Crag: The Tournament of Champions (Syn., Episode 31)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Welcome to our fifth anniversary celebration of Crag: The Numbers Game.  Appropriately, we started this netgame in 2013 in another forum.  We've survived changes from that forum to another to here at Net Game Central -- and we show no sign of stopping, thanks to your support.

Antonio Gray, current champion with $9000 (and there is a way that can be right), will defend his crown when the tournament is over.  Meantime, we're about to start our match that pits our top seed against our wild card entry.  


Lenny Jackson and Frank Sartori, come on up!

[redrangerdude]

Checking in!

[grapebuy789]

Checking in.

[dougmorrisontheair]

All right.

Players -- check.

Questions -- check.

Ivan Lendl -- Czech.

We'll start after station identification.

---

Staff announcer: In Calhoun City, 8 stands for news.

---

(lights in studio gradually are turned on)

(shortened version of the WGYN opening theme plays)



Three dice...



...five years...



...one big winner.




This is Crag: The Tournament of Champions.

(audience cheers)

Helloooo, everybody, I'm Doug Morris and welcome to the first episode in our fifth anniversary celebration of Crag: The Numbers Game.

(audience cheers)

To celebrate, we've invited back four of our biggest winners for a special playoff. You'll see two of them today and two of them on the next show. The winners from these two matches play in the finals. The player who ends up champion of champions not only wins the tournament -- but wins no less than $1,000,000 in cash!

(audience cheers)

Let's get the party started by welcoming our first two semifinalists.

Returning with $669,660 in cash and prizes -- our biggest winner in Crag history -- and top seed in the tournament -- Lenny Jackson.

(audience cheers)

And our wild card entry in the tournament -- you just saw him recently. He's back to build on $85,100 in cash. Here's Frank Sartori.

(audience cheers)

Lenny, it's been awhile since we've seen you. Please tell us what you've been up to since you won nearly $670,000 on our show.

[redrangerdude]

Well, I am now a senior in high school and I am applying to 13 different colleges.

[dougmorrisontheair]

Ah, *13* colleges. As you know, 13's a lucky number in this game. It served you well on this show. May at least one of those 13 colleges come knockin' at your door.

Frank, seems like it was just last week that we saw -- because it was last week. What have you been up to since you took us for more than $85,000?

[grapebuy789]

I have been working my tail off at my own college. I've also been hosting Tic Tac Dough on CBS. Things are going very well as of right now.

[dougmorrisontheair]

Ah, so we have a player looking to get into college -- and another player already in college.

Players, the best of luck to both of you -- in your studies and here in the tournament of champions.

You certainly know how to play Crag: The Numbers Game. Here's a quick rundown of the tournament rules.

Each game in the tournament is still a race to 100 points. The game ends when someone reaches 100 points or comes closer to 100 after ten completed rounds.

Each game still pays $2500 to the winner and $500 to the runner-up. And each match is still a race to $5000.

Now, here's where the fun really begins. The first player to collect $5000 advances to the finals *and* -- also earns an instant bonus of $100,000.

(audience cheers)

The winner of this match not only goes to the finals -- but also gets to play a special bonus game where another $100,000 could be won.

(audience cheers)

So, Frank, if you win this match, your winnings could rise to roughly $300,000. Lenny, if you win this match, you could be knocking on the door of $900,000.

(ding)

(audience cheers)

That bell you just heard is an indication from the staff to stop talking money and start the first numbers game.

(scattered laughter from the crowd)

That question mark you see represents the right answer to a single digit question. As always, it's a number higher than 0 and lower than 7. Let's start the tournament with this question. It's a long question right off the bat -- so please play carefully.

Single digit question: One of the reasons Crag: The Numbers Game has lasted this long is because we've stayed as faithful to the original dice game as possible. A certain other game show based on another classic dice game -- not so much. On the short-lived version of the TV game show "Yahtzee", hosted by Peter Marshall, what was the minimum number of celebrities on the panel?
57 redrangerdude
33 grapebuy789
20 randomizer.org

(Frank buzzes in)

Frank?

[grapebuy789]

5 (FBC)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Frank says there were as few as 5 stars per episode of "Yahtzee". Is that right?

(ding; audience applause)

That's right. Sometimes, the show had 6 stars -- with the comedy team of Marty Allen and Steve Rossi sharing one desk at times. But minimum number of 5 stars.

Frank, as you know, with that correct answer, you have a maximum of two rolls of our Crag dice. If you like your first roll, take the points associated with your combination and we'll end the round. But if you'd like a reroll, you may freeze up to two numbers and reroll the rest.

You're familiar with these combinations. For those who aren't, these are the ways you can score a lot of points on Crag.

There are four different straights worth 20 points. The numbers 1-2-3 make a low straight; 4-5-6 a high straight; 1-3-5 an odd straight and 2-4-6 an even straight. Order of the numbers matters not -- just as long as they're all different and they're all low, high, odd or even.

Anytime you roll three of the same number, that's a triple for 25 points.

And as you're both well aware of, 13 is a lucky number in Crag. Anytime the dice total 13, we'll double the sum for 26 points. *But* if you have a pair of numbers and an odd number total 13 on the board, that's a Crag -- and it's worth 50 big points.

(rolling sfx)

There go the dice. Frank, stop them one at a time as they lock into your buzzer.

(ding)

Stop on a 5.

(ding) (scattered cheers)

Stop on a *3*.

(ding) (loud groans)

And a 6 on the end. Overshot it by one. Lenny's happy about that.

Frank, you know your options. You may take the 14 points and end the round here -- or freeze up to two dice and reroll the rest.

[grapebuy789]

I'll re-roll the 3. (D)

[dougmorrisontheair]

(scattered woahs and groans)

Crowd saying that's an early surprise. But it's your game and not theirs. We'll reroll the 3 shortly. First, we freeze the 5 and 6.

(freeze sfx)

For the rest of this round, the 5 and 6 do not reroll. Let's reroll that number in the middle.

(rolling sfx)

And there it goes. A 2 will complete a non-Crag 13 for 26.

(ding) (scattered cheers)

But it's a 5. With the other 5 and the 6, that adds up to a sweet 16 points.

By the way, we still award ten crisp new $100 bills to the first player in this semi-final match to roll a Crag. I know that's a mere pittance compared to the $200,000 one of you could win. But -- hey -- it's always nice to pick up quick and easy cash.

(ding)

Board's clear and we're set for a new round. Away we go.

Single digit question: How many books make up "The Hunger Games" series?
057 redrangerdude
019 grapebuy789
100 randomizer.org

(Lenny buzzes in)

Lenny?

[redrangerdude]

3 (ADD)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Top seed says 3 books in "The Hunger Games" series. Is he right?

(ding; audience applause)

He is. Good job.

(rolling sfx)

Lenny, your first time at rolling the dice.

(ding)


Stop on a 3.

(ding)

Stop on a 2.

(ding)

And stop on a 4. Well -- that's 9 points if you stop here, Lenny. Frank currently has a 16-point lead.

[redrangerdude]

I'll reroll all of them. (BAF)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Freezing nothing. That's allowed. Reroll 'em all, please.

(rolling sfx)

Away they go.

(ding)

Stop on a 5.

(ding) (scattered cheers)

Stop on another 5.

(ding) (loud groans)

And another close call with a 2.

More of those and a lot of health insurance plans are going to get canceled. (scattered laughter from the crowd) Only kidding.

Four-point game as we go to a missing digit question. You know how this goes. For those who don't, here's a sample.

(ding)

This is actually a question we used in our original network version of Crag back in 2013. On the board, we have the year Twinkies were introduced nationally. All you have to do is chime in and tell me the missing digit. Anyone want to guess that missing digit?

(some say 3, others 4, a few say 2)

Well let's see.

(ding)

3. So now let's clear the board.

And we move on to the next query.

Missing digit question: In 2017, Twitter increased the maximum number of characters in a tweet. I'll show you the maximum number -- and you tell me the missing digit.

(ding)


16 redrangerdude
48 grapebuy789
10 randomizer.org

(Lenny buzzes in)

Lenny?

[redrangerdude]

280 (BFA)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Okay, Lenny says the first digit's actually a 2. Does Twitter now allow up to 280 characters per tweet?

(ding; audience applause)

Yes -- which means we can expand upon our online complaints to Comcast.

(audience and crew laugh; some go "woah")


(rolling sfx)

Moooooving right along. Lenny, you'll like take the lead in this round. Let's see what happens.

(ding)

Stop on a 1.

(ding)

Stop on a 4.

(ding)

And stop on a 3. Well that's 8 points in total. That would give you 20 total if you stop here, Lenny.

[redrangerdude]

Reroll them all. (FFC)

[dougmorrisontheair]

No dice on ice again. Very well. Let's reroll 'em all.

(rolling sfx)

Let's see if you have better luck.

(ding)

Stop on a 5.

(ding)

Stop on a 6.

(ding) (scattered cheers)

And there's a 4 to complete the first straight of the tournament -- a high straight for 20 points.

With that, Lenny now has twice as many points as Frank. Let's see if the wild card player can catch up as we fill in a blank.

(MG'7x stinger) (scattered cheers)

And here's your Round 4 question.

In a moment, Earl's going to slide open the incomplete title of a science fiction movie released in 1995. Roughly two decades later, it was made into a weekly series on the SyFy network. Tell us the digit that's missing in the title. OK, Earl, slide it.

(ding)

17 redrangerdude
55 grapebuy789
06 randomizer.org

(Lenny buzzes in)

Lenny?

[redrangerdude]

12 Monkeys (FCA)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Lenny says the missing digit is a 2. Is the actual title "12 Monkeys"?

(ding; audience applause)

Sure is. Good job.

(rolling sfx)

Dice roll again. How much more will you add to your lead?

(ding)

Stop on a 1.

(ding)

Stop on a 3.

(ding)

And stop on another 3. Well -- just 7 points. I think I know what you'll do next, Lenny. But I'm not really allowed to mindread. Take the 7 points or reroll?

[redrangerdude]

Freeze the 3's. (D)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Freezing the threes. Interesting strategy. We'll do that now.

(freeze sfx) (rolling sfx)

And the first number rerolls.

(ding)

Stop on a 6. Worth a dozen in total.

(Frasier's theme plays)

Lenny leads 44 to 16. Here that music calling? Time to bring letters into the tournament as we toss in a Scrambled Eggs question.

(audience cheers)

Players, the question involves an eight-letter scrambled word. I'll give you a clue about the scrambled word and then show it to you.

Don't tell us what the word is. Instead, tell us how many letters are in their correct positions. As many as six of the letters in the word you're about to see are in their right spots.

So here's how we're really starting Round 5.

With the eggs, we've scrambled the name of the winning team of Super Bowl XLVIII. Tell us how many of the eight letters are in their correct positions.

38 redrangerdude
23 grapebuy789
17 randomizer.org

(Frank buzzes in)

Frank?

[grapebuy789]

2 (CCF)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Frank says just 2 letters are in their right places. Is that right?

(ding; audience applause)

Yes. The second A and the S are in their right spots. Rearrange the rest and you get -- Seahawks.

Of course -- Ash wakes when Pikachu jumps on him after he fell asleep during the Seattle game.

(scattered laughter from the crowd)


(rolling sfx)

Frank, you need some points.

(ding)

Stop on a 2.

(ding)

Stop on another 2.

(ding)

And stop on a 5. Well -- just a total of 9 points if you stop here. Frank, you're down by 28 points and we're in Round 5.

[grapebuy789]

Re-roll the 2's. (AD)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Holding on to the Texas sunflower. Let's reroll those deuces.

(freeze sfx) (rolling sfx)

There they go. Let's see if you can make a Crag.

(ding)

Stop on a 6.

(ding)

And stop on a 5. Just missed a high straight for 20 -- but those dice total 16.

With that, Frank, you double up your score to 32. Lenny's still up to 44. Remember, 100 points or the high score after ten rounds pays $2500 in this semi-final game. Next question's on sports.

Single digit question: How many players are on an Olympic beach volleyball team?
98 redrangerdude
10 grapebuy789
22 randomizer.org

(Frank buzzes in)

Frank?

[grapebuy789]

2 (AAF)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Our wild card entry says 2 players are on an Olympic beach volleyball team. Is that right?

(ding; audience applause)

That is. My next question -- how many fellas in the audience want to see Lindsay Vonn on an American beach volleyball team?

(lot of men in crowd cheer)


(rolling sfx)

Thought so. Frank, let's see if you can take back the lead.

(ding)

Stop on a 1.

(ding)

Stop on another 1.

(ding)

And stop on a 6 -- for a total of 8 points.

Frank, if you stop the round here, you'd narrow the gap in score a bit. Right now, you're down by 12.