Goo Difficulty

Scott Hardie | February 17, 2005
As we all know by now, I stink at predicting how difficult certain goos will be. Maybe the solution is to become a player temporarily while somebody else runs the game, but I'm not willing to do that. :-) And on top of being misleading, the difficulty can actually shape the guessing: The "Business" goo that will go up at midnight tonight should honestly be labeled "very hard," but I get the feeling that if I call it that, nobody will give it much effort, whereas if I label it "hard" it will get a few guesses, some of them right.

So I'm wondering, should I just stop mentioning the difficulty? I mean, there will still be a variety of easy goos and hard goos every week, but maybe I shouldn't label on the page what I think the difficulty is, because that influences the guessing, and I'd rather not do so indirectly. You players will have to tell me whether or not that's a bright idea.

Mike Eberhart | February 17, 2005
Like the ratings. Even when one is rated "Very Hard" I still look for it. I'll even make a guess on it even though I know the answer is completely wrong. So, I say stick with it. I'm used to your labeling of the goos.

Amy Austin | February 17, 2005
I second that emotion.

Although, I do have to say that I've actually come to dread the ones rated "medium" the most, as they have typically proven themselves to be the hardest for me, personally -- like last night's... still working on it.

Scott Horowitz | February 19, 2005
Seriously Amy, how the hell did you get the business goo? Are you sleeping with Scott Hardie?

Amy Austin | February 19, 2005
Woah!!! Can't a girl just be recognized for her smarts??? ;DDD

What would you say if I told you that I had a very strong gut feeling that I knew who it was on the first night, not very long after it was posted, and that I waited until my first opportunity at 100% completion to post it??? And since it was "pending" at first, I thought I'd lost the gamble! I was stunned (and *sooo* pleased with myself, of course!) when I came back and saw that I'd done it after all!!!

Steve West's incorrect guess had only made me all the more nervous about it, too, since I was convinced that he had the same hunch I did -- I've noticed that he's pretty good at this game! But, with last night's goo, it was the only choice I had, since it was pretty much a sure thing that Mike would come back and complete his grid, too!

Amy Austin | February 19, 2005
I'm also really glad that I no longer have to worry about it until I get home from this trip -- I am sitting in a Days Inn in Flagstaff, AZ as I type this!

We wound up not leaving on Wednesday night, as previously anticipated, and left late (around midnight) Thursday night/Friday morning instead. I wasn't sure of how long to expect the first leg here to be, since I left from San Diego at 1430 the first time I made the drive -- alone, but with my dog, CC -- and the traffic on 8E was *hellacious*!!! Took me a couple of hours just to get to the big stretch of nothingness that is 8E heading into Arizona!!!

On *this* trip, however, even though there are now 2 drivers to improve our time, we have even *more* special circumstances with us... 2 new (and adorable!) American Bulldog puppies from one of Ed's classmates!!! He helped deliver them the day after Christmas -- they will be 8 weeks old tomorrow!

So, the first leg only took 10 hours to drive at night, with puppies in tow -- not too bad, I think! But come yesterday morning, we were *exhausted* and checked in here at the first possible moment (i.e., we had to wait for the maid to clean our room!!!), with two priorities in mind: sleep and internet capability, so that I could complete the round! (YAY!!!) We haven't slept for more than a 4-hour stretch at a time, however, since Angel and Devil -- while kennel-broken -- are not quite there yet with the potty training... :-7 Thankfully, they seem not to have any problems in the car, but in the hotel room has been another story! We're making progress, though.

So, if I seem quiet for the rest of the week, now you know why... ;DDD

Scott Hardie | February 19, 2005
Here's a hint on the Business goo: The four categories are roughly equal in importance, such that I could have listed any of them as the primary category for this goo. I think Business only edged out the other three for variety's sake. This celebrity is known for all four.

Steve West made an excellent guess, a celebrity who I hadn't even thought of, but who matches the clue well.

I'd like to begin the tiebreaker on Saturday the 26th, the day when the final current goo expires, but I'll be out of town and I need to be at my computer to approve guesses. (Tiebreaker goos are active for only 24 hours instead of a whole week, so I have to monitor the game closely.) Instead, the Current Goos page will just have to be empty for a weekend, and we'll start the tiebreaker on Monday the 28th. Besides, we need a break: I usually create a whole week's worth of goos at once, but I've been creating these goos on a nightly basis and I'm tired, plus Amy and Megan and Mike could probably all use a breather before the tiebreaker begins.

As game administrator, it has been my policy since the game started to root for the player who has come closest to winning without succeeding. It's pretty much just that the game benefits when there's a new name on the winners list instead of somebody who was already there. I rooted for Mike when he was getting close to winning his first trophy, so now I'm rooting for Amy, and especially for Megan, who was a runner-up last round and in the end just couldn't beat Todd. However, both women have their work cut out for them; Mike is an expert at this game and one of the hardest players to beat. It's going to be an interesting tiebreaker and a worthy victor no matter which of the three pulls it off. Good luck to all three of you!

I'll probably send this same message out to the GOO Announcement list after Megan and Mike have finished their grids. I suppose it's still possible that one or both of them will fail to get to the end, but that ain't likely. :-)

Sounds like an interesting trip, Amy.