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TEL GK/Herculis Links rules and scoring
21 Answers
Hello all,
Before posting this weeks LINKS COMPETITION i'm posting an outline of the rules for the comp and the new scoring system.
Credit for all the hard work and the application of an analytical mind to the game must go to CROFTER , who has done great work, and i'm sure this will enhance the competition greatly and give it more structure and focus.
There has been support for a for a table of running scores to yield a monthly Hot Shot. There is even talk of some informal prizes being presented! ( Nothing life changing , calm down )
Please don't be daunted by the list of rules, generally all will become clear after Monday as regards scoring etc. And the onus on you as contestant is still as before TO PREDICT THE FOUR LINKING WORDS.
Before posting this weeks LINKS COMPETITION i'm posting an outline of the rules for the comp and the new scoring system.
Credit for all the hard work and the application of an analytical mind to the game must go to CROFTER , who has done great work, and i'm sure this will enhance the competition greatly and give it more structure and focus.
There has been support for a for a table of running scores to yield a monthly Hot Shot. There is even talk of some informal prizes being presented! ( Nothing life changing , calm down )
Please don't be daunted by the list of rules, generally all will become clear after Monday as regards scoring etc. And the onus on you as contestant is still as before TO PREDICT THE FOUR LINKING WORDS.
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Now for the rules.
1. Generally people seem happy that I be the unofficial judge/organiser.( God help you !)
2. I will open an AB thread on Saturday morning giving the FOUR link words.
3. Anyone can post their four guesses, but they MUST be on this official thread otherwise they may end up being overlooked.
4. In order to avoid multiple outright winners, each guess must be different in at least ONE component when compared to all previous guesses.
5. Anyone breaking Rule No.4 will have ONE of their words deleted and only their best three will be counted.
6.a) Plurals will also count as correct automatically. Thus VITAL SIGN and VITAL SIGNS would be equally valid.
6.b ) In the event of variant spellings, they will be allowed within reason , i'm of a mind to mark leniently on this within reason.
Generally though the LINK WORDS are fairly straightforward and there is little cause for ambiguity ! (famous last words ).
7. The four HERCULIS LINKS will be posted by me on a fresh AB thread on Monday and the guesses will be scored for accuracy and original thought.
8. One mark is given for each correct link word (up to 4 points) and a BONUS of TWO points to someone sweeping the board with four correct guesses (a total of SIX points to be had for a clean sweep!).
9. A further BONUS point is given to the first person to have posted any one of the winning link words. There are up to four such bonus points every week.
10. The top few scores will be given on the second AB site and these added into a monthly spreadsheet.
11. The four (or five) Mondays falling into one calendar month will provide the monthly score (for consistency). Only the top few running totals will be given after each run.
12. The first official run will be with the four
1. Generally people seem happy that I be the unofficial judge/organiser.( God help you !)
2. I will open an AB thread on Saturday morning giving the FOUR link words.
3. Anyone can post their four guesses, but they MUST be on this official thread otherwise they may end up being overlooked.
4. In order to avoid multiple outright winners, each guess must be different in at least ONE component when compared to all previous guesses.
5. Anyone breaking Rule No.4 will have ONE of their words deleted and only their best three will be counted.
6.a) Plurals will also count as correct automatically. Thus VITAL SIGN and VITAL SIGNS would be equally valid.
6.b ) In the event of variant spellings, they will be allowed within reason , i'm of a mind to mark leniently on this within reason.
Generally though the LINK WORDS are fairly straightforward and there is little cause for ambiguity ! (famous last words ).
7. The four HERCULIS LINKS will be posted by me on a fresh AB thread on Monday and the guesses will be scored for accuracy and original thought.
8. One mark is given for each correct link word (up to 4 points) and a BONUS of TWO points to someone sweeping the board with four correct guesses (a total of SIX points to be had for a clean sweep!).
9. A further BONUS point is given to the first person to have posted any one of the winning link words. There are up to four such bonus points every week.
10. The top few scores will be given on the second AB site and these added into a monthly spreadsheet.
11. The four (or five) Mondays falling into one calendar month will provide the monthly score (for consistency). Only the top few running totals will be given after each run.
12. The first official run will be with the four
12. The first official run will be with the four weekends in November.
If you have any queries or comments regarding the rules or scoring system could you please post them here on the RIDDLES section and either Crofter or myself will respond here.
The reason for this is we don't want to take up valuable AB space ( and by doing so push other AB'ers questions down the board ) and there seems to be lots of space on this section !
The competition itself will of course run as usual on the MAIN QUIZZES SECTION.
So this week is a practise run for our scoring system, and will show how smoothly the whole business will run !
If you have any queries or comments regarding the rules or scoring system could you please post them here on the RIDDLES section and either Crofter or myself will respond here.
The reason for this is we don't want to take up valuable AB space ( and by doing so push other AB'ers questions down the board ) and there seems to be lots of space on this section !
The competition itself will of course run as usual on the MAIN QUIZZES SECTION.
So this week is a practise run for our scoring system, and will show how smoothly the whole business will run !
Hello Ontarioice,
I don't think there is any real disadvantage in not seeing the newspaper.
And yes I think the essence is coming up with what you think is most likely.
As you'll have seen in the 5 or 6 weeks of the competition so far, scores of two out of four and sometimes three from four have been achieved quite frequently.
Generally the link words aren't anything that unusual or unexpected , it's just that the odds of getting three or four right are increased considerably by the amount of possible alternatives there are.
Last Saturday for example one of the LINKS was ROYAL and the difficulty there is that it has so many potential links.
Might be worthwhile checking back through the previous weeks results to get an idea of usual word length of LINKED solutions and so on.
There is no extra information available to people who have the newspaper on which they could base their guesses.
I don't think there is any real disadvantage in not seeing the newspaper.
And yes I think the essence is coming up with what you think is most likely.
As you'll have seen in the 5 or 6 weeks of the competition so far, scores of two out of four and sometimes three from four have been achieved quite frequently.
Generally the link words aren't anything that unusual or unexpected , it's just that the odds of getting three or four right are increased considerably by the amount of possible alternatives there are.
Last Saturday for example one of the LINKS was ROYAL and the difficulty there is that it has so many potential links.
Might be worthwhile checking back through the previous weeks results to get an idea of usual word length of LINKED solutions and so on.
There is no extra information available to people who have the newspaper on which they could base their guesses.
Hi there O-ice (I approve of the abbreviated handle),
For what it's worth, I don't get the paper either and so I am also working blind - as it were. I don't think it's a disadvantage!
There are at present over 40 potential starters on the spreadsheet, so I suggest you all try an early start. The choices get all the more difficult as your options close - and the early starters have a better chance of picking up bonus points for being the first to post a winning option!
With such a large field, tactics and strategy come into play. If you've been late with your guesses in the past (and you know i'm talking about YOU, S*2) then it may not be in your best interest.
Good Luck to you all! Above all, enjoy the fun!
For what it's worth, I don't get the paper either and so I am also working blind - as it were. I don't think it's a disadvantage!
There are at present over 40 potential starters on the spreadsheet, so I suggest you all try an early start. The choices get all the more difficult as your options close - and the early starters have a better chance of picking up bonus points for being the first to post a winning option!
With such a large field, tactics and strategy come into play. If you've been late with your guesses in the past (and you know i'm talking about YOU, S*2) then it may not be in your best interest.
Good Luck to you all! Above all, enjoy the fun!
A good point Tenter which did occur to me and has not been covered in the Rules. I thought that I would wait until it happened! (A bad idea)
Your suggestion seems as good as any and better than most!
Before applying that rule, I would split a tie for first place by the maximum points scored on any one week (The Big Hit).
If they still are tied, I would look at the number of bonus points scored (The Original Thinker).
If they still are tied, I would apply your suggestion of the only one to think of a winning option (The Uniqueness Factor).
If they still are tied ? ...
... Let's call it a DRAW!
Your suggestion seems as good as any and better than most!
Before applying that rule, I would split a tie for first place by the maximum points scored on any one week (The Big Hit).
If they still are tied, I would look at the number of bonus points scored (The Original Thinker).
If they still are tied, I would apply your suggestion of the only one to think of a winning option (The Uniqueness Factor).
If they still are tied ? ...
... Let's call it a DRAW!
I can see this little escapade becoming more popular than the main crosswords in due course, and why not indeed!
Many thanks to both ShamrockBlue and crofter for the time and effort spent in setting things up.
However, I consider that most (if not all) participants are only after the undoubted honour of being bestowed the invaluable accolade of stars or points .. and a possible mention in the "league table", and that the provision of subsidiary prizes is unnecessary.........?
Many thanks to both ShamrockBlue and crofter for the time and effort spent in setting things up.
However, I consider that most (if not all) participants are only after the undoubted honour of being bestowed the invaluable accolade of stars or points .. and a possible mention in the "league table", and that the provision of subsidiary prizes is unnecessary.........?
Thanks all for your positive feedback.
Hello Jim I understand your concern about limited variations for later entrants, we'll just see how it works in this trial week and tweak here and there if necessary.
The reason for that ruling mainly is because , it could be argued that there is some advantage in entering later and benefitting from other contestants wisdom. That's a debatable point I realise , but that was the thinking anyway.
Hi Sarumite , I take your point about prizes not being necessary, Sadly i'm not well off enough to offer a prize on a regular basis, but just as a one off I thought it would be good to send a �10 book token to the first ever 4 from 4 contestant. I agree that the honour itself would be adequate though. :)
cheers
Hello Jim I understand your concern about limited variations for later entrants, we'll just see how it works in this trial week and tweak here and there if necessary.
The reason for that ruling mainly is because , it could be argued that there is some advantage in entering later and benefitting from other contestants wisdom. That's a debatable point I realise , but that was the thinking anyway.
Hi Sarumite , I take your point about prizes not being necessary, Sadly i'm not well off enough to offer a prize on a regular basis, but just as a one off I thought it would be good to send a �10 book token to the first ever 4 from 4 contestant. I agree that the honour itself would be adequate though. :)
cheers
It should be possible to think of 5 possiblities to LINK up with any particular WORD. With four WORDS to consider there are 5x5x5x5 = 625 distinct "combinations" that can be formed. In other words, we should begin to run into problems of a lack of choice when about 600 ABers take part in the game.
We should be OK for a little while yet!
We should be OK for a little while yet!
Just in case there is anyone out there who does not take the Telegraph and who enters by looking at Shamrocks posting of Saturday's link word - be advised that the pattern seems to be two of saturdays words will come first in the linked words and two will come second. Is that explained all right?
Have I missed someone else mentioning the point?
Have I missed someone else mentioning the point?
