2 Romans 1 Impostor said...

Just to ensure that our readers are not complacent with the standard rules, for really there are no standard rules in this pastime, just a framework that most can agree upon.

My advice, in order to achieve success, solvers just need to adapt to the multi-flavours out there!

Cornelius said...

Ah! Yes, VK, unfortunately there are no "standard rules" in this sport.

Obviously CoCs are of different levels of abilities. Some are concerned with grammar; others on fairness; others still are obsessed on creating red herrings etc. There are also some who try so very had to conjure up "tough" questions, yet the masters still find those questions too easy.

In view of the above, it is no surprise that there is no identifiable "standard" in hunt questions. Out there, as you have correctly said, adaptation is still the best policy for survival.

The purpose of hunt discussions, hopefully, is to narrow down those "multi-flavours" you spoke of, and perhaps set some sort of consistency in cryptic clueing. It is through these discussions that, hopefully, we won't need to guess the required word is DENGKI when the clue clearly asks for BENCI. But oh! let me assure you, my friend, we will adapt and arrive at DENGKI all the same! We will adapt!

May I hasten to recommend to the readers never to fix your mind to a "standard" set of rules, because there is just simply none.

2 Romans 1 Impostor said...

I guess we have very different intentions as stated in our respective blogs.

Mine is to expose the various forms of clueing methods including the rarely used ones, to help (I hope) the infant hunters "bridge the gap" or at least be more aware of this possibility when in the field.

We seldom dwell on grammar as we consider it like beating a dead horse since it is unlikely that all CoCs will have the same level of command of the languages. And I am sure each and every CoC will have their own reasons for their choice of words with their supporting references.

Cheers!