As you'll see, I was pretty lenient with the scoring. I lumped a lot of adjectives in with the numbers exemption. As a result, ranking adjectives like "first," quantifiers like "no" and "some" as well as portion words like "each," "only," “half,” and "every" didn't count against you. January 2005 Best Openings Contest Results
I had a bit of a problem with two-word nouns modifying other nouns, as in "special effects guy" and "identical twin telepaths." I decided to rule that the two-word noun was acting as one adjective answering the respective questions: What kind of guy? What kind of telepaths? Perhaps they should have been hyphenated, but I'm honestly not sure.
This became a bit complicated and I know I must've made errors, but I think I at least treated everyone the same, so unless you have a strong case, I’m afraid the scoring must stand. (Don't hesitate to tell me where I scr*wed up, though. There's got to be better grammarians out there than me.
) FWIW (and I know this is pure coincidence . . . or is it?
) the person who used the fewest adjectives also won this month’s competition! Congrats to Jon, Kathi & Susan!
1st 2nd 3rd Vot Bonus Tot Mission Unbelievable - Jon 2 2 2 1 1 18 River Rats - Kathi 2 1 2 1 1 16 Sarastros Daughter - Susan 1 2 1 1 13 Echoes From The Past - Derek 1 1 1 1 9 The Exiles - Ray Bradbury 2 2 1 9 The Laws Breaker - Kevin 1 1 1 7 The Jiminy Device - Lisa 1 1 6 The Bromley School - Sid 1 1 6 No Entry - Sophia 1 3Link to results message and rtf file