The Challenge Factory discussion

ROUND 14: SUPER SPEEDY SERIES CHALLENGE

✸ This is a team challenge that requires 2 books a week . The object of the game is to roll the die and move along the board. To win a team must roll past 100. Teams will roll on Thursdays & Sundays.

✸ R13 Super Speedy Sign Ups are open 01/15 through 01/23. Then teams will be formed and the game will officially start on 01/26.

✸ Teams are formed at random.

✸ Teams will roll the die by clicking going to "https://www.random.org/dice/" on Sundays and Thursdays once their team has completed their reads. Please note you will have to change the dice to ONE die.


**VERY IMPORTANT**
A team CANNOT advance if all the reviews are not complete and in by the deadline. Reviews are due at the latest by end of day on Thursday and Sunday respectively - 11.59pm Central Time. Without a free pass to cover a review still missing by deadline, the team will have to sit out the next roll. That being said, players should have their reviews in on Wednesday (for the Thursday roll) and on Saturday (for the Sunday roll). Your team captain cannot roll until ALL of the team reviews have been posted.

❖If a player fails to have their book done two times throughout the game (excluding a prearranged absence) they will no longer be a part of the team.

✸ Prearranged absence must be requested from the moderator in charge by pm or in your team thread before the team rolls for the period you need to skip.


HOW TO PICK A BOOK:
✸ Books are based on the spot you're on, not the roll of the die.
If you land on single digit spot, for example let's say you land on spot 5, then you have to read a book that's #5 in a series. For double digit numbers, for example you land on spot 48 you can read either a #4 or a #8 in a series.
✸ Standalone books can be used for a 1 or a 0
✸ First in a series can be used for a 1
✸ I don't expect anyone to read a series out of order and for people that don't read series books that still want to play there will be an alternate option. There will be an alternate option for each spot.
✸ Half books: ½ or .5 count only if they meet the page requirement AND will be judged by preceding whole number numeral on Goodreads.
Example: Spot 8: A MacKenzie Clan Gathering (MacKenzies & McBrides, #8.5) would count for spot 8 because it meets the page limit.
✸ Books in multiple series can be used for ANY of the series. An example: Azagoth (1001 Dark Nights, #6; Lords of Deliverance, #5.5; Demonica, #10.5) can be used for spot 6 for 1001 Dark Nights, spot 5 for LoD or spot 10 for Demonica because it meets the page limit.


✸ There will be a separate thread for captains to post their place on the board after rolling and to post a link to the team's completed reviews.


FREE PASS
✸ Teams will have a chance to earn 1 Free Pass to roll. To earn your free pass your team has to complete their reads a day before the next roll. Once your team has done this you will have 1 free pass. The free pass will allow a team to roll if they are missing a review(s) before the cutoff. Once you've used it, you can't earn another one. It's a one-time shot.
NOTE:
✸ The free pass may not be used for the win.
✸ If the player whose review the free pass is covering for has already previously missed a deadline, they must submit the missing review within one day after the deadline if they wish to retain their place on the team.


BONUS POINTS:

✸ One point can be earned for reading three or more books in a series.
✸ One point can be earned for reading a book with >500 pages.
✸ One point can be earned for starting and finishing a series. There must be at least 4 books in that series. Series + spin-off totalling ≥4 books also counts. For series with >9 books, point will be awarded for reading books 1-9. For still ongoing series, all books published to date (OR up to #9 in longer series) must be read.~ No re-reads on this one.
✸ 2 in 1: One point can be earned for reading a book that fits both the series number and the alternate for the spot you are on.
✸ One point can be earned for never picking a book from the alternate list. This point is awarded when your team rolls past 90.
✸ One point can be earned for always picking a book from the alternate list. This point is awarded when your team rolls past 90.
NOTE:
✸ Each point can only be earned once per team.
✸ The series-specific bonus points (3 or more books/ starting and finishing a series) must be two different series OR the same series read by two different players.
✸ Single book bonuses (>500 pages/ 2 in 1) may overlap with a series bonus.

How to use bonus points:
✸ Bonus points can be added to your roll to move you further along the board. Each bonus point can only be earned once and spent once.
✸ Bonus points may be used for the win. Example: Your team rolls and lands on spot 97. Your team has earned 4 bonus points. You can use your bonus points to move to spot 101 and compete for the win.
✸ You don't have to use all your bonus points at the same time.
✸ You can also use your bonus points earlier in the game. Example: Your team has earned 3 bonus points. Your team rolls and lands on spot 88. A team member doesn't havea book that is either #8 in a series or fits the alternate. They do however have a #9. Your team may decide to use 1 bonus point to move to spot 89 and have 2 bonus points remaining for later use.


✸ Re-reads are allowed ( ~EXCEPT on Winning Spots, no re-reads to win)
✸ Page limit: min. 140 pages
✸ When using an anthology you may use any of the numbers in the book except for the .5 since this means ½. But you must review each story in the anthology. The same applies to short story collections.
✸ Series # will be based on how GR has it listed.
✸ Comics, graphic novels and manga don't count for this challenge
✸ Deadline cutoffs are based on US Central time zone

✸✸✸ Any questions please feel free to ask!

Round 14 SSS Sign Ups

ALTERNATE LIST:
**titles exclude leading articles (a, an, the)

1. Cover Item: Umbrella/Parasol
2. Title 'S'
3. Fantasy
4. MC is older than 60
5. Author 'Y'
6. Cover Item: Furniture
7. School/College/University
8. Africa
9. Cover: Orange
10. Published between 1950 and 1999
11. Two Word Title (excluding articles like A, An, The) Deadly Silence, The Hunger Games
12. Published 2001-2010
13. Author 'F'
14. Mystery/Thriller
15. Set in space
16. MC is in their 20's
17. Cover Item: Weapon MC
18. Cover Item: One person
19. Young Adult/New Adult
20. Title 'O'
21. LGBTQ+
22. Cover: Black
23. Author 'V'
24. Title 'R'
25. Less than 100 ratings
26. North America
27. Author 'J'
28. Cover Item: Sun/Moon
29. Originally published in a language other than English
30. Title 'M'
31. Published 2016-2019
32. Author 'L'
33. Re-read
34. Cover: Pink
35. Author 'K'
36. Cover Item: Hat/Helmet/Other Headwear
37. GR average rating >4.0
38. Set in a Fictional Location/Universe
39. Asia
40. Published 2022
41. Four or More Words Title (excluding articles like A, An, The) The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
42. Cover: Red
43. Europe
44. Non-Fiction
45. Cover Item: Animal
46. Set anytime between 1837-1901
47. Award Winner (must state which/when)
48. Author 'B'
49. Book with a funeral in it
50. Cover Item: Jewelry
51. Set on an island
52. Author 'C'
53. Set sometime before 1600 AD
54. South America
55. Debut Novel or Debut Author
56. Cover: Yellow/Gold
57. Set in a place you've visited
58. Cover Item: Hands/Arms/Feet/Legs (no other body parts visible)
59. Author 'E'
60. MC travels by train
61. Cover Item: Water
62. Title 'D'
63. Published 2021
64. Published the year you were born
65. Author 'T'
66. Published 2020
67. Seasonal Theme (i.e Christmas, Halloween etc)
68. Three Word Title (excludes articles like A, An, The) Behind Closed Doors or Etched in Bone
69. Title 'B'
70. Favorite Author
71. MC travels by airplane
72. Cover Item: Book
73. Set anytime between 1600-1837
74. Cover Item: Lamp/Candle
75. Title 'L'
76. Cover: Purple
77. Set in the future
78. MC has at least one child
79. Book to Movie/TV (must state how book qualifies: listopia, imdb, precis)
80. Title 'P'
81. Author 'G'
82. Several authors
83. One Word Title (excluding articles like A, An, The) The Witness or Divergent
84. Author uses a pseudonym
85. Cover Item: Food/Drink
86. Author 'Z'
87. Title 'I'
88. Cover: Green
89. Book that a teammate rated 5 stars
90. Oceania
91. Author uses their middle name/initial (e.g. Robert J. Sawyer, Rita Mae Brown)
92. Title has a subtitle
93. Cover: Blue
94. Science Fiction
95. Cover Item: Two or more people
96. Number in the Title (Third Grave Dead Ahead or Every Fifteen Minutes)
97. MC has a pet
98. Author 'G'
99. Cover Item: Mode of Transportation
100. Romance
101. Published 2011-2015
102. Cover: White
103. Cover Item: Dress
104. Title'W'
105. Book with a wedding in it
106. New to You Author
107. Cover Item: Building
108. Cover: Brown
109. Author 'N'
110. Title 'H'
111. Published before 1950

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

★ You can use any edition of the book you read.
★ Books must be started after your team has rolled.
★ Review posts MUST include the following: Book title, author, cover, how it qualifies for the spot you're on, date finished, rating, review (min. 3 sentences)

Alternates:
★ Publication years: any edition so long as it is published in the given year
★ Cover Colour: must be at least 50% (see guidelines in post below)
★ Cover Item: must have the given item on the cover
★ Locations: book must be set at least partially in the given location
★ Author letters: author's first, middle, or last name must start with the given letter
★ Title letters: first word in the title starts with the given letter, excluding the lead ARTICLE (The, A, An...)

FOR THOSE PLAYING BOTH
★YES, you can use the same book in both challenges.


EXAMPLE OF AN ACCEPTABLE POST

Week 2: Roll 2
Spot: 13

Book: Hell & High Water by Charlie Cochet
Qualification: THIRDS #1
Finished: 11 Jun 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Review:
Testifying against his partner and getting him locked up for murder leaves Detective Dex Daley deserted by his friends and colleagues as well as his boyfriend, a repeat target of violence, and on his way out of the job at the Human Police Force he loves. Instead of fired, however, he is recruited to join the elite Therian-Human Intelligence Recon Defense Squadron (THIRDS), working side by side with shapeshifters as a Defense Agent. Tossed right into the middle of a murder investigation, Dex has to get accustomed to his new situation quickly - and the fact that his new team is still reeling from the loss of one of their own and not at all happy to integrate his replacement really doesn't help. Neither does the fact that Dex's new teamleader may be a jerk, but he's a very attractive one.

These books have been on my TBR for ages, and I'm glad to finally get around to reading them. It took me a while to get into the story, familiarise myself with the universe (I'm really, really not a fan of "let me explain the entirety of my worldbuilding to you textbook-style" prologues, so I was immediately a little dubious about the whole thing), get to know the characters and pick up the terminology, but after a few chapters I was thoroughly hooked. Looking forward to continuing this series.

When using the alternate that involves cover items, colors, or publications years, please be sure to link the correct edition to show how the book qualifies.

Guideline for Alternate Category Cover Colour

Cover colour alternates tend to be a little tricky, since it can be very hard to tell whether something is 50% a certain colour. Here's a handy little 3-step guide for figuring out whether your chosen book qualifies.

1) Use your own judgment. If a book cover is quite clearly overwhelmingly the colour in question, you don't need additional verification.

Examples:
Blue:
Grey:
Yellow:

2) When in doubt, you can use this tool "http://labs.tineye.com/color/" to check a cover. If TinEye confirms your cover is at least 50% the colour in question, go ahead and use it.
Note: You may need to uncheck "Exclude background color from extracted colors" to get a proper result.

Example:
White: (50.3% white according to TinEye)

3) If it's a close call (say, 40-49.9% the right colour according to TinEye), or TinEye gives you a result you vehemently disagree with (apparently it does that sometimes, unfortunately), or you have trouble using the site/ would generally prefer a human opinion, post the book cover in question to the discussion thread and ask me. I reserve the right to overrule TinEye in cases of a close call or dodgy result.

Examples:
Grey: (44.9% grey according to TinEye. I chose to overrule and let the player use it.)
Orange: (41.1% orange according to TinEye. I would probably choose to overrule.)

*

Blue Labyrinth #14

is this good for #1, # 4, and #14...or is it just #14?

Susan A wrote: "Blue Labyrinth #14

is this good for #1, # 4, and #14...or is it just #14?"

It'll work for #14, not for #1 or #4.

Let make sure it is clear in my head on place in challenge double digits for example #14 i can use #1 in series (stand alone allowed), #4 in series, or #14. But for books in series #14 can only be used as #14.

So say I am using the alternate to series title A Veiled & Hallowed Eve would only be good for V. If I needed an A, I should use something like At Attention. Is my understanding correct?

Roger - president of NBR United - wrote: "Let make sure it is clear in my head on place in challenge double digits for example #14 i can use #1 in series (stand alone allowed), #4 in series, or #14. But for books in series #14 can only be ..."

Yes, exactly like that.

Roger - president of NBR United - wrote: "So say I am using the alternate to series title A Veiled & Hallowed Eve would only be good for V. If I needed an A, I should use something like At Attention. Is my u..."

Yes, always exclude the article at the beginning of a title.

For number of words in a title a couple of question. How many words would The Lightning-Struck Heart have (hyphenated words)? The Courtship of Julian St. Albans? (2 word lastname, all one word or two words as opposed to a hyphenated last name)?

NOTE:
✸ Each point can only be earned once per team.
✸ The series-specific bonus points (3 or more books/ starting and finishing a series) must be two different series OR the same series read by two different players.
✸ Single book bonuses (>500 pages/ 2 in 1) may overlap with a series bonus.
I am confused first note points can only be earned once per team but second note implies the series specific can be earned 2 times?

For alternate #64 published year you were born is that first published or an edition published that year?

Number of words in a title:
Hyphenated words count as one word, so The Lightning-Struck Heart counts as a two word title.
Regarding the last name, if it's not hyphenated it counts as two words.


Bonus points, let me try to clarify:
There are two series specific bonus points teams can earn: One for reading 3 (or more) books from the same series, and one for reading a complete series.
One player can't use the same series to get both points, so you can't first read books #1-3 and claim the "3 books from the same series" point, and then read the rest of the series and also claim the "complete series" bonus for it.
You can, however, claim a single book bonus for a book that you are using as part of a series bonus.

... I'm not sure if that makes it any clearer. I can try to clarify further using examples if you prefer?

Roger - president of NBR United - wrote: "For alternate #64 published year you were born is that first published or an edition published that year?"

As long as any edition of the book was published in the year in question, you can use it. Make sure to link the edition published that year in your completion post so I can see it fits.

Denise wrote: "Number of words in a title:
Hyphenated words count as one word, so The Lightning-Struck Heart counts as a two word title.
Regarding the last name, if it's not hyphenated it counts as two words.


..."

Ok I think I understand it for the series. 3 book I reread the First three books of the THIRDS series. Team mate who hasn't read THIRDS yet reads the #1 - #9 of it, he/she can claim start to finish. Correct? Or I read the first 3 book in Thirds. Then I or another teammate can read a new to us series through but if more than 9 whole numbered book in series the first 9 primary book in that series.

Roger - president of NBR United - wrote: "Ok I think I understand it for the series. 3 book I reread the First three books of the THIRDS series. Team mate who hasn't read THIRDS yet reads the #1 - #9 of it, he/she can claim start to finish. Correct? Or I read the first 3 book in Thirds. Then I or another teammate can read a new to us series through but if more than 9 whole numbered book in series the first 9 primary book in that series."

Yes, that's it. Glad we got that sorted out. :)

MC over 60 can I use a 200 year old Vampire for this?

Answers here also apply to SS?

Roger - president of NBR United - wrote: "MC over 60 can I use a 200 year old Vampire for this?"

Sure!

"Answers here also apply to SS?"

Yes, and vice versa.

I just want to be sure I understand this one:

✸ When using an anthology you may use any of the numbers in the book except for the .5 since this means ½. But you must review each story in the anthology. The same applies to short story collections.

for example, There are four complete books in this anthology:
The Year I Turned Sixteen

If I rolled a 2, I still could use this for a series #2, right, as long as I read the whole anthology?

D.L. wrote: "I just want to be sure I understand this one:

✸ When using an anthology you may use any of the numbers in the book except for the .5 since this means ½. But you must review each story in the antho..."

You can. Though if like in this case the #2 book you'd be reading the anthology for meets the minimum page requirement, you can also read only that and link a solo edition for it in your completion post.

Ok question I claim 2/1 because it meet both conditions can I still try for the bonus point for either All series or all alternates?

Yes, it'll count as whichever you need for the purposes of the all series/ all alternates bonus.

For 2 word title or any of the number of word title I should exclude the Article even if it is in the middle like Carry the Ocean?

If I remember correctly, that question came up in a previous round and we ended up with "exclude all articles" for those cases.

Team 2 would like the team name 2 for the Show. Thanks!

IS there any restriction on children's books? as long as they are 140 pages or more?

I'm specifically asking about these:

The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan - and the rest of the series if the books are 140+ pages
Out for Blood - and the rest of the series if the books are 140+ pages

We have a member on team 2 that checked but haven't heard from her since the die roll. At least 2 of us messaged her.

Susan A wrote: "IS there any restriction on children's books? as long as they are 140 pages or more?

I'm specifically asking about these:

The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan - and the rest of the se..."

As long as they're text as opposed to picture books, you can use them. Illustrated texts are fine, too, but nothing that is more pictures than text like picture books, comics, etc.

Roger - president of NBR United - wrote: "We have a member on team 2 that checked but haven't heard from her since the die roll. At least 2 of us messaged her."

Unfortunately, at the moment, there's nothing more you can do than message her as you already have and hope she turns up with a review in time. As she has checked in and thus indicated she's playing and you haven't had a chance to earn the free pass yet, all you can do is wait.
Wolf has played several times before, so she knows the drill and will hopefully be back before deadline.
Worst case scenario, if her review is not in before deadline, you'll unfortunately have to sit out today's roll and continue on Thursday - I hope it doesn't come to that. :(

Team 7 would like to be “7 books for 7 readers” please

Chained / Convicted

does this book work for both 4 and 5?

Susan A wrote: "Chained / Convicted

does this book work for both 4 and 5?"

Well. This is.. weird? But yes, I'll take it.

Hi! I'm sorry if I missed this. Are 2 books enough to count as a series? I've got a 2nd book of a 2 book series in my tbr and am looking for a reason to read it now.

TIA

If it's listed as #2 in a series here on Goodreads, it'll count as such. Doesn't matter how many books the series contains.

Denise wrote: "If it's listed as #2 in a series on here on Goodreads, it'll count as such. Doesn't matter how many books the series contains."

Thank you!

Does a book 0.5 in a series (as long as it meets the page requirement) count for #5 in a series?

It counts as 0. Here's the rule:
✸ Half books: ½ or .5 count only if they meet the page requirement AND will be judged by preceding whole number numeral on Goodreads.

Denise wrote: "It counts as 0. Here's the rule:
✸ Half books: ½ or .5 count only if they meet the page requirement AND will be judged by preceding whole number numeral on Goodreads."

oh, okay. TY!

For mc has at least one child does it have to be biological or as long as he has custodial rights. And is there an age limit?

Can I use same book for both version in ss it fit series in sss it fits alternate? I read the book once but it works for both at time read.

Yes, using the same book for both is fine if you started it after both rolls.

Yes! And for 43?

Roger - president of NBR United - wrote: "For mc has at least one child does it have to be biological or as long as he has custodial rights. And is there an age limit?"

Sorry, I missed that one!

We did a little clarification on this alternate on the SS discussion thread before the game started, this is what I said: Let's say the MC needs to be the parent (biological, foster or adoptive - estranged parent who hasn't seen their kid in years also works) or legal guardian of a minor.

*** We have a winner!! ***

Congratulations to Team 2 - 2 for the Show, who were far enough ahead of everyone else for a leisurely stroll across the finish line and have completed their reads for spot 101!


For everyone asking if this means it's the end of the game for everyone: Each team - or each player individually, if opinions differ within teams - is welcome to keep going until they've crossed the finish line. Let me know if you decide to continue! :)