Crag: The Numbers Game (Syn., Episode 37)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Crag's back -- and so is Bryan Law.  He has won one match and $10,000.

You could be his next challenger -- if you come the closest to the right answer to this question.


Before the show, a member of our Crag staff rolled three money dice. The numbers 1 through 6 were replaced with, respectively, a penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter, a half dollar and a dollar. What is the sum of the single roll of the three dice? Please make sure your answer is lower than $3.01 and higher than 2¢.

Please PM your answer in 24 hours from now.

[Bryan]

Checking in!

[nelson17]

ok Doug I'm kinda confused about it

[dougmorrisontheair]

Okay, let's see the result of the roll first.

(staffer rolls money dice on Super Crag set up)

(ding)

Just a quarter and two pennies for a total of 27¢. Who's the closest?

85¢ tbktravis

Travis! Welcome aboard. Crag's coming up shortly.

[dougmorrisontheair]

Staff announcer: Preparations continue for the primaries -- tonight at six.

---

(lights in studio gradually are turned on)

(shortened version of the WGYN opening theme plays)




Three dice...



...two players...




...one million dollars. It's time to play...




...Crag: The Numbers Game.

(audience cheers)

Greetings, aloha, howdy, and welcome to Crag. I'm Doug Morris -- ready to give away a lot of money -- and two players eager to take it home.

They're Bryan and Travis. Applause, applause, applause.

(audience cheers)

Bryan's won $10,000 thus far -- and looking for his second match victory.

Travis, you're the newcomer. Please tell us about yourself.

[tbktravis]

I’m Travis Coulter from Salem, Oregon. I’m 30 yrs old right now I’m a benefit advisor for a private union insurance company. In my spare time I play video games mostly but I love board games and trivia.

[dougmorrisontheair]

Well we have lots of trivia and Crag's based on a board game. So you're in the right place. Good luck to you today.

Bryan, $10,000 to the good thus far. Are you ear-marking some of that fundage for attending NASCAR races?

[Bryan]

I’ve been behind the last couple of seasons, so it’s time to catch up.

[dougmorrisontheair]

Well, a million dollars should get you into a luxury box at Talladega or Daytona.

Travis, Bryan, again, good luck to you both.

Much like the regular dice game of Crag, our game is all about numbers -- particularly numbers you can roll on our big trio of dice.

The right answer to each question on our show is a number between 1 and 6 inclusive. Sometimes, we'll ask for the Roman numeral or ordinal equivalent of one of those numbers -- perhaps even a spelled-out word (between "one" and "six" inclusive).

And we often have missing digit questions. I'll explain how they work later.

[dougmorrisontheair]

[NOTE FROM DOUG: I noticed a typo in the earlier question about Settlers of Catan -- and that might have thrown off the players. Best to replace with a new question.]


Let's begin this first numbers game of the match...

(ding)

...with this query.

Single digit question: If you're playing the 10 card in the standard version of the board game of Sorry!, you may move a pawn forward 10 spaces or backward -- how many spaces?
10 Bryan
23 tbktravis
06 randomizer.org

(Bryan buzzes in)

Bryan?

[Bryan]

Forward?

[Bryan]

Crap!

[Bryan]

6?

[dougmorrisontheair]

He finally settled on the single digit of a 6. Can you move your pawn backward 6 spaces when playing a 10 card in Sorry!?

(buzz)

No.  Sorry.  Travis, you have a chance to steal control of the dice in this round.

The Crag dice will offer the right answer and two wrong answers. It's up to you to choose the right answer.

(ding)

And I'll repeat the question

If you're playing the 10 card in the standard version of the board game of Sorry!, you may move a pawn forward 10 spaces or backward -- how many spaces?

Travis, can you move your pawn backward 1, 2, or 3 spaces?

[tbktravis]

I’m going to say 3

[dougmorrisontheair]

Travis says you could go back 3 spaces when playing the 10. Is that right?

(buzz)

No -- sorry -- just 1 space backward. Interesting tidbit about Sorry! -- if you played a 4 card, you'd *have* to go backward 4 spaces. Move your pawns backward *just* enough -- and you don't have to go all around the board to get your pawns safe.

So, no score after Round 1. Remember, we play ten rounds in a game -- unless one player scores at least 100 points first. High scorer either way wins $2500; the runner-up picks up $500. We also award an extra $1000 for the first player in the match to roll a Crag. $5000 will take the match -- and give you a shot at the Super Crag for the million.

(ding)

Let's see if we have better luck with a question about this great country of ours.

Single digit question: How many U.S. states have names that begin with the letter I?
20 Bryan
98 tbktravis
75 randomizer.org

(Travis buzzes in)

Travis?

[tbktravis]

I believe it’s 4

[dougmorrisontheair]

Travis says 4 states' names start with I. Is he right?

(ding; audience applause)

Yes. They are Indiana, Illinois, Idaho, and Iowa.

Travis, with that correct answer, you've earned up to two rolls of our Crag dice -- to try to score as many points as you can.

These are the different ways you can score a lot of points.

There are four different straights in the game of Crag worth 20 points each. The 1-2-3 make up a low straight; 4-5-6 a high straight; 1-3-5 an odd straight and 2-4-6 an even straight. It doesn't matter how the numbers appear on the board.

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

And, remember, 13 *is* lucky in Crag. If you roll different numbers that total 13, I'll double the sum for 26 points. *However* -- if you have a pair of numbers plus an odd number that total 13, that's a Crag for 50 points.

(audience cheers)

(rolling sfx)

The dice are now rolling, Travis. We lock them into your buzzer one at a time.

---

[Travis, please "stop the dice" with three letters from A to F inclusive. You may repeat letters if you think that helps.]

[tbktravis]

(Bzzt) FAD

[dougmorrisontheair]

(ding)

Stop on a 6.

(ding) (scattered cheers)

Stop on a *1*.

(ding) (scattered groans)

And stop on a 3. Almost had beginner's luck, Travis. That's not a combination worth 20 or more. So you may stop the round here and take the sum of the dice in points -- 10, in this case -- or you may freeze up to two dice and reroll the rest.

---

[Travis, if you want a reroll, please tell us which dice to freeze, if any; then provide (a) stopper letter(s) for the number(s) you're not freezing.]

[tbktravis]

Reroll the 6. And (stop) A

[dougmorrisontheair]

Reroll the 6, he says. So that means we'll freeze the 1 and 3.


(freeze sfx)

Travis, for the rest of this round, those dice will not reroll. The 6, as you requested will reroll.


(rolling sfx)

And there it goes. Two chances at a straight here.

(ding) (scattered groans)

And that's not going to do it. Sorry about that.

After Round 2:
Bryan
tbktravis

With Travis leading 5-0, let's see if we have better luck with a missing digit question. Bryan knows how these work. For Travis and anyone else looking in for the first time, here's how a typical missing digit question works.

(ding)

This is the year "Le Banquier", a Canadian-based version of "Deal or No Deal", debuted on a French language network. All you have to do is tell us the missing digit represent by the question mark. In this case...

(ding)

...the 2 is missing. Now let's clear the board and play our third round question.

Missing digit question: If you win $1,000,000 in Super Crag, the payoff is equal to ten million dimes. I'll show you the number of ridges on a U.S. dime -- and you tell me the missing digit.

(ding)


30 Bryan
08 tbktravis
79 randomizer.org

(Bryan buzzes in)

Bryan?

[Bryan]

4

[dougmorrisontheair]

Bryan say there are 148 ridges on an American ten-cent piece. Is he right?

(buzz)

Incorrect. Travis, another chance to steal.

(ding)

Again, this is the number of ridges on a U.S. dime. Travis, is the actual missing digit a 1, 3 or 5?

[tbktravis]

I’m gonna say 5

[dougmorrisontheair]

Travis says there are 158 ridges on an American ten-cent piece. Is he right?

(buzz)

No -- just 118.

After Round 3:
Bryan
tbktravis

No one scores. Travis still leading five-nil. Let's see if getting in a New York state of mind leads to better luck.


Missing digit question: New York City is home to the Empire State Building. I'll show you the number of floors inside the iconic building -- and you tell me the missing digit.

(ding)


40 Bryan
92 tbktravis
93 randomizer.org

(Travis buzzes in)

Travis?

[tbktravis]

103

[dougmorrisontheair]

Okay, Travis is saying 1 is the actual first digit. Is he right?

(ding; audience applause) (rolling sfx)

Yes -- and the dice are already rolling as you pad your lead, Travis.

[tbktravis]

STOP (DAD)

[dougmorrisontheair]

(ding)

Stop on a 4.

(ding)

Stop on a 5.

(ding) (scattered cheers)

And stop on a 6. Travis, that's a high straight for 20 points if you wish to end the round here. If you think you can do better, rerolling's still an option.