First, read Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory by Roald Dahl. It may help you play the game -
and it will certainly increase your enjoyment of it!
Every clue leads to a location
somewhere. There are only so many ways that a location
can be described. Among them are:
- intersection of two streets
- alley name (if it's a short alley)
- business establishment name
- street address
- lat/long
- landmark (statue, park, etc)
Don't be surprised if we use any
or all of the above...but don't get stuck on just one
type of clue. We're going to mix it up.
Note that in almost every clue
this year, you can divide the clue into two parts. Part
One will get you to a general location, and can be solved
on paper. Part Two will not be solveable on paper, and
may not - probably will not - make any sense at all until
you get to the location clued in Part One. Therefore,
DON'T try to solve every clue 100% at the start, it won't
be possible!
You will do much better in the
game if you aren't shy about asking strangers for help.
If you think you're looking for "something that sounds
like..." ask a local! If you don't know some movie
trivia that you need to solve a clue, ask a passerby.
They're usually glad to help, and often have the answer.
In terms of scoring, our best advice
is - balance time versus points.
If your team solves more clues than any other team in
your division, you're guaranteed to win, even if you finish
at the last minute, and a team with one fewer clue solved
finished two hours before your team.
But if you tie on points with another team who finishes
ahead of you, they beat you.
Click here
to take a look at the stats from YABA3 in
2001. Note the finishing times.
YABA3's deadline was 6:00 pm. Of 47 teams, 11 teams were
disqualified for finishing after the deadline (rank 100
or greater); of the remaining 36 teams, fully 22 teams
finished between 5:30 and 6:00 pm and 17 of those
finished in the last 15 minutes. Only 14 teams finished
30 or more minutes before the deadline.
So, the best strategy is to solve the most clues that
you can, but try to maximize your chance of winning a
tiebreaker on time, by finishing at least 15 minutes
before the deadline.
A final note about time: there
will be a deadline for teams to finish. Teams who finish
after the deadline will not be eligible for awards, no
matter how many clues they've solved.
