Remember the puzzle that got posted a while ago? I've had a couple of emails asking for the solution, so here you go.


Take a look at the following series of letters and work out which letter comes next.

NCLWOWALOSFTAL

Well, the solution's this. Look at the first letter of every word in the puzzle.

T.A.L.A.T.F.S.O.L.A.W.O.W.L.C.N
Reverse it -> N.C.L.W.O.W.A.L.O.S.F.T.A.L.A.T
So the two letters that come next are AT. I know it was a bit vicious :)

Last day of the Devnull tournament today, and unless others have saved and stored up ascensions ready to go at the last minute, it looks like the Cabal is going to crush all competition.

Oh, and I'm 24 today :)

"Ten years ago a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a wizard for a theft they didn't commit. These treants promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the forest underground. Today, still wanted by the wizard, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem and no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the E-Team."

A complete game, using the ToME engine. It's a complete game, so more gamers and testers are always welcome :)

The E-Team

Another great ToME module is Bone to be Wild. If you've ever felt like one too many zombie movies... why not try this one? Where you play the undead for once. Take over the world, and have many deliciously nummy and tasty souls for dinner along the way!

In the spirit of the NetHack tournament, a little more Nethack fanart - The Orb of Fate

Well, a fellow member of "The Cabal" won First Ascension in the devnull tournament... but I got runner up :) Second ascension :D Yay!

OK, after a shaky start with a few bugs - devnull seems to be up and running. I'm playing there under the name "calamarain" - though I've not had time to play more than a quick couple of games yet.

I will be playing in the clan "cabal", with several other nethackers. Though since the tourney's only been running four hours, it's hardly up and running yet :P

The Devnull Nethack tournament is coming up. I should be playing in it, though under what name, I've not decided.

I've been pondering the possibility of an Angband tournament, but I'm not sure it would work. The fastest realtime ascension in Nethack last year was in 4hrs 40mins. Angband takes a *lot* longer to complete. However, a game of Angband can be completed in a few days, with enough time and patience, and risks taken.

What do people think of the idea of this? It would have to be done on a central server, to rule out savescumming and cheating. And what awards would be made? Lowest dungeon level reached? First person to beat Morgoth? Fastest person to beat Morgoth (both in terms of realtime and turntime)? Lowest level person to beat Morgoth?

Some ideas would obviously not be possible without extensive patching of the game, but others might. Seriously, what are your thoughts?

And the last in the guest series. Back to normal comics again on Monday, peoples. And a random puzzle to stick in your brain.

Take a look at the following series of letters and work out which letter comes next.

NCLWOWALOSFTAL

Pardon the blip there people. Sorted out within 10 minutes. Yay for bluelinux :) EDIT: Problem turned out to be something different to what I thought it was :S

This week will be devoted to the guest series "Morgoth's Big Adventure", kindly provided by Conrad Zaar. Enjoy yourselves :) And many thanks to Conrad for sending them!

I am very impressed. Someone has just sent me a series of five guest strips.

They'll be run next week.

Yay for guest strips. Apparently, someone's drawing a series of them right now... so if/when they're done... you'll be treated to their talent too :P

A couple of you have asked what a Nazgul Nutcracker is. Unfortunately, it's not brewable outside of Middle Earth, since it has an orcish grain spirit as one of the ingredients.

A close analogue would be the "Shut the Fuck Up", also known as a "Textual Intercourse" - invented by a good friend of mine, AJ, aka Richard.

It consists of a large mug containing one part hot tea, one part coca cola and one part vodka. Optionally, add a spoonfull of sugar, or a teaspoon of lemon juice. It makes a warm slightly bitter drink that hides the alcohol nicely.

Well, a quarter of a million. And hits. Yes, we've hit 250,000 hits on the site, and to celebrate - we're accepting guest strips. If you think you're more talented and funnier than me, you are probably correct, but I'll demand you prove it by sending me a strip :-P Keep it below 640px wide, but otherwise it's entirely up to you :)

Thanks for reading, peoples. There's still plenty more strips to come yet, my buffer's still very much intact.

EDIT: OK, some of you may have experienced problems with the comic last night, with weird php things appearing. Apparently the problem was one of the other users on the shellhost I use going mad, and exceeding their storage quota by a *very* large amount, thus running the whole damned thing out of space. Idiots. Things'll be working properly again soon - my apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced, my thanks to bluelinux for getting to the problem quickly, and eternal sodomization with a red hot poker to the idiot who did that.