1000th Montage / Another Chance -- Part 2 -- We Have A Winner!!

The envelope please???

Sorry about the delay. Blame those pesky archive problems.

Anyway, as I said, both you and ProfStokes got really close. I was sure someone was going to come up with the right answers - especially after the really big clues I dropped. But then the forum got shut down by our host, and that was the end of that.

But, before I explain the answers, let's recap. The original post included:

Almost three weeks ago, I deliberately did something to three consecutive montages that I've never done before or since. The first "cousin" who can post ... what it was that I did, what episodes were depicted in the three montages, and how what I did to the first of those three montages relates to today's 1000th montage ... Good luck!! (But if you know you're DS episodes, you won't need luck because you already know the answers, and you were probably just too polite to say anything at the time (which worked right into my plans) - but now is certainly your time to speak up! )

Then I added hints:

Unfortunately, no one has even come close to what I'm looking for, so I'm going to emphasize two hints that I gave:

• "what I did to the first of those three montages relates to today's 1000th montage" ...
  
• "you were probably just too polite to say anything at the time"

And I'm going to give you a new one:

• montages include more than just screen captures.

If I say any more than that, I'm going to give the whole thing completely away!

The hints definitely got both Ringo and ProfStokes on the right track:

Ringo asked if I'd used "scenes from just what would have been shown during Aug 1968" and labeled "the montage from Aug AND Sept?" And while that wasn't quite what I did, it's OH SO CLOSE!

ProfStokes picked up that the date on the 1000th montage said "August-September 1968". But she also thought something similar had been done for the July 3rd montage when Sci-Fi had shown episodes which originally aired on ABC on July 31st and August 1st 1968.

That comment prompted me to drop the biggest hint of all when I asked:

Did I?

So, is anyone seeing where this is all heading? If so, I've decided to give everyone a second chance. You all have until 12am ET/9pm PT Tuesday night/Wednesday morning to come up with the missing pieces and answer all three original questions:

• 1) what did i do to the three montages?
  
• 2) what episodes were depicted in them?
  
• 3) how did what I did to the first of those three montages relate to the 1000th montage, which was made up from episodes originally aired in August and September of 1968?

Did you label episodes (544-549) from July and only July as July and August?

ProfStokes  

Did you label episodes (544-549) from July and only July as July and August?

Or, if that fails, did you neglect to update the montages and list August episodes as still belonging to July?

ProfStokes

MB, for some reason for the last 30 years or so, my short term memory ain't what it used to be.......maybe a refreshing reposting of said montages would be somewhat helpful to causing the mystery to be solv-ved [or would that make a meen-key out of me?]

Last nite, at about 2:48 am, my mind is racing --- 'maybe its the sci-fi logo' ....'maybe its the font SIZE'.....'maybe baby'...

[I gotta get some sleep!! ]

--

Hey, meen-key is not in the spell check!

Or, if that fails, did you neglect to update the montages and list August episodes as still belonging to July?

To clarify: were the three consecutive montages, featuring episodes 544-549, all listed as July, 1968 even though some of the episodes really aired in August?  If so, then the 1000th montage would be the only other time that two different months were represented on one day.

ProfStokes

I usually lurk but thought I'd give this a try.    I remember waaay back - possibly the 3 montages.  Each announced a coming timeline, i.e. 1795 (it was a b/w with Barnabas and Angelique) in so many days.  There were also ones for (I think) 1897, and another storyline.  Okay, I'm probably way off here, but thought I'd give it a shot.  Oops, I didn't answer a, b, and c - how they tie in, I guess, might be coming events?  ?!?

Back to lurking...for now...night 'all

I'm remembering more - another was so many days 'til Quentin's arrival, one for Barnabas' as well...  they weren't episode numbers at all necesssarily, but arrival countdowns...

Let's see, with about an hour to go, I'm sort of leaning with ProfStokes, at least with the episodes shown and the connection to the 1000th montage.  I seem to recall the "two month" montages being done in the past (at least for weekly ones as 10 ep weeks overlap on different months a lot).

So, basically, I have nothing.

But... what still bothers me is the emphasis MB has put on "polite" and how we were probably too "polite" to mention anything, and I just don't see how this connects to whats been said too far.  Maybe I'm just grasping for answers where there arnt any, but I'm convinced thats the key!

Enh, maybe not, but I do seem to remember a quentin montage on July 3rd!  Thats all I've got.  

But... what still bothers me is the emphasis MB has put on "polite" and how we were probably too "polite" to mention anything, and I just don't see how this connects to whats been said too far.  Maybe I'm just grasping for answers where there arnt any, but I'm convinced thats the key!

It's most definitely key. Which is why I've made a decision that I'm going to post right after I finish answering this post...

I do seem to remember a quentin montage on July 3rd!

That one was on display on July 4th. Remember - Quentin couldn't wish anyone a Happy 4th because he couldn't remember who he is. The capture was taken from the July 4, 1969 episode of the 1897 storyline.

I've made a decision that I'm going to post right after I finish answering this post...

Sorry about not getting to this last night. Once again I was tempting Fate by posting in a thunderstorm, and just when I was about to click "Post", my electricity went out. I waited around for about 30 minutes for it to come back. But when it didn't, I just went to bed...

Anyway, some of the answers here are SO close that it would be a terrible shame if I didn't give every opportunity for someone to get this. So, let me stress a few words in this particular phrase:

what I did to the first of those three montages relates to today's 1000th montage

And because almost 12 hours has already passed since I'd originally wanted to do this, I'm going to give everyone until 12am ET/9pm PT on Friday morning/Thursday night - but this is positively the last extention of the deadline!

One more time: were the episodes shown on July 3, 8, and 9 (548-553) listed as July, 1968 even though they originally aired in August?  The first montage in the series, July 3, contained episodes from two different months as did the 1000th montage last week.

ProfStokes

Oh, the suspense...

Can't wait to hear the answer  

Well, the time has come to reveal the answers. And persistence obviously pats off because we have a winner!! And that would be:

One more time: were the episodes shown on July 3, 8, and 9 (548-553) listed as July, 1968 even though they originally aired in August?  The first montage in the series, July 3, contained episodes from two different months as did the 1000th montage last week.

ProfStokes

How can this be? you may be asking yourselves. Well, I'll tell you.

First off, all of you should have realized by now that the answers for these custom title games will NEVER be as obvious, or even as logical, as they might at first appear. Each and every one of them has been a mind game. My test of wits against yours, if you will, in which you often have to read between the lines to come up with the correct answers.

Many people seemed to get hung up by the word "consecutive" - and that's exactly as I intended. In my original post I said:

Almost three weeks ago, I deliberately did something to three consecutive montages that I've never done before or since.

Emphasis there on the I and did - nowhere have you seen me state that the montages were actually displayed on the forum consecutively. You may have assumed that was implied. But if past contests have taught anything, they should have taught NEVER to assume anything. And if you've paid attention to past montages (including those on VN) and how I've often explained the way I approach the montages (which I'd often explained on VN), you'd know two things:

• 1) the July 4th montage was NOT a NEW montage - it was displayed last July 4th on VN - so it should have been immediately eliminated from the equation.
  
• and 2) I approach the weekend montages and the weekday montages completely separately, so the weekend montage that was on display July 5-7 also should have been eliminated from the equation.

Evil? Most assuredly, YES!! But in my defense, when I've explained the answers to these questions, I've never said otherwise. In fact, I've made a constant point of saying that these answers will NEVER be easy and that you have to work hard to get them because custom titles have to be earned.

Now, the thing that I went out of my way to stress this time around was that:

• "you were probably just too polite to say anything at the time

which should have been a dead that something was wrong in all three of the montages that I was looking for. And that was indeed the case. You'll recall that at the conclusion of my initial post and once again when I stressed portions of it in this topic, I said:

Good luck!! (But if you know you're DS episodes, you won't need luck because you already know the answers, and you were probably just too polite to say anything at the time (which worked right into my plans) - but now is certainly your time to speak up!

That was perhaps the biggest clue I'd initially dropped. Why? Because if you know when the DS episodes originally aired on ABC, then you were already aware of the fact that three montages were displayed on the board that incorrectly identified the month that at least one of the episodes in all three montages originally aired.

Now, did I expect everyone to be aware of that? Hell, no! In fact, I hoped that only a handful of people might be aware of it. However, through a process of trial and error, ProfStokes thought to look up the episodes' original air dates from the beginning of this month. And Ringo hit on the idea that I might have used episodes from one month but labeled them as having been from another month. ProfStokes also realized that there should have been a montage that was labeled July-August because the episodes that ran on Sci-Fi on July 3rd where originally aired on July 31st and August 1st. And I made sure in two of my own posts that anyone who was paying attention to what had been said in their posts was vitally important.

So, for the record, here are miniaturized copies of the three montages in question, and an explanation of what was wrong with each:

This montage, featuring the two 1968 storyline episodes that ran on Sci-Fi on July 3rd, is labeled "July, 1968," whereas it should have been labeled "July-August, 1968" because episodes #548 & #549 originally aired on July 31, 1968 and August 1, 1968, respectively. And this montage related to the 1000th montage because that montage was labeled August-September, 1968 because episodes #570 & #571 originally aired on August 30, 1968 and September 2, 1968, respectively.

This montage, featuring the two 1968 storyline episodes that ran on Sci-Fi on July 8th, is labeled "July, 1968," whereas it should have been labeled "August, 1968" because episodes #550 & #551 originally aired on August 2, 1968 and August 5, 1968, respectively.

And this montage, featuring the two 1968 storyline episodes that ran on Sci-Fi on July 9th, is labeled "July, 1968," whereas it should have been labeled "August, 1968" because episodes #552 & #553 originally aired on August 6, 1968 and August 7, 1968, respectively.

And here's the first montage that was again labeled correctly:

It features the two 1968 storyline episodes that ran on Sci-Fi on July 10th, and is labeled "August, 1968" because episodes #554 & #555 originally aired on August 8, 1968 and August 9, 1968, respectively.


So, ProfStokes, in a battle of wits, you've become the second person to prove themselves as my worthy adversary. And a custom title (major restrictions apply - see post 1 in this offer's original thread for details ) is yours for the choosing!


Now, lest any of you think you'll never be able to win the chance to a custom title (though not of your own choosing - the people who've successfully sweated out these first contests deserve some distinction, after all. ), don't despair. Some of you may recall that when I first announced that there was a Members' Archive in the works, I said that it was only the first of some exciting new features Midnite and I have up our sleeves. It's still a bit premature to actually announce exactly what the next one is - but I will say that it will figure prominently in an all-new, and you'll no doubt be happier to hear, easier (thought not necessarily simpler) way to earn a custom title. In fact, you may be able to earn more than one title. And I'll leave you all to contemplate that teasingly tantalizing tidbit of information as I end this post. 

BRAVO!!!!


excellent brain-buster!!  [but EEEEEEvil!]

Ringo hit on the idea that I might have used episodes from one month but labeled them as having been from another month. .  

just wished I had let my mind wander in both directions!!

Congrats to the soon-to-be-rechristened Prof Stokes [yeah, I'm jealous!, but my hair is off to ya!! ]

You guys, MB & M'nite, are great, and I'm pretty sure I can speak for the whole bunch of nuts here on the board to say how much we appreciate ya!

slapping my razor strop for the next chance!

Still Merely :-/,
Ringo

Congrats to the soon-to-be-rechristened Prof Stokes [yeah, I'm jealous!, but my hair is off to ya!! ]

Thank you, Ringo and Mysterious Benefactor!  I'm so glad to see the answer at last.  But now after all of that, I have no idea what to call myself... ?!?

ProfStokes