I sometimes wonder if the twin we're paired with may think he or she has to beat our score, rather than equalise it.

If that happens, and if I know that person is from the other side of the world, I just wait until I know it's bedtime over there, and then finish it off. There's something to be said for being isolated on the bottom of the globe after all. Normally it pongs to be so far away from everyone else.

Heck, you can even DRIVE to the continent now from England. If we tried that here, we'd drown.

Ok, if I ever win the lottery I am getting you one of these:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DUKW

the last page brings to mind another tip for those who have reservations/objections about the mash method, specifically about overshooting the mark if you miscalculate. Rather than going directly for the match value, if you shoot instead for something like 100 points short of the target... then you can play a fixed score game like a * category in GC or team heroes to make the match.

That way if you overshoot a bit by mistake, you can reapply, so to speak.

Lol, Ben, thanks for the thought!

But, the oddest thing, Ive only just sent a note to another player on the site about ducks! That's a coincidence. Not that kind though

Oh boy...

Here is an easy solution if you are ever matched with me in the Twin Challenge.

Send me a note in FT Mail, pronto. I check my mail; I don't always check my challenges. If I know I've got a Twin Challenge, I can work with my Twin. If I don't know...

Rather than assume someone is sabotaging you, I really recommend communicating with them. Especially if that someone is me!

I use InstaQuiz too, and I like it for this challenge. I'm sorry to hear it's going away.

We used to have those DUKWs in the Albert Dock in Liverpool. I even went on one once - the tour went round the roads to see the sights before going waterborne. Then there were a couple of sinking incidents, so they no longer run. They were bright yellow and called the Duckmarine.

Oh my gosh you're kidding! Some sank??

(Ben, you'd better demand a refund)

Boston has Duck tours using them...No sinkings there (as far as I know) but I did wonder how long it could go on since they are as far as I know, no longer in production, and have not been for some time.

Still...best to not attempt a south pacific grand tour on one then I suppose. *sigh* Best laid plans and such...and here I had refueling points picked out all the way to Kamchatka :p

Back to my twin incident, I did not assume anything and I almost always do mail them and have met some interesting people via that challenge which is another reason why I like it quite a bit. The message I sent in thag case, was not answered, well...not verbally anyway. When I sent the message, his running rate increased dramatically just then. At one point we were both running hard and I was getting close, then he suddenly slammed the brakes so to speak so I would shoot past. And then oncd I was ahead he sat still for a while until I got close to 2500 over and then he started flying again. I suppose there is a remote possibility it was all coincidence, but not likely.

This was before I figured out the mash trick, when I was pretty new here and I was also still a regular member so scoring options were limited. These days I would make short work of somene if they did that . I usually like to get that challenge out of the way early, especially if trying for an Epic that day..so I have devised a few tricks (aside from just waiting for the twin to stop or slow down) for when you get paired with someone who doesn't answer and doesn't seem to be trying for the challenge and is just skipping along normally.

I'm glad you asked that. If you look at any hour's current scores in the Expert game (focusing on the low end, the people out of the top 10 who are not eligible for any bonus points) the number of FT points awarded is equal to one tenth of their Expert game score (rounded). Now their Expert score is 100 points for each correct question minus the number of seconds they took to submit the quiz. The Topic Mash method is much better because it has a visible built-in timer at the top. But in the old days, I would use a timer and play the Expert game. To get exactly 36 points, my target Expert score would be 360. This could be achieved by getting four questions right in 40 seconds, but that is cutting it a bit close on time, so I would get five questions right in 140 seconds. Even in an Expert game I knew very little about, I would be able to find five questions I could answer. I would start my timer when I began the game and answer five questions I was sure I knew, leaving the others blank. But I would not hit submit until my timer hit 140 seconds. Once 140 seconds arrived, I would hit submit. Five questions right at 100 points per questions is 500 points, minus 140 points for 140 seconds taken is 500-140=360 points. I would be awarded 36 points for the score, hitting my target in one step.

I admit this method was cumbersome, but it worked in one try, not with dinking around with multiple attempts at Quick Quiz or Instaquiz. One play, target achieved. The Topic Mash method is much easier since it was developed.

My response was to Mira Jane's question as to how I scored 36 points before Topic Mashes were created. Apparently, I did not click the Reply To button right.

Anyway, hitting my exact target in one step no matter what the target is (provided I am within 160 points of the target) is quite doable and, to me, is preferable to playing different games multiple times to "close in" on the target, especially since just one play of your "Twin" while you are playing will throw off your approach. Even if my Twin does not communicate and is an actively playing high-scorer, I can score quickly to outrun them and get within the 160 point target range, then finish it off with one Topic Mash play before they can finish another game and throw me off again. It is preferable to wait for a lull in your Twin's play, but not always possible. I've tracked down and caught about 3 players who were playing rapidly when I was forced to by the fact that it was late in the FT day and I had been delayed in start of my run by "real life".

It is nice when players respond to messages, but I've found most don't in a reasonable time (like within an hour). So most of the time I just wait until they've stopped playing to "pounce" (I'm a big cat, after all.) I will, of course, respond to other players' messages to me. But because of my fast play style, it is generally better to let me finish the Twin Challenge. I do start my runs late in the day, though, so sometimes I am pleasantly surprised to see my Twin was an early bird who finished for me before I got started (and I send thank you messages to them when that happens, though they may not read them until the next day, as I am quite the night owl usually.)

I do not assume my Twin is attempting "sabotage", but in my experience, there are plenty of players that don't pay any attention to Daily Challenges. 90% of FT players score much less than I usually do, so it isn't a problem. I just wait until they're done scoring their typical 1500 points or so for the day. It's the rare night owl high-scorer that is the challenge for me. They aren't "sabotaging", they're just playing fast late in the FT day without any care about messages or Daily Challenges (and I'm still going to complete the Twin Challenge, anyway.)

Most times that is all it is but this instance it seemed pretty obvious that it was deliberate heckling. I hadn't seen it before nor have I seen it since. The tactics for completing the twin challenge yourself, while dealing with someone inadvertently foiling you by just playing as normal are essentially the same though.

Either wait for them to pause/stop. Or learn how to match on the fly. It is kind of fun actually. Makes that challenge a bit of a...challenge whereas it is usually really just an Easy in Hard clothing. (Not that I am complaining since there are a few Hard's you could make a solid case should be Epic's instead)

Nam, I've had a similar experience doing the twin challenge, I sent a note and they zoomed off! I eventually caught them and quite enjoyed the challenge.

I have just thought of another strategy for winning the Twin Challenge once instaquizzes go - pray you're matched with nam or brm50diboll and let them do it! I'll always keep still for a while if asked nicely.

LOL Supersal, too funny for words!

Oh how odd, every time I click on page one up above, it takes me back to here

A shame about the Instaquiz. It'll be easiest just not to play the Twin challenge... Treat it like the win the Crystal Ball challenge. If it happens - great. If not, there will be a new challenge tomorrow.

Hmm, still not working. So I have to rely on memory instead. Someone said the problem with Instaquiz (I think) was that it was something to do with an old Flash program.

Two questions then:

Question 1. What is Flash? (in simple terms please - even if it's just "It's an old program no longer in use"). Wait, never mind, I just looked it up. It says "Flash is a soon to be deprecated multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich Internet applications, desktop applications, mobile applications, mobile games and embedded web browser video players".

It also says it's being abandoned or "deprecated" (that's what I mean about simple English) because of the "inherent security flaws and significant resources required to maintain the platform.

So that explains why Instaquiz is going - because it uses Flash?

Question 2. Will its demise have any effect on any of the other games on this site?

(Sound thinking, Postcards)

For question 2 it already has had an effect on games on this site.

If you remember the Country quizzes...those were Flash driven which is at least a portion of the reason they were retired.

in addition to instaquiz...the Just a Minute badge and crosswords are currently flash driven as well.

They would either need new platforms or to be retired. Apparently Just a Minute will eventually be retired as well. Since crosswords are a little more extensively developed I assume they will be revamped

The worst part of the twin challenge is when it's 10 p.m. and you still haven't been assigned one....

I can't remember a Just a Minute game although I have the mini for it - but oh surely not the crosswords!

And, in the broader world, what's going to replace Adobe Flash? It's used for all kinds of things.

Flash has been being pushed out for many years. Most things don't use it anymore.