A TEACHING MOMENT

(by JayMen)


KLANG VALLEY 18 FEBRUARY 2012: Once in a while, a hunt comes along that poses questions which can be a great teaching moment. Such a one was Shandra Dass’s Rotary Club of Klang Treasure Hunt 2012 on Feb 18^th.

There were 11 difficult and unfamiliar questions that can now serve as a case study for how difficult questions need to be handled. Although “difficulty” consists of about half a dozen aspects, 2 will be sufficient to grade these Qs. These are Economy and Accuracy. Economy here is defined as absence of unnecessary information. Accuracy here is defined as freedom from error.

Open Category

 

Open Category - 1st Runner Up

Open Category - 2nd Runner Up















 

 

Open Category - Champion



Let’s look at the questions in hand with these criteria in mind.

Q2 Football Club that celebrated a successful quarter century for their manager! Club aside a bouquet will be presented by centreback.

Ans : Pusat Aksesori Kereta MU

The first sentence is descriptive of MU. The second sentence tells you to put it aside- remove it. Then we have Pusat Aksesori Kereta. Looking at its centre and in reverse, we can spot “roses” which fits in with “bouquet”.

Q has both Economy (no unnecessary info) and Accuracy ( “roses” is dead centre of the phrase )  

Q7 Degrees by maker for a song and its accompaniment?

Ans : Emirates

Degrees = rates

EMI is a music company

“a song and its accompaniment” = song + music

Song + Music maker = EMI

Q has Economy and some Accuracy

Q11 To applaud all over US?

Ans : ROSAK

Applaud = sorak   “all over” is anagram indicator and so SORAK is transformed to ROSAK which also means unserviceable as defined by its acronym – US.

An outstanding question which has both Economy and Accuracy!

Q13 D. Drogba justified his move to participate in the TRC based on these 2 factors.

Ans : Baju Kurung

“kurung” is “contain” and hence you can spot “baju” contained in “Drogba justified”.

The idea is very good but the execution fails. Fodder must be economical. The sentence is too long and hence not conducive to spotting containers. The second part of the sentence “to participate in the TRC” is unnecessary.

Q does not have Economy but Accuracy is present.

Q19 Mamma Mia!  One in here to find it in its likely place.

Ans : Zolano

“One” refers to either “Mamma” or “Mia”. Then it has to be put in the answer to get “animal” in “zoo” which satisfies “it in its likely place” .  ZO  ANIMAL  O.

There has to be an anagram indicator to satisfy the criteria of Accuracy. “find” is not an indicator of any sort by itself. However, “find in” can be an anagram indicator, a hidden indicator or an insertion indicator. However, the actual phrase used is “find it in” which is not quite accurate as an anagram indicator.

A clever use of the “either” concept but marred slightly by inaccuracy.

Q has Economy but just short of Accuracy.

Q21 Way of getting in for European pleaser?…not in English style for sure!

Ans : Pinjaman

Way of getting in = PIN ( Pin Identification Number)

Pleaser = yes man. This in a European language , specifically German, becomes Ja Man.

Q has Economy (the phrase after the ellipsis is hinting that the answer could be in Bahasa) and Accuracy.

Q24 Metropolis that can be found under our pass ahead in here will expose likes of 6!

Ans : CRP

Metropolis that can be found under our pass refers to the word “city” under GENTING (city of entertainment) . Genting is a pass locally. “ahead” indicates that the answer is earlier than the “genting” sign. So when city gets anagrammed (“expose” being the indicator ) with the actual answer we will get the likes of 6 (Q6) which is a Cryptic Question. So, doing the math, we take out c,i,t,y from cryptic and get the remaining letters c,r,p.

The linking of 2 signboards must be handled delicately. ”ahead” in fact does that. ”likes of 6” is debatable. Why is 6 chosen? It might be that the first 5 Qs are not cryptic. But Q2 has cryptic elements- “centreback” . Q6 specifically uses a homonym indicator. (Sounds like a hot vegetable key maker?)

Q has Economy and some Accuracy

Q26 A version of our biennial international maritime and aerospace exhibition found in some locals revealed.

Ans : 2^nd Floor

LIMA is our exhibition. The acronym is justified by “A” implying initials rather than the long form. “found in” is the hidden indicator and implies that LIMA or equivalent is lodged in the actual answer. LIMA can also be viewed in NATO phonetic alphabet as L. 2^nd letter of “floor” is L.

What is the reason for “some locals revealed”? Apparently, Halimah is an example of a local name and “lima” is revealed in it.

Q does not have Economy ( no need for “some locals revealed” ) but has Accuracy

Q29 Flier emerging by duo’s fair portions entering.

Ans : Bubu

Duo’s fair portions = fifty fifty = L L

“emerging” is anagram indicator and when LL is mixed with bubu we have BULBUL – a bird.

Q has Economy and Accuracy

Q34 One bread poses two times the danger! With time you’ll also see the answer!  

Ans : ANN

Out of the many “roti” signs on one signboard , we need to choose roti canai as the correct one since it fits the “two times the danger” which means “double jeopardy”.

Once chosen we must apply the knowledge that ROTI which is Bread has to be anagrammed ( “canai” ). Somewhere further up is the sign ANN which is an anagram of NAN which is the “roti” to be “canai’d”.

There is no indicator to show that 2 signboards are to be considered here as in Q24.

Also, the second sentence is meant to give constraint for the answer since time = ANNO DOMINI and ANN is in it.”In time” would be more accurate than “with time”.

Q has Economy but no Accuracy ( missing connection between signboards).

Q35 Bouquet arranged in parts of Ukraine.

Ans : GENFE

Answer is arranged with parts of UKRAINE to give a bouquet. GENFE + UKRE = FENUGREEK which is a herb/spice but not a bouquet.

Q has Economy but no Accuracy

In summary : 6/11 satisfy both Economy and Accuracy( includes some Accuracy )

3/11 satisfy Economy but not Accuracy.2/11 satisfy Accuracy but not Economy.

The analysis above is a reminder of the necessity of having both Economy and Accuracy for the construction of Questions- both hard and easy. In this hunt , an unfamiliarity with Shandra’s style was the main contributor in not being able to crack the 11 questions.

He has introduced his unique way with words in this hunt and I welcome it as another wonderful addition to the many distinct styles that now populate the Treasure Hunting landscape in Malaysia.

FULL RESULT

Rotary Category
 

Rotary Category - 2nd Runner Up

Rotary Category - 1st Runner Up









Rotary Category - Champion

Photos and questions courtesy of hunter Ruben Enbasegaram and Jayaram Menon respectively!