AUTOFILL PROJECT: super bloom

Default: 365903
Default with Spaces: 150841

NOTES:
My Xfinity cable service recently replaced its music channels with the Pandora app. I have a Pandora account but I’ve never been able to train the algorithm to play exactly what I want. I created a station a few years ago that was intended to play contemporary Billboard hits. I tried it out last weekend and discovered that it plays songs that were hits when I created the station, and not hits today. The station also has a tendency to go down rabbit holes. After playing a hip-hop song, it decided to play exclusively hip-hop, establishing that passive listeners are not entitled to variety. I did jot down Brother Ali (65) and Dyme Def (60) for the database, but I wish I could have better way to listen to current top-40 music. Any advice from Pandora experts?

California’s wet winter has produced what news stories are calling a super bloom (70) in desert flora. I’m not sure if this is a regularly used term for the phenomenon, or if it will be an ephemeral buzz-term related to climate like “polar vortex” or “snowpocalypse.”

I added the Michael Masterson book title Ready Fire Aim (70). I’m interested to see if the title phrase gains traction as a hyphenated adjective for impulsive decision making. I’ve seen the phrase used in that fashion in recent commentaries about the Trump administration.

 

 

 

 

 

AUTOFILL PROJECT: crazy good

Default: 365855
Default with Spaces: 150789

NOTES:
Mahershala Ali (65) was already in my list, but his Oscar win for Moonlight solidifies another good clue option for ALI.

Mayonnaise cafes (72) are apparently a new culinary trend in Japan. The creamy dressing has been a popular Western import there for a long time, but now the Japanese can seek out trendy restaurants in which all menu items, including dessert, contain generous portions of mayonnaise. I haven’t found evidence of “mayo cafe” as an alternative term.

I saw the phrase “crazy cheap” (80) and wondered if 11C sanctions “crazy” as an adverb. It does, and the adverb definition gives “crazy good” (75) as an example. I added both of those phrases. What other “crazy [adjective]” phrases are common?

CURRICULUM VITAE: Drawing a Blank

DRAWING A BLANK
(Visual Trivia)

Players are given assignments to draw things from various disciplines. The drawings are judged not on artistic ability but on a set of details that represent a basic visual familiarity with the thing to be drawn. Players are randomly given cards before they begin drawing. Some cards reveal one of the details that will be judged and other cards have no information; player receiving those cards have “drawn a blank.” The completed drawings are shown to all players. Before the judging, each player must secretly vote for an opponent that they believe drew a blank. The judges then announce the details and the players who did draw blanks. Players score for including the judges details in their drawings, for voting correctly, and for garnering incorrect votes from opponents.

At one of my early ACPT appearances I presented an after-hours game called Thingamadoodles, which was a drawing based Balderdash variant. The game played poorly and I pulled the plug after a single session. Years later I mentioned the game to Darren Rigby. I admire his game design and wondered if he might have a remedy. Darren said that the game was similar to an idea that he was working on called Drawing a Blank. He invited me to collaborate on an after-hours game for the 2011 NPL convention in Providence and I agreed.

The game logistics were almost completely based on Darren’s original concept. I contributed by helping with the content, i.e. ideas for well known and drawable items that players could have fun with. Many of the judged details involved spatial memory: In Grant Wood’s American Gothic, is the male farmer on the left or right? In which part of Australia’s coast is the island of Tasmania? Darren was also very thoughtful about designing elements that improve gameplay efficiency, such as voting cubes that players could use to keep track of votes for scoring purposes. At the convention Darren and I took alternated between being the primary presenter and the assistant. A memorable bit of comic ad-lib occurred when I was presenter and Darren assisted. I explained to players that they did not need to be proficient artists to score points, and used Darren’s “crude rendering” of the art school admissions test character Tippy the Turtle as an example. When I said “crude,” Darren turned to me with dramatic indignation. It was a fun bit that we used in several sessions.