# Time to play with the Akinator again...Can you stump it? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 3, 2012, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749 "2012-11-03T09:40:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/21 "2012-11-03T17:18:27Z")
I stumped it with characters from the Thraxas series, and from the Forest Kingdom series. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/22 "2012-11-03T17:24:31Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 53 questions to get Rufus from “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” Yikes. I tried Ted earlier and it got it in about 12. I considered trying Rufus, but was called away, haha. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/23 "2012-11-03T17:31:28Z")
Stumped it with Lao Tzu (63 guesses) It guessed: 1 - Confucius 2 - Zhuang Zi 3 - Li Bai 4 - Bodhidharma 5 - Rumi then it gave up. The name wasn’t on the list so I entered it, then it was on an expanded list. So I am left wondering if I answered a question wrong or if it really hadn’t encountered that one before. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/24 "2012-11-03T19:06:17Z")
Stumped it with Nate Silver. It came close by guessing Chuck Klosterman, but ultimately no dice. I think its hangup was “associated with sports” without actually being an athlete. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/25 "2012-11-03T20:04:43Z")
Stumped it with **Jack Holloway** from _Fuzzy Nation_. The guesses were Langdon from _Da Vinci Code_ and a dude from _Neuromancer_. After those two guesses, I got the question, “Have you kissed your character on the lips?” Wha? It knows he’s fictional and lives in the future! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/26 "2012-11-03T20:21:44Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > Stumped it with Nate Silver. It came close by guessing Chuck Klosterman, but ultimately no dice. I think its hangup was “associated with sports” without actually being an athlete. Wait, is Nate Silver a “character”? I think the Akinator is meant to guess characters, e.g. people, real or fictional, who have been portrayed in dramatic works of some kind - TV, film, stage, literature, etc. But continuing with the Moneyball theme, I went with Scott Hatteberg (who is of course portrayed in the movie Moneyball, by Chris Pratt.) The Akinator looked like he was gonna nail it after 9-10 questions, and then just went totally off the rails for awhile, finally guessing, out of the blue, J.P. Arencibia on Question 24. Right sport, anyway. On Questions 29-30 he seemed to be back on track, narrowing it does to someone who plays in the AL (question 29) and for a West Coast team (question 30.) Sicne I’d already told him he was white, an infielder, wore a helmet and some other stuff I was sure it’d guess Hatteberg. And… it’s asking if the character is in a cartoon. What? Then it got back to baseball, though off topic, and now wants to know if the character is “the sibling of an ICONic boy.” (Akinator’s spelling.) Question 50: hey, is it Aaron Hill? The Akinator seems to know I’m from Canada. No, it’s not Aaron Hill. Question 51: Does your character have a halo? Huh? Gave up after 80 questions. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/27 "2012-11-03T22:49:32Z")
**Ri Sol Ju** Kim Jong Un’s wife, and it got stumped with it. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/28 "2012-11-03T22:52:43Z")
Stumped them with Simone from _Head of the Class_ and Jarah Mariano. Got other stuff embarrasingly quickly. Needed 59 questions for Michelle Kwan, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/29 "2012-11-03T23:14:01Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I stumped him with Sister Myria from the Warhammer 40k novel Faith & Fire. > > It took 2 wrong answers (Cordelia Vorkosigan and Honor Harrington) just to get to the Sisters of Battle (as a generic group, thus another incorrect answer), then two more wrong answers (a Halo character, and one I can’t remember at all) before he gave up. She’s only appeared in one novel - maybe 2, I haven’t read Hammer & Anvil, yet, but she’s definitely not the main character in it, but still, he’s gotten relatively minor characters from much more obscure properties. > > On the other hand, it got Horus (also Warhammer 40k) right off. Kinda figured it was going to guess him when it asked if he was a traitor. Heh. > > I also stumped him with Whirl from Transformers. (He guessed Bender, then Shockwave, then Prowl (Animated), then Warlock (Marvel comics). So at least he was consistently in the robots, and guessed 2 different Transformers, even!) It first gave me Rogal Dorn when I was after Alpharius Omegon, but after a few more questions it corrected and got it. It also got Gabriel Angelos, Captain Titus, Indrick Boreale, Horus (as you noted), Ragnar Blackmane, Garviel Loken and Amberley Vail. I managed to stump it completely with Meh’Lindi, a secondary character from a 22 year old novel. HA! I just tried again and Fabius Bile threw it. We started off with Lucius the Eternal and then Fulgrim, which had me worried because we were on the right path, then we just suddenly took a turn into crazytown with BIIIIIG Papa Smurf, aka Marneus Calgar - which is stupid after answering no end of questions about “Is your character a villain” with “yes” Woo, Fabulous Bile FTW. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/30 "2012-11-03T23:34:12Z")
So far I’ve beaten it with that screaming blonde chick from _Jurassic Park 3_ and Rod from _Birdemic_. Previously I used to be able to beat it with obscure Tarzan clones, but I think I played most of those until they guess correctly now. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/31 "2012-11-03T23:38:28Z")
Stumped him with Phantom Gourmet. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/32 "2012-11-03T23:39:20Z")
It took it 60 questions and 4 wrong guesses to get **Hector Berlioz**. On the other hand, it correctly guessed **Bill Hicks** after about 6 or 7 questions. I was pretty amazed by that. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/33 "2012-11-04T00:03:20Z")
Got Heinlein, after first guessing Steinbeck. Got Tarzan (first guess). Didn’t get John Carter (guesses included Jason Bourne, twice). Didn’t get Andre Norton (guesses included Mother Teresa and LeGuin). Got Louis L’Amour (first guess). Got Gustavus Adolfus (first guess). Didn’t get Nansen (guesses were Ferrari, Marco Polo, Amundsen, Heyerdahl and Hillary). ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/34 "2012-11-04T00:20:51Z")
I stumped it with Charles Cullen, a local independent filmmaker and cable access show host. Seems cheap, but hey, he has an [IMDb page](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0191446/). A clearer victory was [Michael Haneke](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0359734/), but I’m not sure I can claim it. Its first guess was some Hungarian philosopher whose name I don’t remember, but in its second round of questioning, it asked whether he was German. Haneke is considered Austrian but was actually born in Munich, so I answered “yes,” whereupon it guessed Werner Herzog. I felt bad for possibly misleading it, so I granted it the win. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/35 "2012-11-04T00:24:22Z")
It guessed Zed from Zardoz, Claire Fraser from the Outlander novels and Cadfael. I stumped it with Brendon Doyle from The Anubis Gates. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/36 "2012-11-04T01:14:31Z")
He did not get “The Noid.” ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/37 "2012-11-04T01:26:18Z")
It didn’t guess Anthony Trollope, although he was in its list of characters it seemed. Its first guess was Charles Dickens, which was not bad. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/38 "2012-11-04T01:42:10Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Stumped them with Simone from _Head of the Class_ and Jarah Mariano. Got other stuff embarrasingly quickly. Needed 59 questions for Michelle Kwan, for some reason. Like I said upthread, sports stars are hard to guess because they lack major identifying features to differentiate them. I mean, really, what exactly makes say Dan Marino, John Elway, and Joe Montana strongly distinct from each other? If the electronic genie doesn’t bother to ask stuff like “Did he play for a West Coast team?” then he probably doesn’t have much of a shot (at least within 20 questions). For example, I just tried Billy Casper, and it took him 24 questions just to ask me whether he was a golfer, and the very next question asked me if he(?) wears a bikini-50 often inane questions in, and he guesses Fuzzy Zoeller. Sports figures will need quite a lot of work for him to guess them in an reasonable amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/39 "2012-11-04T01:45:32Z")
To the people complaining about “off-topic” questions, two things to remember: One, it doesn’t actually understand the relationship between its questions: It knows a set of things that are “yes” to “is your character human”, and a set of things that are “yes” to “is your character an insect or arachnid”, but it doesn’t know that those two categories are mutually exclusive (and in fact, they’re sort of not: I played Anansi the other day, for instance). Second, remember that people, many of them idiots, propose new questions for it all the time. And the only way the program has of finding out what characters are a “yes” for “Is your character a member of \?”, or other similarly silly questions, is to ask that question and see what the answers are. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749/40 "2012-11-04T01:46:46Z")
He got Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek and Dirk the Daring, but he didn’t get Abel Tasman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-to-play-with-the-akinator-again-can-you-stump-it/639749.md?page=3)