X-COM II: Twisted Puzzle Competition
 

Welcome X-COM Agents!

This Pretty Twisted X-COM Puzzle Competition is open to any agent not already selected to go on the Mars Mission. It will run over the next few days (to be determined). Some of the questions are easy. Some of them are (I think) deviously hard. The sole winner will get a ticket on the ship to Mars. Be sure to read the rules.

-Each round will consist of three questions. We want to make sure you can follow orders if you go to Mars, so listen up. This is a bit tricky. You get the point value assigned to the question if you get it correct. However, you may only answer one question in each group, and may only answer one question at a time. Let me say that again: You may only answer one question in each group. That means that if you think you know the answer to the one-point question, you can post immediately, but that disqualifies you for the two-point question and the three-point question in that round. And you can’t machine gun all three questions in hopes of getting one correct. If you screw this up and post the answer to two or three questions in one round, you will lose the point value assigned to the question instead of receiving it. Eek! The points will still be available to the next person to post the correct answer, so if someone does screw up, jump all over it.

- We don’t want you missing aliens on Mars, and we don’t want you missing questions here, so…you get only one free incorrect answer each round. Further incorrect answers in that round lose you a point.

-At the end of a round, I will post exactly when I will post the questions for the next round. I realize that many of you have lives, so I will try to vary these times as much as possible. Still, this is a war were fighting and the planet is at stake. Lame complaints of unfairness due to work, wives, children, sleep, and chia pets will not be accepted.

-I’m guessing there will be ten rounds, but we’ll see how it goes. Like war, things change. Be flexible.

-The point values per question will increase as the game progresses, so if you fall behind early, don’t panic. If you grab an early lead, watch your back. However, towards the end, we’ll probably limit the competition to only those agents who still have a chance to win, so score early to be left at the very end.

For those of you that are already selected for the Mars mission, or those of you that aren’t active agents, or those of you who are just spectators to the X-COM dynasty, I ask that you don’t post any answers or hints. Watch the fun all you want, but please don’t ruin it for others! Thanks!

Round One will start today, exactly when the fathers and snakes begin their contest.

Aha, the X-Com Brain Bowl. Excellent...

But my chia pet is pregnant with our second child. ;)

Are we eligible if we're currently in transit?

Yes. Yes. By all means. Waiting list agents in transit are eligible. Thanks for asking for clarification, and sorry, I should have made that clear. Good luck!

However, waiting list agents not currently in transit are not eligible. I think we've made our last call up unless things go horribly wrong, in which case it's doubtful we'll be going to Mars next week anyway. Sorry.

Processing image...

Ewww!

I like chiapets.

Hey...nobody said nothin' about no readin' or writin' at the rekrooting offiss.

I'll be Eaton dinner about that time. :p

Not only do I have to read my X-Com agent training manual but I also have to bring my encyclopedias with me as well. Sigh. The things I'll do to get a chance for a Sectoid to kill me, er.. I mean to avenge my father's death.

Godzilla, your making me choose between watching my home-town team win the arena bowl on our own field and answering one question....not cool godzilla....not cool

Too bad, I don't know what you are talking about...

Are the Padres and D-Backs playing?

Its the arena bowl i assume, with the Arizona Rattlers...dont know the other team though, 1 sec

nm, its padres diamondbacks

Round One

1 Point
Trivia: What family line has had three members killed on their fifth mission?
2 Points
Name the agent: Lupine jam
3 Points
X-COM Terminology: Mix the guts of a Beagle, the tail of a flightless bird, and the head of a Poison-arrow. What have you got?

2 is Chief Rum, right? ;)

SI

Nope. There goes your freebie...

I get a freebie?

I figure my whole purpose in this thread is to write stuff that people have to read for no reason just to add to degree of difficulty. It's how I can help ;)

SI

PM sent

Post answers here please. I'll count this one, though, if it's right...

Sorry.

Question 2:

Wolfpack

No problem. Bingo! Jeeber D gets two points! Questions 1 & 3 are still on the board. Jeeber D is finished for this round.

SterlingIce: Sorry, brain fart on my part!

Gotta keep you on your toes.

SI

That's what we pay you for! ;)

I'll go Illinifan for #1. I have no clue.

Nope. Now I can say it: There goes your freebie.

Number 1 must be Kodos. I mean, he's on at least the 15th member of his family, right? Or is that Wade Moore? Or jfbbis?

To all the participants (with their heads squarely placed in their rectums because I'm sure everyone has figured this out): it's safe to say that if I suggest it, it's probably not a correct answer. I don't think that counts as a hint (as defined in the rules, tho; if so, GB, PM me and I'll knock it off). But if you have a really big list of all possible X-Com agents, you could use it as a checklist and anyone I suggest, you could cross off and you'd be down to about 130 guys :D

SI

Screw it Blade 6119 for #1. Why not?

Sterling: No problem. Have a ball distracting people. :)

Ewww. That's gotta hurt. -1 for Ardent.

I've essentially been red carded, huh? :)

Can I keep guessing? I'll be at -100 in no time!

Nooo. I wouldn't do that. You can still play.

chief rum for question 1

Really? Damn, I'd feel dumb for guessing that for number 2 if that's the right answer for #1. That was too close of an inadvertent hint.

SI

No, Sterling, you're fine.

Chief Rum has never had even one family member killed on his fifth mission.

Sorry, Kingfc, your freebie is toast.

The math skills of our agents are starting to scare me. ;)

Mr. Bug For question #1. :)

Ewwww. Nice thought, but sorry. Ardent drops to -2.

Did I mention that agents that get to -5 are taken outside and shot? :)

Oooh, I hope so. :)

Blade for question #1. :)

You're on the right track, but sorry, -3.

I rule.

1 is 3ric

Toddiec for #1?

*throwing voice*
Ardent Enthusiast: Is it SterlingIce?
Ardent Enthusiast: Crappy?

Ok, GB, do your thing.

SI

Darn. SI was my next choice. :)

Travis for #1

We have a winner! 1 point to ShaefIllini! Shaef's out for the rest of this round.

Damn, Ardent almost went to -4, but just missed it because Shaef ended the question a second earlier.

Feel free to keep guessing, though, Ardent.

Ah, I have no clue on #3. I'm not that smart.

Feel free to provide a hint. :)

Question #3 is still on the board.

It's not you. :p

SI

Har!

I was just about to go there, too.

Is there anybody out there?

Yes, I'm working on #3. :)

A hint on #3, and a hint in general on some of the puzzlers.

We're not holding to a traditional cryptic crossword format for clues, but this may provide some help for those of you that are new to cryptic crosswords:

Cryptic Crossword solving help

In general, I'm omitting the straight clue half of the puzzle, and not giving out how many letters there are (it would be too easy given our limited possible answers).

I'll split it with you. Here's what I know: It's not me.

Yeah. The thing is I think that I have 2 out of the 3, I just can't get the third. :(

working on it

I give. I'm going to bed.

Peregrine?

It's not an ostrich.

Nope. Sorry.

Well, Alex I'm going to have to go with:

What is FRAGGED?

Not sure about the whole thing, but I've wasted too much time on this already.

Dola,

tr.v. fragged, frag·ging, frags
To wound or kill (a fellow soldier) by throwing a grenade or similar explosive at the victim: “He got fragged. Blown away” (Bobbie Ann Mason).

What does my fortune cookie say? Did I get it right?

I think I can tell by your answer that you are using the right line of thought, but this answer is not correct. The question is perhaps a bit too tricky.

I'll add in the number of letters in the answer, but correct answers will need to explain their reasoning.

Leader Board
1. Jeeber D: 2
2. ShaefIllini: 1
100. Ardent: -3

Remaining Questions
3 Points
X-COM Terminology: Mix the guts of a Beagle, the tail of a flightless bird, and the head of a Poison-arrow. What have you got? (3 letters in answer) (answer must be explained to count as correct)

One modification. To take some of the pressure off getting things right the first time, we'll make a rule change so you get one free guess each round instead of over the entire competition.

Round Two starts "ashita" at "gozen kuji" CST.

I like being in the lead for once in my life... :)

Edit: But what the hell language is that clue in?

Basukettobo-Ru! Kuji!

X-COM Terminology: Mix the guts of a Beagle, the tail of a flightless bird, and the head of a Poison-arrow. What have you got? (3 letters in answer) (answer must be explained to count as correct)

My guess:

Gut is in the middle, so you take the "u"
Tail is at the back, so you take the "f"
head is at the front so you take the "O" of Arr-O

UFO

Ding ding ding! Answer is correct! Excellent work, but...

...the explanation is off. (Part of your thinking is right on the button, but part of it got a bit lost.) We'll give you 1.5 points for the right answer, but the explanation is still up for grabs for another 1.5. (Real Deal is still ok to work on this part.)

Here's another try:

beagle = "dog" and the gut is the o
flightless bird= "emu" and the tail is the u
poison arrow is a type of "frog", and the head is the F

"mix" them and you get UFO?

OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!

3 points for Real Deal!

Our New Leaderboard
1. Real Deal: 3 points
2. Jeeber D: 2 points
3. ShaefIllini: 1 point
100. Ardent: -3 points

That ends round one! Congratulations to our scorers. Well, the positive scorers, anyway.

wow, that was awesome

And here I am trying to take the "FR" of frog (head), the "AG" of beagle (guts) and the god knows what of a flightless bird. :P

Yeah, when I saw your answer I could see the FR from "frog", some letters from "beagle", but then I got confused as to what part came from the flightless bird. :) Still, thanks for taking a guess, and sorry you burned so much time on it. Your answer helped a lot though. It made me realize that the cryptic clues will need the number of letters to make them more doable.

This is the first time for me to do a puzzle competition like this, so I'm kind of learning as I go.

Wow I was the answer to a question?

Dude...I'm getting a doctorate and I didn't come up with that. I will fly you out here next semester so you can take all of my tests. And I'll share my hookers and crack.

I instantly knew it was 3ric, too bad I didn't know the timing of the questions...

With the way some of these questions looked, I might as well give up now.

Just a quick reminder here to go register for the battle competition if you’re on the list in the main thread…

Now, onto…

Round Two

Now that people got their feet wet yesterday, today’s should be easier. Let’s see if Real Deal can hold his lead. Keep in mind we changed the rules to allow everyone one incorrect guess per round instead of over the whole competition. Also, please remember that you can only correctly answer one question per round, and take one guess at a time.

1 Point
Trivia: Who was the first agent to die in X-COM II?

2 Points
Name the agent: SSN Citrus

3 Points
X-COM Terminology: Upchucked rare stable lunch. (2 words: 7 letters, 8 letters) (answer must be explained to count as correct)

Question 2 (again):

Sublime

Bingo! Good work! Jeeber D grabs the lead with 2 more points, giving him 4 total!

Questions 1 & 3 are still on the board.

Woohoo!

Now I can go back to sleep. Thank god for the internet and Japanese translation sites... :D

Question 3 is "blaster launcher" rare stable lunch is an anagram for it, and upchucked is the cryptic crossword key for unscrambling an anagram

Is number 1 Cam Edwards?

Bingo to Real Deal and bingo to ShaefIllini! Excellent work, men! You are proving that you have the quick wits and flexible thinking that will serve you well on Mars!

That's a wrap on Round Two. Let's take a look at the new leaderboard...

Wow! Look at this! We repeat the same finish as in Round 1, giving us the following:

Leaderboard
1. Real Deal: 6 points
2. Jeeber D: 4 points
3. ShaefIllini: 2 points
100. Ardent: -3 points

It's nice to see that Ardent did a lot better this round, too! Practice makes perfect!

Round Three starts "hoy" at "dos y media" CST. Point values go up by one, so if you didn't get points in rounds one and two, you can get right back in it.

I was at work. Besides, I gave up last night.

Damn. I have the lousiest timing in checking this thread.

*whoosh*

Was that round 2 that went by? Man, that was fast.

Then I suggest that you stop by hoy a las dos y media CST

Since that last round was a bit too easy for our contestants, we’ll bump up the difficulty just a bit in this round. Point values have gone up, so don’t be shy! Jump right in.

Round Three

2 Points
Trivia: What did Kodos’ do to get The Kodos’ D’oh Award named after him? Be very specific.

3 Points
Name the agent: Larry Bird

4 Points
X-COM Terminology: The authentic end of the film comes at the beginning, but then it goes in order. (8 letters) (answer must be explained to count as correct)

Good luck!

The first one was after he put his Gatesville dynasty on hold and then started it up just in time for the Golden Scribes, right?

And I didn't realize we had an X-Com agent named Whitey.

SI

I'm so tempted to just answer wrong about 500 times in a row.

So close! So very close! -7 to you.

We can have dueling wrong answers. Which question? Number 2?

I am impervious to your threats of negative points! ;)

SI

3 points. Hoops Guy.