Mensa Hunt 2008—Fruit vs Vegatable

My team went through quite a bit of anxious moments with Treasure 3, i.e. the Philips Genie 14W warm white Energy Saving light bulb. The treasure clue was fairly straightforward to the experienced hunter, but might have been a bit tricky for the newbies. There appear to be 2 choices—one was the Genie, and the other was the Essential. Otherwise both these light bulbs are by the same company.

If one were to read the clue carefully, he's bound to know that the correct treasure is the Genie—and only the Genie. However, we were unable to find the Genie in several shops. We were more or less about to surrender, when our team driver made one last attempt and then found the forsaken item. Claire was so happy that she burst out saying, "Oh! I could just give you a kiss, Wong!". But thankfully she did not execute the action. Otherwise Teck Koon and I might have demanded for our shares too!

In my opinion, treasure clues once broken should be easily available in the supermarkets and department stores. And I also try my best not to ask for such an expensive item. I would consider an item costing RM15-RM20 as too expensive. However, what's even more frustrating is that another team which brought in the Essential—which is a wrong item based on the clue—was given the 8 points too. 8 points for this kind of hunt can have a major impact to the positions of the teams! Check out the comments in this post.

Anyway, I want to discuss about Treasure 6, which was the last treasure of the Mensa Hunt 2008:

THE JUICE THAT IS REQUIRED FOR THIE TREASURE
COMES FROM A FAMOUS BRAND NAME TO BE SURE
A SERIES OF PAINTINGS BY WARHOL FROM 1962
COULD HAVE ADDED FAME TO THE BRAND NAME TOO
A VEGETABLE AND A NUTRITIOUS CONSUMABLE
THAT'S PACKED IN A CAN THAT IS RECYCLABLE

The first line tells the solver that we're looking for, well, a juice.

The second line is just some sort of a statement that hints of a famous brand name.

The third line is basically a googling exercise to find CAMPBELL'S.

The fourth line tells the solver to connect the line 2 and 3.

The fifth line asks specifically for "A VEGETABLE" and "A NUTRITIOUS CONSUMABLE".

The last line limits the scope of search on canned food (recyclable).

Now the solver can search for the item in a supermarket. And going to the section where the Campbell's canned stuff are located, one can quite easily shortlist to 2 possible choices:

(1) Campbell's TOMATO JUICE:

On the can is shown a TOMATO and some other nutritional information, e.g. vitamins, calorie etc.

(2) Campbell's VEGETABLE JUICE (V8):

On the can is shown several kinds of vegetables. I think there're tomatoes and carrots, and probably other vegetables too.

Which of the two would you submit for T6?

Well, to be honest, at first I liked the VEGETABLE JUICE. There's that "JUICE" in the first line; and there's that "VEGETABLE" in the fifth line. But now we come to a small problem.

We need to read the CoC—whether a TOMATO is considered a fruit or a vegetable? A TOMATO is classified as a fruit, I believe from the berry family. However, Teck Koon said he has come across some articles where the TOMATO has been referred to as vegetable too. And I have come across some of those articles too. But will the CoC be strict? Will he insist that the TOMATO is a fruit and not a vegetable? Teck Koon thought he'd accept TOMATO as both fruit and vegetable. I had no choice but to rely on Teck Koon on that since he had hunted in this CoC's hunts before.

Up to that point I still liked the VEGETABLE JUICE, but had to admit the logic in TOMATO JUICE too. And then came the consideration which convinced me fully. The fifth line asks for "A VEGETABLE" and then "A NUTRITIOUS CONSUMABLE". Note the emphasis on the "A" on both counts. A singular item. Between the two cans only the TOMATO JUICE can qualify. The other can has several VEGETABLES, plural and therefore fails on grammatical grounds! And so in the end we submitted the TOMATO JUICE.

In spite of the brilliant analysis above, the CoC accepted both the TOMATO JUICE and VEGETABLE JUICE, which was a bad call. His decision must have had an impact on the positions of the teams.

Sometimes the fate of the hunter is absolutely in the hands of the CoC, and no amount of brilliant analysis can help. The prizes can go the wrong way due to wrong decisions. But we live to hunt another day. We just hope that we won't have too many of such lousy experiences in an otherwise wonderful sport.