#Anthony E. Pratt

[blackramhall]

The guys practically lives on a Clue board.

The suspects in Cluedo, but with the Glass Onion (Knives Out) actors/characters.

Madelyn Cline/Whiskey as Miss Scarlett

Dave Bautista/Duke Cody as Colonel Mustard

Kathryn Hahn/Claire Debella as Mrs. White

Edward Norton/Miles Bron as Mr. Green

Kate Hudson/Birdie Jay as Mrs. Peacock

Leslie Odom Jr/Lionel Toussaint as Professor Plum

It's a terrible, terrible game.

CLUEDO card art by Lacey Van Nortwick

Blackram Hall: whodunit, murder mystery, hardboiled, pulp, crime, thriller, italian giallo, noir and neo-noir, detectives and serial killers, spy stories, vintage, manor houses, art, life and death.

Avatar pic by Mitchell Turek

[justforbooks]

Things you didn't know about board games

Many of us loving playing board games and people have been playing them for millennia. Here's some fun facts about this excellent pastime

1. We have been playing board games for millennia

Chess, checkers, backgammon and Go all have origins in the ancient world. King Tut was buried with multiple sets of an Egyptian game called senet. Hundreds of pieces of Greek pottery depict Ajax and Achilles hunched over a board in the midst of play. And the Ashanti people of Ghana are believed to have created a board game called wari, which you may know as the count-and-capture game mancala.

2. It wasn’t until the 19th century that board games began to be sold commercially

The first, The Mansion of Happiness, came out in England in 1800. The “mansion” was heaven, and players raced to get there. Decades later, an American named Milton Bradley reworked— and rebranded—it as The Checkered Game of Life.

3. Ludo has roots in ancient India, where it was called pachisi

Pachisi is from the Hindi word for “twenty-five,” the highest possible outcome of a single throw. But whereas Americans only tweaked the name to Parcheesi, the British decided to call it Ludo (‘lew-doh), Latin for “I play.” So when Englishman Anthony E Pratt developed his murder-mystery board game in 1943, he called it Cluedo, playing on Ludo. (In some countries, it’s called Clue.)

4. Around the world, the colourful cast of Cluedo can look quite different

Professor Plum was originally called Dr Orange in Spain. Mr Green goes by Chef Lettuce in Chile. Mrs Peacock is Mrs Purple in Brazil and Mrs Periwinkle in France, and in Switzerland, she’s Captain Blue, a man.

5. Board games occasionally inspire screenwriters

There’s the 1985 mystery Clue, the 2012 action movie Battleship and the 2023 fantasy film Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.

6. At least one board game is being adapted into a television show

The game's creator was a famous French filmmaker , Albert Lamorisse, who wrote and directed the 1956 Oscar-winner The Red Balloon, also created a board game he called La Conquête du Monde (Conquest of the World).

Parker Brothers, an American toy and game manufacturer, introduced it to the US soon after, and renamed it Risk.

7. Another game inventor, Alfred Butts, called his game a couple of other names before Scrabble

Butts first called his creation Lexiko, then Criss Cross Words, before settling on Scrabble—a word that means “to hold on to something.” The hugely popular game has been translated into 29 languages and more than 150 million sets have been sold around the world.

8. Over a game of Scrabble, Canadians Chris Haney and Scott Abbott came up with the idea for their game, Trivial Pursuit

Its success launched a years-long legal battle with an American encyclopedist who claimed Haney took trivia from his books, something Haney readily admitted to doing. In the end, the courts decided you can’t steal trivia and dismissed the suit. During the 1980s, Trivial Pursuit outsold even Monopoly, racking up $800 million in sales in 1984 alone.

9. At the highest levels of play, it’s not all fake money

The winner of the World Chess Tournament takes home up to 60 per cent of the €2 million purse, with the runner-up receiving the smaller share. Even the Monopoly world champion takes home real cash: US$20,580, the amount that comes in a standard Monopoly game.

10. Arguably the wrong person is credited with the creation of Monopoly

The American who sold Monopoly to Parker Brothers in the 1930s, Charles Darrow, often receives the credit for creating the game. But it was another American, Elizabeth Magie, who, decades earlier, earned a patent for her invention, The Landlord’s Game.

Players purchased railroads, paid rent and occasionally ended up in jail. Ironically, Magie’s aim with the game was to show the evils of accumulating wealth by bankrupting others.

11. Monopoly was a polarising game in communist countries

Fidel Castro banned it in Cuba, and it was also banned in China for much of the 20th century. But an even more dramatic bit of board game history occurred during the Second World War. Since prisoners of war in Germany were allowed board games, American troops hid maps, compasses and real money inside Monopoly sets to help them escape.

12. The idea for the kids’ classic game Candy Land came from Eleanor Abbott, an American polio patient

In 1949, Abbott wanted to create something for children to play in quarantine. In fact, illness has served as game inspiration many times. In the British mobile-app-turned-board game known as Plague, players take on the role of deadly diseases trying to mutate and spread across the world. Conversely, in Pandemic, created by an American, players try to contain the spread of diseases and discover cures.

13. Thousands of new games are released each year and there's annual awards for the best

How can you tell which ones are worth buying? One reliable indicator is the Spiel des Jahres (“Game of the Year” in German), a prestigious award given each summer by a jury of (mostly German) game critics who volunteer to play and vote for the winning games. Previous award recipients include Settlers of Catan, Dominion and Ticket to Ride. 

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[the-rewatch-rewind]

My love for this movie is difficult to express, but here is my attempt.

Script below the break

Hello and welcome back to the Rewatch Rewind. My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I count down my top 40 most frequently rewatched movies in a 20-year period. Today I will be talking about number three on my list: Paramount Pictures, Guber-Peters Company, PolyGram Pictures, and Debra Hill Productions’ 1985 comedy mystery Clue, directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by John Landis and Jonathan Lynn based on the board game Cluedo designed by Anthony E Pratt, and starring Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, and Lesley Ann Warren.

Six strangers are invited to an ominous, secluded mansion to meet the man who has been anonymously blackmailing them. But someone wants to protect their secret badly enough to kill for it, and as the bodies begin to pile up, the butler, maid, and guests race to discover the culprit before the police arrive.

I grew up in a board game playing family, so I learned how to play Clue soon after I learned how to read. We also had a slightly more complicated version of the game called Master Detective, which had more possible suspects, weapons, and rooms and included a couple extra features, and that has pretty much always been my favorite board game. What I particularly loved about it, especially as a child who never had much hope of beating my parents at games that required any skill, was that it was fun regardless of who the winner ended up being. I just liked seeing how close I could get to the solution before someone else inevitably solved it. I remember my parents mentioning that there was a movie version of Clue that had three different endings, and that they had seen Ending B in a theater, which confused and intrigued me.

The first time I ever watched this movie was when it happened to come on TV when I was visiting my grandparents. I think I was around 10 years old, and I actually thought it was kind of scary. Watching seven murders take place in a creepy old house was a bit much for me. But even then, there was something about it that grabbed me. The characters were all kind of despicable, and yet I liked them. I wanted to see more from them. So we started renting this movie from our local Hollywood Video, over and over again, and eventually we bought it on VHS and later on DVD. Once I got over my initial fright and started appreciating it as a brilliant comedy, I could not get enough of this movie. I can’t even begin to guess how many times I watched Clue before I started tracking my views in 2003, but I know it was a lot because every moment of the movie was already committed to my memory. If I was ever bored, I could close my eyes and play the film for myself with the projector of my mind. I wrote out the entire script so I could count how many words each character spoke. I used toys to act out the entire movie, along with the only person I knew who was more obsessed with Clue than I was: my brother, who was also fascinated by these characters and their antics, although as a preschooler he certainly did not fully understand the plot. But that was fine because ultimately, this movie’s appeal is not its plot, which is basically nonsense; it’s the ensemble. And it was so great having somebody close to me who understood that the same way I did. I think the rest of our family liked this movie too, but they definitely ended up watching it way more than they would have without my brother’s and my insistence.

My need to rewatch this movie was already beginning to wear off before I started keeping track, since the whole thing already lived rent-free in my brain, but even so, I watched it six times in 2003, four times in 2004, once in 2005, three times in 2006, twice in 2007, once in 2008, once in 2009, four times in 2010, twice in 2011, once in 2012, three times in 2013, once in 2014, twice in 2015, once in 2016, once in 2017, once in 2018, and once in 2021. I think part of why I’ve been watching it less in recent years is because ever since 2016, when I’ve felt like watching something like this, I’ve tended to watch Poe Party instead of Clue. But that’s not to say that I don’t still absolutely love Clue. I’ve just seen it enough that I don’t need to actually sit down in front of a screen to experience it.

One thing that I learned relatively recently that explains a lot is that apparently, Jonathan Lynn screened the movie His Girl Friday for the cast of Clue to demonstrate the feel he wanted for this movie. Even though Clue was made in the 1980s, it takes place in the 1950s, and was intentionally mimicking the style of fast-talking screwball comedies from the 1930s and ‘40s. So while I still consider watching Singin’ in the Rain in 2002 my proper introduction to Old Hollywood, falling in love with Clue a couple years earlier really prepared me to fall in love with old movies. Characters who look glamorous and sophisticated but are actually goofballs getting involved in ridiculous situations is my jam, and Clue takes what classic screwballs did with that to a whole new level. The script brilliantly combined several different types of both old-fashioned and updated comedy, and the perfect cast brought it to life in the best possible way. I don’t know if the His Girl Friday screening had any real impact, but regardless, every member of the cast fully understood the assignment and absolutely crushed it. A big part of what makes this movie so rewatchable is that everybody is so on all of the time that it’s fun to focus on what they’re doing in the background. Martin Mull is an amazing confidently clueless Colonel Mustard. Lesley Ann Warren gives Miss Scarlet just the right amount of sass. Christopher Lloyd makes Professor Plum sleazy enough that we get the picture without it ever getting too uncomfortable. Eileen Brennan nails Mrs. Peacock’s barely-holding-it-together-but-can-still-judge-you temperament. Mr. Green is accident prone which means he brings in the physical comedy, and Michael McKean fully commits to it. Of the main characters, Mrs. White has the fewest lines, but Madeline Kahn makes her presence known, doing absolutely everything possible with what she’s given, and improvising one of the greatest, funniest speeches in movie history. Jonathan Lynn discouraged improvisation on the set in general, but Kahn going on and on about the flames on the side of her face was too hilarious not to include. This devotion to delivering the lines exactly as written meant that Tim Curry as the butler Wadsworth, who ultimately figures out what happened and explains the whole thing, had to basically memorize a dictionary, and he killed it and I love him for it. When I was younger, I used to think I had a crush on Wadsworth, but I eventually came to realize that I just wanted to be Wadsworth, with the confidence to solve a puzzle and the eloquence to explain the solution in a highly entertaining, if long-winded, way.

The supporting cast is also excellent, and I wish that we could have seen more from them. Lee Ving’s name alone made him the perfect murder victim, but I also love the way he plays Mr. Boddy as sort of a cool mobster type of guy. Colleen Camp as the voluptuous, scantily clad maid Yvette is almost a throwaway joke of a character, but Camp manages to make her seem like a real person, or as real as any of these other ridiculous characters anyway. When I took French in high school and we all had to pick a French name, I chose Yvette because of this movie, even though I never even remotely identified with this character. Bill Henderson as the cop is an excellent straight man for the shenanigans with the bodies, which is either one of the funniest or most disturbing parts of the film, depending on how you look at it. Jeffrey Kramer, Kellye Nakahara, and Jane Wiedlin barely had anything to do, but they made their brief moments as memorable as possible. Basically, as fun as the script is, this movie would not have worked without an incredible cast, and thankfully, it has that. In some ways I wish the actors had been allowed to play around a bit more because then maybe we could have gotten other moments as epic as the flames speech, but at the same time, I feel like the pressure to say everything exactly as written in long takes added to the stress the characters were meant to be feeling. And the script is full of great jokes and excellent banter; it’s just that since the mystery aspect doesn’t really track anyway, I feel like the director could have let the actors have more fun with it.

I understand that they were trying to use the multiple endings to represent how the game is different every time, and also as a bit of a publicity stunt, but it kind of backfired. Theater-going audiences found it confusing, and the movie initially flopped. Thankfully with the home video version that included all three endings, Clue eventually did gain the cult following it deserves. But the problem is, in trying to accommodate three different solutions, the mystery gets lost in the middle, and none of the endings actually track. Yvette’s death is the part that makes the least sense – we clearly see that Mrs. Peacock and Mrs. White were both elsewhere seconds beforehand, so endings B and C don’t work, and in ending A Yvette was working with the killer so what she says right before she is killed doesn’t make any sense. For all of Wadsworth’s explanations, each ending leaves many unanswered questions, and they kind of draw attention to this in two of the endings, with one character saying, “There’s still one thing I don’t understand” and somebody else interjecting, “ONE thing?” Clearly this was meant to be a comedy rather than a serious murder mystery, but I do feel like if they weren’t trying to be so gimmicky, they could have made the mystery part work too (see Poe Party). Although in some ways, I kind of love that Clue doesn’t make sense. It feels perfectly consistent to have these characters who are pretending to be serious and dignified when they’re really all very silly people get caught up in a murder mystery with three endings that don’t work. When I point out Clue’s plot holes, it’s more like gently ribbing a friend than cinematic critique. I have to analyze the flaws in the story because of who I am as an overthinker, but I don’t think the flaws make it bad; if anything, they increase my enjoyment of the movie. It’s like a game: spot all the inconsistencies, and then realize that none of them matter. Because ultimately, fans of this movie aren’t here for the story; we’re here for the cast and the vibes. I don’t really know how to describe it, but while there are certainly other fun mystery-parody-type comedies out there, none of the others I’ve seen has quite the same tone as Clue, and that’s another reason I keep rewatching it.

And from an aroace perspective, Clue is great because there really is no love story. I mean, people mention spouses and affairs, and jealousy is floated as a possible motive for murder, but none of the characters that we see fall in love with each other during the course of the movie. Professor Plum does hit on Miss Scarlet a bit, but her reaction is very, “What the hell is wrong with you? We have way more important things to worry about right now.” When the cop shows up, in order to prevent him from finding out about the murders, some of the characters pretend to be making out with the bodies as if they’re alive, which is very weird on many levels, but it’s kind of a great illustration of the ridiculousness of allonormativity. If the cop had looked twice at them he would have noticed something was off, but of course adults at a party are going to be making out, nothing to see here, moving on. I always thought this part was hilarious when I was younger, and now that I understand my identity better I can articulate my appreciation for the way this movie portrays people who are focused on romance as the weird ones. Obviously that’s specific to this situation – like, I think most alloromantic people would agree that being locked in a murder house is not the best time to pursue romance. But aromantic stories are so rare that I’ll take whatever I can find. When Clue mentions sex, it’s usually either as a punchline (“Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage”) or part of a motive, since most of the blackmail victims are being blackmailed for something to do with sex. The sexual content is mostly in the background, adding to the vibes without pulling too much focus, kind of like some of my favorite classic films noirs. And this whole movie is so silly that I don’t feel like the sexiness is really meant to be taken seriously. Asking how an asexual person could possibly enjoy a film filled with so many blatantly allosexual characters would be just as ridiculous as asking how a person who had never killed anyone could possibly enjoy a film filled with so much murder. These characters clearly weren’t meant to be too relatable. But I still appreciate getting to see them on an evening when they’re at least mostly focused on things besides romance and sex.

I know I keep going on about how this movie is just silly fun, but one aspect that I do think was meant to be taken kind of seriously is the satirical criticism of McCarthyism. The exaggeratedly horrified gasps in response to Wadsworth's revelation that his wife had friends who were socialists is funny, but also, people’s lives were legitimately ruined because of that attitude. The only line that all three endings have in common is “Communism is just a red herring,” which is relevant to the movie because characters were trying to tie the murders into Cold War-related motives that ended up being irrelevant, but also kind of describes how trying to stop communism was used as an excuse for atrocities that didn’t always have much if anything to do with communism. It’s a little odd to stick that message in this movie, and I don’t exactly know why it’s there, but I like the way it adds to the Old Hollywood connection. Filmmakers in the 1950s had to be very careful about the messages they put in their movies, and what they said outside of their movies, for fear of being blacklisted as suspected communists, so it seems fitting that this movie set in the 1950s would be calling that out. Although there were very much still Cold War tensions in the 1980s as well, which is perhaps why this message is all but buried in silliness. And maybe I’m wrong and this aspect was meant to be silly as well, but it feels rather pointed to me, so I wanted to bring it up as one of the many fascinating aspects of this film.

I truly believe that Clue is a great movie that has something for everyone, and highly recommend it to anyone listening who hasn’t seen it, but at the same time, I am incapable of separating the movie from my own nostalgia. I can’t imagine what I would think of this movie if I watched it today for the first time because I would be a fundamentally different person if I hadn’t seen Clue a zillion times when I was young. Not only did it inform my taste in movies going forward, but it also shaped my understanding of the world, in a way. I think like most children, I once assumed adults knew what they were doing, but this movie showed me a bunch of adults who didn’t have the slightest idea, which was simultaneously terrifying and comforting. It also changed the way I talked, because I used to quote this movie constantly. I do it less now, but there was a time when instead of “I wasn’t talking to you” I would always say, “I was asking Miss Scarlet!” Or when somebody was looking for a key, I’d go, “Never mind about the key; unlock the door!” If anybody said, “Maybe…” with a long pause, I’d have to follow it with “Mr. Boddy killed the cook!” And similarly, “Oh who cares?” always had to be followed by, “That guy doesn’t matter! Let him stay locked up for another half an hour! The police will be here by then, and there are TWO DEAD BODIES IN THE STUDY!!!” And if anyone got confused about numbers, I’d helpfully chime in, “Even if you were right, that would be one plus one plus two plus one, not one plus two plus one plus one.” I could go on, but I’d end up quoting the whole movie, because I’m pretty sure I’ve managed to work every single line into a non-Clue-related conversation at least once. Often people just stare at me blankly, but it’s fun quoting it to my siblings because they usually respond with the next line, and we can go through whole scenes if nobody stops us. I have so many fun memories of reciting and analyzing this movie with them, arguing about things like whether Mr. Boddy says, “It’s only glass” or “It’s hunky glass” about the conservatory wall – it’s definitely “only” but my sister will not be convinced. Memories of my little brother adorably misunderstanding lines, thinking that Mrs. White’s husband had a “big fair” with Yvette, or that Mrs. Peacock said, “Oh I got a horse!” instead of “Oh my god of course!” or that blackmail was what those dark brown UPS trucks delivered. At one point, I wrote a script for Master Detective, which had the same basic premise as Clue – a bunch of blackmail victims congregated in a house to confront their blackmailer and his accomplices – but made even less sense. I didn’t back it up so it disappeared when that computer died, thankfully, but I still remember enough of it to cringe about. Since all the suspects had color names, I decided all the murder victims needed themed names as well, so I named them all after body parts to go with Mr. Boddy and thought I was so clever. I don’t remember most of them anymore, but I know there was a Mr. Elbow and a Mrs. Toenail. I also remember at one point I wrote in the directions something like, “It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop. In fact, Miss Peach drops a pin” and again was delighted by my own cleverness. My brother and I used to act it out with toys, and one time, after the dead body of the butler had been thrown out the window for some reason right before somebody else was arriving, my brother was being silly and had the new person pick up the dead body and say, “I brought your butler back!” seemingly without realizing that the butler was dead, and I thought that was so hilarious that I added it into the script, and it’s still my favorite part that I remember. It was a bad script, but in my defense I was very young, and anyway my point is, Clue inspired me to be creative in a fun way, without worrying about taking my work or myself too seriously, which is the attitude I’ve tried to take into making this podcast.

I feel like there is so much more I could say about Clue, but it’s hard to find words to adequately express how deeply I love this film. It feels wrong to call this a “comfort movie” when there are so many murders in it, but somehow it does feel comforting. It’s like an old friend, whose jokes I’ve heard a hundred times but still make me laugh, whom I love in spite of, and in some ways because of, their flaws. I know not everybody is into movies the way I am, but I think everybody needs at least one story or piece of art that they feel that way about. Not that experiencing art is a substitute for real friendship, but art is a form of human expression and connection that I think we all need in addition to relationships. And yes, I consider Clue to be a work of art. It’s a frickin masterpiece.

Thank you for listening to me discuss another of my most frequently rewatched movies. I fear these episodes are becoming less coherent as I get into my top films that I can’t even with, but I hope they’re still enjoyable. Next up will be my second most rewatched movie, which I have seen 37 times in its entirety even though it is by far the longest movie in my entire top 40. As always, I will leave you with a quote from that next movie: “Shelves in the closet. Happy thought indeed.”

[spaceintruderdetector]

https://archive.org/details/annette-peltz-mc-comas-the-eureka-years/mode/2up

ix • Introduction (The Eureka Years) • essay by Theodore Sturgeon

xiii • Preface (The Eureka Years) • essay by Annette McComas [as by Annette Peltz McComas]

1 • Autobiographies • essay by Anthony Boucher

2 • Autobiographies [2] • essay by J. Francis McComas

6 • The Birth and Growth • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas and Joseph W. Ferman and Lawrence E. Spivak

26 • The Model of a Science Fiction Editor • (1952) • poem by Anthony Boucher

29 • Sturgeon-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas and Theodore Sturgeon

32 • The Hurkle Is a Happy Beast • (1949) • short story by Theodore Sturgeon

41 • Bradbury-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas and Ray Bradbury

45 • The Exiles • (1949) • short story by Ray Bradbury

60 • Clingerman-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and Mildred Clingerman

62 • Minister Without Portfolio • (1952) • short story by Mildred Clingerman

69 • Trends • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas

72 • Sorry, But- Rejections and Advice • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas (variant of Sorry, But - Rejections and Advice)

83 • de Camp/Pratt-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and Fletcher Pratt

85 • Elephas Frumenti • [Gavagan's Bar] • (1950) • short story by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt

91 • Henderson-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas

93 • Come On, Wagon! • (1951) • short story by Zenna Henderson

102 • Bester-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas and Alfred Bester

105 • Of Time and Third Avenue • (1951) • short story by Alfred Bester

114 • Matheson-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas and Richard Matheson

116 • Dress of White Silk • (1951) • short story by Richard Matheson

120 • Epitaph Near Moonport • (1954) • poem by Sherwood Springer

122 • The Trade- The Tricks of and the Art of • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas

128 • Oliver-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and Chad Oliver

130 • The Boy Next Door • (1951) • short story by Chad Oliver

139 • Knight-Editors Correspondence • essay by J. Francis McComas and Damon Knight

141 • Not With a Bang • (1950) • short story by Damon Knight

147 • Wellman-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and Manly Wade Wellman

150 • O Ugly Bird! • [John the Balladeer] • (1951) • short story by Manly Wade Wellman

162 • Skiametric Morphology and Behaviorism of Ganymedeus Sapiens • [Ganymedeus Sapiens] • (1951) • shortfiction by Kenneth R. Deardorf (variant of Skiametric Morphology and Behaviorism of Ganymedeus Sapiens: a Summary of Neoteric Hypotheses)

168 • Define Your Terms • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas

173 • Letters to the Editor • (1950) • short story by Ron Goulart

175 • The Foundation of Science Fiction Success • (1954) • poem by Isaac Asimov (variant of The Foundation of S. F. Success)

178 • The Other Inauguration • (1953) • short story by Anthony Boucher

192 • Anderson-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas and Poul Anderson

194 • When Half-Gods Go • (1953) • short story by Poul Anderson

205 • Dick-Editors Correspondence • essay by Philip K. Dick

207 • The Little Movement • (1952) • short story by Philip K. Dick

216 • The Naming of Names • (1953) • poem by Anthony Boucher [as by Herman W. Mudgett]

218 • Lists • essay by Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas

224 • Smith-Editors Correspondence • essay by J. Francis McComas and Evelyn E. Smith

226 • The Last of the Spode • (1953) • short story by Evelyn E. Smith

231 • Asimov-Editors Correspondence • essay by Isaac Asimov

235 • Flies • (1953) • short story by Isaac Asimov

242 • Dickson-Editors Correspondence • essay by Gordon R. Dickson

244 • Listen! • (1952) • short story by Gordon R. Dickson (variant of Listen)

251 • Porges-Editors Correspondence • essay by Arthur Porges

255 • The Devil and Simon Flagg • (1954) • short story by Arthur Porges

261 • Limerick • (1951) • poem by Anthony Boucher [as by Herman Mudgett]

264 • Predictions • essay by Anthony Boucher

268 • Brave New Word • (1954) • short story by J. Francis McComas

280 • Norton-Editors Correspondence • essay by Anthony Boucher and Andre Norton

282 • Mousetrap • (1954) • short story by Andre Norton

289 • Bretnor-Editors Correspondence • essay by J. Francis McComas and Reginald Bretnor

292 • Cat • (1953) • short story by Reginald Bretnor [as by R. Bretnor]

[afnews7]

Cluedo, il mitico gioco darà vita a film e serie tv

http://www.afnews.info segnala: Miss Scarlett nella libreria con una chiave inglese! Chi di noi, almeno una volta nella vita, non ha provato a inquadrare il delitto al centro di Cluedo. Il famosissimo gioco da tavolo è in effetti il riassunto avvincente le atmosfere dei gialli più classici. Nato nel 1948 ideato da Anthony Pratt, un avvocato di Birmingham, il gioco è ambientato in una magione…

[orangeloungeradio]

Classic Non-Video Game of the Month: Clue / Cluedo Designer: Anthony E. Pratt Publisher: Hasbro Number of Players: 2 - 4 Year of Publishing: 1949 Video Courtesy of: Triple S Games

[boredgamesgracieosborne]

Cluedo

Cluedo is a murder mystery game for 3-6 players. It was designed in 1943 by a British board game designer called Anthony E. Pratt and manufactured by Waddingtons in 1949. It has been updated several times and many different editions made, currently owned and published by the toy company Hasbro.

The object of the game is to find out who murdered the victim, where the crime took place and which weapon was used. Each player assumes the role of one of the suspects and tries to find out the correct answer by moving round the rooms of the mansion and collecting clues about the murder from other players.

The original characters were plastic pawns represented by the colour of their name: Miss Scarlett (red), Colonel Mustard (yellow), Mrs. White (white), Reverend Green (green), Mrs. Peacock (blue) and Professor Plum (purple). The weapons were made of unfinished pewter except the rope which was string. Candlestick, Dagger, Lead piping, Revolver, Rope and Spanner. There were nine rooms which some had secret passageways. The centre room had the envelope which contained the answer to the murder.

I really like this game and I have the Sherlock Holmes version and The Game of Thrones version.

The design of the original box and board was very basic, printed names of the rooms clearly labelled but not much imagery, the only pictures on the box were of vintage looking character heads stuck on plastic pawn bodies. The look of the game was entirely depicted by lettering more than imagery. You can clearly tell what the game is about because of the description on the box.

The editions I own have more imagery and detail in them as they are based on the TV shows, they have used the characters and different locations used in the shows not just one house with different rooms. Using the actual details of the shows makes them more appealing to play and also as in Monopoly people can collect the different editions.

[tecnowiz]

Cluedo online: la guida definitiva per iniziare a giocare

Grazie alla magia di internet, oggi è possibile giocare a Cluedo online con gli amici o con persone da tutto il mondo. In questo articolo, ti guideremo attraverso tutto ciò che devi sapere per iniziare a giocare a Cluedo online.

Divertiti con Cluedo online, il gioco del delitto a portata di click!

Cluedo, conosciuto anche come Clue negli Stati Uniti, è un popolare gioco da tavolo ideato da Anthony E. Pratt nel 1949. Il gioco è ambientato in una lussuosa villa inglese e prevede che i giocatori indaghino su un omicidio per scoprire chi è l'assassino, quale arma è stata utilizzata e in quale stanza è avvenuto il delitto.

Impara le regole di Cluedo

Se sei nuovo al gioco di Cluedo, è importante familiarizzare con le regole prima di iniziare a giocare online a Cluedo.. Le regole del Cluedo online sono le stesse del gioco da tavolo, quindi prenditi un po' di tempo per leggerle e capirle. Di seguito sono riassunte le regole principali: - Scopo del gioco: L'obiettivo di Cluedo è scoprire chi ha commesso l'omicidio, con quale arma e in quale stanza. Per farlo, i giocatori devono formulare ipotesi e utilizzare le informazioni ottenute durante il gioco per eliminare le possibilità fino a scoprire la soluzione corretta. - Personaggi: Ci sono sei personaggi principali in Cluedo, ognuno dei quali è un sospettato nell'omicidio. I giocatori devono scegliere un personaggio con cui giocare all'inizio del gioco. - Armi e stanze: Ci sono sei armi e nove stanze nel gioco. Durante il gioco, i giocatori si sposteranno tra le stanze per fare ipotesi sul delitto. - Carte e indizi: Le carte dei personaggi, delle armi e delle stanze sono mescolate insieme e una carta di ciascun tipo viene segretamente messa da parte. Queste tre carte rappresentano la soluzione del delitto. Le altre carte vengono distribuite ai giocatori e servono come indizi. - Turni di gioco: Durante il suo turno, un giocatore può muoversi tra le stanze e fare un'ipotesi sul delitto. Gli altri giocatori devono mostrare le loro carte per confutare l'ipotesi, se possibile. Se nessun giocatore può confutare l'ipotesi, il giocatore che ha fatto l'ipotesi può accusare il sospettato, l'arma e la stanza. Se l'accusa è corretta, il giocatore vince la partita.

Consigli utili per i principianti

Per concludere, ecco alcuni consigli utili per i principianti che si avvicinano al Cluedo online: - Presta attenzione alle ipotesi degli altri giocatori: Osservare le ipotesi degli altri può darti indizi preziosi su quali carte potrebbero avere e quali informazioni stanno cercando di ottenere. - Prendi appunti: Durante il gioco, può essere utile prendere appunti su quali carte sono state mostrate, quali ipotesi sono state fatte e come gli altri giocatori hanno reagito. Questo ti aiuterà a tenere traccia delle informazioni e a elaborare deduzioni più accurate. - Non mostrare tutte le tue carte: Quando devi confutare un'ipotesi, cerca di mostrare la carta che hai già mostrato in precedenza oppure quella che rivela il minor numero di informazioni possibili. In questo modo, manterrai il vantaggio informativo sugli altri giocatori. - Sfrutta le informazioni in tuo possesso: Usa le carte che hai in mano per formulare ipotesi strategiche e indurre gli altri giocatori a rivelare le loro carte. - Sii paziente: Cluedo è un gioco di deduzione e ragionamento, e a volte può richiedere tempo per raccogliere abbastanza informazioni e scoprire la soluzione corretta. Non avere fretta di fare un'accusa, ma aspetta il momento giusto per agire con sicurezza.

Trova una piattaforma di Cluedo online

Prima di tutto, è necessario trovare una piattaforma dove poter giocare a Cluedo online. Esistono diverse opzioni disponibili, alcune delle quali sono gratuite, mentre altre possono richiedere un piccolo pagamento o un abbonamento. Ecco una lista dei migliori siti online dove è possibile giocare a Cluedo: Board Game Arena Questo sito offre la possibilità di giocare a Cluedo online con altri giocatori da tutto il mondo. È necessario creare un account gratuito per iniziare a giocare. Pogo Un sito web che offre una vasta gamma di giochi online, tra cui Cluedo. È possibile giocare gratuitamente con un account base o iscriversi a un abbonamento per accedere a funzionalità avanzate. Tabletopia Un sito che offre una vasta gamma di giochi da tavolo online, tra cui Cluedo. È possibile giocare gratuitamente con un account base o iscriversi a un abbonamento per accedere a funzionalità avanzate. Gioco Giochi Questo sito web offre la possibilità di giocare a Cluedo online gratuitamente senza la necessità di creare un account. Steam La piattaforma di gioco online Steam offre la possibilità di acquistare e scaricare Cluedo per giocare da soli o con amici. Yucata Un sito web che offre una vasta gamma di giochi da tavolo online, tra cui Cluedo. È possibile giocare gratuitamente con un account base o iscriversi a un abbonamento per accedere a funzionalità avanzate.

App Cluedo per dispositivi mobili

Esistono diverse app per iOS e Android che ti permettono di giocare a Cluedo sul tuo smartphone o tablet. Alcune di queste app sono gratuite, mentre altre possono richiedere un piccolo pagamento. Ecco alcune delle migliori app per giocare a Cluedo su Android e iOS: Cluedo (Android/iOS)

L'app ufficiale del gioco Hasbro. Anche questa è molto simile al gioco originale, con bellissime grafiche e ambientazioni in 3D. È disponibile sia per Android che per iOS, gratuita con acquisti in-app per sbloccare alcuni contenuti extra. Cluedo 2023 (Android)

Nuovissimo per il 2023. Vivi un’esperienza nuova nel classico gioco investigativo. Scopri nuovi misteri e usa le tue abilità deduttive per svelare chi è il colpevole, quale arma ha usato e dove ha agito. Unisciti ai detective di tutto il mondo. Raccogli prove chiave, interroga i sospettati e risolvi l'originale caso di omicidio. Disponibile per Android, gratuita con acquisti in-app opzionali per alcune funzionalità avanzate. Murder in the Alps (iOS)

Un'app molto ben realizzata che sfrutta la struttura di Cluedo aggiungendo anche alcune interessanti idee originali. Ci sono molti livelli, personaggi e ambientazioni da sbloccare. Disponibile solo per iOS, a pagamento con un prezzo di € 2,99.

Gioca e divertiti

Una volta che hai trovato una piattaforma di Cluedo online o l'app giusta e hai imparato le regole, è il momento di iniziare a giocare. Invita i tuoi amici a unirsi a te, oppure prova a giocare con persone da tutto il mondo. Ricorda, l'obiettivo principale di Cluedo è divertirsi e godersi un po' disano intrattenimento investigativo. Mentre giochi, cerca di sviluppare strategie e tattiche per migliorare le tue abilità deduttive e diventare un vero maestro del Cluedo.

Conclusione

Ora che hai tutte le informazioni di cui hai bisogno per iniziare a giocare a Cluedo online, è il momento di mettere in pratica ciò che hai imparato e tuffarti nel mondo avvincente delle indagini e dei misteri. Buon divertimento e buona fortuna nella tua carriera di detective!

Note finali

E siamo arrivati alle note finali di questa guida cluedo online: la guida definitiva per iniziare a giocare. Ma prima di salutare volevo informarti che mi trovi anche sui Social Network, Per entrarci clicca sulle icone appropriate che trovi nella Home di questo blog, inoltre se la guida ti è piaciuta condividila pure attraverso i pulsanti social di Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest e Tumblr, per far conoscere il blog anche ai tuoi amici, ecco con questo è tutto Wiz ti saluti. Read the full article

[universomovie]

Chris Pratt, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Zoe Saldaña & the Russo Brothers on the Future of Entertainment

Chris Pratt, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Zoe Saldaña & the Russo Brothers on the Future of Entertainment

Chris Pratt, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Zoe Saldaña sit down with regular collaborators Joe and Anthony Russo to discuss their studio, AGBO, and the future of storytelling and entertainment. Chris Pratt, Priyanka Chopra Jonas e Zoe Saldaña sentam-se com os colaboradores regulares Joe e Anthony Russo para discutir seu estúdio, AGBO, e o futuro da narrativa e do entretenimento.

[3965altctrldelgdc]

Board games

Cluedo

"Each player assumes the role of one of the six suspects and attempts to deduce the correct answer by strategically moving around a game board representing the rooms of a mansion and collecting clues about the circumstances of the murder from the other players."

Cludeo was invented in 1943 by Anthony E. Pratt. He came up with idea during the air raids in World War Two

The idea for Cluedo came from Pratts days spent playing musical concerts in country hotels where part of the evening's entertainment would have been murder mystery games. These would involve both actors and hotel guests playing the characters in a plot which involved the murder of one or more of the guests. The setting was a country house with its many sprawling rooms, with guests gathered for an evening's dining and socialising, but a body was found murdered and all the guests fell under suspicion. The hotel guests must solve the mystery by putting clues together. These were very popular games at the time, and along with Pratt's love of detective fiction including that of his favourites Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie, the spark for Cluedo was created.

Chameleon

"Hide your true identity and try and identify the clandestine code in this highly popular board game. Everyone knows the secret word except the Chameleon. But who is the Chameleon? Using one carefully chosen word each, you try to catch out the imposter."

Chameleon is a Big Potato game made by Rikki Tahta in 2015.

[blackramhall]

Murder at the Tudor Hall: a Cluedo fan casting

Ten characters, nine weapons, ten rooms, one murder. Let's play.

Giancarlo Esposito - Mr. Boddy, the victim, owner of luxury Boden Black Hotel.

The suspects:

Daniela Melchior - Miss Scarlett, the femme fatale, cunning and attractive.

Tony Dalton - Colonel Mustard, the retired military officer, who is known to sleep with a revolver under his pillow.

Kat Dennings - Mrs. White, housekeeper and cook of Tudor Hall, with an eye squint from spying in keyholes.

David Lynch - Reverend Green, a hypocritical preacher who wavers when the subject is murder.

Halle Berry - Mrs. Peacock, a successful and tenacious attorney who knows how to command a room, court or otherwise.

Jude Law - Professor Plum, an archaeologist and Egyptologist who formerly worked as the curator of the British Museum before he was fired.

Karen Fukuhara - Dr. Orchid,  a biologist who specializes in plant toxicology.

Lily-Rose Depp - Yvette, a young French maid at Tudor Hall.

Ricky Gervais - Wadsworth, the butler at Tudor Hall.

Who has done it?

Blackram Hall: whodunit, murder mystery, hardboiled, pulp, crime, thriller, italian giallo, noir and neo-noir, detectives and serial killers, spy stories, vintage, manor houses, art, life and death. Avatar pic by Mitchell Turek

[universalmovies]

The Electric State: sarà Netflix a distribuire lo sci fi dei fratelli Russo

Sarà #Netflix a distribuire #TheElectricState, il nuovo film di fantascienza dei #fratelliRusso tratto dal romanzo grafico di Simon Stålenhag.

Sarà Netflix a distribuire The Electric State, il nuovo film di fantascienza dei fratelli Joe e Anthony Russo tratto dal romanzo grafico di Simon Stålenhag. A darne la notizia il sito The Hollywood Reporter. Sempre secondo la fonte, Criss Pratt sarebbe in trattativa per unirsi al cast, mentre la regia inizialmente affidata ad Andy Muschietti, visti gli impegni di quest’ultimo con The Flash ,…

[80smovies]

[badgaymovies]

Five Star Final (1931)

Five Star Final by #MervynLeRoy starring #EdwardGRobinson and #MarianMarsh, "incredibly watchable thanks to a series of spirited performances", Now reviewed on MyOldAddiction.com

MERVYN LeROY Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.5 USA, 1931. First National Pictures. Screenplay by Byron Morgan, adaptation by Robert Lord, based on the play by Louis Weitzenkorn. Cinematography by Sol Polito. Produced by Hal B. Wallis. Production Design by Jack Okey Costume Design by Earl Luick. Film Editing by Frank Ware. The owner of the New York Gazette wants to increase his paper’s readership…

[sersi]

THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE + SIGNATURE COLORS: RED

- Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man. Costume design by Rebecca Gregg and Laura Jean Shannon (Iron Man), Mary Zophres (Iron Man 2), Alexandra Byrne (The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron), Louise Frogley (Iron Man 3, Spider-Man: Homecoming), and Judianna Makovsky (Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame). - Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson. Costume design by Alexandra Byrne (Thor, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron), Wendy Partridge (Thor: The Dark World), Mayes C. Rubeo (Thor: Ragnarok, Thor: Love and Thunder), and Judianna Makovsky (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame). - Lauren Ridloff as Makkari. Costume design by Sammy Sheldon Differ (Eternals). - Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon/Captain America. Costume design by Judianna Makovsky (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame), Sammy Sheldon Differ (Ant-Man), and Michael Crow (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier). - Hugo Weaving and Ross Marquand as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull. Costume design by Anna B. Sheppard (Captain America: The First Avenger) and Judianna Makovsky (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame). - Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. Costume design by Mayes C. Rubeo (WandaVision), Alexandra Byrne (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Judianna Makovsky (Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame), and Graham Churchyard (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). - Danai Gurira as Okoye. Costume design by Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther) and Judianna Makovsky (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame). - Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man. Costume design by Sammy Sheldon Differ (Ant-Man), Judianna Makovsky (Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame) and Louise Frogley (Ant-Man and the Wasp). - Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord. Costume design by Alexandra Byrne (Guardians of the Galaxy), Judianna Makovsky (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame), and Mayes C. Rubeo (Thor: Love and Thunder). - Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi. Costume design by Kym Barrett (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings).

[morizoras-cave]

Little Coworker (Request)

MCU cast members x gn!child!co-star!reader

Genre: fluff

Request Description: Please may you do a headcanon where the readers a new actress in the mcu movies and plays as Bucky’s daughter and when the director’s introduce her Chris E, Chris P, Sebastian S, Tom Hidd & Robert D are super proud because she’s worked on numerous movies with them before and they’re super protective of her. (About age 8) and the other cast members are super surprised of how talented she is but she’s also super shy and modest please? 😊

Warnings: language

(A/N): im doing another request babyyyyy, i really wanna narrow down the amount of requests i have D;

Right, so

You always knew you wanted to be an actor

And your parents were somehow super supportive right out of the gate

So you’d been in several movies before

And then you were cast as part of the Avengers: Endgame cast as Tony Stark’s child

(shhhhh lets just pretend here)

The directors brought you onto set one day to introduce you

and you were ecstatic!

because you immediately recognized Chris

The goofy one

Pratt!

You had been in a movie together very recently

And the moment he saw you he was like

“holy mother of jesus!”

“y/n!”

And guess what you hugged

And then you rode on his shoulders (very fun)

As you were soaring through the sky atop Chris Pratt’s shoulders you run into Robert and Chris (the other one, Evans)

And they both gasped

Then looked at each other bc

“why are YOU gasping?” 

And there was a moment of epiphany as it dawned on them that they had ALL been in movies with you before

Chris Evans was mad because HE wanted to be the one giving you a shoulder ride

because you laugh and he thinks your laugh is very cute and its by far the number one thing he misses from filming with you

Robert and Chris P immediately falls into conversation about how you’re so talented considering your age

and then, from across the room 

you see Tom Hiddleston

and he doesn’t gasp but rather gives you a look, a look that makes you giggle

now, he had been in a movie with you and sebastian when you were six

so he calls sebastian over (from where he and anthony mackie were undoubtedly doing something they were not allowed to)

and sebastian sees you and hes like “oh!”

and then theres another moment of realization when they come over and start talking to you

and all the actors are like “wtf how does this kid have more jobs than me?”

anyway whenever you are on set, you are never walking

always on someones shoulders

YOU AND TOM HAVE TEA TOGETHER IN THE BREAK ROOM

AND HE TEACHES YOU TO STICK YOUR PINKY OUT LIKE A “PROPER LADY”

ugh we stan tom and you having tea parties every day

Tom thinks it’s so funny that you talk about the news

“I heard it’s gonna be raining this friday.. How disappointing” - you, an eight year old

sebastian immediately loops you into him and anthony’s shit

and you’re always the one opposing

“we can’t do that, that’s against the rules!”

but you always end up doing it because they promise you candy

your parents are not pleased

but anyway you get a lot of candy

this is gonna sound weird but Chris E and RDJ really love watching you try to read the signs on set when you think you’re alone

because there are a lot of big words

you’re just looking up at these random signs going

“r- r- re- restrict- restricted area”

i mean COME ON

you’re ADORABLE

and chris is the one introducing you to everyone

which makes you very shy

but everyone

and i mean EVERYONE

is impressed with your acting skills

Scarlett, Elizabeth and Danai are always complimenting you when you’re done with a scene

“that was so good!”

so you warm up to them fairly quickly

you can tell that the guys you’ve worked with have told others how impressed they are with you

because people like mark ruffalo, benedict cumberbatch, brie larson and chadwick boseman are coming up to you and going like

“i heard you’re really good!” 

to which you shyly nod, because

bitch please, you know you’re great

but you gotta stay humble

which, in truth, is hard when everyone around you loves you so much 

you can hardly walk from one end of set to the other without someone picking you up, spinning you around and yelling “wee!” and then putting you down again

which you’ve just come to accept

but its bc it truly is so refreshing and uplifting to have such a young, talented and sweet actor on set

and they just wanna let you know how much they appreciate you

and are proud of you

because they are

so proud of their little coworker :D

___________________________

Tag List:

@hera-the-writer @marvel-madness @40srogcrs @whatthefuckimbisexual @snarky–starky @garbage-potato @lozzypoz321 @allthecreativeonesaretaken @missamericana713 @rororo06 @shady80smusicsingercolor @ireadfanficforfun​ @deephideoutmilkshake​ @tamayakii​