And the winner is...

e received nearly 200 entries in our Known Space trivia contest, but only 37 people answered every question correctly. By far the biggest stumper was question #2, although #3 also generated some very creative attempts. But before we go any further, we'd like to congratulate our winner:

Daniel Dyer

As promised, we'll send Daniel his very own copy of Ringworld Throne, and we'll complete the ensemble with a Science Fiction Weekly bookmark. And now the answers to the questions, followed by a complete list of readers who submitted correct entries:

1) Why did the Pierson's Puppeteers vacate Known Space?
Because of the explosion in the Galactic Core, the fallout of which would reach Known Space in 20,000 years.

Just about everyone got this one, with answers varying slightly in theme from "explosion" to "super nova chain reaction," etc.

2) What was the big scientific blunder Larry Niven committed in the original depiction of Louis Wu's 200th birthday trip through the transfer booths?
He had the earth turning in the wrong direction (this bit of creative astrophysics was rectified in later editions).

For this question the key phrase we were looking for was "earth turning in the wrong direction" or something that conveyed that. Stating that Wu was travelling in the wrong direction around the earth to prolong his birthday was therefore not enough. A number of people also mentioned potential conflicts with transferring angular momentum while hopping from booth to booth. A valid concern, but not what we were looking for.

3) What animal was the Kzin diplomat trainee Speaker-to-Animals able to speak with?
Humans. That's because originally the Kzinti considered humans to be prey.

Another easy one. A few people answered "cats."

4) What element was missing from Earth's soil that made the tree-of-life virus inert?
Thallium.

We accepted anything with thallium in it. A number of people pointed out that the actual substance needed was thallium oxide.

5) What do the two expletives TANJ and TANSTAAFL mean, exactly?
There Ain't No Justice and There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Many respondents rightly pointed out that Robert Heinlein popularized TANSTAAFL (in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress). Heinlein is said to have heard it from Jerry Pournelle's father. A careful reader will find it crops up in Known Space as well. Lior Kravitz receives an Honorable Mention for his answer, "There Are No Such Things As A Flying Saucer" as does Gavin Gibson for, "There Ain't No Steakhouses That Are Always Full, Larry."

Correct entries

Chuck Rothman, 104210.344@compuserve.com
Stan Walker, stan@esinet1.esinet.net
M. Kuchling, amk@magnet.com
John Reiher, johnrei@microsoft.com
Keith Jacquemin, jcs@primenet.com
Andrew Treloar, aet@deakin.edu.au
Steve Hudson, hud1@citynet.net
David R. Lambert, Dlambert@zd.com
Jonathan Andrew Sheen, jsheen@ma.ultranet.com
Karen McElroy, tenfwd@ix.netcom.com
Christopher Gwyn, gwync@ruby.ils.unc.edu
Sean Malloy, malloy@cris.com
Frank J. Nagy, nagy@fnal.gov
dg caldwell, ssetor@enterprise.ca
Michael S. Schiffer, mss2@tezcat.com
Joseph Cowan, cowanj@sial.com
David DeGraff, david@merlin.alfred.edu
Eric Austin, eaustin@ll.mit.edu
Bill Seligman, seligman@nevis1.nevis.columbia.edu
Steven Thomas, sthomas@ckls.org
Mark Zane, zane@itginc.com
Tom Negrino, tom@negrino.com
Jeff Hupp, JHupp@Gensys.com
Michael Grosberg, s3199155@techst02.technion.ac.il
mbrown, mbrown@austin.ibm.com
Michael T. Sullivan, mike@trdlnk.com
Daniel Dyer, ddyer@plato.ucs.mun.ca
Greg Leggett, tteggel@pcug.org.au
Jon Hansen, jmhansen@indiana.edu
Kirk Davies, Kirk.Davies@pobox.com
Joel Polowin, polowin@hyper.com
Keith Lewis, lewisk@electric.austin.tx.us
Russ Collins, rgc@io.com
Peter Heifetz, phef@acpub.duke.edu
Rhys Clement-Evans, Rhys@PhoneLink.com
Gordon Smith, gordon_smith@mindlink.bc.ca
Andrew Love, andrew.love@jhuapl.edu

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