Questions from Gabby

[saxikath]

1. Assuming someday I make to the mystery hunt (and that's a big if, as I have yet to afford NPL con), what advice can you give me with respect to retaining my sanity?

Get some sleep during the weekend. Drink enough water. Eat something nutritious once in a while. Go outside and get fresh air once in a while, even if it's the middle of the night. If you've been staring at a puzzle for hours and are stuck, ask someone else to look at it. And remember, it's all voluntary. Oh, and don't ever start to solve something and say "Nah, that can't possibly be a word..."

2. If you had to choose between a paying job in theater and a paying job in the puzzle industry (and the pay, benefits, etc. were all the same, which one would you choose?

Hmm, tough. Either one would be fun. I think I'd probably go with the puzzles, though, and keep doing amateur theater.

3. You have been promoted from Enigma editor to editor of an unabridged dictionary, and you can add any three words (real or invented) to the dictionary, no questions asked. Which words and associated meanings do you add?

Whew. I'm having trouble with this one, mostly because I don't think the presence or absence of a word in a dictionary affects whether you should use it or not. :) But, for the sake of answering the question: "Californicate," meaning to build identical ugly condos all over nice open space; "squick," meaning to make (someone) feel grossed out or otherwise disturbed; and "naked practice," a math textbook publishing term for problems that are just straight computation practice, rather than word problems.

4. "Rules are made to be broken", but "the exception proves the rule." Which of these two statements (or both or neither) do you think is true, and why?

Both, in different circumstances.

5. What is the difference between a duck? (Hey, it was either this question or the obligatory Kabeta reference. :)

Because the orange has no sleeves. And thank you for the absence of Kabeta references. :)