T-rex
The Reexquateretist Contest
Saturday Night
Stella – posted her first guess and I responded with my first hint, "if you were French you might say take it from me". Ex when used as a prefix means "out of" or "to take".
Sheerin – posted a guess and I responded with, "It is a word like most scientific words. It was a word "coined" to describe a type of vocation."
Melissa – asked if it meant powerful, mighty lizard? I responded with, "What does "tist" mean in scientist, or "gist" in biologist?"
Candi – continued with the dinosaur thought. I responded with a comment about how some dinosaurs would like to have a dino-reexquateretist around if a T Rex was on the hunt. This started the "protector" thought.
Sunday Morning
Kristine – chose to break the word down into its basic elements. She was partially right. She definitely took the right approach. She stated the "ex" meant "from".
Joy – posted a message to Todd stating that the answer was going to burst out of her mouth. Joy knew the answer from the beginning. Todd told her but he asked her to keep it to herself. I sent a message back to joy with a major hint. I stated something along the lines that I may need rescuing from a mob of angry girls. No need to say why I threw in the "may need rescue" theme.
Andrea – asked about firefighters. I stated, "many reexquateretist are firefighters but only a few firefighters are reexquateretist. I’m not sure if this helped or hindered.
Sunday Afternoon
Tamara – offered "one who protects". I responded with a yes but. Tamara’s comment really set the stage for things to come.
Sheerin – guessed "one who is mighty". My response included multiple clues. The big clue was regarding the April 1995 date.
Stella – asked if it had something to do with physics. I gave a wishy washy response. I stated that to be a good reexquateretist you need to have a good understanding of engineering and physics. I went on to say that most firefighters would probably disagree.
Sheerin – guessed the April 1995 date was the Oklahoma City bombing. I agreed. I also said that it had nothing to do with firefighting but that it had a lot to do with firefighters.
Amy – stated that she believed that it had something to do with someone who protects others, like parents. She also stated that she loves her mom and dad. Wow, I think that it is wonderful that she has the character to say that she loves her parents. She also hit upon an important attribute of a reexquateretist (as Tamara had before her), a person who is willing to protect others.
Sunday Evening
Stella – also mentioned the Oklahoma bombing. I stated that there were reexquateretist in OKC after the bombing.
Candi – attempted to tie many of the hints together. Good try, wrong answer. She came up with super hero. I commented on Monday afternoon that she was getting close. I also commented that most Rex types do not like being referred to as heroes.
Sheerin – said that she and others were surfing the Internet to find the answer. Monday afternoon I gave her a major clue when I responded with, "check NASA DART out on Netscape".
Monday Afternoon
Melissa – took Kristine’s approach and broke the word into its basic elements. She was right on most accounts. For "re" she said again. Yes! For "ex" she said out of or away from. Yes! For "ist" she said a specialist. Yes! That left quatere undefined.
Sheerin – stated that a reexquateretist was a person who studies something to do with the outside neighborhood. I responded with a statement that reexquateretists are likely to be in a neighborhood after an earthquake, flood, tornado, etc.
Monday Evening
Candi – suggested an EMT or Paramedic. I responded with two more clues, one of which was major. I stated that most reexquateretist were either EMTs or Paramedics. I also mentioned collapsed structure, confined space, trench, rough terrain, high angle, swift water, mountain, and cave. What I didn’t say is that each one represented a class of rescue certification. This was intended to tie in with the natural disasters hinted at earlier. The collapse structure was intended to tie in with the bombing in Oklahoma City.
Melissa – asked if the twins were reexquateretist. I said, "maybe someday". I also said that it takes many years to become a reexquateretist.
Candi – asked if a reexquateretist was part of a rescue squad. I was going to hold out for a little more but I had a strong suspicion that Wendy would have terminated my existence if I persisted. The fact that she was beating me about the head and shoulders was a good indication that my physical well-being was in jeopardy. So, at this point I decided to declare Candi a winner. Besides how could I defend myself if I didn’t agree that a member of a rescue squad is not necessarily a rescue specialist? Unfortunately, there is a lot of truth to that.
Melissa – Shortly after Candi posted her response Melissa posted her response. Melissa wrote about how EMTs and others like them try to protect and save others. Based on that, and her previous guesses, I felt that she was close enough to warrant second place recognition.
Amy – stated that a reexquateretist was someone who helped others without being concerned about fame or fortune. Based on that and her previous comments, I determined that Amy also deserved second place recognition.
Sheerin and Stella – based on a previous hint to look up NASA DART on Netscape, came up with Disaster Assistance and Recovery Team. I responded back stating that DART stood for Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team. NASA DART personnel are the only ones that use the word reexquateretist. As stated before, NASA’s rescue team has many members that are scientist and engineers.
The Prizes Are:
For the "Paragraph" Contest
First Place: One - 8" x 10" autographed picture of Townsend plus an autographed CD
Second Place: One – 8" x 10" autographed picture of Townsend
For the Reexquateretist Contest
First Place: A Townsend Certificate of Recognition signed by the guys, a picture of Todd taken during his formative years and an autographed Townsend CD.
Second Place: A Townsend Certificate of Recognition signed by the guys and an autographed CD
Third Place: A box of Girl Scout cookies. No! Just kidding. A Townsend Certificate of Recognition
Receiving Special Reexquateretist Recognition:
First Place: A special Certificate of Appreciation and an autographed Townsend picture
Honorable Mention: A special Certificate of Appreciation and an autographed Townsend picture
To help facilitate the timely delivery of winnings, please send the following information to (trex@townsendboys.com):
1. Name as used in the chat room
2. Name you want on the certificate and or photograph
3. Last name
4. Mail address that you want winnings sent to
It will be a little over a week before I can get the guys back together to sign the pictures and certificates.
