Botticelli - January 2026

Thread Games
161

Final.DQ:
First name starts with Wa - Wi?

162

knoodler’s DQ: From Science Fiction?

163

W

  1. Fictional
  2. First name starts with W
  3. Male
  4. Main character
  5. American creator
  6. Created after 1950
  7. Not originally from movies or TV
  8. Created before 1985
  9. Created after 1970
  10. Originally from prose
  11. Character was born an American citizen
  12. Character can be presumed Caucasian
  13. From a genre work
  14. From a novel
  15. Created before 1977
  16. Generally a good guy, certainly not a bad guy
  17. First story setting was not contemporary to its writing
  18. Not a mystery
  19. Novel not adapted for film or TV
  20. From the science fiction or fantasy genre
  21. First name begins from Wa-Wi
  22. From science fiction
164

Previous IQs:

Did you decline a drink in order to help a woman whose house was on fire? - Woodrow Wilson, the story goes, was once driving through a rural area of the South with a Secret Service agent and noticed smoke pouring from the upstairs window of an isolated house. They stopped and the lady of the house, surprised and pleased to find the President on her doorstep, invited them in and offered them a drink. Wilson replied, “Thank you, ma’am, but no. Your house is on fire!” He and the agent helped her carry out furniture and valuables until the fire brigade arrived.
Did your character pretend to be Eleanor Roosevelt over the phone? - Walter Matthau
Did you win the Battle of Fallen Timbers? - Not William Henry Harrison, but “Mad Anthony” Wayne

DQs:

Story set more than 50 years in the future from when it was written?
Written by either Asimov or Heinlein?

I yield my other DQ to anyone who’d like to ask it.

165

W

  1. Fictional
  2. First name starts with W
  3. Male
  4. Main character
  5. American creator
  6. Created after 1950
  7. Not originally from movies or TV
  8. Created before 1985
  9. Created after 1970
  10. Originally from prose
  11. Character was born an American citizen
  12. Character can be presumed Caucasian
  13. From a genre work
  14. From a novel
  15. Created before 1977
  16. Generally a good guy, certainly not a bad guy
  17. First story setting was not contemporary to its writing
  18. Not a mystery
  19. Novel not adapted for film or TV
  20. From the science fiction or fantasy genre
  21. First name begins from Wa-Wi
  22. From science fiction
  23. Beginning of story set less than 50 years in the future from when it was written; story goes longer than that at finish
  24. Not written by either Asimov or Heinlein
166

EH’s DQ: By a male author?

167

W

  1. Fictional
  2. First name starts with W
  3. Male
  4. Main character
  5. American creator
  6. Created after 1950
  7. Not originally from movies or TV
  8. Created before 1985
  9. Created after 1970
  10. Originally from prose
  11. Character was born an American citizen
  12. Character can be presumed Caucasian
  13. From a genre work
  14. From a novel
  15. Created before 1977
  16. Generally a good guy, certainly not a bad guy
  17. First story setting was not contemporary to its writing
  18. Not a mystery
  19. Novel not adapted for film or TV
  20. From the science fiction or fantasy genre
  21. First name begins from Wa-Wi
  22. From science fiction
  23. Beginning of story set less than 50 years in the future from when it was written; story goes longer than that at finish
  24. Not written by either Asimov or Heinlein
  25. By a male author
168

Final DQ: from a novel by Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Phillip K. Dick, Larry Niven, Harry Harrison, or Philip José Farmer?

169

W

  1. Fictional
  2. First name starts with W
  3. Male
  4. Main character
  5. American creator
  6. Created after 1950
  7. Not originally from movies or TV
  8. Created before 1985
  9. Created after 1970
  10. Originally from prose
  11. Character was born an American citizen
  12. Character can be presumed Caucasian
  13. From a genre work
  14. From a novel
  15. Created before 1977
  16. Generally a good guy, certainly not a bad guy
  17. First story setting was not contemporary to its writing
  18. Not a mystery
  19. Novel not adapted for film or TV
  20. From the science fiction or fantasy genre
  21. First name begins from Wa-Wi
  22. From science fiction
  23. Beginning of story set less than 50 years in the future from when it was written; story goes longer than that at finish
  24. Not written by either Asimov or Heinlein
  25. By a male author
  26. Not from a novel by Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Phillip K. Dick, Larry Niven, Harry Harrison, or Philip José Farmer
170

And I think it’s time for your “Are you firstname lastname” questions. I’ll keep it open until tomorrow, 19 Jan at 2300 hours CST.

171

Who’s left?
Frank Herbert, Stephen King, Joe Haldeman, Harlan Ellison, Kurt Vonnegut…

172

Clifford Simak, Alan Dean Foster, Samuel R Delany…

173

I’ve got nothin’.

174

A real shot in the dark.

DQ: Are you William “Billy” Pilgrim from Slaughterhouse Five?

175

I am not.

176

I keep coming back to Winston Smith from 1984. I know it’s incorrect but wth: Is it Winston Smith?

177

I am not Winston Smith.

178

OK, looks like I’ve stumped everyone. I am

William Mandella

protagonist and first-person viewpoint character of The Forever War, Joe Haldeman’s Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel and Vietnam-War metaphor.

179

I’ve read it, and know the character, but wouldn’t have come up with the name. Good one!

180

Have heard of the novel, wouldn’t have known the main character.