Tag Archives: Pentathanerd

Jedi Rubik’s trickery at Pentathanerd

Pentathanerd Winter 2011: Rubik’s Assist from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

The Force is strong with Pentathanerd Winter Games team Frak Yeah QA, the Gold Medalists in Rubik’s Assist. While blindfolded, Sara solved a scrambled Rubik’s Cube in six minutes and seven seconds by following verbal directions from Sean (in an earlier practice round, the duo got it done in 4:15). A few seconds later, Team Confidential’s Mark finished his cube, assisted by Jansen, to claim the Silver Medal. Bronze goes to Suite CC’s Matt and Jon – still the overall leaders after two events. Tamperers of a brail Rubik’s Cube, the !Cheaters team will get nothing and like it.

Pentathanerd historians will want to review the glorious controversy of Rubiksgate at the inaugural Summer Games. These historians largely agree that Rubiksgate was when !Cheaters were seduced by The Dark Side.

Rubik’s Assist rules review: Participants will pair off, one sighted and one blindfolded. The sighted participant will be the “guide dog” and instruct the blindfolded participant in how to unscramble the Rubik’s Cube. Only the blindfolded participant may touch the cube. Points will be distributed based on fastest time to unscramble of two trials. Points begin at a mythical 0 seconds to solve, equating to 1800 points. For every 2 seconds, 10 points are deducted until 2 minutes, equaling 1200 points. From 2 minutes, 10 points are deducted every 6 seconds until 4 minutes, equaling 1000 points. From 4 minutes, 10 points are deducted every 10 seconds until 10 minutes. At 10 minutes, the participants are stopped and awarded the minimum 300 points.

Correction: !Cheaters’ Justin has correctly pointed out that he solved his Cube with three seconds to spare (9:57) and his team was awarded 640 points. We regret the error.

Winter Games: Opening ceremonies and Floppy Disc Golf

Pentathanerd Procession, Winter 2011 from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Not gonna cry at the always incredibly moving opening ceremonies (above), I promised myself, but Pentathanerd comes but twice a year and lasts just a week each time, and these are precious moments savored by sports fans everywhere – or at least here. Let’s get right to the crowd-pleasing action of Floppy Disk Golf:

Pentathanerd Winter 2011: (Floppy) Disk Golf from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Floppy Disc Golf Medal Stand:

• Gold: Suite CC (Minh, Ali, Jon R)
• Silver: Frak Yeah QA (Matt E, Sean, Sara)
• Bronze: Ad Hoc (Paul, Brett)

Also notable, Justin from !Cheaters took liberties with the rules. Weird.

Here were the made-to-be-bent rules:
Participants will use 5 1/4” floppy disks to navigate two (or three, depending on time and participation) courses within The Nerdery as per the rules for Disc Golf. Teams may switch out participants between throws, but are limited to three participants in the event. Each disk must be an authentic 5 1/4” floppy. Disks will be provided as necessary. A minimum 300 points for participation. Points will be distributed based on overall placement, scaled to participation.

Next up: Watch and wonder as competitors race to solve Rubik’s Cubes. Blindfolded. Skeptics, nothing is impossible at The Nerdery, especially during Pentathanerd week(s).

Prelude to Pentathanerd Winter Games

Pentathanerd Winter 2011 from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

The Pentathanderd is a biannual Nerdery tradition featuring five (perhaps nontraditional) contests. For five days over the noon hour and then at 4:30 Friday, The Pentathenerd transcends the wide world of sports and becomes all that really matters. It represents all that is good, honorable, decent and Nerdery. The entire recorded history of Pentathanerd should be reviewed at http://blog.nerdery.com/tag/pentathanerd/.

Presenting The Pentahanerd 2011 Winter Games:

(Floppy) Disk Golf – Monday Jan 17

Rubik’s Assist – Tuesday Jan 18

Pun-On-Pun – Wednesday Jan 19

LEGO Luge II – Thursday Jan 20

Skills Challenge Exhibition event – Friday noon Jan 21

Nerdery Feud Finale event – Friday 4:30 Jan 21

The Rules (verbatim, as established by Pentathanerd Founder and Gamemaster Mark Seemann):

(FLOPPY) DISK GOLF Rules

Format: Participants will use 5 1/4” floppy disks to navigate two (or three, depending on time and participation) courses within The Nerdery as per the rules for Disc Golf. Teams may switch out participants between throws, but are limited to three participants in the event.

Specifications: Each disk must be an authentic 5 1/4” floppy. Disks will be provided as necessary.

Point Distribution: A minimum 300 points for participation. Points will be distributed based on overall placement, scaled to participation.

RUBIK’S ASSIST Rules

Format: Participants will pair off, one sighted and one blindfolded. The sighted participant will be the “guide dog” and instruct the blindfolded participant in how to unscramble the Rubik’s Cube. Only the blindfolded participant may touch the cube.

Point Distribution: Points will be distributed based on fastest time to unscramble of two trials. Points begin at a mythical 0 seconds to solve, equating to 1800 points. For every 2 seconds, 10 points are deducted until 2 minutes, equaling 1200 points. From 2 minutes, 10 points are deducted every 6 seconds until 4 minutes, equaling 1000 points. From 4 minutes, 10 points are deducted every 10 seconds until 10 minutes. At 10 minutes, the participants are stopped and awarded the minimum 300 points.

PUN-ON-PUN Rules

Format: Participants will be given a category upon which to base puns. In order, a pun will be spoken by the participant team leader, with assistance as necessary from teammates, within 15 seconds. Judges will determine if the pun is:

• within the time limit
• conceivably related to the current category
• unused within this category
• of sufficient quality to merit being considered a pun

If any of these conditions fail, the team will earn a strike. Two (or three, depending on time and participation) strikes and the team is out. On failure, a new category is chosen by the judges. On success or failure, the next team must provide a new pun as above, until one team stands alone.

Point Distribution: Points will be distributed based on overall placement, scaled to participation.

LEGO™ LUGE II Rules

Format: Participants will design a luge out of LEGO pieces to be run down a luge course. Luges must remain at least 3/5ths intact and retain the rider with the craft to the end. The furthest distance will be used to determine placement.

Specifications: Each luge must fit within a container of 12 blocks wide by 16 blocks long by 6 blocks high (roughly 3 5/8″ by 5″ by 2 1/4″, respectively). The weight of the luge must not be in excess of 5.5 ounces (roughly the weight of a LEGO train engine). Each luge must contain a LEGO person rider with head protection (safety first). The rider must remain with the luge and intact for the duration of the ride. In the event of a rider’s ejection, the distance for the run will be calculated at the last luge-occupied position, if possible. The course will consist of roughly 4″ width channels, as determined by a regulation 2-liter bottle. The course will be made out of snow and ice, with an attempt to have ice mostly along the expected luge path. The luge must be comprised entirely of unadulterated LEGO pieces, with the exception of a reasonable amount of paper and tape or stickers for logos or emblems.

Point Distribution: A minimum 300 points are awarded if the luge meets all qualifications and is able to begin its descent in the luge course. Another 200 points are awarded if the luge makes it at least 3/5ths intact past the indicated halfway point of the luge course. Another 200 points are awarded for finishing the course at least 3/5ths intact. Further points will be distributed based on overall distance placement, scaled to participation.

SKILLS CHALLENGE

Exhibition Event: This event is a trial run for possible future inclusion into the Pentathanerd proper. The results have no bearing on overall placement.

Format: Participants will compete simultaneously in a series of challenges, possibly including but not limited to:

• Find the next best move for a given chess position
• Find the longest possible word from a set of Scrabble tiles
• Find and retrieve a stated object from somewhere in The Nerdery

Teams may switch out participants between rounds. ”Points” will be awarded based on least total time.

NERDERY FEUD

Format: The top two teams with highest overall scores will compete in a winner-takes-all game of Nerdery Feud.

Champagne popped, complete pandemonium ensues…

Pentathanerd Summer Games Wrap

To manage the expectations of Pentathanerd’s casual fans, the video below contains footage of Air Quote Quiz Show contestants reciting pi from memory (and rambling off as many digits as possible). Nerdery historians will consider this must-see TV, as will Pentathanerd Fantasy League players, but the casual fans will instead watch and re-watch Pinewood Lego Monkey Ball.

Air Quotes Quiz Show @ Pentathanerd Summer Games from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

If you’re still there, don’t miss the medal presentations:

Medal Stand, Summer Games 2010 from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

All-Around Award (overall points accumulated from the combined five events)

Gold: Jon Rexeisen

Silver: John Shimeck

Bronze: Dave Kam

Individual Gold Medals:

• Darts: Chris Locher
• Chess: Dave Kam
• Scrabble: Theresa Dahlberg
• Pinewood Lego Money Ball: Dave Kam
• Air Quotes Quiz Show: Jon Rexeisen

This concludes the 2010 Pentathanerd Summer Games. Our thoughts now turn to The Winter Games.

Monkey business at Pentathanerd

Pentathanerd’s Pinewood Lego Monkey Ball is revered throughout the wide world of sports and has fast become a fan-favorite with something for everyone – whether you’re into pinewood, Legos, monkeys … and even the sport’s cheaters seem sorta charming:

Next and last is The Summer Games’ final event: The “Air Quotes” Quiz Show, with a mid-day preliminary round and the finals at 4:30. We don’t dare broadcast it live (fear of wardrobe malfunction), so look for good/clean coverage of the finale, medal presentations and closing ceremonies on Monday.

Word Up – Pentathanerd Scrabble

Words will not do justice to a Scrabble competition that marked the midpoint of The Summer Games. Especially with words like “cheater” being played from under the table – on poorly hidden black tiles nonetheless, and an ill-needed black eye for The Pentathanerd.

Scrabble – Pentathanerd 2010 Summer Games from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Next up is a traditional crowd-pleaser, the Pinewood Lego Monkey Ball.

Pentathanerd Chess, Presented by Fake Bacon

Pentathanerd is kind of a big deal. This has pumped big sponsorship dollars into The Summer Games, and this makes us beholden to the makers/fakers of bacon. But please don’t let a bit of blatant commercialism/product placement keep you from enjoying these highlights from our championship chess round.

Chess@2010 Pentathanerd Summer Games from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Let the Summer Games begin: Pentathanerd opening ceremony, darts

Having set out to cover my third Pentathanerd, I got caught up in its pageantry and rich tradition. I surveyed the field, assessed the competition, saw an opening, dropped the camera and crossed the line from objective journalist to fierce competitor. Almost as soon as I picked up the darts, a stinging sensation shot through my throwing arm – a hastily administered shot of steroids from some shady doctor who came out of nowhere. With a sudden horror I saw the seedy side of The Games. How could I have been so blind to legendary Pentathanerd athletes fraternizing with gamblers, their widespread doping, and the win-at-any-cost mentality that permeates sports? What’s worse, I did NOT win and was bested by dart throwers well over the line in more ways than one. See for yourself:

Darts & Procession – Pentathanerd 2010 Summer Games from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

One the medal stand: Chris Locher “won” gold, yours truly settled for silver and Jon Rexeisen took the bronze medal. I’m renouncing my medal and going back to covering the games like the bulldog reporter I set out to be. Next up is the Chess championship round. Can you handle the truthiness?

Pentathanerd Winter Games – best ever? Final events, closing ceremonies

The 2010 Pentathanerd Winter Games concluded with happenings that viewers of that other sporting competition up in Vancouver will not witness: software developers speedtinkering at the Hardware Teardown/Rebuild, and a Trivial Quiz finalist “winning” simply by refusing to answer the question – any question.

Spoiler alert: Greg Wurm won Hardware for dissecting/resurrecting a mouse:

Hardware Teardown/Rebuild at Pentathanerd from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Spoiler alert 2: Konr Ness capitalized on his competitors’ demerits and won the Trivial Quiz finale with a score of zero:

Trivial Quiz Finals at Pentathanerd Winter Games from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Trivial Quiz clip, Great Moments in Nerdery: Pentathanerd creator Mark Seemann named names from The Hobbit (apparently he rattled these off without using a teleprompter; I was out sick – can’t verify). Relive the Trial Quiz qualifying round here.

Spoiler alert 3: Garnering the most points in combined events, Manish Shrestha won the coveted Pentathanerd All-Around Award for The 2010 Pentathanerd Winter Games, followed by Justin Hendrickson and Greg Wurm.

This is The End: Pentathanerd Winter Games 2010 from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Astute Pentathnerd fans have noted (from leaked video, above) that the Snow Sculpture event was indeed won by Matt Tonak, and not Justin Hendrickson as earlier reported here. And yes, in previous Pentathanerd posts I’ve also cited a few unnamed/off-the-record sources. Lazy reporting? Sure, but it’s more than just that. Nobody’s talking on the record about Winter Game scoring snafus, and they (whoever they are) know I’ve stumbled somewhat close to the truth of the matter. Absent from The Nerdery for the last few events, I tried to stay on the story while fighting the flu with one hand and misinformation/injustice with the other. I even began to think, “This is no flu – ‘they’ve’ poisoned me.” World, we may never know the truth.

Anyway, plotting/training is already underway for Pentathanerd’s next Summer Games. Is there an event you’d like to see in the mix?  The Pentathanerd Planning Committee will give serious consideration to nearly any competition; by now you know this to be true.

Pentathanerd Snow Sculptors: You’re all winners

If you’re the one who hangs out at the finish line of marathons hours after the first runner finishes, all the while shouting, “You’re all winners,” please allow me to redirect you to The Pentathanerd Winter Games’ Snow Sculpture competition. Three entrees. Three medals. All winners. Top honors go to Gold medalist/Qbert sculptor Justin Hendrickson.

Having padded his total-points lead in accumulated events, Justin has to now be considered the clear favorite to win The Pentathanerd All-Around Award for the Winter Games. Let’s take a moment to view just some of the highlights that first established him as a popular yet polarizing Pentathanerd figure during The Summer Games:

Justin: A Pentathanerd Profile from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Kids, don’t eat the snow on or near Qbert.