Evil Grimace

In continuing the trend of selling all the moments/feels (thanks @drol - this description is perfect) and a true joker performance @maryportfuncity (~50 teams jokered him of 166 for the 2024 DDP), yet another article with a health update with nothing of value. Jonnie Irwin urged 'keep fighting' as he issues fresh terminal cancer update Here's the 'I'm not clicking on that link' summary: - link of an interview he did with a carer who's helped him who also has a book - the article itself is just a collection of comments from people who listened to the interview

Today is the last day for entries. I know that with the penalties in place it is a significant handicap, but think of the achievement when you win!

Yes you are with Franz Beckenbauer! So this now increases the penalty to -3 with Johns, Draper and Beckenbauer not able to be selected. The window for entries is still open, but I admit it will take some encouragement to get others to sign on with that handicap!

5 January Second hit: Derek Draper There's going to be some spreadsheet magic once the window closes. I think I have a handle on how it will go....

@BuffaloPhil do you wish to make a joker selection? Not mandatory, just wanted to confirm.

@Sleepiestpeep for clarification, do you want a total of 19 hits with the 17 above plus Johns and Draper or do you want 17 total hits. If 17, please revise your list down to 15 picks.

I'm using these two posts as examples of how the game will go forward with the Johns and Draper hits. For @Clorox Bleachman the listing of 15 picks with a total of 16 hits is correct. That means Clorox will take a -1 penalty going forward that can never be cleared, as Johns cannot be a hit. For @Sleepiestpeep the listing of 17 picks gives a total of 19 hits due to Johns and Draper being added on. This means a -2 penalty holds going forward that cannot be cleared. However, if @Sleepiestpeep does want only 17 picks, then their list needs to be revised down to 15 to give a total of 17. The maths do justify carrying forward the penalty, as it is slightly easier for those later to make picks, if the odds of each pick are even. See the table below. % per pick For 20 hits full rota 50 2.00 20/50 0.400 Johns 49 2.05 19/49 0.388 Draper 48 2.10 18/48 0.375 For a selection of 20 hits, a player who submits now need only pick 18 of 48. They have a slightly higher % that the pick will hit, all things being equal (I know they aren't, this is a gross simplification for a very random game). However, they suffer a further loss in the chance to call the next picks for a full 20 the further the game progresses; and as the final total isn't known, their total of 20 may not be correct. I also want the players who submitted early to not be disadvantaged for reaching early for the brass ring. I hope this doesn't prevent people from signing up to play as I do like the insight of the forum and enjoy running the game. I look forward to more teams being submitted.

With the death of Derek Draper reported on the forums as of ~11:30 Friday 5 January only those with their lists in via posting above or via PM to me (which have all be acknowledged) have him as a legitimite hit. All other punters now have the knowledge of the two hits and penalty of two missed hits - take this into account and do not select Glynis Johns or Derek Draper. Might want to get your lists in before Jimmy Carter closes out the 2024 DL!

@tracy So he was! Top notch research on my part...

I agree with @Spade_Cooley on the right to gripe later, so here they are. Let's start with the DDP sub bench: Denis Law - dementia picks always trouble me and seem to go the distance; then he's a returnee at #25 on the DL Frankie Valli - I'm grateful to @lilham for the tour info, but as far as I can tell, no cancellations everything moving forwards Pope Francis - still in the Chair of St Peter and packing the College of Cardinals; then he debuts at #5 (!!) on the DL The December Miss Every year I miss a bit news drop or health update (Sakamoto, Jeanette Lee). I give you the 2023 entry... Theo Burrell - I'm hoping for a Tom Parker repeat here given her age (37), otherwise the jokerage will be serious competition Lack of info - a lot in this group, age was often a deterrent Michael York - amyloidosis since 2012 but generalized? what organ(s)? Contrast to Musharraf last year that was cardiac amyloidosis - and a dead cert. Franz Beckenbauer - the first of the 'Kaiser' non-picks; likely heart issues and of course he debuts at #49 on the DL Larry Pressler - bladder cancer in 2019 then pan can a year later; over 80 years old made for an easy drop Daniel Barenboim - the 'circulatory problems' are vasculitis but again, what organs? Couldn't make an informed choice, so consulted with wisdom of the masses (the 2023 DDP) and no one had picked him, despite information from late 2022. Annnddd he debuts at #34 on the DL The Scuppered Uniques I chuckled at @YoungWillz dismay at 'the interminable search for a unique' that sees good names fall out of choice. Guilty as charged, but these are out in the wild by others hands, one very recently. Roddy Maudy-Roxby - was listed in @Perhaps entry on/as sub in the 'Telly II' pool; curious to see if he appears on the DDP (no appearances to date) Denys Graham - the second 'Kaiser' non-pick; Welsh actor with about half a dozen mentions in the forum, majority in the British Character Actors thread; he was part of a potential war movies theme team (he's Kaiser Wilhelm II in the 1979 film 'All Quiet on the Western Front) that I couldn't formulate well, but he stayed on; age (97) didn't help; pleasantly surprised to see that he's in the Hartlepool Deadlypool on @justonecornetto's team!

4 January First hit: Glynis Johns Update to follow when entry window closes. Punters will be advised on how the early hit before window closure influences the game.

With the death of Glynis Johns reported on the forums as of ~18:50 Thursday 4 January only those with their lists in via posting above or via PM to me (which have all be acknowledged) have her as a legitimite hit. All other punters now have the knowledge of the hit and penalty of a missed hit - take this into account and do not select Glynis Johns. Might want to get your lists in before Jimmy Carter outlives another!

I had the server daemon say the ddp2024 email address is unable to receive my two entries. I've sent them to the vanilla ddp email address. I hope no one else has had issues - I imagine I used the wrong email address!

The space for Statistics.

Updates and Commentary 30/12/23 Thread up and I'll clear out my inbox to receive PMs as I'll be afk until early January. 05/01/24 The early hits of Johns and Draper have made for an early start! See later post on how this impacts the game.

Nineteenth hit: Jacques Delors The now completed 2023 DL has podium standing as the second most successful, it is time to have the final ranks for DL CL 2023 to be added to the Hall of Fame. But first, the last entry for the 2023 season. Delors was the top choice of the 'middle of the road' pack with 18 punters with the correct call, no jokers. @DoorSlammer has scored +5 for their hit plus matching the exact prediction they made. @Funeralopolis has scored +6 for exact prediction, correct hit and 3x bonus. This has secured them the two highest podium places respectively. Total hits: 18 Teams with hit: 18 Punters: Joltin Joe, gcreptile, ThereWillBeDeaths7, wannamaker, Funeralopolis, Etushispushingupdaisies, tracy, Summer in Transylvania, DoorSlammer, Book, The Duke of Deadinburgh, Bibliogryphon, Newjack, Grimgrass, Torva Messor, The Old Crem, Sean, Hell Teams with joker: 0 Punters: N/A Third hit bonus First round (3 hits): N/A Second round (6 hits): N/A Third round (9 hits): Joltin Joe, gcreptile, Funeralopolis, Bibliogryphon, Torva Messor, The Old Crem Fourth round (12 hits): N/A Within 5 predicted hits: N/A; highest predicted hits was 22! Within 1 predicted hit: chilean way, Summer in Transylvania (20 predicted hits) Exact hit match: Funeralopolis, DoorSlammer, WinterCake, Annami (19 predicted hits) Return of pentalies for those with low hit predictions. Exact hit loss (-4): TQR, Book, Torva Messor (18 predicted hits) Being out by 2 hits (-2 points): Etushispushingupdaisies, tracy, The Duke of Deadinburgh (17 predicted hits) Being out by 5 hits (-2 points): Great Uncle Bulgaria, diego (13 predicted hits) Well, it is all over. DoomSlammer has a clear first place rank with an abundance of correct hits (13/19) and now exact on called hits (19 predicted). Funeralopolis has a clear second place thanks to an impressive +6 finish on this last hit. Third place is crowded with six punters on a final score of -1. Updated Score Delors Third Hit Bonus Out by 5 hits (13 predicted) Within 1 hit (20 predicted) Exact match (19 predicted) DoorSlammer 6 1 4 Funeralopolis 1 1 1 4 tracy -1 1 -2 wannamaker -1 1 Joltin Joe -1 1 1 Bibliogryphon -1 1 1 Annami -1 4 Summer in Transylvania -1 1 2 Torva Messor -2 1 1 -4 Etushispushingupdaisies -2 1 -2 gcreptile -2 1 1 WinterCake -2 4 Grimgrass -3 1 TQR -4 -4 diego -4 -2 Book -5 1 -4 LizLemon -5 Newjack -5 1 Dying Probably -6 Joey Russ -6 Hell -6 1 ThereWillBeDeaths7 -6 1 The Old Crem -6 1 1 Sean -7 1 chilean way -7 2 Great Uncle Bulgaria -8 -2 The Duke of Deadinburgh -8 1 -2 YoungWillz -8 theoldlady -12 The Daredevil -12

The FT comes through (paywall) but it mentions his death in the article's title: Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Solow dies

The CorrectList will be up and running again for 2024. I'm happy to continue at the helm. Expect the thread, rules, etc. to be up late December. Depending on how the 2023 competition ends, I'd expect the update to the HoF for early January.

Reading this reminds me of the saying, 'Old chemists never die; they just reach equilibrium'. The American Chemical Society (ACS) was even forward thinking enough to make it a bumper sticker!

Recent picture of John C. Polanyi (Chemistry laureate, 1986, wiki) from an early December event at the University of Toronto. Compared to the 2019 picture in the wiki article, he's noticeably aged. For clarity, he's the one with the cane - the others are department of chemistry faculty. @MariNisia - nice pick btw in the Nobel Prize deadpool, nearly certain you did not see this picture prior to your selection.

The delayed November estimate, and last one for the 2023 DDP, shows that is has been the slowest in the year with only 20 total hits, with 19 in November (including a delayed Colette Maze obit) and an obit for R R Griffiths from 16 October. This gives a slight decrease in the estimated total of 306 (see table). At the time of writing, the hits stand at 290, already a new record. The final total estimate still breaks the 300 barrier. Each hit will make a new record, but with 20 days left, it requires a rate for the remaining days of 0.75 hits/day to get to ~305. Could be a reach given November's low performance. Month Hits Predicted Total November 20 306 October 29 307 September 24 299 August 26 296 July 24 292 Jan-June 161 290

Eighteenth hit: Norman Lear As the 2023 DL now stands as the second most successful, it has become clear that those players who aimed high on the number of picks they chose are dominating the leaderboard. Lear was a middle of the road pick with 13 punters with the correct call, no jokers. The game has also moved out of the 17 hit sweet spot as now penalties for being more than 5 out are reintroduced. Two punters have scored +5 for their hit plus matching the exact prediction they made. Well done @TQR and @Torva Messor. This places them in a tie for second place. Total hits: 13 Teams with hit: 13 Punters: chilean way, ThereWillBeDeaths7, wannamaker, Funeralopolis, Etushispushingupdaisies, Joey Russ, TQR, The Duke of Deadinburgh, WinterCake, Newjack, Grimgrass, Torva Messor, Hell Teams with joker: 0 Punters: N/A Third hit bonus First round (3 hits): N/A Second round (6 hits): Newjack, Grimgrass Third round (9 hits): wannamaker, Etushispushingupdaisies Fourth round (12 hits): N/A Within 5 predicted hits: N/A; highest predicted hits was 22! Within 1 predicted hit: Funeralopolis, DoorSlammer, WinterCake, Annami (19 predicted hits) Exact hit match: TQR, Book, Torva Messor (18 predicted hits) Return of pentalies for those with low hit predictions. Exact hit loss (-4): Etushispushingupdaisies, tracy, The Duke of Deadinburgh (17 predicted hits) Being out by 2 hits (-2 points): theoldlady, gcreptile, wannamaker, LizLemon, Newjack (16 predicted hits) Being out by 5 hits (-2 points): Grimgrass (12 predicted hits) DoomSlammer has quietly crept into first place with an abundance of correct hits (12/18, two-thirds correct) and now being out by 1 on called hits (19 predicted). Those who got +5 to their scores share a tie for second place – tracy, TQR, Torva Messor. Seven other punters are within 4 points of first place. If the pace continues in the last 24 days of December, this won’t be the last update! Updated Score Lear Third Hit Bonus Out by 5 hits (12 predicted) Within 1 hit (19 predicted) Exact match (18 predicted) DoorSlammer 1 2 tracy 0 -4 Torva Messor 0 1 4 TQR 0 1 4 Etushispushingupdaisies -1 1 1 -4 wannamaker -2 1 1 -2 diego -2 Book -2 4 Joltin Joe -3 Bibliogryphon -3 Annami -3 2 gcreptile -4 -2 Grimgrass -4 1 1 -2 Summer in Transylvania -4 LizLemon -5 -2 Funeralopolis -5 1 2 Newjack -6 1 1 -2 Great Uncle Bulgaria -6 Dying Probably -6 Joey Russ -6 1 WinterCake -6 1 2 The Duke of Deadinburgh -7 1 -4 Hell -7 1 ThereWillBeDeaths7 -7 1 Sean -8 YoungWillz -8 The Old Crem -8 chilean way -9 1 theoldlady -12 -2 The Daredevil -12

Crossposting to the (more) appropriate thread.

Italian actress and Golden Globe winner Marisa Pavan has died. Marisa Pavan, Oscar-nominated actress in The Rose Tattoo, dies aged 91 | Metro News Also a DDP pick.

Seventeenth hit: Shane MacGowan The second half of the belated update, as the forum was running as slow as treacle. Still a sweet treat with the dentally challenged hit. Despite the forum support for this hit, MacGowan was a 'wheat vs chaff' pick, with only 8 punters with the correct call, plus one joker. True to form, this hit causes trouble as everyone now has at least one penalty removed. At the 17th hit, all punters from the low end at 12 hits to the high end at 22 hits predicted all have the out by 5 penalty removed. Plenty more get added and removed too. Again a punter has scored +8 for their joker hit plus matching the exact prediction they made. Well done @tracy. Total hits: 9 Teams with hit: 8 Punters: Dying Probably, Joey Russ, YoungWillz, Summer in Transylvania, WinterCake, The Old Crem, Sean, diego Teams with joker: 1 Punters: tracy Yet another joker cashed, making it 25/30 jokers cleared. Third hit bonus First round (3 hits): N/A Second round (6 hits): YoungWillz, WinterCake Third round (9 hits): N/A Fourth round (12 hits): N/A Within 5 predicted hits: ThereWillBeDeaths7 (21 predicted hits) Within 1 predicted hit: TQR, Book, Torva Messor (18 predicted hits) Exact hit match: Etushispushingupdaisies, tracy, The Duke of Deadinburgh (17 predicted hits) Return of pentalies for those with low hit predictions. Exact hit loss (-4): theoldlady, gcreptile, wannamaker, LizLemon, Newjack (16 predicted hits) Being out by 2 hits (-2 points): Joltin Joe, YoungWillz, Bibliogryphon, Sean (15 predicted hits) Tracy vaults into 1st place with +8 to their score. It is worth noting that tracy has also hit the last four correctly (Rosalynn Carter, Ackland, Kissinger, MacGowan). Etushispushingupdaisies is in 2nd command with the threat of DoorSlammer in 3rd, thanks to many correct hits. With 30 days left in the year, what, if any, last minute surprising hits could there be? Updated Score MacGowan Joker Hit Third Hit Bonus Within 5 hits (22 predicted) Within 1 hit (18 predicted) Exact match (17 predicted) tracy 4 4 4 Etushispushingupdaisies 1 4 DoorSlammer -1 gcreptile -2 -4 wannamaker -2 -4 diego -2 1 Book -2 2 LizLemon -3 -4 Joltin Joe -3 -2 Bibliogryphon -3 -2 Grimgrass -4 Summer in Transylvania -4 1 The Duke of Deadinburgh -4 4 Annami -5 Torva Messor -5 2 TQR -5 2 Newjack -6 -4 Great Uncle Bulgaria -6 Dying Probably -6 1 Joey Russ -7 1 Sean -8 1 -2 YoungWillz -8 1 1 -2 Funeralopolis -8 Hell -8 The Old Crem -8 1 ThereWillBeDeaths7 -8 2 WinterCake -9 1 1 theoldlady -10 -4 chilean way -10 The Daredevil -12