# Obscure Methods **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 25, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295 "2009-04-25T04:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/1 "2009-04-25T04:47:14Z")
Perhaps some of you are familiar with Brian Eno’s [“Oblique Strategies”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies) cards, which he and cohorts developed as a way of getting past obstacles, creative blocks, etc. in the studio. They have since become legendary cult items, ripe for exploiting. Besides, they’re a little **too** “oblique” for me. Consequently, I present you with “Obscure Methods,” an alternative deck of virtual oracular wisdom-dealing thingies. It is a customary deck of 52 cards. Think on your question; meditate, contemplate, obfuscate. You can coruscate or masticate too if you think it’ll help. Then pick a number between 1 and 52 to draw your virtual card. Go! ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/2 "2009-04-25T06:42:21Z")
After much obfuscation, I choose 9. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/3 "2009-04-25T15:18:26Z")
Card #9: **No fear, no worries.** (sorry for the delay. I fell out early last night.) ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/4 "2009-04-25T17:32:09Z")
17, please. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/5 "2009-04-25T17:33:54Z")
29, please. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/6 "2009-04-25T18:14:46Z")
Card 17: **Torque is stronger than friction.** Card 29: **Bite the hand that feeds.** ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/7 "2009-04-25T19:46:15Z")
I think these cards are even more obscure and less helpful than the originals. I didn’t think it was possible! No offense. 🙂 Can I have number 2 please? ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/8 "2009-04-25T19:57:03Z")
Card #2: **Fold, spindle, and mutilate.** (Oh, sure, they’re obscure. But they’re not _oblique._:)) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/9 "2009-04-25T21:15:13Z")
Give me the joker. 🙂 (Or failing that 31.) ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/10 "2009-04-25T22:27:42Z")
**Just Some Guy:** But you see, _I’m_ the joker. (Also the smoker. The midnight toker, however, is somebody else.) Card 31: **No user-serviceable parts.** Remember to take these metaphorically, and apply them in a larger sense. For instance, “no user-serviceable parts” is a sign we all see on electronic devices, telling us that there is nothing that _we ourselves_ can do to mend it; and many of us know this to be patently false. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/11 "2009-04-25T22:46:01Z")
#23 please. Yes, I know it is a common choice, but I love a good prime. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/12 "2009-04-26T04:51:16Z")
Card #23: **Try, try again.** ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/13 "2009-04-26T06:04:02Z")
_Gracias por la brujería,_\*\* brujaja\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![hocow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hocow/32/4112_2.png) [@hocow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hocow)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/14 "2009-04-26T12:31:28Z")
How about lucky number **4**? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/15 "2009-04-26T12:34:35Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > **Just Some Guy:** But you see, _I’m_ the joker. (Also the smoker. The midnight toker, however, is somebody else.) So then I guess the card that tells you the ranks of poker hands is right out… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/16 "2009-04-26T16:21:56Z")
Card number 4: **Non-marking-out soles.** {Took me years to figure that one out.} ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/17 "2009-04-26T19:47:28Z")
I must go for #42. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/18 "2009-04-26T20:00:58Z")
Card #42: **Change the writing on the wall.** ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/19 "2009-04-27T01:42:45Z")
#69 ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295/20 "2009-04-27T02:57:38Z")
[Bill and Ted] “Sixty-nine, dude!” [/Bill and Ted] Well, it’s a standard deck of 52. So, if you weren’t joking, I could reduce the number “69” for you through simple numerology, or Gematria, or something. Or you could just pick a number at or below 52. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-methods/494295.md?page=2)