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by **Sarisberie** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 4:08 pm

Mabel, along with her friend, holds the record - by FAR!!! for the longest amount of time playing a game. It required a teensy bit of effort at first, and subsequently none at all.

by **Admin** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 6:53 pm

Hi Sarisberie,

Is Mabel a woman or girl?

Is the game active e.g. hockey or sedentary e.g. Cluedo?

Does Mabel have any special physical characteristics?

Coud any fit, bright person set a new record at this game?

by **Sarisberie** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:33 pm

Admin wrote:Hi Sarisberie, Hi!

Is Mabel a woman or girl? girl

Is the game active e.g. hockey or sedentary e.g. Cluedo? sedentary, not Cluedo

Does Mabel have any special physical characteristics? no

Coud any fit, bright person set a new record at this game? yope

by **GalFisk** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 5:59 am

Board game? Card game? Video game? Children's game? Mind game? "The game" which you lose whenever you think about it? Did they play for: seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Months? Years? Decades? Are they still playing? Did they intend to set a record when they began playing?

by **Sarisberie** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 1:00 pm

GalFisk wrote:Board game? Card game? Video game? Children's game? could be adults' or kids' game, but irrel Mind game? none of these "The game" which you lose whenever you think about it? Damn! No Did they play for: seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Months? Years? Decades? This Are they still playing? no Did they intend to set a record when they began playing? no

by **trebor2** » Sat Apr 30, 2022 7:29 am

Is Mabel dead now? Did the game continue after her death? Is her friend dead? Did the game continue after the friend's death?

Is the friend human? Canine? Feline? Imaginary? Supernatural?

Do they hold the record for the longest amount of time playing this game? Any game, in general?

Is the objective of this puzzle to find out: how they played the game for so long? Why they played the game for so long? How come nobody else has come close? Why the record required a teensy bit of effort at first? Why it subsequently required none at all?

Does it matter what the game is? If we didn't hone in on the game itself, could we still solve the puzzle? Were Mabel and her friend competing against each other in the game? Playing on the same side? Relevant? Is competition? or the fact that there is a game going on? more important than what specific game it was?

Are little boxes relevant? Is a translation of "little boxes" relevant?

by **Sundowner64** » Sat Apr 30, 2022 10:00 am

Did Mabel and her friend compete in that game? did they play against each other? or did they cooperate in order to achieve an as-long-as-possible playing time? did others participate in this game?
Did Mabel and her friend start the game with the intention to set a record? Is the idea of the game to play it as long as possible?
Did Mabel or her friend at any point try to win the game (i.e win over the competitor(s))? Could there be a winner in this game? Was there a winner?
Did the game involve communication over a distance? (correspondence chess?) Did Mabel and her friend ever met in person during the course of the game?
Was the record set in our era? more than 10 years ago? more than 20 years ago? more than 50 years? more than 100 years?
Is it possible that the record ever will be broken? if not: because this game cannot be played any more in this way in our era?
Could Mabel and her friend have played still longer if they wanted to? if not: because the game was over due to its rules? because it became physically impossible to continue?
Did the game involve consecutive moves of the players? if so: did the idea of the game involve that some time has to pass between the moves? (like: visit a new state every month, the first one who fails to do so, loses)

by **Sarisberie** » Sun May 01, 2022 8:31 pm

trebor2 wrote:Is Mabel dead now? no Did the game continue after her death? Is her friend dead? no, and FA Did the game continue after the friend's death?

Is the friend human? Canine? Feline? Imaginary? Supernatural? none of these

Do they hold the record for the longest amount of time playing this game? Assume yes Any game, in general? Irr

Is the objective of this puzzle to find out: how they played the game for so long? Why they played the game for so long? How come nobody else has come close? Why the record required a teensy bit of effort at first? Why it subsequently required none at all? All of these things should fit together. Also who they were and what they were doing.

Does it matter what the game is? It's a 2-player game, exact game could help If we didn't hone in on the game itself, could we still solve the puzzle? Idk! Were Mabel and her friend competing against each other in the game? Playing on the same side? Relevant? no Is competition? irr or the fact that there is a game going on? more important than what specific game it was? The specific game could help you identify solution, however in theory other alternatives could've worked

Are little boxes relevant? yes Is a translation of "little boxes" relevant? no

by **Sarisberie** » Sun May 01, 2022 8:49 pm

Sundowner64 wrote:Did Mabel and her friend compete in that game? n/r did they play against each other? n/r or did they cooperate in order to achieve an as-long-as-possible playing time? FA did others participate in this game? no others were involved but not in the game itself yes
Did Mabel and her friend start the game with the intention to set a record? no Is the idea of the game to play it as long as possible? no
Did Mabel or her friend at any point try to win the game no (i.e win over the competitor(s))? FA Could there be a winner in this game? no Was there a winner? so no
Did the game involve communication over a distance? (correspondence chess?) no Did Mabel and her friend ever met in person during the course of the game? yes
Was the record set in our era? more than 10 years ago? more than 20 years ago? more than 50 years? more than 100 years? 1967-1998
Is it possible that the record ever will be broken? no if not: because this game cannot be played any more in this way in our era? In theory it could, but it's extremely unlikely
Could Mabel and her friend have played still longer if they wanted to? no if not: because the game was over due to its rules? no because it became physically impossible to continue? no
Did the game involve consecutive moves of the players? yope if so: did the idea of the game involve that some time has to pass between the moves? (like: visit a new state every month, the first one who fails to do so, loses) no, and BUWT

by **Sundowner64** » Mon May 02, 2022 2:13 pm

Is it a competitive game? or a cooperative game?
Is Mabel's friend a computer? or machine of some sorts?
Is Mabel HAF? (just in case) if not: is she the same sort of thing as her friend?
Did I get it right that Mabel's intention in the game was neither to win, nor to set a record for longest playing time? Did she then do it for entertainment? learning? health reasons? stress reduction? Did she want to find out something?
Did the game stop because Mabel decided to stop it? because her friend stopped it? someone else stopped it? some necessary equipment broke?
Is the "Game of Life" (or any other growth simulation) relevant?

by **Sarisberie** » Mon May 02, 2022 5:14 pm

Sundowner64 wrote:Is it a competitive game? usually, but not in this case or a cooperative game?
Is Mabel's friend a computer? or machine of some sorts? no
Is Mabel HAF? HCF (just in case) if not: is she the same sort of thing as her friend? No, she isn't
Did I get it right that Mabel's intention in the game was neither to win, nor to set a record for longest playing time? correct Did she then do it for entertainment? entertainment is relevant learning? health reasons? stress reduction? Did she want to find out something? no to all
Did the game stop because Mabel decided to stop it? because her friend stopped it? someone else stopped it? this, explore some necessary equipment broke?
Is the "Game of Life" (or any other growth simulation) relevant? no

by **GalFisk** » Mon May 02, 2022 6:35 pm

Is the friend imaginary? Did she shart playing a game with her imaginary friend, which required the friend to perform an action in order to end the game, but then she eventually stopped thinking about the friend entirely? But when something (or just a random thought) reminded her of this decades later, she decided to imagine the friend ending the game?
Is the friend a stuffed animal? A character in a work of fiction? Calvin&Hobbes relevant?

by **Sarisberie** » Mon May 02, 2022 7:50 pm

GalFisk wrote:Is the friend imaginary? no, but see below Did she shart playing a game with her imaginary friend, which required the friend to perform an action in order to end the game, but then she eventually stopped thinking about the friend entirely? But when something (or just a random thought) reminded her of this decades later, she decided to imagine the friend ending the game? No, BUWT
Is the friend a stuffed animal? Near enough - he's a toy clown A character in a work of fiction? Calvin&Hobbes relevant? no to these

by **GalFisk** » Wed May 04, 2022 6:17 pm

Are they playing hide and seek? Size of the toy clown relevant? Material? Age when she got it? How she got it? If so, did she buy it? Was it a gift?

by **Sarisberie** » Wed May 04, 2022 7:19 pm

GalFisk wrote:Are they playing hide and seek? no Size of the toy clown relevant? Material? Age when she got it? How she got it? If so, did she buy it? Was it a gift? all irrel

by **GalFisk** » Wed May 04, 2022 7:58 pm

Does playing the game entail not seeing the clown? Not playing with the clown anymore? Could two humans play this game for this long?

by **Sarisberie** » Wed May 04, 2022 9:06 pm

GalFisk wrote:Does playing the game entail not seeing the clown? no Not playing with the clown anymore? no Could two humans play this game for this long? in theory, yes.

by **GalFisk** » Thu May 05, 2022 2:23 pm

Are little boxes involved? Could she just as well have played this with a teddy bear? A kid doll? A ball? An imaginary friend? Did it go on this long by accident? Did it end because she decided to end it? Can more than two people play this game?

by **Sundowner64** » Thu May 05, 2022 2:31 pm

Was the clown in a little box?

Did the game require thinking? strategy? tactics? moving around? moving things? moving the clown?
Did Mabel play the game at her home? indoors? outdoors? was the clown also in her home? was the clown ever outside her home as part of the game?
Did the game involve stuffing the clown into a box? in order to put? send? ship? it to somewhere else?

by **Sarisberie** » Thu May 05, 2022 4:22 pm

GalFisk wrote:Are little boxes involved? laterally, yes Could she just as well have played this with a teddy bear? A kid doll? A ball? An imaginary friend? all yes in theory, but irrel Did it go on this long by accident? not by accident, but not by intention either Did it end because she decided to end it? no Can more than two people play this game? no

by **Sarisberie** » Thu May 05, 2022 4:54 pm

Sundowner64 wrote:Was the clown in a little box? no

Did the game require thinking? strategy? tactics? moving around? moving things? moving the clown? all irrel
Did Mabel play the game at her home? yope, good q indoors? yes outdoors? was the clown also in her home? same yope was the clown ever outside her home as part of the game? same yope
Did the game involve stuffing the clown into a box? in order to put? send? ship? it to somewhere else? all BUWT

by **Sundowner64** » Thu May 05, 2022 6:06 pm

If not at her home, then: at some other person's home? a relative of her? a friend?
Was it Mabel's clown? the other person's?
Was it exactly one clown?
Are the little boxes tangible? are they parcels? containers of some sort? or, rather, are the boxes drawn or printed on paper?

by **GalFisk** » Thu May 05, 2022 6:28 pm

Moving relevant? Packing? Moving back?

by **Sarisberie** » Thu May 05, 2022 8:04 pm

Sundowner64 wrote:If not at her home, then: at some other person's home? a relative of her? a friend? All of these
Was it Mabel's clown? irrel the other person's? irrel, and poss FA
Was it exactly one clown? yes
Are the little boxes tangible? Yes, certainly to Mabel anyway. Explore. are they parcels? containers of some sort? or, rather, are the boxes drawn this or printed on paper? but not this.

by **Sarisberie** » Thu May 05, 2022 8:05 pm

GalFisk wrote:Moving relevant? Packing? Moving back? No to all

by **GalFisk** » Fri May 06, 2022 6:59 am

Are the boxes on paper? Pavement? Wall? Floor? Are they used for the game? Is it a board game? Hopscotch?

by **Sarisberie** » Fri May 06, 2022 5:16 pm

GalFisk wrote:Are the boxes on paper? Pavement? Wall? Floor? None of these Are they used for the game? yes Is it a board game? no Hopscotch? nice idea, but no

by **GalFisk** » Mon May 09, 2022 8:53 am

Yope home: something that was kind of her home? Such as an orphanage? Her home but not at the time? Her home but not all the time? Her home in her imagination? The places she stayed as homeless? A place she stayed during travel? Such as a hotel?
Were the boxes containers? Squares? 2D? 3D? Imaginary?

by **Sundowner64** » Mon May 09, 2022 7:05 pm

Did the game take place in the homes of different people?
Did Mabel start the game when she was a teenager? adult?
Was it all the time the same clown?
Did Mabel draw the boxes? someone else? especially for Mabel? were they already there when Mabel started the game? was drawing the boxes part of the game?
Were the boxes squared? rectangular? hexagonal? relevant?
Were the boxes drawn on the clown?
Is the game "Boxes" relevant?

by **Sarisberie** » Mon May 09, 2022 10:46 pm

GalFisk wrote:Yope home: something that was kind of her home? no Such as an orphanage? no Her home but not at the time? this Her home but not all the time? Her home in her imagination? no The places she stayed as homeless? no and FA A place she stayed during travel? no Such as a hotel? no
Were the boxes containers? no Squares? yes 2D? yes 3D? no Imaginary? No, real

by **Sarisberie** » Mon May 09, 2022 11:18 pm

Sundowner64 wrote:Did the game take place in the homes of different people? Yope
Did Mabel start the game when she was a teenager? adult? child
Was it all the time the same clown? yes
Did Mabel draw the boxes? someone else? this, but irrel especially for Mabel? assume yes were they already there when Mabel started the game? yes was drawing the boxes part of the game? the actual drawing of them was not part of the game, but they were necessary
Were the boxes squared? yes rectangular? hexagonal? relevant? yes, to help identify which game
Were the boxes drawn on the clown? no
Is the game "Boxes" relevant? Can you clarify 'Boxes' as it could refer to several games?

by **trebor2** » Tue May 10, 2022 3:19 am

Her home but not at the time? this

So, Mabel's previous home? A place that would become her home? A second home? Her official residence, even if she was staying temporarily somewhere else? Do you just mean that sometimes the game went on while she was at home, and sometimes while she was somewhere else? Do we need to pursue the definition of "home" further? (Boarding school? Residential school?)

Is tic-tac-toe relevant?

Were the boxes all together? Were they drawn on paper? Cardboard? Something a child would often draw/write on? On a blackboard? Were they drawn with pencil? Pen? Marker? Pencil crayon (which, I think, are called "colored pencils" in the US)? Crayons? Paint? Relevant?

Is the game a common childhood game? Does it involve putting things in the boxes? Counting? WAG: did she draw a chessboard?

by **Sarisberie** » Tue May 10, 2022 2:06 pm

trebor2 wrote:Her home but not at the time? this

So, Mabel's previous home? A place that would become her home? A second home? Her official residence, even if she was staying temporarily somewhere else? Do you just mean that sometimes the game went on while she was at home, this and sometimes while she was somewhere else? and this Do we need to pursue the definition of "home" further? No - assume she lived at home with her parents (Boarding school? Residential school?)

Is tic-tac-toe relevant? YES, that is indeed the game, aka Noughts and Crosses in UK

Were the boxes all together? Were they drawn on paper? Cardboard? Something a child would often draw/write on? On a blackboard? this Were they drawn with pencil? Pen? Marker? Pencil crayon (which, I think, are called "colored pencils" in the US)? Crayons? Paint? So, chalk on the blackboard, but irrel Relevant?

Is the game a common childhood game? yes Does it involve putting things in the boxes? yes, O's and X's, as above Counting? WAG: did she draw a chessboard?

by **GalFisk** » Tue May 10, 2022 4:22 pm

So she started the game in a home that wasn't hers? But moved there years later? And then finished it?

by **Sarisberie** » Tue May 10, 2022 7:57 pm

GalFisk wrote:So she started the game in a home that wasn't hers? OTRT... she started the game in a place that wasn't hers But moved there years later? No and FA And then finished it?

by **GalFisk** » Wed May 11, 2022 12:08 pm

Was the place a house? A home? A secret place? A place for kids to play? A building? Did the place relevantly change? WAG: did she start the game on a plank, later used to build a house?

by **Sarisberie** » Wed May 11, 2022 5:45 pm

GalFisk wrote:Was the place a house? A home? A secret place? A place for kids to play? A building? this Did the place relevantly change? no WAG: did she start the game on a plank, later used to build a house? no

by **GalFisk** » Wed May 11, 2022 7:54 pm

Did the game last for long because she lost access to the buiding? Or the place in the building where she started the game? Was she allowed in the buiding when she started the game? Was it a farm building? Did she grow too big to get into the space where the unfinished game was? (Something similar happened to us kids and a locked room at the farm where we grew up) Did she want to continue the game but was unable to?

by **trebor2** » Thu May 12, 2022 1:45 am

Are we talking about the longest time playing a single game of tic-tac-toe? The longest time cumulatively playing many games of tic-tac-toe?

Did she draw a regular tic-tac-toe board? Did she keep adding boxes to it?

Did she play for the clown as well? (Like, take the clown's turn? and pretend to be the clown while making the move?) Is anything about how the clown played relevant? Were she and the clown ever relevantly separated?

by **Sarisberie** » Thu May 12, 2022 5:11 pm

GalFisk wrote:Did the game last for long because she lost access to the buiding? no Or the place in the building where she started the game? no Was she allowed in the buiding when she started the game? yes Was it a farm building? no Did she grow too big to get into the space where the unfinished game was? (Something similar happened to us kids and a locked room at the farm where we grew up) Oh no! Sounds traumatic ... No, anyway Did she want to continue the game but was unable to? no, and FA

trebor2 wrote:Are we talking about the longest time playing a single game of tic-tac-toe? YES The longest time cumulatively playing many games of tic-tac-toe? no

Did she draw a regular tic-tac-toe board? yes Did she keep adding boxes to it? no

Did she play for the clown as well? (Like, take the clown's turn? and pretend to be the clown while making the move?) no... but explore Is anything about how the clown played relevant? no, and FA Were she and the clown ever relevantly separated? yes, explore

by **GalFisk** » Fri May 13, 2022 8:17 am

Did the clown play tic-tac-toe? Was the clown left near the game? Was the clown lost?

by **Sarisberie** » Fri May 13, 2022 9:58 pm

GalFisk wrote:Did the clown play tic-tac-toe? no but irrel Was the clown left near the game? irrel Was the clown lost? no

by **GalFisk** » Mon May 16, 2022 12:49 pm

Relevant how many noughts and crosses had been placed when the game got put on hold? Did any human besides Mabel play?

by **Sundowner64** » Mon May 16, 2022 5:18 pm

Was the clown present when Mabel started the game?
Was the first move Mabel's? the clown's?
Did the game get interrupted before it was finished? if so: was it Mabel's turn then? the clown's turn? was any move made at all when the game gpt interrupted? Was only one move left to win?
Was Mabel prevented from finishing the game? Did she decided not to continue? Did she forget about it?
Was it the usual 3x3 field tic-tac-toe? bigger? differently shaped?
Were the boxes drawn on paper? on fabric? on a ball? on Mabel's wrist?

by **Sarisberie** » Tue May 17, 2022 12:19 am

GalFisk wrote:Relevant how many noughts and crosses had been placed when the game got put on hold? no Did any human besides Mabel play? no

Sundowner64 wrote:Was the clown present when Mabel started the game? yes but irrel
Was the first move Mabel's? the clown's? irr
Did the game get interrupted before it was finished? yes if so: was it Mabel's turn then? the clown's turn? irr was any move made at all when the game gpt interrupted? irr Was only one move left to win? irr
Was Mabel prevented from finishing the game? Not 'prevented' as such but OTRT Did she decided not to continue? no Did she forget about it? no
Was it the usual 3x3 field tic-tac-toe? yes but irr bigger? differently shaped?
Were the boxes drawn on paper? on fabric? on a ball? on Mabel's wrist? none of these...

by **GalFisk** » Tue May 17, 2022 9:16 am

Were they drawn with pencil? Ballpoint? Felt tip? Dry erase? Chalk? Scratches? Charcoal? Hematite? Were they drawn on paper? Wallpaper? Wood? Fabric? Chalkboard? Stone? Dry erase board? Did the drawing implement relevantly stop working? Was she told not to continue?

by **Sundowner64** » Tue May 17, 2022 4:09 pm

Were the boxes drawn or scratched on a wall?
Did Mabel draw the boxes? did someone else? because Mabel asked for it? or were the boxes just there and Mabel decided to use it for a game?
When Mabel started the game, did she decide to play it till the end?
Was the pause in the game unexpected for Mabel? Did she have to leave this place? Was she not allowed to be there? Did her parents collect her?
Could Mabel take the game tableau with her? did she?
Did she bring the clown to this place? was it just there? did she take the clown with her when she left?

by **trebor2** » Fri May 20, 2022 1:12 am

Wait. Was Mabel playing against the clown? If not, relevant who she was playing against? Was the box grid on the clown? On Mabel?

Being in a coma relevant?

by **Sarisberie** » Wed Jul 20, 2022 8:51 pm

I'm sorry guys, but this one was way too ambitious and I got bogged down with it... I think it would've taken forever. So I'm retiring it. Here's the $POILER:-

MABEL and her clown friend spent 31 years (1967-1998) playing noughts and crosses, as a test card picture on TV. I remember at the time wondering how she managed to sit so still (I was born in '64).

Here's the details:- https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... -and-clown

by **Sundowner64** » Mon Jul 25, 2022 2:01 pm

Interesting. I did not know that.