And the letter is.... R!!!!
(Let's see what you guys can make of that shall we.)
Is there a song about your valor in killing pagans?
3: I am not... Richard the Lion-Hearted?
(A general note: I am going to be a weak host because my knowledge of the trivium is generally quite lacking. But my hearts in the right place! Hit me with your best shot! ATM!!1!)
Were you Russia's greatest love machine?
7: I am not Diana Ross (?)
Cardinal Richelieu, I was thinking
Second Order: Are you European?
Are you renowned for playing the cello?
3: maybe...is there a song about Richard the Lion Hearted killing pagans? I was thinking of Roland -- hero of The Song of Roland.
11, nope: I am not European
13: You gets a second-order, you does.
12: Only Cellist known to me is named Ma. So you get a second-order.
15: End all of your verses with "Fuck you, Clown."
19, nope: I am not alive
Were you an enemy of Valentine McGillycuddy?
21 -- what an awesome question! I'm afraid it has stumped me but do let me know what the reference is to -- you could combine this with asking me a second-order question.
18 made me laugh, but it's not an answer, unless I have profoundly misremembered the work I'm thinking of.
22, yup: I was an American
24: Was 15 a first-order question? I did not recognize it as such.
25: No, I am not Mr. Rogers.
23 - Second order question would be, perhaps, were you Caucasian? (Valentine McGillycuddy is one of the great names of American history; he was an Indian agent in the Dakotas, a friend of Crazy Horse's and an enemy of Red Cloud's.)
28 -- thanks! -- Nope, I am not Caucasian nor am I caucasian.
27.1: it was. Let me try another:
Do you have strong views on whether A is or is not A?
30: I am not Ayn Rand nor am I a Randroid.
(Can I ask another, or do I have to give everyone else a turn?)
Were you a star athlete at Rutgers?
15 was a great first-order question, I thought.
Is it rather embarrassing in hindsight that you won yourself that Stalin Peace Prize, because you were otherwise such a great singer and activist?
Did Joseph McCarthy consider you an enemy of America?
I believe I am pwned by 32 and 34.
Did you come here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and yet discover, upon your arrival, that you had in fact run out of bubble gum?
36: had you not said that I would not have known I was pwned by 32.
You guys are shining, I am dim. I find myself stumped by 32, 34 (which I should know dammit!), 35 (unless the answer is "no, I am not a red" -- but I don't think that works) and 37 (which ditto about ought to know it -- know it's a line from a movie, and maybe it's some Clint Eastwoody actor, but that's all.)
32, 34, and 35 are all the same person. (Well, 32 and 34; 35 I assume by the pwnage confession.)
Wait! Maybe the answer to 34 is "No I am not Ronald Reagan" -- he was a socialist back in the day right? Or anyways a trade unionist.
(by "to 34" I mean "to 35")
(and 34 and 35 being the same person sort of negates 41.)
Do you, in fact, not sweat and strain, body all aching and wracked with pain?
44 looks like a lyric to the song "15 tons" -- I'm not sure if it is or how that would fit in here; so I will go ahead and award LB a second-order question.
46 -- I am not Condoleeza Rice. Please!
44 was actually following along with the 32, 34, 35 theme, although it doesn't have the same answer.
And I'm Ol' Man River.
2d Order: Were you African American?
Did Walter Winchell convince the world that you were a traitor?
(I'm not sure if this person name qualifies, but it's what the person was best known as.)
Actually, I wasn't going for Condi. Please!
Were you often described as pigeon toed?
In re 37: I guess you're not Rowdy Roddy Piper (which is a stage name, so I counted it as an "R," but if you want to call me a Cheaty McCheatypants and not count it I won't object).
Are you best known for your writing?
48 -- I am not Afro-American.
50 -- I'm not actually sure Rice went to Princeton. If she did not, you get a second order.
49 -- you get a second order.
Did your less-popular band release the physically unwieldy but critically acclaimed Metal Box album?
52 -- I am not best-known for my writing
51 -- you get a second order.
Are you a woman? (Am I supposed to reveal who I was thinking of now?)
54 -- I am not Randy Rhodes?
56 -- yup, I am a woman, and yup, I would be glad to know of whom you were thinking.
I was thinking of Tokyo Rose. Probably I should have said so first, so that you could judge whether she was really an R.
She did not. I'm switching gears, though, because this possibility is way more fun than my previous hunch. Did your breasts once get another famous American in trouble?
Jackie Robinson. Did you die before 1940?
57 - Nope, I was thinking of Johnny Rotten (of Sex Pistols and Public Image, Ltd. fame)
R last names are surprisingly difficult to come up with, or I'm really not in the mindset for this game.
2nd order - Were you a performer of some sort?
state.gov suggests I was mistaken about the secretary's alma mater. Second-order for jhupp!
Do you fight crime by dressing up in bright red and green leotards and chasing hardened felons in a brilliantly thought-out scheme?
61 -- I did not die before 1940. 60 -- I am stumped. Take a second-order (or two if you wish, seeing as how you got one on the Princeton thingy.)
62 -- I was a performer of some sort
Doesn't a functional answer, even if it wasn't what you were thinking of, prevent you from getting a second order?
Silly HTML parsing engine. Silly Clown.
64 -- I am not The Red Ranger? (Comic-book knowledge from my childhood is fading fast.)
66: Yes it does; but Condoleeza Rice was not a functional answer since she did not attend Princeton. She did give a commencement address there but.
66 - The specificity about the album name meant that it was a non-functional answer.
I'm gonna stop asking now because I just realized my guess is still alive. Besides, other people are way better at asking funny questions. (Jane Russell)
Er, ah, also Randy Rhodes was not a functional answer since he did not record "Metal Box". I figured he might have though.
69: Not who I was thinking of, but that probably works anyway.
75 -- I am stumped. Second order please.
Rin Tin Tin. (The original. Sorry! Came up in conversation today and so was the first R that popped into my mind.)
2nd order: Were you a dancer of some kind?
Did the inheritance of your mother's provence of Aquitane lead to you ruling nearly all of western France?
78 -- wow, that is an awesome bit of knowledge to be in possession of. I was not a dancer of any sort, at least not publically or that Mr. Clownæ is aware of.
Did you help your moose friend develop a rocket fuel formula for the United States government based on his grandma's fudge cake recipe?
79 has me stumped. I know 'Eleanor of Aquitane" but not who her ruling child is. Second-order please.
Did you suffer from rising damp? (Is it cheating to use British trivia that you almost certainly won't know?)
82 gets it exactly right. However I am not Rocky.
84 -- It is not cheating; however it does get you license to as a second-order question.
Would that we could all be Rocky.
79 was Richard I. His pa, Henry II was married to Eleanor of Aquitane. (my high school had some great 1 week courses given on English royalty by an incredibly cool history teacher)
2nd order - Were you an actress on TV or Film?
Do first-order guesses we're making now have to fulfill all the criteria Clownie has given us in second-order answers?
88 -- nope, I was not an actress on TV or Film
89 -- the do not.
Did you jump over your brother's wall, with unfortunate consequences?
92 has me perplexed enough to award OFE a second-order question.
90 - Thanks. Did you turn down the lead in both "Double Indemnity" and "The Maltese Falcon"?
Remus, brother of Romulus, who took the piss out of Romulus' provisional wall around Rome and was killed for his pains.
Musician?
94. I don't know. Second-order for ya.
Were you a comedienne and member of the original SNL cast?
86: You're not Rigsby then. (Or Leonard Rossiter, take your pick.)
Are you a musician?
lead s/b lead role. No hanky-panky was offered by Bogie.
Damn, OFE beat me to it, though I checked on preview.
95 -- Not a musician.
97 -- I am not Gilda Radner.
You're not George Raft. Were you born in the United States?
Kobe -- You can ask a new second-order.
102 -- I was born in the USA.
107 -- I am not Roosevelt (?)
Were you a harlot and a survivor?
Huh. Seems like Truman was the one who popularized that slogan. But his name does not begin with an R, does it?
109 -- I am not Rachel?
I was thinking of Janet Reno, but that was probably unfair, so I'll forego any 2nd-order on that one.
You impugning Rachel's character, Clownae?
Rahab the harlot of Jericho
Radio?
What would have been the tie-in between your question and Janet R?
113 -- oops! Yes, radio
She (famously?) said "The buck stops here" re: Waco.
Were you an off-puttingly old provider of straight-forward sexual advice?
118 -- I am not Dr. Ruth.
Was your crown found in a bush?
120 -- you get a second-order.
(that's not some kinda weird cunnilingus double-entendre is it?)
Did you give up poetry for selling arms?
Years after Phase I of your committee's investigation into pre-war intelligence wrapped up, are you still "intending to complete Phase II in a timely manner"?
123 -- I don't know. Second-order please.
124 -- I (embarrassingly) do not know. Second-order please.
Has it ever crossed your mind that Batman might not keep catching you so easily if you stopped sending him all those clues?
127 -- I might have thought of that if I were the Riddler, but since I am not, I have not.
So you're not Senator Pat Roberts (lucky you!).
Did you pass away within the last decade?
129 -- Yep, I passed away within the last decade.
Did you ask Bob Hoskins to find out if your wife was playing pattycake with someone else?
so you're not Rimbaud.
2nd order -- were you born in the U.S.A.?
132 -- That has been asked 2 times already. Why not go with a new 2nd-order. Or if you insist I will answer that one again.
You don't appear to be Richard III.
So you're a non-white, non-African-American female radio entertainer who passed away in the last decade.
Were you funny?
131 -- again I find myself tantalizingly close to catching your reference but ultiimately it eludes me. Second order please.
134 -- I was not a comedienne.
(Everyone's asking me about kings named Richard!)
(That is to say -- funny's in the ear of the beholder. But being funny was not my porpoise in life.)
You're not Roger Rabbit. Were you a stage performer?
Scratch that! Missed the radio think. Did you have a noticable accent?
133--oops!
I'll try again....Were you an Asian-American?
139 -- Clownæ is going to plead ignorance here: he thinks I probably did have a noticable accent but he is not sure.
140 -- yup, I was Asian-American.
Did you adapt a French play about Spaniards whose sequel had already been adapted by an Austrian?
Tokyo Rose was already mentioned in the thread, but not in a context that was entitled to an answer. I'm just throwing that out in case people think she was eliminated.
143 stumps me. OFE gets a second-order.
Was your wife's horse named Buttermilk?
146 -- I'm not Rob Roy?
Rossini (Barber of Seville). OK, were you convicted of treason?
I think you're aiming for the right person, but you actually aren't Roy Rogers.
And are you Tokyo Rose?
Ack! That is to say Roy Rogers. Second-order for LB.
149 -- I am Tokyo Rose.
148 -- I was convicted of treason.
Heh. That's a weird Botticelli problem that's come up before -- one tends to think that if a name has been mentioned and the game isn't over, then the name's eliminated. This is, however, not always the case.
Aw, darn, I had no idea that the mechanics of the game didn't mean she'd been eliminated.
Waaaaaaaaait a minute! I call foolsies!
But I never even said "I am not Tokyo Rose". According to the authoritative rules as laid down by T(itan)ia, I could have done so. But instead I said nothing about whether I was or was not TR.
154; Actually, the way I play, I would have ended the game back when you said you were thinking of Tokyo Rose, but I don't think there's a rule that handles the situation well.
I take it you didn't recognize the Walter Winchell fact, then?
Is anyone willing to lead another game? Or do I actually have to work for some of this afternoon?
