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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Solution to Puzzle Number Six

Here are the solutions to Puzzle Number 6: Star Media Quotations. For those who have forgotten, the puzzle involved a set of ten quotations from various television shows and movies with 'star' in the title. The puzzle was to come up with what show or movie it was from, who said the quotation, to whom, and what the context was. I received partial solutions from Sarah, Robert, and Scott.

1.) "I'll make it up to him next year; I promise."
From Star Wars: A New Hope, this was said by Uncle Owen to Aunt Beru after Uncle Owen tells Luke he has to stick around for the harvest rather than go to the academy.

Sarah and Robert both correctly identified this quotation, although neither managed to name Aunt Beru.

2.) "There are four lights!"
From Star Trek: The Next Generation, this was said by Captain Jean-Luc Picard to his Cardassian torturer. Picard had been captured by the Cardassians after being lured into a trap, and his torturer began to mess with his head by insisting that he was being shown five lights when in fact there were only four. He would then ask Picard how many lights there were, and cause him immense pain if Picard answered "Four". When Picard was finally released, he took a moment to bellow that sentence at his torturer, thereby reminding viewers that Picard is awesome, defiant, and all around the coolest captain.

Sarah, Robert, and Scott all successfully managed to identify this quotation. Oddly enough, though, both Sarah and Robert thought that the Cardassian was demanding he say there were three lights, and Scott couldn't remember the number of lights (the reason I say that was odd is because, to me, the number of lights is a very distinct part of the scenario).

3.) "He is as clumsy as he is stupid. General, prepare your troops for a ground assault."
From Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, this is Darth Vader letting General Veers know that he has very little esteem for a certain Admiral Ozzle, and more than likely Admiral Ozzle is about to die a rather unpleasant death by asphyxiation. The Imperial fleet was at that moment preparing to attack the Rebel base in the Hoth System, and they came out of light speed too close to the planet (thus letting the rebels detect them and activate their energy shield).

Sarah had the most complete answer on this one, although she was unable to name General Veers (that, after all, would be an immense display of geekdom). Scott knew it was Vader, but he couldn't place the scene.

4.) "Welcome home, Mr. President."
From Battlestar Galactica, this was said by Chief Tyrol to Gaius Baltar as Tyrol brought Baltar out of a trance by placing a pistol against his head. The remark was followed by Tyrol pistol whipping Baltar into unconsciousness. Baltar had been under the care of the cylons following the retreat from New Caprica, and in this way he was brought into custody by the colonial forces.

No one managed to get this one. I was actually worried it would be too vague, but at the same time I figured any line with "Frak" in it would be too obvious.

5.) "Yub yub."
From Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, this was said on a number of occasions by several small furry critters called Ewoks native to the forest moon of Endor. As it was said several times, whom it was being said to and the context have multiple answers. Probably the one that stands out the most is when Leia first meets her Ewok friend and he is beckoning her to follow him back to his home.

Sarah is the only one who got this one (I think a large part of that is due to her predilection for small furry critters, but she is also clearly a competent Star Wars authority as well).

6.) "your basic hedonistic predilection for a rhythmic stroking of your fur, to demonstrate affection,"
From Star Trek: The Next Generation, this is an excerpt from Lt. Commander Data performing his Ode to Spot. As this was a performance, I was less concerned about who the audience was, although it did include Geordi, Worf, Picard, Riker, Troi, and some unnamed people who suffered from hairstyles transplanted out of the 80s.

Scott did an amazing job on this one, going into remarkable detail on the context and audience. He remembered that Worf, Picard, Riker, and Troi were all there, and that the point of the scene (other than showcasing Data's socially awkward awsomeness) was that Riker was unusually sleepy. He nods off during the poem, Troi pokes him awake, and, thinking the poem is over, he starts clapping in the middle.

7.) "I've lost the fellatus to speak properly."
From Stargate: SG1, this was said by Colonel Jack O'Niell to the other members of his team in the briefing room (and, presumably, to the General, although I cannot remember exactly... nor can I find it on the internet just now).

Sarah and Scott both got this one, although, like me, both of them were not entirely sure who he said it to. Also, both Sarah and Scott specified that it was O'Niell with two l's, cementing their claim to geekdom in the Stargate universe as well.

8.) "sometimes a cake is just a cake."
From Star Trek: The Next Generation, this was said by Counsellor Deanna Troi to Lt. Commander Data as the two of them contemplated cutting into a Data shaped cake that Troi had brought. The reason for the cake was that Data had been experimenting with dreaming and, after having a nightmare that featured Troi's head on a cake shaped like her body that people were eating, Data ended up stabbing her in the shoulder trying to attack an alien he was only vaguely aware of.

Scott and Sarah both got this one.

9.) "Hey, look! I'm an engineer! I can do math!"
From Stargate: Atlantis, this was said by Bill Nye the Science Guy to Dr. Rodney MacKay as Bill Nye and MacKay were trying to come up with a way to shut down an interdimensional rift that was threatening to freeze everyone to death.

No one managed to get this one, which I'm not entirely surprised at... I just thought it was funny that Bill Nye played himself in an episode of Stargate: Atlantis. Plus, as a former engineer-in-training turned scientist, I chuckled at the scientist/engineer squabble over whether engineers could do math.

10.) "I can arrange that. You could use a good kiss!"
From Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, this was said by Han Solo to Princess Leia Organa after she told him, "I'd sooner kiss a wookie." This was before the Imperial Forces attacked Hoth when Han was planning to take his leave to pay off Jabba the Hutt, and Leia was mad at him for leaving.

Sarah managed to get this one, while Robert successfully got the characters but wasn't able to place the context.

So, a trio of readers have displayed their science fiction biases (among my own biased selection... you will notice that all Star Wars quotations were from the original movies (as the dialogue from the new movies really isn't much worth quoting) and all the Star Trek quotations were from the Next Generation). As I said when I posted the puzzle, this was done predominantly from my own (possibly flawed) memory, so if you notice any mistakes please let me know and I will post corrections.

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