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Duellists:
Referee:
Date:
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Wednesday, September
19 2000
Challenge Words:
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- Daphne
Xu
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-
schadenfreude
-
glean
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intelligent
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- Conjugate
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-
apostasy
-
quondam
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fustigate
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- Denny
Wheeler
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Skate-key
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buttermilk
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Pogo
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Original versions:
Web-site versions:
Rules:
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Referee’s decision:
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Use of required words
: IMO, Conjugate
did better here - an excellent simile using 'skate-key'; he did, OTOH,
use 'intelligence' instead of 'intelligent'. Daphne's use of 'apostasy'
and 'Pogo' seemed a bit uncomfortable.
Time
: no problems here.
So we come to the stories.
Technical stuff
: each had a typo or
two, and/or a missing word here and there. Possibly less than one
might expect under the time conditions.
Daphne's
"Prisoners of War"
is an interesting concept; probably needs a bit more work to be fully
realized--as is, I quite like it. I'm being deliberately vague, as
I think the enjoyment of the story would be damaged by a synopsis.
Conjugate's
"What Healing Feels Like"
tells of a lonely, divorced man's re-entry to
the world of dating. The pov character feels true-to-life; his
almost-desperation
has a 'there but for fortune go I' feel to it. (he's about my age)
The story could use a bit more fleshing-out in the middle, perhaps,
but as is, it's a complete story with a satisfying plot and ending.
I declare Conjugate the winner here.
Denny
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