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Team Effort

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According to various stories making the rounds in the early going yesterday, the latest despot-snuffing news had many authors and an assortment of modus operandi.

It was Obama with a robot in the pantry.
It was insurgents with a handgun in the hall.
It was a Frenchman with a missile from a gantry.
It was a bomber who was very, very small!

It was his butler with dagger and a bludgeon.
It was his driver with a penknife and a spoon.
He was frowned upon to death by a curmudgeon.
He was hoisted by his heels under the moon.

He was forced to read the text of all his speeches.
Every word had been tattooed upon his arms.
He was thrown into a pool alive with leeches.
He was stuffed with cantaloupe from Jensen Farms.

They were trying very hard to apprehend him.
They expected him to have a day in court.
‘Twas a pity, then, to prematurely end him.
Time ran out, as it so often does, in sport.

I have not played “Clue” in many years, but I always thought heavy candlesticks should be registered.

What’s your favorite board game?

102 thoughts on “Team Effort”

  1. Good morning to all,

    We have way too many board games. Most of them don’t get much use. Scrabble gets the most use these days. There is a Clue games which was one of the more often used ones in the past. Monopoly has been put to some use, but I don’t like it because it takes too much time. Sorry is played with the grandchildren. When they were younger we would Hatch-a-Match with them. Checkers and Chest boards are sometimes used. I would like to get better at playing Chest because it is an international game which people play all over the world. I do not have enough skill to play it with people from other countries who are good at it and have asked me if I am a Chest player

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    1. i will always remember when i went to the big spa in budapest where the hot springs feed three or four large pools and many steam rooms and massage options, there was an area at the main pool where there were chess boards set up and people would be in line to twatch the game and challenge the winner. it was an interesting part of the overall scene. it looked like it had been a tradition that had been there a while

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      1. Chess is huge in eastern Europe. Back in 1964 when I lived in Moscow, I’d be sure to see men in Gorki Park playing Chess regardless of the weather. They’d sit there, even during the winter, in overcoats and fur hats, surrounded by onlookers. Never thought of Chess as a spectator sport before. Hardy stock those old chess players; I’m sure they are still there.

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      2. it is like my boys all sitting in a room watching each other play x box or play station. its nice to watch excellence, sometimes its nice to watch mediocrity it makes you feel capable

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  2. VS!!! WAKE UP!!!
    very cleaver, Dale – i especially like “stuffed with cantaloupe from Jensen farms” – we are not worthy.
    my Mom loved Scrabble and her Mom played Yahtzee every day of her life, i think.
    we (i am embarrassed to say) don’t own a board game. sigh.
    good morning, All

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      1. that’s one thing i miss out here – although Steve makes good coffee, it’s just not the same as Caribou or Dunn Bros. but it’s cheaper! and the view is better out here – especially since the Edgewater put up the huge waterpark directly across London Road from Dunn Bros. – that lovely porch in front of their log cabin looks out on a massive building with only a glimpse of lake Superior.

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      3. i think the study of how to make killer coffee sould be offered. any barista past or present could tell it. is it the coffe or the technique or just the facy that its 15 minutes old? i was an italian/french roast guy before switching over to tea 20 years ago but the smell still makes me enjoy the art of fine coffee making

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      5. i made the observation a couple of years ago that the term in my opinion is not needed. its coming out of your mouth and or your fingertips , so obviously it is your opinion.

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    2. I stick with the basics, tim…
      medium roast whole beans, freshly ground, clean water boiled on the stove and poured through a #6 melitta filter (I don’t even own a coffee maker), and the sooner you can drink it the better. Doesn’t get any better than that!

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      2. I do like coffee from a French press. Dealing with the grounds is easier with an automatic drip though.

        The other nice thing about having a French press is that if you have a gas stove you can still make coffee when the power is out. Provided you have a grinder with a hand crank.

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  3. Well, Dale, that was quite the curveball. Didn’t see that question coming. Nice job.

    For me it’s a toss up between Scrabble and Chess. Don’t play either much. Husband doesn’t care for Scrabble and when we play Chess together, he takes so much time deciding his next move that I get bored. Trivial Pursuit is fun too, but since I don’t pay that much attention to pop culture, I’m not that good at it. I prefer the general knowledge categories where I have a reasonable chance because of my crossword solving stash of arcane facts.

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  4. I love board games. In fact, one of the biggest downsides (not that many actually) to being a single parent of a single child is that you don’t have enough people to play many board games.

    I love games that have to do w/ language or words or knowledge (Scrabble, Scattergories,Balderdash, Trivia, etc)… even Pictionary, since that’s about getting to words. But if you are counting by the game I play the most, then Aggravation wins without any contest. My mother and I are addicted; we each play 3 teams and we’re really cutthroat about it. Teenager won’t play with us because “we’re too mean.”

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    1. I have a friend, a single mother with two adopted children, who has started a group for people who like to play board games. They meet monthly at someones house and set up all kinds of board games. The evening’s host provides snacks, and everyone brings whatever beverage they want, and then spend the evening playing board games. On a typical evening 15 to 20 people of all ages show up to play 5 or 6 different games. I’ve participated in a couple, and it’s quite fun.

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    2. Some friends of mine occasionally have Puzzle Night. Just a big jigsaw puzzle on the dining room table and a few bottles of wine and some snacks, and people can drop in or our as they please.

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      9. I spent my early 20’s in precisely this manner… always a new puzzle (never less than 1000 pieces) sprawled across the designated table & a best friend willing to come work it and drink wine together. Good times and great memories. I haven’t done a puzzle since my kids moved out. I may just have to give it another go!

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      10. ok it is set up to be on the day that matches the month. it can be changed but fior brain reference it is the same day of the monthly as the month is. 11/11, 12/12, 1/1 new years day board game day may be a bit much but then again the day is open if we are in town. 2/2 3/3 4/4 5/5/ 6/6 . i will offer up 11/11/11 to start it up and we can decide form there.there will be a toast at 11:11. see you there. non baboon board gamers are welcome. children are welcome and will have the option to join in or have their own gaming area (electronic or otherwise.)

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  5. Backgammon and Scrabble top my list.

    Yesterday I had breakfast at a little cafe where each table had a little jar filled with Trivial Pursuit cards. Thought that was creative.

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  6. the poem is magnificent today dale. tatooed on his arms and jensen farms was a nice touch. time ran out as it often does in sport is classic.
    trivial pursuits was the first one to pop into my mind but its been years. i play parcheesi or whatever version of it we have with disney characters instead of little red and green pawns. cribbage is a favorite monoply is an old standby and the time can be cut by dealing out the cards and starting there. then it is the art of doing the deal. candyland still pops out on occasion. we have a couple of beds that are completely stuffed on hteir undersides with board games. i get upset because if they were out we could see them and play but hidden away they like my books in boxes in the storage area are fuzzy recollections of possibilities unrealized. how bout that lybia? looks like they did hime with a mob in the road. mob justice reminds me of the old cowboy movies where they string em up. no sense taking the time to get a judge, we all know hes guilty. seems like a wasted opportunity to me. death is such an easy answer. they could have given the stage over to discuss the atrosities and injustice and let him be uncomfortable for a decade or two instead of a brief moment of denial and failed escape,

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    1. I never did well at Risk and I never did learn the rules for chess. I thought for many years that it was because I didn’t like the long-range strategy part of the games. But I love GO, so not sure now…

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      1. VS, I didn’t see your reply until after I posted. Another Go player! Do you have a ranking, or do you just dabble like me?

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    3. I was also into Risk as is the s&h today. It is something he and his dad enjoy a lot, because they also talk geopolitics while playing it.

      I guess in the last game, Dad needed more armies than he had black pieces for. He also had a substantial portion of the Middle East and Central Europe, so he used the blue pieces which no player was assigned to to “patrol” those areas.

      I’m sorry I missed that. Made me laugh when I heard about it later.

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  8. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    I’m with Linda SP–a puzzle. They are so addicting–once I get started it is hard to stop. Also like Yatzee (no board, though), Scrabble, Boggle, and Risk. There is a new game that is really fun with a big group called Telestrations. It is interactive and really a hoot.

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  9. Favorite board game? Sawing them up and making furniture out of them–does that count?
    My wife and I are incompatible in many ways, board games and the issue of time, as in being on, are the two worst. Her top 10 board games would be,
    10-2 any board game you want
    1 Scrabble
    So here are mine
    10 Shoots and Ladders (blow ’em up with a shot gun, hide them in the attic
    9 Spill the Beans–My Style (Roast the stupid coffee beans and accidentally dump them on the Monopoly game)
    8 Sorry, I’m Not Going to Play
    7 Death
    6 NO Clue (Hiding all of the board games in a plastic box deep in the back of a closet where nobody can find them and pretending I do not know where they are)
    5 Dumping glue in a box full of jigsaw puzzle pieces
    4 Losing key parts to every game in the house
    3 Faking a headache when she wants to play Scrabble
    2 Okay, It’s Movie Night (the only way she gets me to go to many movies)
    1 A board game bonfire, Ah smell the roasted plastic

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      4. I am waiting for it to get a bit warmer right now before I ride today.
        I am giving up bike riding for 2-3 days. We are heading to the North Shore Sat and will stay through Monday, and I am not bringing the laptop. So will not be on a couple days, maybe at first Sat, but not Sun and Mon.
        The organist at the church I serves is retiring at 80; her party is Sunday. My daughter’s surgery will not be for a week, so we are clear to head up.
        The organist’s last name is Wick. So I used to love every year when we would read
        Isaiah 42:3 “A bruised reed He will not break, And a dimly burning wick He will not
        extinguish.”

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  10. I must respectfully disagree and say that Go, not chess, is the greatest board game ever invented. The rules are fairly simple, but game play is subtle and highly complex, depending on intuition as well as calculation (can you tell chess is too mathematical for me?). Because of this, Go can’t be played well by computers, unlike chess in which the best programs can beat the strongest human players. It’s also aesthetically beautiful, but YMMV on that count. Personally, I’m pathetic at it, but we didn’t play board or card games much at all when I was a child so I have barely a glimmer of this thing called “strategy”. My only other game-playing experience has been–ready for a shock?–Dungeons and Dragons. I even LARPed (live action role-playing) once at a convention, though it wasn’t as much fun as I’d been promised. Hmmm, think I might play a few screens of Tetris on my break today…

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      2. Sure, why not? I know a couple of people who play collectible card games who might like a look at them. How do I get in touch with you IRL?

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      5. because they remind you of him and they always will and they fit in your nightstand or sock drawer. it is like opening that book on the shelf every time they pop out at you.

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    2. Is it still considered a board game if you play it on a computer? I see that they even have online jig saw puzzles! That one’s got me scratching my head…

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  11. Our local B & N has cut way back on books, eliminating any I would want, and added a huge amount of games. My son, the game producer, but not board games, but who tracks the whole game market and loves all sorts of odd games, him, he says they are doing this because the sale of board games is at an all time high. Board games are invented during and rise in sales in poor economic times.

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  12. I’m bemused by other media outlets that have adopted board games as their impetus. Sure, we had “Chess” as a musical in the early 80’s. With music by Benny and Bjorn (of ABBA fame) and lyrics by Tim Rice. And I can see that certainly being inspiration…particularly in a Cold War setting, as they used.

    But then we’re about to be subjected to Battleship: The Movie. A sci-fi/Navy film based on the game. (A game which one of my brothers used to cheat at. “The rules don’t say that you ~can’t~ put ships diagonally on the board…and they fit in the holes…”) And, of course, Hugh Jackman’s Real Steel sure looks an awful lot like Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots: The Film. And let’s not forget that the board game Clue was made into a move…with multiple endings that the audience voted on in some theaters. Really? We’ve apparently tapped out film re-makes, TV adaptations, books…now we have movies based on kids’ board games? Really?

    This inspired me to wonder what other board games some genius producer could base feature films on. Some titles don’t even need tweaking like Master Mind, Obssession, Trouble, Sorry!, or Risk.
    But how about some others:
    Hi-Ho, the Deadly-O
    Got your Back-gammon (and the sequel Back in Blackgammon)
    Connect Four for Murder
    Go…to Hell
    Chinese Checkers of Doom
    Commandyland
    Hungry, Hungry Crippo’s
    Brutes and Badders
    Life: The Movie…You Won’t Survive It…
    Vestigial Pursuit
    Caughtzee (ok, I’m really reaching now…)

    I should really have saved this as it’s own posting but once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny…or some such until Lucas changes that too. Anyone else got any others? (PS: Han shot first.)

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  13. Son and Dil had board games on their wedding gift registry. My daughter has Life on her Ipod and inflicts it on me when we drive to Bismarck.She insists that I make bad and risky choices and sues me at every opportunity. Like Clyde, I am not much of a game player and I definitely am not a card player.People out her are crazy for pinochle. I have lots of therapeutic games that I play with kids and families at work, so perhaps that has soured me on games at home.

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  14. Not a great day for my wrists, so I’ll not blather on.

    Haven’t played many board games, to tell the truth. Monopoly, I know, moves WAY too slow for me. I’ve had fun with Cranium.

    Jigsaw puzzles are a delight, and one I particularly associate with rainy days at a northwoods cabin. I just saw some spectacularly lovely jigsaw puzzles in the catalog of Lake Superior Magazine.

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  15. We used to have Pente, which is based on Go – I would love to learn Go. (I think.)
    Favorites, though, are not really board games – Cribbage, Yahtze and Farkle, which we mainly get to play with Husband’s son Mario. All you need are dice and a score card. My favorite Farkle story – when nephew Evan was about 4, he got in on a Farkle game with the big guys, and quickly learned that what you do is roll the dice, pause, and then say “Oh MAN!”

    Mah Jong keeps showing up in things I read, and has intrigued me – anyone here that’s played it?

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    1. Barbara I love Mah Jong! I have this stupid habit. I have to win at Klondike Solitaire and Mah Jong before I do any other work on my computer in the morning. Then I’ll play one or the other of those two games throughout the day.

      Mah Jong is a fascinating and pleasant game. Many games are unwinnable, which you don’t find out until you have invested 12 minutes of hard work. The game comes in many versions. often with sounds and animations added. The version I currently favor is called “Mah Jong Titans,” and I think every game is at least potentially winnable if you play well enough. I can usually win one game in four with this version, whereas other versions defeated me until I’d played about six or seven games.

      I think there are some free versions on the internet. Those you pay for are not expensive and are probably nicer.

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      2. It is simple to play Mahjong. It is devilishly difficult to play it really well. So you can download the game (or access it from your Windows Vista or Windows Seven disk) and set off playing. At first you lose a lot and don’t know why. But the basics of strategy quickly make themselves apparent. The game can be decorated endlessly with new looks, animations or music selections.

        And as for learning, there are many tutorials on the ‘net.

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      3. At the Danish Amercian center in Minneapolis they have a group of people who get together a couple of times a month to play Mah Jong, usually in conjunction with their Wednesday luncheons. They also have monthly board game evenings where they serve a soup dinner before they break out the games people have brought. They also have a monthly æbleskiver breakfast on Sunday. It’s all you can eat and open to the public.

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  16. I almost forgot my favorite board game to play with my mom – Lifestories. Board has the usual path where you roll the dice (I think) for the number to move, but the categories on direction cards are Memories, Etchings, Values, and Alternatives. It’s a great way for kids to learn about their grandparents’ lives, etc.

    (One caveat: does not work well with people who have had horrific childhoods, even though you can chose another card if you don’t wish to answer the one you picked…)

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  17. I was one of “those” moms who limited TV time and forbade video games (the “not cool” mom). The result was that our house became the place to be. All the neighbor kids hung out here and our days were spent playing board games and marbles on the living room floor. The kids especially loved those times when big storms would roll in and the power would go out. They’d make a point to make it here before the weather got too crazy. We’d light every candle in the house and weather the storms together playing board games. Took a while for my kids to realize I was way cooler than they gave me credit for! Enjoy the day everyone.

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  18. We have a few board games, but Daughter is only recently interested in playing them. We went through a spurt of Candyland a couple years ago, and then everything sat for a good long time. We have Scrabble Jr, Bananagrams and Sorry – all those come out fairly regularly (if you haven’t played Bananagrams, I highly recommend it if you are into word-related games). Kings in the Corner is a favored card game along with Uno. Husband is really the game player in the family – he used to do a lot with role-playing games, Magic cards (and some of their related ilk), games like Empire Builder where you spend an afternoon creating railroad routes and moving stuff around…he’s also a competitive bridge player. I’ll stick to Bananagrams, I think. I prefer a game I can master and complete in a short amount of time. 🙂

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    1. Empire Builder is one of the games I played at my friend’s house on one of her gaming nights. I did reasonably well considering that I didn’t really have a clue about what the object of the game was until it was over.

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    2. I think I would like Empire Builder! And ask Husband if he would like Joel’s old shoebox filled with Magic cards…

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  19. At our house, we have become enamored with Ticket to Ride. It’s a geography map game. We also like Scrabble and lately Bananagrams. My partner used to turn me down every time I wanted to play a word game but she has decided that in her middle age she needs to keep her brain working so we play Bananagrams or Scrabble. Before I knew them, she taught our kids to play chess. I have never been a chess player, but the 3 of them love it. Also…not really a board game, but she plays poker with the children (now adults, but she has been playing with them since they were little) and I steer clear of their poker games. My partner is really a flowery mother’s day card kind of mom who would do anything for her little darlings…until they are playing poker. She puts a visor on, has a toothpick or 2 hanging out of her mouth (back in the day, it was a cigarette) sits straddling the back of the chair and takes all of their money until they are begging for mercy. It’s a sight to see…

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    1. I learned poker from my dad (mostly). There is a family tale in which my big brother is the designated babysitter and my folks have gone across the street for dinner. I was being schooled in the finer points of 5 card draw …there was an emergency call to the neighbor’s house. Mom was worried that one of us was injured or the house was on fire – but my brother asked to talk with Dad. The important question: does a flush beat a full house. Dad bought us an “According to Hoyle” the next week. In junior high I played in a traveling penny poker game with a bunch of my pals – there was a parent at one house who sounds much like your partner Darcy. No cigarette, but you could lose your whole pot of pennies if he came down to play blackjack…

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    2. i came out of catholic schools and into modular scheduling and quickly learned and loved pitching pennies, flipping for odds and evens and playing cards in the student union with a group of cronies who are still friends today. also got into fights got called into the vice principles office for skinning a kid out of his lunch money for a month straight. i currently have a card game on the first thursday of the month ( but i can change it on the months when board game night is also on the first thursday (february in 2012 is the only conflict)
      it is one of my treasured monthly events. big winner wins or loses 20 bucks and a wall of albums with alternating disc jockey privilages is the highlight. poker is a great game and it is a table game rather than a board game but i am a fan for sure.

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    3. During my bachelorette days between marriages in the mid 70s, I hung out with a bunch of women who played poker regularly. None of us was particularly skilled at it, and we were all poor, so the stakes were always low. I remember one night when one of the women, who was playing for broke, lost $16.00; put an end to her poker playing career. I was notorious for my crib sheet, telling me which hand beat which hand, a dead giveaway, of course. If I had to consult it, everyone knew I had something more than a pair. Also, I automatically revert to counting in Danish if the number gets over 20, so everyone was having a great time at my expense, mimicking my Danish counting. Great memories from a difficult time of my life. We’re all still friends, but we’re nowhere near as much fun as we used to be. Sigh.

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      1. The pinnacle of my poker playing days….a royal flush. Such a thrill. Unfortunately there were only a couple of bucks in the pot!

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      2. Oh, you all have me snorting to myself! Darcy, love the image you drew, all of you actually. And this, PJ – If I had to consult it, everyone knew I had something more than a pair describes my ability with the Ladies Poker Night group to a tee. We played with quarters…

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      3. i had one night at a stag party where the evening was coming to an end and i hadnt played cards yet it was in a side room where only the 6 people playing were able to fit. i went in and sat down to a game of black bottom where the high spade wins half the pot. i was dealt the ace of spades on my forst card face down so i knew i had won half but no one else did. it being my first had i asked what the limit on the betting was. no limit was the response so i bet 20 dollars everyone groaned but ut in and by the end of the hand i had coersed 100 or so out of each guy and then i got the best had too so i won 500 dollars or so. the next hand was similar wher you need jacks or better to open three of a kind to win and if you drop you are out even if the betting persn does not have the trips to win. well i was dealt 3 aces the first three cards which was almost certainy a winner 20 bucks a card again 500 more and i won and told the card players that i coud not hope to top these two hands and thatnk you and good night, best 10 minutes of cards i have ever played except in vegas where i had a hot night one noght with a big time gambler and won an embarrassing amount, i lose on occasion to but it is no fun remembering that

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