Order of the Stick Trivia XXIV: What do I need a twenty for, anyway?

[Tzardok]

Hey, I'm pretty sure Redcloak would argue that there must be an Elemental Plane of Carbon somewhere!

I remember a 2nd Edition web page that claimed there were demiplanes representing the chemical elements, waiting to supplant the Elemental Planes as the building blocks of the multiverse. Of course, they need the believes of the mortal races for that, and nobody would ever support them when the classical elements are so self-evident.

[Lord Torath]

Is a shunk!-shunk!-(no t-s!)-whumph! close enough?

Yes. Yes it is. Unfortunately, you were beaten to the punch by ZhonLord:

THIS is the page I would have labeled "return of the king", rather than the shojo visit lol.

Thus, this is the current question:

Find me a place that doesn't allow the use of cigars, pipes and other such implements of smoke inhalation.

[Madwaltz]

Find me a place that doesn't allow the use of cigars, pipes and other such implements of smoke inhalation.

This high class tea party is being held at a smoke-free establishment.


EDIT: Assuming the above answer is correct, here's my question:

Elan talks about his lute a lot, but what about other musical instruments? Find me 2 mentions of a musical instrument besides a lute! Note that it has to be MENTIONED -- seeing another musical instrument on panel does not count.

[enq]

Find me 2 mentions of a musical instrument besides a lute! Note that it has to be MENTIONED -- seeing another musical instrument on panel does not count.

Ukuleles and guitars here, unless it had to be Elan specifically mentioning them, in which case, still guitars.

Part of me died because I realized this strip could have been used for a question in which three different instruments are mentioned in three consecutive panels.

OQ if correct.

[b_jonas]

Madwaltz: there's more. #198 mentions Elan's kazoo; #982 last mentions bagpipes; #703 1st the MitD mentions oboes, which goblins have supposedly invented; and if you want to go really deep, … no wait, I have a better idea! I'll turn that one into a question.

Find someone speaking in a metaphor, where a member of the Order is described as a musical instrument.

[Madwaltz]

Good job people I figured there was a high chance people would find more, but for the record, the answers I had in mind were the bagpipes and oboe strips. After posting the question, I also realized there's also a certain puppet named after a stringed instrument -- I wouldn't have accepted answers with the capitalized name "Banjo" since it's referring to a puppet and not an instrument, but I would have accepted this strip, since Elan specifically refers to the banjo in the puppet's hand at the end.

Part of me died because I realized this strip could have been used for a question in which three different instruments are mentioned in three consecutive panels.

It's not my fault! I didn't even remember that strip existed!

Find someone speaking in a metaphor, where a member of the Order is described as a musical instrument.

Hm...My gut reaction to this is that it might perhaps be someone being "played like a fiddle," but I'm not sure where someone might have said that.

[ZhonLord]

Hm...My gut reaction to this is that it might perhaps be someone being "played like a fiddle," but I'm not sure where someone might have said that.

"LIKE" a fiddle, is a simile. We're looking for a metaphor. "A person IS a song", rather than "a person is LIKE a song".

[Madwaltz]

Find someone speaking in a metaphor, where a member of the Order is described as a musical instrument.

Well, I did finally find a figurative fiddle -- Tarquin doesn't want Elan to play second fiddle to Roy. I'm not convinced that's what you were looking for though, since I don't think it's describing Elan as a fiddle so much as a fiddler.

"LIKE" a fiddle, is a simile. We're looking for a metaphor. "A person IS a song", rather than "a person is LIKE a song".

I am aware that "played like a fiddle" would be most technically described as a simile. But while the definition of "simile" is clear, I find the definition of "metaphor" is significantly more blurry. Sometimes people use it the way you do here, sometimes people use it as an umbrella term comprising both the first definition and also similes, and sometimes people use it very broadly to encompass basically any figurative language. Personally, I favor the second definition. The fact that similes use "like" or "as" while metaphors don't is a distinction that rarely ever practically matters imo.

[Tzardok]

I don't know about you, but in my experience the term "metaphor" rarely practically matters. People don't really use it outside of linguistics, and that's exactly the area where the difference of metaphor and simile is defined and matters.

[b_jonas]

Madwaltz: #927 is what I was looking for. But your point that he's probably describing Elan as the musician rather than the instrument makes sense.

[Madwaltz]

I don't know about you, but in my experience the term "metaphor" rarely practically matters. People don't really use it outside of linguistics, and that's exactly the area where the difference of metaphor and simile is defined and matters.

Fair enough. This isn't exactly a hill I particularly want to die on, nor would this be the place to do it even if I did. But just for the sake of understanding where I'm coming from, by "practically matters" the context I had in mind is in interpreting and discussing someone else's words (whether it's spoken conversation, fictional texts, or non-fictional texts). If a speaker uses a metaphor or simile, people will sometimes use a word to refer to those devices, because it's useful if you want to analyze the meaning or argue against what the speaker is saying.

In such conversations, as a teenager, there were a few times where I corrected people when they used the word "metaphor" to refer to what is technically a simile. Then I realized that there was no point, because I understood exactly what they were talking about every time, and whether "like" or "as" were used in the sentence was totally irrelevant to the actual conversation. So I came to accept a looser definition of "metaphor," in casual usage.

Which apparently occasionally puts me at a disadvantage in obscure online trivia games about comic strips!

Madwaltz: #927 is what I was looking for. But your point that he's probably describing Elan as the musician rather than the instrument makes sense.

Sweet! It was a fun question.


New question: let's do a simple one! Find me an animal wearing a top hat.

[b_jonas]

Really? Madwaltz: monopoly roach in #541 4th.

Wait, do mean Animal in the D&D sense where the demon/angel roaches don't count because they're Outsiders instead?

[Madwaltz]

Really? Madwaltz: monopoly roach in #541 4th.

Wait, do mean Animal in the D&D sense where the demon/angel roaches don't count because they're Outsiders instead?

Yeah, I did mean "animal" to exclude the roaches. The celestial/demon part doesn't matter to me, but I don't usually consider bugs to be "animals," and since D&D rules agree with that (bugs are "Vermin") I thought the question was clear. Sorry about any confusion.

So question still unanswered!

EDIT: Because I'm realizing it's still a little unclear, for the purposes of this question I'll define "animal" as a "non-human, non-Vermin (in the D&D sense) creature that exists in the real world." If the creature would technically be some other creature type in D&D rules, that's fine so long as their real-world base creature is clear (so celestial/demon variants are allowed).

[Metastachydium]

New question: let's do a simple one! Find me an animal wearing a top hat.

Yeah, I did mean "animal" to exclude the roaches. The celestial/demon part doesn't matter to me, but I don't usually consider bugs to be "animals," and since D&D rules agree with that (bugs are "Vermin") I thought the question was clear. Sorry about any confusion.

So question still unanswered!

EDIT: Because I'm realizing it's still a little unclear, for the purposes of this question I'll define "animal" as a "non-human, non-Vermin (in the D&D sense) creature that exists in the real world." If the creature would technically be some other creature type in D&D rules, that's fine so long as their real-world base creature is clear (so celestial/demon variants are allowed).

In actual game terms, at any rate, Blackwing would be a Magical Beast.

[Madwaltz]

In actual game terms, at any rate, Blackwing would be a Magical Beast.

Yup, I forgot about that when I asked the question. Then b_jonas asked about outsiders, and I realized that Blackwing wasn't technically an animal either, so I tried to make it clear he would still count without giving away that the question was about him.

But yeah, snowman Blackwing is what I was looking for.

[ZhonLord]

Assuming Meta OQ, find me one mortal who criticizes another mortal for not having prepared their magic properly.

[enq]

Durkon didn't prepare Control Winds.

What took almost two hours?

Spoiler: First hint

Show

Two hours RIDDLED with misunderstandings and clarifications...

Spoiler: Second hint

Show

...during which it seems the two participants were spied upon.

[b_jonas]

ZhonLord: also Vaarsuvius to Durkon in #397 3rd.

[ZhonLord]

Jonas got the one I was looking for, but Roy in the canyon could be argued as criticizing Durkon's spell preparation as well rather than misunderstanding what the canyon was going to be, so Enq's answer is equally valid!

[Joerg]

What took almost two hours?

Spoiler: First hint

Show

Two hours RIDDLED with misunderstandings and clarifications...

Spoiler: Second hint

Show

...during which it seems the two participants were spied upon.

Hinjo and Elan talking .
OQ.

[enq]

You're close, but 1½ hours is not almost 2.

[Joerg]

The next strip has another 25 minutes, I was just too lazy to link it.

[enq]

Yep, them's the ones.

[ZhonLord]

Hinjo and Elan talking .
OQ.

What are there explicitly at least nine of?

[Metastachydium]

1. I can't believe you're doing this.
2. And therefore, I refuse to give the answer.

[H_H_F_F]

What are there explicitly at least nine of?

Sides - though I'm not sure why that's offensive to meta.

OQ

[enq]

Karma isn't real. Find me someone being kind enough to translate something for someone else, only to not have a wish for translation granted to them on another occasion.

Spoiler: First hint

Show

Incidentally, this someone has actually expressed a belief in karma in an unrelated strip.

Spoiler: Second hint

Show

Though the first translation was probably ambiguous anyway, it was nonetheless wasted on the illiterate.

Spoiler: Third hint

Show

The second translation didn't happen because the would-be translator is not, in fact, related to the creatures in question.

Spoiler: FOURTH hint (if you're that desperate)

Show

Both translations involve animals.

Lest I forget - I won't be available to post the answer until like 4h too late, so just snipe the OQ if it's not been solved in time.

[cosmicsodacan]

Karma isn't real. Find me someone being kind enough to translate something for someone else, only to not have a wish for translation granted to them on another occasion.

Ooo, I'd gathered my sources before the second hint, so now I'm not as sure. Might as well shoot my shot!

Haley is kind enough to "translate" Vaarsuvius-speak to Samantha in #166, then later is unable to communicate her feelings to Elan in #309. (I would have linked to both, but my post count is too low. )

[enq]

The first one works, but for the second one you'd then be looking for Haley wanting someone to translate for her and get rejected, not Haley having problems expressing herself.

[Coppercloud]

Ooo! I have to admit, I wouldn't have found it without the hints. This is such a good question, I'm going to hide my answer as well, in case someone would like to continue searching.

Spoiler: Answer

Show

First, it is Elan who translates his vote for the benefit of Mr. Scruffy and much later Vaarsuvius refuses to translate to the camels for him. As a bonus, here's the one where Elan learned that the mage was half-camel.

Here's an easy one: human senses aren't very sharp. Find me three times where this is discussed.