Secret Spot · Puzzle #25 · Saturday, October 24
Secret Spot: the answers
Seven prompts, one answer each, and the fewer surfers who said yours, the more it scored. Here are the prompts with the answers we expected to be most common, and the rarest. Play today's Secret Spot, or play this day as practice (never counted).
1. Name a cookie
Each cookie counts once, by its kind or its brand (a biscuit in the UK sense counts). A flavor or size counts as its cookie (Double Stuf is Oreo); crackers do not count.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 239 different answers. The usual answers are Oreo, Chocolate chip cookie and Oatmeal raisin cookie, the party waves, worth 1.0 each. Watch out for Fortune cookie and Snickerdoodle: however original those picks seem, the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth 1.5. The big scores sit further out: Hobnob biscuit, Jammie Dodgers and Parle-G are rated Locals only on the sheet, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut is Hobnob biscuit. McVitie's launched Hobnobs in 1985 and a milk chocolate version in 1987.
Most common
- Oreo
- Chocolate chip cookie
- Oatmeal raisin cookie
Rarest
- Tuile: Tuile is French for tile: the curved wafer looks like a roof tile. Source: Wikipedia, “Tuile” (CC BY-SA)
- Cat tongue: Cat tongue biscuits are named for their long, flat shape, like a cat's tongue. Source: Wikipedia, “Cat tongue” (CC BY-SA)
- Garibaldi biscuit: A Garibaldi biscuit is squashed currants sandwiched between two thin layers of dough. Source: Wikipedia, “Garibaldi biscuit” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
2. Name a mythical creature
Each kind of creature counts once (a Chinese dragon is a dragon, a winged horse is Pegasus); famous named beasts count on their own (Medusa, Cerberus, the Kraken). Cryptids like Bigfoot count; gods, demons and ghosts don't.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 362 different answers. The usual answers are Dragon, Mermaid and Pegasus, the party waves, worth 1.0 each. Watch out for Chupacabra and Kraken: however original those picks seem, the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth 1.5. The big scores sit further out: Ratatoskr, Tsuchinoko and Ogopogo are rated Locals only on the sheet, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut: Ratatoskr is a squirrel who runs up and down the Norse world tree carrying messages.
Most common
- Dragon
- Mermaid
- Pegasus
Rarest
- Sidehill gouger: The sidehill gouger has shorter legs on one side, so it can only walk around a hill one way. Source: Wikipedia, “Sidehill gouger” (CC BY-SA)
- Fur-bearing trout: The fur-bearing trout supposedly grew a thick fur coat to keep warm. Source: Wikipedia, “Fur-bearing trout” (CC BY-SA)
- Salmon of Knowledge: The Salmon of Knowledge is a wise fish from the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. Source: Wikipedia, “Salmon of Knowledge” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
3. Name a desert
Any named desert, typed with or without "Desert" (the Gobi is the Gobi Desert). Named parts count on their own (Death Valley, the Painted Desert), and so does Antarctica, the largest desert of all. Deserts that share a name count once.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 129 different answers. The obvious picks are Sahara, Gobi Desert and Mojave Desert: party waves on the sheet, worth 1.0 each. Antarctica and Atacama Desert look like clever picks, but the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth only 1.5. For a big score you need something like Tottori Sand Dunes, Lut Desert and Tabernas Desert, which the sheet rates Locals only, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut: the Tottori Sand Dunes run about 9 miles along Japan's coast, the largest sand dune in Japan.
Most common
- Sahara
- Gobi Desert
- Mojave Desert
Rarest
- Alvord Desert: Oregon's Alvord Desert is a dry lakebed where researchers have tested sensors for future Mars exploration. Source: Wikipedia, “Alvord Desert” (CC BY-SA)
- Carcross Desert: Canada's Carcross Desert is a field of sand dunes in the Yukon. Source: Wikipedia, “Carcross Desert” (CC BY-SA)
- Desert of Maine: The Desert of Maine is 20 acres of bare glacial sand in Freeport, Maine. Source: Wikipedia, “Desert of Maine” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
4. Name an extreme or action sport
Each sport or discipline counts once by its name, and other names for the same thing are one answer (skydiving is parachuting, kitesurfing is kiteboarding, free running is parkour). Disciplines with their own names count apart (bouldering, free solo, big wave surfing).
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 110 different answers. The obvious picks are Bungee jumping, Parachuting and Skateboarding: party waves on the sheet, worth 1.0 each. BASE jumping and Wingsuit flying look like clever picks, but the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth only 1.5. For a big score you need something like Street luge, Sandboarding and Skijoring, which the sheet rates Locals only or Secret spot, worth up to 10.0. One deep cut: Street luge riders lie on their backs and race down paved roads at up to about 100 mph.
Most common
- Bungee jumping
- Parachuting
- Skateboarding
Rarest
- Kite buggy: The kite buggy goes back to 1827, when George Pocock promoted it in the UK. Source: Wikipedia, “Kite buggy” (CC BY-SA)
- Jumping stilts: Bounding around on jumping stilts is called 'powerbocking', after their inventor Alexander Böck. Source: Wikipedia, “Jumping stilts” (CC BY-SA)
- Iceboat: Iceboats sail across frozen lakes on metal runners and can go faster than 60 miles per hour. Source: Wikipedia, “Iceboat” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
5. Name a type of rock
Each rock counts once, by its name; the three big classes (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic) count too. A grade of coal counts on its own (anthracite isn't lignite).
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 221 different answers. The usual answers are Lapis lazuli, Diatomaceous earth and Limestone, the party waves, worth 1.0 each. Watch out for Obsidian and Pumice: however original those picks seem, the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth 1.5. The big scores sit further out: Diabase, Greywacke and Ankaramite are rated Locals only or Secret spot on the sheet, worth up to 10.0. One deep cut: Diabase, also called dolerite, is chemically the same as volcanic basalt.
Most common
- Lapis lazuli
- Diatomaceous earth
- Limestone
Rarest
- Anorthosite: Geologists still don't fully understand how anorthosite forms. Source: Wikipedia, “Anorthosite” (CC BY-SA)
- Coquina: Coquina is a rock made of broken shells, and its name comes from the Spanish for cockle. Source: Wikipedia, “Coquina” (CC BY-SA)
- Puddingstone: Hertfordshire puddingstone is a rock of rounded flint pebbles cemented together. Source: Wikipedia, “Hertfordshire puddingstone” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
6. Name a piece of software
Each program counts once, by its name with or without the maker (Excel is Microsoft Excel). Versions count as their program (Windows XP is Windows). Apps, browsers and operating systems count; video games, websites and programming languages don't.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 753 different answers. The usual answers are Microsoft Windows, Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Excel, the party waves, worth 1.0 each. Watch out for Microsoft Paint and Netscape Navigator: however original those picks seem, the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth 1.5. The big scores sit further out: Microsoft Bob, NCSA Mosaic and Office Assistant are rated Locals only on the sheet, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut: Microsoft Bob showed your computer as a house, with rooms of familiar objects that opened programs.
Most common
- Microsoft Windows
- Adobe Photoshop
- Microsoft Excel
Rarest
- WorldWideWeb: WorldWideWeb, the very first web browser, was renamed Nexus to avoid confusion with the Web itself. Source: Wikipedia, “WorldWideWeb” (CC BY-SA)
- Kiwix: Kiwix was first made to let people read Wikipedia offline. Source: Wikipedia, “Kiwix” (CC BY-SA)
- Lotus 1-2-3: Lotus 1-2-3 was the standard spreadsheet throughout the 1980s, handling sums, databases and charts. Source: Wikipedia, “Lotus 1-2-3” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
7. Name a philosopher
Each philosopher counts once, by full name or by a surname only one of them has (Kant, Nietzsche). Thinkers from every age and tradition count.
The answer sheet for this prompt accepts 629 different answers. The obvious picks are Aristotle, Confucius and Friedrich Nietzsche: party waves on the sheet, worth 1.0 each. Diogenes and Søren Kierkegaard look like clever picks, but the sheet marks them as kook moves, worth only 1.5. For a big score you need something like George Boole, Chrysippus and Thales of Miletus, which the sheet rates Locals only, worth up to 8.5. One deep cut: George Boole, whose logic runs today's computers, opened his own school when he was just 19.
Most common
- Aristotle
- Confucius
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Rarest
- John Venn: John Venn gave his name to the Venn diagram. Source: Wikipedia, “John Venn” (CC BY-SA)
- Arne Næss: Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss coined the term 'deep ecology'. Source: Wikipedia, “Arne Næss” (CC BY-SA)
- Thiruvalluvar: Thiruvalluvar wrote the Tirukkural, a beloved Tamil book of short couplets on ethics, life and love. Source: Wikipedia, “Thiruvalluvar” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.