FED PHRASE GAME ROADSHOW
Wednesday 25 July
by Gwaptiva
One of the more popular bars in Sol was this week's setting for the roadshow; the facilities in the Urban Spaceman Bar on Venus are well-suited to the Phrase Game and so we returned there. Joining the host and the wheel there were Stiddleficks, Butters, Silverhawk and September.
After going over the rules quickly, the order of play was determined and Butters was to get the first game underway. The category was Creatures and the phrase consisted of three words. Butters set about guessing consonants, and one after the other was revealed, building himself a total of 1350 points with a Free Spin as well, and really with only a few letters left to guess he stumbled. Not having a clue on the solution, he decided not to use his Free Spin to continue, Silverhawk took over. He started off fine by finding the H and the M and then guessed at a solution. To Stiddleficks' pleasure, his guess was incorrect and she decided not to spin to find the final consonant but instead solve "a Magrathean spider" straightaway for 750 points.
Silverhawk had to put the disappointment of the first round behind him quickly as he started the second round, going in search of three-word phrase in a new category called Medical. As it would turn out later, none of the participants were of a medical persuasion and this puzzle stumped them for a long time. Silverhawk started off well enough, finding two Ms, but there was no C. Stiddleficks added three different letters, but then spun 1000 points and regular readers of the Phrase Game know that there is some kind of curse on that, and the curse struck here too. September couldn't guess anything, in spite of her predisposition to letters. Butters picked up another Free Spin and was about to become the first ever person to have three active Free Spins in his pot but he guessed the H so that record didn't come up. He used one of them straight after, to add the L to the phrase, then used the second Free Spin but that didn't benefit him anything either.
Silverhawk added one consonant, then let Stiddleficks in who seemed unstoppable, when suddenly a loud, high-pitched beeping noise interrupted proceedings. After quickly checking with the fire marshall droid that this was not the signal that the kitchen had got the flambeed cheries wrong, September held up her pager and ran out. Stiddleficks was scratching her head, trying to work out the phrase. No more consonants were left and only one vowel and with the board showing F L A M M A R I A N R _ _ D I N J U R I E S it was coming down more to logic than to knowledge of matters medical. With a broad proud smile, Stiddleficks showed that she had worked it out and solved the phrase correctly as being the subject of a documentary being made on Phobos on flammarian rood injuries. For those that don't know what these are, I suggest they watch the thing.
Stiddleficks now had a total 2050 points and there would be one phrase to change the result. Given the choice between Fed Songs and Famous People as the category for the final phrase, the players unanimously chose the latter, and this meant that Stiddleficks would be the first to work on a three word phrase. She only needed to solve the phrase to win, and she started nicely finding four letters, then surprisingly asked for the X. This rarest of letters didn't occur in the phrase and Butters would have a (slim) chance to overtake Stiddleficks's target. Unfortunately, neither he nor Silverhawk could do much to put Stiddleficks under pressure, and she seemed to be in the zone; after having found all the consonants in the phrase, and therefore really having sealed the victory she went for the whitewash by offering a solution. But, for the second time in the night, the solution given was wrong by only a single letter, leaving it to Butters to get second place when he solved that the "famous" person was Tracey's Uncle Silus (he works for the GA, you know).
So, Stiddleficks was the winner of the Eternal Glory (tm), our praises and congratulations, and a shiny new Slithy Tove, straight from the petting zoo on Chrysoberyl. Next week, it could be You to walk away with all those fabulous prizes, so join us at 4.00pm eastern on Wednesday, somewhere in Sol, as the Fed Phrase Game Roadshow strikes up its tent again.
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