Order of the Stick Trivia XIX: It's Always the Demon Roaches

[Kish]

Do you mean this?

(OQ, if so.)

[b_jonas]

Do you mean this

No. That one still has four rows of panels, with a thick black horizontal dividing line between each row (though the lines are often partly covered by speech balloons), it's just extra wide to the right. The page I'm talking about would be extra tall, except it's not because the other four rows are compressed, and it has one more thick black horizontal dividing line than usual. One of the four rows, the one with the projectile, is very narrow, but the other four aren't as tall as the normal one quarter page tall rows. I'm talking about just one book page though, not a full book page and part of another book page within the same strip number.

Update: Jasdoif got it.

[Jasdoif]

Find a page with an unusual panel layout where in addition to the normal four rows of panels, there's an additional narrow row squeezed in with a single strip showing a projectile flying across most of the strip's width.

That's a long way to say "Haley's accurate at range".

OQ.

[Caerulea]

OQ.

Find Belkar and Mr. Scruffy eating or drinking the same thing at the same time.

[b_jonas]

I made a quick and dirty tally of which OOTS strips are referenced the most often in the posts of these trivia threads. This is not accurate by any means, there are both false positives and false negatives. I count only straight up links to strips or images, and mentions of a hash mark followed by a number in the post text (because new posters aren't allowed to post links, not even to the OOTS strips). I don't count links or text in block quotes. I only count a strip once per post, and further, I only count a strip once when it appears in two immediately consecutive posts, since those are usually either two replies to the same question (ninja), or a comment on a reply.

The strip that is referenced the most often if #389 in which Elan meets airship captain Julio Scoundrél in a bar, with 92 references. The next most common strips are #87 and #122.

The posts referencing #389 are: #1953655 #1990891 #2269358 #2291541 #2607819 #2621657 #2642284 #2657329 #2751839 #2760867 #2812679 #2826424 #2871191 #2958953 #3052198 #3182732 #3234427 #3441601 #3490977 #3531819 #3531864 #3587383 #3824812 #4066189 #4113118 #4126424 #4302603 #4560642 #4567211 #4614856 #4626597 #4881182 #4901401 #5016111 #5026008 #5026153 #5188119 #5217857 #5366795 #5949919 #5984419 #6021487 #6113170 #6135913 #6401127 #6405806 #6517768 #6703792 #6927923 #6954704 #7046977 #7050238 #7240201 #7291165 #7629243 #7642937 #7689241 #7870120 #7937319 #8105505 #8397127 #8553491 #8954748 #9304045 #9604022 #10125721 #10133939 #10158123 #10523800 #10571297 #10668065 #11302072 #11775411 #11868540 #12629981 #13483969 #14250375 #14487084 #14525543 #15134600 #15172496 #15242819 #15309454 #19660621 #19825842 #20216947 #20755230 #21122182 #22800058 #22880202 #23178218 #23230638.

Update: answering the question.

Find Belkar and Mr. Scruffy eating or drinking the same thing at the same time.

Another nice question. That would be #834, in which both Belkar and Mr. Scruffy taste the river on the Semi-Elemental Plane of Ranch Dressing.

New trivia question: Find me a person damaging another person with a weapon, then giving the second person a hand helping them up when the second person fell on the floor, in the same strip.

Update: yup, Larre Gannd got it. Tarquin damages Nale and then helps him up in #820.

[Caerulea]

Impressive. Do you plan to share it with the other forumites in some manner? (on dropbox or google drive or something) I think it would be interesting.

[b_jonas]

Impressive. Do you plan to share it with the other forumites in some manner? (on dropbox or google drive or something) I think it would be interesting.

Ha! No. I'm looking at the strips that were never referenced in these threads, or were referenced only a few times, and ask questions with them as the answer. This way I'll probably be asking interesting new questions, not repeating the same boring questions. #858 was a strip that was possibly never referenced until Jasdoif's answer before, and the new question that I edited to the previous post (but you ninjaed me) was similarly inspired.

I won't post the list of strips that were never referenced, because that would make it too easy to find the answers to my questions. If someone wants, they could just download the contents of the threads and try a similar computation though. I even gave links to all 19 threads earlier. Each thread has about 50 pages. I originally downloaded them to figure out what title to suggest for this thread, that's how I found the mentions of the demon roaches in the first post of this thread.

Update 2018-12-02 21:16:

Find me a person damaging another person with a weapon, then giving the second person a hand helping them up when the second person fell on the floor, in the same strip.

I'll post the hint now in rot13 because I want to go to bed earlier and won't be here when the 24 hours elapses.

Hint (rot13): Gnedhva jnf cerggl sevraqyl gb Ryna qhevat naq nsgre gurve ebbsgbc qhry. Ybbx sbe n fgevc jvgu Gnedhva orvat sevraqyl gb fbzrbar bgure guna Ryna.

[Ruck]

New trivia question: Find me a person damaging another person with a weapon, then giving the second person a hand helping them up when the second person fell on the floor, in the same strip.

I don't think this counts, because there's no clear damage. I'll keep looking.

(For the record, even with the rules about double posting, I'd recommend posting your hint separately next time, because without any indicator that there's a new post in the thread, it's less likely people will actually check for a hint. Or at least, I wouldn't.)

[b_jonas]

I don't think this counts, because there's no clear damage. I'll keep looking.

Yeah. Not only is there no damage, but I think Ian doesn't even attack, he only prepares the attack in case Uncle Geoff tries to escape. It's not the one I was thinking of, as you can see from my hint. It's a good find nevertheless.

[Potatopeelerkin]

Update 2018-12-02 21:16:
I'll post the hint now in rot13 because I want to go to bed earlier and won't be here when the 24 hours elapses.

Hint (rot13): Gnedhva jnf cerggl sevraqyl gb Ryna qhevat naq nsgre gurve ebbsgbc qhry. Ybbx sbe n fgevc jvgu Gnedhva orvat sevraqyl gb fbzrbar bgure guna Ryna.

I don't know what a rot13 is (and I didn't look it up because I like the challenge) but I've translated the hint:

Spoiler: Hint translation

Show

Tarquin was pretty friendly to Elan during and after their rooftop duel. Look for a strip with Tarquin being friendly to someone other than Elan.

A n
B o
C p
D q
E r
F s
G t
H u
I
J w
K
L y
M
N a
O b
P
Q d
R e
S f
T g
U h
V i
W
X k
Y l
Z m

Time to look for the actual strip!

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I don't know what a rot13 is (and I didn't look it up because I like the challenge) but I've translated the hint:

ROT 13 is a simple cypher where each letter is switched with the one 13 letters away in the English alphabet. Since said alphabet has 26 letters, it means that the cypher works both ways: you can decypher with the exact same key.

All other ROTs - say, ROT 1 which you just replace each letter with the next one - need a separate decypher key.

Grey Wolf

[Potatopeelerkin]

ROT 13 is a simple cypher where each letter is switched with the one 13 letters away in the English alphabet. Since said alphabet has 26 letters, it means that the cypher works both ways: you can decypher with the exact same key.

All other ROTs - say, ROT 1 which you just replace each letter with the next one - need a separate decypher key.

Grey Wolf

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks! Looks like the key I made matches up.

Still, I don't regret working out the key from scratch. It's more fun that way.

[Larre Gannd]

Ha! No. I'm looking at the strips that were never referenced in these threads, or were referenced only a few times, and ask questions with them as the answer. This way I'll probably be asking interesting new questions, not repeating the same boring questions. #858 was a strip that was possibly never referenced until Jasdoif's answer before, and the new question that I edited to the previous post (but you ninjaed me) was similarly inspired.

I won't post the list of strips that were never referenced, because that would make it too easy to find the answers to my questions. If someone wants, they could just download the contents of the threads and try a similar computation though. I even gave links to all 19 threads earlier. Each thread has about 50 pages. I originally downloaded them to figure out what title to suggest for this thread, that's how I found the mentions of the demon roaches in the first post of this thread.

Update 2018-12-02 21:16:
I'll post the hint now in rot13 because I want to go to bed earlier and won't be here when the 24 hours elapses.

Hint (rot13): Gnedhva jnf cerggl sevraqyl gb Ryna qhevat naq nsgre gurve ebbsgbc qhry. Ybbx sbe n fgevc jvgu Gnedhva orvat sevraqyl gb fbzrbar bgure guna Ryna.

I have no idea what that means, but I think I found it.

Naled it

Um, if that is correct, then OQ

[jwhouk]

Aside: You can always use rot13.com to unscramble/scramble your clues.

What does Roy feel like he got run over by?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Aside: You can always use rot13.com to unscramble/scramble your clues.

What does Roy feel like he got run over by?

By a loss of words?

Not confident I'm right, so OQ if confirmed.

Grey Wolf

[bc56]

Taking OQ

Find three different humanoids being electrocuted by V and surviving.

[Gluteus_Maximus]

do goblins and conscious undead count?

If not, idk.

If yes, oq

[Kish]

That has Jirix and Redcloak, and the third would be Miron.

Still OQ.

[Fyraltari]

That has Jirix and Redcloak, and the third would be Miron.

Still OQ.

Why doesn't Xykon count?

[Kish]

Because Xykon is undead, not a humanoid.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Why doesn't Xykon count?

Because "A lich is a gaunt and skeletal humanoid"... "[whose] creature’s type changes to undead."

Ah, consistency.

---

So I'm guessing I was right about Roy's run over answer?

Grey Wolf

[Fyraltari]

Thanks.

So I'm guessing I was right about Roy's run over answer?

Probably? Unless jwhouk says otherwise, I guess.

[Caerulea]

Still OQ.

Taking OQ (assuming jwhouk doesn't mind):

Find a purple sack, with a blue string tying it off.

[Tarthalion]

Find a purple sack, with a blue string tying it off.

You mean the sack holding Mr Scruffy?

Who wears a blue and white striped tie?

[Lord Torath]

Who wears a blue and white striped tie?

Gortok the Destroyer.

Who's being handed a clipboard?

[jwhouk]

Because "A lich is a gaunt and skeletal humanoid"... "[whose] creature’s type changes to undead."

Ah, consistency.

---

So I'm guessing I was right about Roy's run over answer?

Grey Wolf

Correct strip. I was thinking "triceratops" myself...

OQ stands.

[Ruck]

Correct strip. I was thinking "triceratops" myself...

OQ stands.

Hasn't been an OQ for a while, then. Here's our latest:

Gortok the Destroyer.

Who's being handed a clipboard?

[Lord Torath]

Who's being handed a clipboard?

Hint time: The clipboard is part of an intruder-detection system.

[b_jonas]

Who's being handed a clipboard?

Hint time: The clipboard is part of an intruder-detection system.

Oh! That must be the captcha in the last panel of #812. The clipboard is where the soldier asks the answer for the captcha.

Before the hint, I was thinking of things like the Deva trying to give a report to Roy, or the private legal battle between Belkar and Miko, or Haley's truce agreement with the thieves' guild but those don't match your question.

OQ.

[Lord Torath]

Oh! That must be the captcha in the last panel of #812. The clipboard is where the soldier asks the answer for the captcha.

Before the hint, I was thinking of things like the Deva trying to give a report to Roy, or the private legal battle between Belkar and Miko, or Haley's truce agreement with the thieves' guild but those don't match your question.

OQ.

You,uh, haven't actually answered my question. I'm fairly certain the captcha is not being handed a clipboard.