The News in Thongs / Old Puzzler / New Fortnightly Puzzler

The News in Briefs will be replaced today with the News in Thongs. This is due in large part to my overall obliviousness of today's date and its implications with regards to my writing this column.

Ahem.

I woke up today at 8:30am, ate the breakfast that Annie had made for me (cereal, bananas), and walked to work. On the way, I read Gandhi's autobiography and realized that he too was totally lost in his twenties. I got to World Games of Montana, opened it up, and did a few chores around the store. I then ate lunch and read The Order of the Stick (www.giantitp.com) web comics. Holy geez. This is one funny strip. And, yes, it seems I bounce from genre to genre, from serenity to stupidity. But I ask: how is this different from anything else in this twisted life? I finished lunch and worked on a new game which is rapidly turning into a kind of maze. I'll just go where it takes me. I rearranged part of the store (much better now), cleaned it, and when Jonathan relieved me from duty, went off into Missoula to hang posters for a February 24th game tournament (11am - be there!). We're having multiple games (Blue Moon City, Thurn & Taxis, Carcassonne, and Settlers of Catan. In the first three, we'll assign point values to the different places (say, first place equals 1, second 2, etc.). Lowest scores go into the final game of Settlers (trading should be cutthroat!). Now, I'm here writing this at 5:45pm. What a day. And still more, as there is a game night tonight at the store. And that's the News in Thongs.

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The News in Thongs is real. Anyone offended by my mundane life should
really appraise their own mundane life.
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Old Puzzler

Q: What's the worst opening move in a 1 through 9 Shut-The-Box if any first roll is possible?

A: Best I can tell, it's rolling a 12 and knocking down 1, 2, 3, and 6. This increases the likelihood of failure to 11 over 36 (that is, 36 possible dice combinations).

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New Fortnightly Puzzler

What pronoun (pronoun in this case is meant to encompass every possible variation, not just the personal pronouns) is also a group that people tend to fear?