You Need This Toy!

OK, you don't absolutely NEED it. But it is amazing. It's called "20Q", for "Twenty Questions"; its a 21st century, electronic version of that game your mom or dad made you play with your siblings during that endless drive in the station wagon out to see Aunt Tillie and Uncle Clete in Wichita. Our son's friend Alex came by the house with one during spring break and we had some fun with it. Enough so that when I found one of these things in the toy department of a local megastore for something like $11.35, there was no question as to whether to make the impulse buy.

Yeah, it's an electronic "20 questions" game with a little electronic readout, and it's uncanny how many times it comes up with the right answer. Someone must have researched the human psyche and figured out what objects we are most likely to make it guess.

The thing asks you a series of questions, to which you can hit buttons to reply "yes", "no", "sometimes", or "unknown". There are often some gray areas, so the "sometimes" and "unknown" are good options.

Sometimes you know it is toying with you. At about question 16 or so it occasionally starts asking you stupid, seemingly off-track questions. I'm guessing it already has you figured out. Other times it seems to be struggling. If it does not get your secret object by #20, it will go another 5 questions if you let it. This morning at breakfast, as I was about to read the morning paper, I used "newspaper". At question 20, it guessed "book". At number 25, it nailed "newspaper". Pretty cool.

Disclaimer: The proprietors of the "Streetpolo blog experience" are not affiliated in any way with the manufacturer of the "20Q" game, Mattel Inc., and have received no remuneration for their endorsement of this product.

Goofy Sports Team Names

We continue our series with this entry: The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. There's got to be a rich history with that one, but we are not sure we want to know...