Monday, July 5, 2010

ROYAL OAK HUNT - A NEAR MISS

SOLARIS MONT KIARA, 3 Jul 2010: Who says that Lightning Never Strikes Twice? Not me, certainly. As the record books will show, this unfortunate ranger holds the unenviable record of being struck by lightning seven times though he survived all of them. Though I am a disbeliever of this popular old adage, it probably helped the CoC of the Royal Oak Treasure Hunt side-step potential embarrassment. After the furore from last week's event, the last thing our community needed was a second tremor in successive weeks.


The poor chap (who did exhibit signs of having had one too many Kilkennys) had unwittingly announced that the team placed 3rd had scored 80 points - a result that would have pushed them one position above us, with the Treasure points breaking the tie. Team Cryptically Challenged bettered us by one treasure having correctly solved 4 of 5 treasure riddles. Fortunately, his better-half, Florence, came to his rescue to explain that they were rightfully 3rd having been docked 2 points for coming in after the regulation hunting time.

Michael Pang (MP), the CoC of the Royal Oak Treasure Hunt

The Irish Red Ale - the root of all evil?

Once again, the regulars in the fraternity had anticipated a tumultuous time, a trait of MP's hunts in recent times. The generous 6 hours hunting time allocated for a local hunt (to solve 35 questions and 5 treasures) was a clear warning sign. We surprised ourselves by overachieving on the road, and finished the hunt with 45 minutes to spare. No such luck with the treasures though. We succumbed to his signature One-Line treasure riddles which put paid to our chances of winning the event.

I have always enjoyed MP's route questions though I've never taken a liking to his treasure riddles. I always felt that his One-Liners not only lacks in providing sufficient clues to the hunters, it also does not close all other doors which could prove nightmarish for the setter himself. Time and again, my fears were justified.

Treasure 3: Doctor - a very soft hearted fellow needs a drink.
Answer: A can of Dr Pepper.

The intended solution is tight but not exclusive. Peer is an acceptable synonym for Fellow, and Pe-pp-er can represent that this fellow has a very soft heart! An alternative solution, "A bottle of Apple juice" is equally fitting.

Similarly to the intended solution, very soft = pp
hearted fellow = heart of "ed fellow" = el
needs a = a
Doctor-ing the pieces would result in Apple as the solution.

Treasure 5: Adam's ale in a bottle.
Ans: A bottle of water.

What about this treasure which one team had submitted. Fits perfectly though not the intended solution, huh!


Hiralliously, our own team mate might have had one too many Kilkenny himself. Much to our bemusement, he went on stage to snatch the winner's mock check from the hands of the winning team.


Rightfully, he belongs here with us in 2nd position. Maybe we'll get em next year eh, Teoh?




Royal Oak Treasure Hunt
(Maximum possible score: 100)


1st: Lim Kim Meng, Adrian Wong, Lim Soo Khian, Toh Weng Ngai (88)
2nd: Chai Koh Khai, Margaret Sha, Chong Voon Kiat, Teoh Cheow Teong (80)
3rd: Alexander Hoh, Andre Teh, Rosemawarni Abd Rahman, Mohd Shahrin (78)
4th: Muhammad Razif Ahmad, Darmataksiah Abai, Hanna Razif, Sam Rahman (72)
5th: Sin Yoong Leong, Claire Chin, Julie Tan, Goh Teck Koon (62)
6th: Rajj Melambaran, Shirley Hoe, Tommy Ng (48)
7th: Simon Matthew, Venkateswaran Nagappan, Eeswaran, Buvanes (48)

14 comments:

2 Romans 1 Impostor said...

Mike, by the way, thanks for the beers (hic) and a Happy Belated Birthday!

Mike said...

my pleasure, bro and thanks.

teoh said...

Have to understand lah.Haven't touched a first prize cheque no matter how hard I tried ;)
The Kilkenny is sure good stuff. If only I could ta pau.

Cornelius said...

teoh, if you can get your hands on the actual cheque, instead of the mock cheque, that would be even better!... haha!

Anonymous said...

Hello everyone :)

Just a passing-by question, if you don't mind. In a recent hunt there was such question posed to the hunters:

"Last pieces in one hundred"

In the sector there were the following possible answers:
"CSC" and "LSL"

Was wondering if the hunters reading this blog could give comments on which is a more fitting answer, or if the question should be voided due to lack of "watertightness" of the question.

2 Romans 1 Impostor said...

I wasn't in the hunt but was coincidentally asked the same question over the phone minutes ago. My response was ...

Both answers are technically incorrect. CC is not 100 and neither is LL.

Anonymous said...

have you check? maybe in pirate language it is!!

Anonymous said...

2R1I, thank you for your comments on the matter. Although I agree with you that both answers do not fit the question, I feel that the COC's answer of "CSC" is the less fitting answer of the 2, as CC has no way of becoming 100.

Another possible solution would be to have voided the question and removed it from the overall equation. However, seeing that this question would have drastically affected the overall result, the COC was obviously not keen to do so.

wannatolearn said...

If I see like this

100 100 100
100 S 100
100 100 100

I think I can easily say that "S in hundred" so I think 100 S 100 also can be defined as "S in 100" so the answer should CSC. Just my 5cnt oppinion.

2 Romans 1 Impostor said...

Anonymous,

When something is wrong, it is wrong. You can't label it as "less wrong" or "more wrong" in comparison :)

I suppose the right thing to do would have been to void the question IFF (a very big IF) the COC had realised his misdeed. And chances are this COC had not realised.

COCs after all are human, and to err is not beyond them. We can just hope that they will learn from the mistakes they make and put counter-measures in place for their future hunts.

Not too long ago, I remember one COC even "crowned" Amber Chia an ex Miss Malaysia winner!

Wannatolearn,

S in Hundreds would be more appropriate in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

2R1I,

A squeaking "ASS" at the back would solve all problem, doesn't it??

CK Loh said...

Unfortunately, this clue is without the 's'.

Regular hunters have often being trapped with the word 's'. It is a common trick.

If a treasure clue want items (with 's'), it is wrong if you submit one only. Anything more than one is correct, and anything less is wrong and not correct.

So, I see why hunters resist CSC. Most of the time, those that very experienced one will resist CSC.

CK Loh said...

LSL is also not correct.

100 = C, and
100 not = LL


However, I see the logic why some regular hunter see

100 = LL


Because, in some hunts and even cryptic clues,

49 = IL
99 = IC
999 = IM

However, the above is wrong, although it is acceptable in cryptic. Actually,

49 = XLIX
99 = XCIX
999 = CMXCIX


But it is common in hunt, 999 = IM, just a recent hunt, the COC did it again.

If COC can refer 49 = IL, instead of the correct one XLIX, why not COC accept 100 = LL?


Don't get me wrong, I believe both CSC or LSL is not correct.

Just want to explain why I think some regular hunter can be caught in this situation, where base on their previous hunt experience they believe

CSC is wrong because of the missing 's'.

And there is precedence in previous hunt, where COC accept answers that has the wrong roman numeral conversion.

Cornelius said...

"COCs after all are human, and to err is not beyond them. We can just hope that they will learn from the mistakes they make and put counter-measures in place for their future hunts." - 2R1I

I have come to learn that some people are just hopeless creatures. They are mistake-prone; they can never improve; they don't have the capacity to improve.

So the best thing to do is to avoid those with clear eyesight. Deal only with the blind. You know what they say - the one-eye is the king amongst the blind.

But sometimes when something is too obviously wrong, even the blind can see them for what they are worth! They raise questions, and challenge the solutions.

Of the rest who are blind and fail to see even the most obvious, they remain doomed to live in darkness forever, guided by the one-eye master who himself is having trouble seeing.