Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ta0]

This is my 1000th post so I will celebrate it with a contest.

The other day Pablo retrieved this game from his closet. Suffering from this obsession about spinning things  I had already realized that many of the peg pieces could work as finger tops by holding them upside down by the stem. But surely not every shape could be a top as several lack radial symmetry. Well, this time I tried them one by one. Many behaved as I expected. For example the circle spins very well while the macaroni (banana) shape doesn't work. But lo and behold, I had a few surprises.



So the quiz is: how many of the pegs can spin? Not every spinnable peg spins the same, some are better than others, but the other pegs completely refuse to spin on their stems. Whoever posts the closest answer in the next couple of days gets a Cometa Turbo 1st generation. If there is a tie, the bonus question below would be the tie breaker.

Super extra bonus question: guess the complete list of non-spinners (use the columns and rows on the photo above as reference) and you also get a Turbo second generation and a Jumbo.

Hint: the pegs are not flat, they have depth.



Note: if you own this game you cannot participate but send me an email with your list so we can compare notes.

[Greaves504]

16 can and 9 can't i think

[robtsou]

I'll take a guess.  Starting from the top left corner and counting right then down, I'm guessing 1, 7, 12, 15, and 21 don't spin.

Fun game Tao!  I can't wait to hear the results.

Rob

[Spinningray]

18 - yes spin
7 - no spin

[the Earl of Whirl]

I say 19 spin and 6 don't spin.  I can feel that Jumbo and Turbo in my hand now!

Let's see.....1, 3, 7, 12, 15 and 21 don't spin.

Oh, and congratulations to Jorge and his 1,000th post.

[Dick Stohr]

This was FUN!  I think 20 spin & 1, 12, 16, 17, & 21 do not.

[lincolnrick]

For the tie, I say 18 spin - 7 don't

[Neff]

I hereby disqualify myself, my son has those things, but just the blue grid and the yellow pieces, I didn't know they belonged to a larger apparatus.  Only the best for my boy! 
I haven't found them yet, but I am wondering if some would spin clockwise but not counterclockwise...

[ta0]

I hereby disqualify myself, my son has those things, but just the blue grid and the yellow pieces, I didn't know they belonged to a larger apparatus.

Great! It will be interesting to see if you arrive to the same conclusions.
In the complete apparatus you push down the blue platform until it latches in a lower position. Then you start the timer. When the time runs out the platform gets released and jumps back pushed by springs: if you haven't finished placing the pegs all your "work" is lost.

I haven't found them yet, but I am wondering if some would spin clockwise but not counterclockwise...

Rob seems to be of that idea as he selected one of the hurricane symbols (15) but not the other (3). But we will not discriminate against ambidextrous people here: if it spins in one direction it is good.

Some of the guesses are much better than what I would have guessed myself before spinning them: good job! The first question is not difficult to guess correctly but the bonus one is difficult. I may accept one mistake on that one (swapping a spinner and a non-spinner counts as two mistakes).

[MatiasStuntMan]

Here is my guess:
Doesn’t Spin:
The banana (but that doesnt count)
Column 1, row 1: Half circle (worst)
Column 3, Row 2: Triangle with uncentered peg
Column 1, Row 4: Pizza Slice
Column 2, Row 4: Parallelogram
Column 1, Row 5: Kite shape with uncentered peg

All the others can spin (25-5-1= 19 that can spin)

[Neff]

OK, I found them, but I haven't tried them yet, so I am going to write down my guess first:
6 don't spin; 1, 8, 12, 16, 17, 21

[Neff]

 

[silvertop]

After making a lot of things spin including dragonfly shapes, butterfly shapes, etc. I'm going out on a limb and say that all except 1 and 12 will spin at least a bit.

[pplgrande]

First of all thanks ta0 for organizing a contest, this is exciting and congrats on your 1000th post
this is my guess
I think 20 do spin and 5 dont..................1, 8, 12, 16, 21, dont spin
Im counting from top left corner(1) bottom right corner (25) it seems like everybody else is too
Im feeling tempted to insted of numbers writing down the shapes, but i really dont know the names, lol, I hope im counting the right way
Thanks again tao for the contest, it is alot of fun

[robtsou]

Rob seems to be of that idea as he selected one of the hurricane symbols (15) but not the other (3). But we will not discriminate against ambidextrous people here: if it spins in one direction it is good.

I didn't even notice I did that!   
I would probably say that neither would spin. 

Rob