 |
|
A Laughton.org Contest |
Final Results
February 23, 2014
| 1 |
 |
103
|
| 2 |
 |
72
|
| 3 |
 |
69
|
| 4 |
 |
67
|
| 5 |
 |
65
|
| 6 |
 |
56
|
| 7 |
 |
53
|
| 8 |
 |
44
|
| 9 |
 |
40
|
| 10 |
 |
36
|
| 11 |
 |
11
|
Congratulations to INONUTINK who outdistanced the competition by
a country kilometer! Her score of 103 comes remarkably close to the maximum of 119 that the
Laughton.org Department of Hindsight could contrive from the final medal counts in Sochi:
| Korea, South |
Germany |
Czech Republic |
Latvia |
| Netherlands |
Sweden |
Canada |
Japan |
| Italy |
Russia |
United States |
Ukraine |
| Australia |
Austria |
France |
China |
|
| 3 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
| 8 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
| 0 |
3 |
9 |
1 |
| 0 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
30 |
| 3 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
| 7 |
7 |
0 |
4 |
| 2 |
1 |
7 |
0 |
| 2 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
41 |
| 2 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
| 9 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
| 6 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
| 1 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
48 |
| |
INONUTINK had this to say about her victory: |
| |
I am pleased AND humbled by this outcome,
surrounded as I was by some of the best game minds of our generation here in the
greater Washington area and beyond. After numerous years of watching David's contests,
this was the first for which I understood the rules well enough to play, no less
formulate a strategy. Of course, I got lucky, too! 
And three cheers for the GameMaster, who tells me the next stop is Rio for the World Cup!
Thanks! |
|
|
|
Alexander Legkov of Russia won the men's 50km cross-country ski race in 1:46:55.2,
a time which was well below all of our contestants' tiebreaker predictions.
As if she needed it,
INONUTINK submitted the closest prediction.
|
The Contest Manager and staff thank everyone for playing. As our winner has
already noted, look for the next contest to be based on the World Cup soccer tournament,
which will be held in Rio de Janeiro in June of this year! |
|
Medals
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Russia | 13 | 11 | 9 | 33 |
| Norway | 11 | 5 | 10 | 26 |
| Canada | 10 | 10 | 5 | 25 |
| United States | 9 | 7 | 12 | 28 |
| Netherlands | 8 | 7 | 9 | 24 |
| Germany | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| Switzerland | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| Belarus | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Austria | 4 | 8 | 5 | 17 |
| France | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 |
| Poland | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| China | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| Korea, South | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Sweden | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 |
| Czech Republic | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Slovenia | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Japan | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| Finland | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Ukraine | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Italy | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Latvia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Australia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Croatia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
Player Roster and Scoring Details
| 40 |
| Austria |
Chile |
Switzerland |
Italy |
| Norway |
China |
Finland |
Iceland |
| Canada |
Denmark |
France |
Japan |
| Argentina |
United States |
Germany |
Netherlands |
| Tiebreaker: 2:05:57.3 |
Submitted: 6:55pm, Jan 29 | |
|
| 4 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
| 1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
| 0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
| 0 |
9 |
8 |
8 |
18 |
| 8 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
| 5 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
| 0 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
| 0 |
7 |
6 |
7 |
18 |
| 5 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
| 0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| 5 |
0 |
7 |
3 |
| 0 |
2 |
5 |
9 |
4 |
|
|
| 65 |
| China |
Korea, South |
France |
Slovenia |
| Switzerland |
Russia |
Japan |
Croatia |
| Austria |
Sweden |
Poland |
Slovakia |
| Netherlands |
Italy |
Finland |
United Kingdom |
| Tiebreaker: 2:05:44.5 |
Submitted: 11:56pm, Feb 4 | |
|
| 3 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
| 6 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
| 4 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
| 8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
13 |
| 4 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
| 3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
| 8 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
| 7 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
32 |
| 2 |
2 |
7 |
4 |
| 2 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
| 5 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
| 9 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
20 |
| From Friday night gaming at Crystal City. :) |
|
| 72 |
| United States |
Austria |
Slovenia |
Finland |
| Norway |
Switzerland |
Sweden |
United Kingdom |
| Korea, South |
Netherlands |
France |
Japan |
| Belarus |
Russia |
China |
Italy |
| Tiebreaker: 2:06:00.0 |
Submitted: 11:59pm, Feb 5 | |
|
| 9 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
| 1 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
| 3 |
8 |
4 |
1 |
| 5 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
16 |
| 7 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
| 5 |
3 |
7 |
1 |
| 3 |
7 |
4 |
4 |
| 0 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
32 |
| 2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
| 0 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
| 2 |
9 |
7 |
3 |
| 1 |
9 |
2 |
6 |
24 |
| This is the official entry of the Contest Manager, who is ineligible to receive a prize. |
|
| 56 |
| France |
United States |
Netherlands |
Denmark |
| Germany |
Austria |
Canada |
China |
| Norway |
Sweden |
Italy |
Switzerland |
| Russia |
Finland |
Japan |
Georgia |
| Tiebreaker: 2:05:55.5 |
Submitted: 4:18pm, Feb 5 | |
|
| 4 |
9 |
8 |
0 |
| 8 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
| 1 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
| 3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
| 4 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
| 6 |
8 |
0 |
4 |
| 5 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
| 1 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
14 |
| 7 |
2 |
9 |
0 |
| 5 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
| 0 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
| 9 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
31 |
|
|
| 44 |
| Latvia |
Finland |
Switzerland |
Slovakia |
| United Kingdom |
Poland |
Estonia |
Croatia |
| Czech Republic |
Belarus |
Australia |
France |
| Netherlands |
Japan |
Sweden |
Italy |
| Tiebreaker: 2:05:43.4 |
Submitted: 9:06am, Jan 31 | |
|
| 0 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
| 1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| 2 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
| 8 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| 2 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
| 1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| 4 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| 7 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
20 |
| 2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| 2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| 2 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
| 9 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
22 |
|
|
| 69 |
| Switzerland |
Germany |
France |
Russia |
| Japan |
United States |
Poland |
Netherlands |
| Finland |
Norway |
Korea, South |
China |
| Austria |
Canada |
Czech Republic |
Sweden |
| Tiebreaker: 2:05:11.4 |
Submitted: 2:57am, Feb 5 | |
|
| 6 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
| 1 |
9 |
4 |
8 |
| 1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
| 4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
21 |
| 3 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
| 4 |
7 |
1 |
7 |
| 3 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
| 8 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
10 |
| 2 |
5 |
7 |
9 |
| 3 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
| 1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| 5 |
5 |
2 |
6 |
38 |
|
|
| 67 |
| Switzerland |
Italy |
Czech Republic |
Poland |
| Austria |
Korea, South |
Finland |
Netherlands |
| Norway |
China |
France |
Sweden |
| Russia |
Canada |
Germany |
United States |
| Tiebreaker: 2:05:54.5 |
Submitted: 3:47pm, Feb 2 | |
|
| 6 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| 4 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
| 1 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
| 3 |
0 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
| 3 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
| 8 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
| 5 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
| 1 |
0 |
6 |
7 |
38 |
| 2 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
| 5 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
| 0 |
2 |
7 |
6 |
| 9 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
20 |
|
|
| 103 |
| France |
Korea, South |
China |
Italy |
| Ukraine |
Norway |
Canada |
Sweden |
| Netherlands |
Germany |
United States |
Czech Republic |
| Switzerland |
Russia |
Austria |
Japan |
| Tiebreaker: 2:04:58.9 |
Submitted: 9:37pm, Feb 5 | |
|
| 4 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
| 1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| 8 |
8 |
9 |
2 |
| 6 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
28 |
| 4 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
| 0 |
5 |
0 |
7 |
| 7 |
6 |
7 |
4 |
| 3 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
22 |
| 7 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
| 1 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
| 9 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
| 2 |
9 |
5 |
3 |
53 |
|
|
| 53 |
| Norway |
Russia |
Finland |
United States |
| Austria |
Slovakia |
Netherlands |
Ukraine |
| China |
United Kingdom |
Canada |
Korea, South |
| Slovenia |
Belarus |
Switzerland |
France |
| Tiebreaker: 2:06:14.2 |
Submitted: 6:13pm, Jan 31 | |
|
| 1 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
| 4 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
| 3 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| 2 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
| 5 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
| 8 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
| 4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| 2 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
20 |
| 0 |
9 |
1 |
2 |
| 5 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
| 2 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
| 4 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
28 |
|
|
| 11 |
| United States |
Ukraine |
Albania |
Sweden |
| Canada |
Czech Republic |
Spain |
Slovakia |
| Italy |
Switzerland |
Russia |
Finland |
| Romania |
Japan |
Belarus |
Norway |
| Tiebreaker: 2:05:35.7 |
Submitted: 9:35am, Jan 16 | |
|
| 9 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| 0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
| 0 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
| 0 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
| 7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
| 0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| 2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
| 0 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
| 2 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
| 5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| 6 |
2 |
9 |
1 |
| 0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
| 36 |
| Switzerland |
Finland |
Russia |
Austria |
| Czech Republic |
Poland |
Sweden |
China |
| Canada |
Germany |
Hungary |
United Kingdom |
| Croatia |
United States |
Denmark |
Korea, South |
| Tiebreaker: 4:43:11.4 |
Submitted: 10:49am, Jan 18 | |
|
| 6 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
| 2 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
| 0 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
| 0 |
9 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
| 3 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
| 4 |
1 |
7 |
4 |
| 0 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
| 1 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
| 2 |
1 |
9 |
5 |
| 2 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
| 5 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
| 0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
22 |
|
|
Rules
Think of this contest as a virtual Rubik's Cube with a 4x4 grid of squares on each side (if you're not familiar with such a cube, click here for a description). Instead of colors, the squares contain numbers, and these numbers will be determined by the medals won by selected countries during the Olympic Games. All you have to do is pick 16 countries and arrange them in a 4x4 grid before the Games begin; we'll do the counting as medals are awarded. If you wind up with the same number in all 16 of your squares at the end of the Games — and the number is greater than zero — you win!
Wait a minute — is this even remotely possible?
Funny you should ask. No, your chance of successfully predicting the medal counts for 16 countries — all of them equal — is somewhat less than your chance of being struck by lightning while cashing in a winning lottery ticket during a total solar eclipse. Such a highly improbable opportunity for success reminded the contest staff of Laughton.org of the legendary Gordian Knot and inspired this contest's name.
Out of a sense of decency, or perhaps just because they don't want to spend two weeks updating a scoreboard full of zeroes, the contest staff has decided to make two concessions that will give players a chance of scoring some points. First, as Alexander the Great sliced the Gordian Knot in half with his sword, our virtual cube will be halved as well, so players only need to solve three sides — one gold, one silver, one bronze — rather than the usual six. Second — in a first for Laughton.org — the contest staff will award points for partial solutions: getting as few as two adjacent squares to match on any side of the cube will earn points.
Playing and scoring
A contest entry is composed of 16 different countries arranged in a 4x4 grid as in this example:
| Russia | Finland | Czech Republic | France |
| Korea, South | Austria | Canada | Poland |
| Netherlands | China | United States | United Kingdom |
| Switzerland | Norway | Germany | Sweden |
No country may be appear in the grid more than once.
As the selected countries compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics, the number of medals won by each will be tallied on separate grids for gold, silver, and bronze, using the same pattern as entered by the player. Only the last digit of the medal count will be used; if a country wins 15 gold medals, the number 5 will appear in the corresponding square. Thus if the countries shown in the grid above won the following medals,
| gold | silver | bronze | total |
| Austria | 9 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
| Canada | 7 | 10 | 7 | 24 |
| China | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 |
| Czech Republic | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Finland | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| France | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| Germany | 11 | 12 | 6 | 29 |
| Korea, South | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
|
| gold | silver | bronze | total |
| Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| Norway | 2 | 8 | 9 | 19 |
| Poland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Russia | 8 | 6 | 8 | 22 |
| Switzerland | 5 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
| Sweden | 7 | 2 | 5 | 14 |
| United Kingdom | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| United States | 9 | 9 | 7 | 25 |
|
these results would be entered in the grids for each type of medal:
Points are awarded for adjacent squares containing identical values; adjacent squares may be in any direction, including diagonals. The number of points awarded equals the sum of the numbers appearing in the adjacent identical squares. In the grids below, squares contributing to the point total are highlighted and scored:
| Gold
22
|
|
Silver
30
|
|
Bronze
33
|
| Total: 85 points |
Which countries to pick and how to arrange them in the grid is the choice of each player. The contest staff can't give you any guidance on strategy, but we can direct you to some links that may prove useful.
Participating Countries
| Albania |
| Algeria |
| Andorra |
| Argentina |
| Armenia |
| Australia |
| Austria |
| Azerbaijan |
| Bahamas |
| Belarus |
| Belgium |
| Bermuda |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Brazil |
| Bulgaria |
| Canada |
| Cayman Islands |
| Chile |
| China |
| Chinese Taipei |
| Colombia |
| Croatia |
| Cyprus |
| Czech Republic |
|
| Denmark |
| Eritrea |
| Estonia |
| Ethiopia |
| Finland |
| France |
| Georgia |
| Germany |
| Greece |
| Haiti |
| Hong Kong |
| Hungary |
| Iceland |
| Iran |
| Ireland |
| Israel |
| Italy |
| Jamaica |
| Japan |
| Kazakhstan |
| Kenya |
| Korea, North |
| Korea, South |
| Kyrgyzstan |
|
| Latvia |
| Lebanon |
| Liechtenstein |
| Lithuania |
| Luxembourg |
| Macedonia |
| Madagascar |
| Malta |
| Mexico |
| Monaco |
| Mongolia |
| Montenegro |
| Morocco |
| Netherlands |
| New Zealand |
| Norway |
| Pakistan |
| Peru |
| Philippines |
| Poland |
| Portugal |
| Puerto Rico |
| Republic of Moldova |
| Romania |
|
| Russian Federation |
| San Marino |
| Senegal |
| Serbia |
| Slovakia |
| Slovenia |
| South Africa |
| Spain |
| Sweden |
| Switzerland |
| Tajikistan |
| Thailand |
| Tonga |
| Turkey |
| Ukraine |
| United Kingdom |
| United States |
| Uzbekistan |
| Venezuela |
| Virgin Islands, British |
| Virgin Islands, US |
| Zimbabwe |
|
During the competition
A roster of players with country selections and comments will be added to this page before the opening ceremonies begin in Sochi on February 7, 2014. Scores and standings will be posted on this page and updated frequently during the Olympic competition. Only the final tally will count for winning prizes and acquiring the eternal bragging rights associated with victory in a contest at Laughton.org, but intermediate results may confer some fleeting opportunities for one-upmanship at your local watering hole.
How to Enter
Use the Official Entry Form to submit your entry no later than midnight (US Eastern Time) on February 5, 2014. No late entries will be accepted.
While we have allowed — even encouraged — multiple entries from individual players in the past, we politely but firmly request that each player submit only one entry for this contest. Previous contests were advertised only to friends and family, but this one will be advertised to a much wider audience, and multiple entries from many players will be unmanageable.
Your e-mail address will be the unique identifier for your entry; it will only be used to contact you to confirm acceptance and/or to notify you of a prize (should you be so lucky). It will not appear anywhere on this website or be used for any other purpose. If you want to change your entry after submitting it, simply submit another using the same address; the new entry will overwrite the previous one as long as it is submitted before the deadline.
The Prize
 | | Due to the small number of entrants, only one prize will be awarded: a Signalman Programmable Word-Signal Bar With Siren.
This is the ideal device to guide a delivery drone to your doorstep, place your order at your local coffee shop when you've lost your voice,
or send a message to your neighbor that the NSA won't monitor (unless it's their drone that's buzzing by your doorstep). |
Ties
The Official Entry Form provides a field into which the player may make a prediction of the winning time for the men's 50km cross-country ski event scheduled for February 23. You may find it useful to know that the winning time for this event was 02:06:20.8 in 2002, 02:06:11.8 in 2006, and 2:05:35.5 in 2010. If two or more players earn identical point totals at the end of the Olympic Games, the player whose prediction is closest to the actual winning time — regardless of whether it's higher or lower — will be the winner. In the highly unlikely event that players are tied even after comparing tiebreaker predictions, the player whose entry arrived first at Laughton.org will be the winner (if you revised your entry, the arrival time of the latest revision will count for this purpose).
Etc.
All contests at Laughton.org are free and open to anyone with an e-mail address.
Illegible, irrational, or improperly formatted entries will be discarded. The Official Entry Form is designed to prevent erroneous entries, but we always expect the unexpected.
The Official Entry Form also allows players to add comments to their entries. Such comments will appear in the player roster. Voluminous text may be edited, perhaps brutally. Much depends upon the mood of the contest staff when the entry arrives. Entries containing libelous, scurrilous, or scandalous text — which never fail to peeve the contest staff — will be discarded.
The contest staff originally wanted to call this contest Rubik's Ice Cube, but it turns out that such a thing already exists, along with a lot of other Rubik variants. There's even software to design your own cube and a virtual 4-dimensional Rubik's cube that you can play with. Alas, 4-dimensional contests are beyond the capabilities of the contest staff of Laughton.org... for now.
A Final Word
Beware!
Not all cubes are fun. |
Do aliens want our cubes? |
Don't torture your cubes. |
