Play "The Wikipedia Game" - From Elvis to Queen Elizabeth II!

[G01]

Has anybody here ever played this game when you were bored? First you go on Wikipedia and select some random article. Then, you find a link on the page and go to the article it links to. Continue this process for long enough and you'll eventually end up at some article which you would never believe to have been connected to the original post!

Now try to have other people see if they can figure out how to get from one article to the other. First one to get from one to the other, using only internal Wikipedia links gets a point. Also, 2 bonus points are awarded for getting there using a quicker(less intermediate pages)route. This is assuming the author of the challenge is honest on how he got from one to the other. Honor system people! Most points wins! The game stops whenever you decide it does!

It's similar to that game where you pick a movie star and try to relate him to another celebrity via other people. It's a humorous way to pass free time.

Here's a funny chain I got. It's not too hard to get from one to the other, and it'll be a good starter question. The first person to get it gets the points. Once the current challenge is answered, anyone feel free to post another challenge.

Wikipedia Challenge #1:

(Name of Article)
Start: Elvis Presley
End: Queen Elizabeth II

 

[scott_alexsk]

Once I got to the beetles it was over.

 

[mattmns]

Sounds fun.

edit... Saturday night, playing the "wikipedia game"

edit2... Wait I have a question. Is an internal wikipedia link, a wikipedia link that is located in the "Body" of the Article. Or is an internal wikipedia link, a wikipedia link that is "See Also" section of the Article?

Also, we should probably post the actual sequence taken?

 

[scott_alexsk]

How about Queen Elizabeth II to dislocations (materials science)?

 

[mattmns]

OK here is one:

Start: Britney Spears
End: E = mc^2

 

[mattmns]

Are lists off limits? I would think yes, since a lot of these would probably become much easier.

 

[mattmns]

OK, this is probably not the best route but here we go.

Queen Elizabeth II
St. James' Palace
Palace
The Crystal Palace
Glass
Crystal
Materials science
DislocationA better one.

Queen Elizabeth II
Italy
Rome
University of Rome La Sapienza (in the article the link is just displayed as "La Sapienza")
Vito_Volterra
Dislocation

 

[moose]

OK here is one:

Start: Britney Spears
End: E = mc^2

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britany_Spears I clicked on TIME

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIME I went to Person of the Year and clicked on Einstein

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein I went to Mass-Energy Equivalence

EDIT: Lol, once I got to Physics from Elvis I decided to give up on that one.

 

[mattmns]

Nice moose, that was the exact path I had in mind

 

[G01]

edit2... Wait I have a question. Is an internal wikipedia link, a wikipedia link that is located in the "Body" of the Article. Or is an internal wikipedia link, a wikipedia link that is "See Also" section of the Article?

Also, we should probably post the actual sequence taken?

Yes to both.

EDIT:

My path for the first one was: Elvis-Scottish-Scotland-Queen Elizabeth II

 

[G01]

Are lists off limits? I would think yes, since a lot of these would probably become much easier.

Yeah, I agree. Good idea!

 

[ice109]

how many points if i can guess the correct way without using wiki?

 

[G01]

how many points if i can guess the correct way without using wiki?

$$\infty$$ points

 

[mattmns]

Start: Chess
End: Sex

 

[G01]

Got it!

Chess--->India--->Gender Ratio---->Female---> Sex


How about this one:

Start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex"
End: Global Warming

 

[morphism]

Start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex"
End: Global Warming

Sex -> Sexism -> United States -> Global Warming.

How about:

Start: Global Warming
End: Ping Pong / Table Tennis.

(Actually, this one isn't too hard apparently!)

 

[mattmns]

Nice solution, I hadn't thought about that one.

Sex -> Biology -> Natural Environment -> Global Warming

Start: Global Warming
End: Wooden iron

edit... Looks like I was beat!

Note to self: ExxonMobil, Shareholder, Volunteer, Oxymoron, Wooden iron

 

[ice109]

its a silly game, every single article has so many embedded links

 

[Alkatran]

It would be better to try to find two articles that were as far apart as possible.

 

[moose]

Start: Global Warming
End: Ping Pong / Table Tennis.

(Actually, this one isn't too hard apparently!)

Global Warming
-
China
-
Table Tennnis


Start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_tennis
End: Elton John

 

[Chi Meson]

Table tennis => sport => Hewie Louis and the News => Elvis Costello => Shakespeare => Stratford-upon-Avon => Arthur C. Clark => British Interplanetary Society => Barnard's Star => Red Dwarf => metals => carbon => London => Royal Albert Hall => Led Zepplin => Dave Edmonds => Elvis Costello (again!) => Rock n Roll Hall of Fame => Little Richard => Elton John!

Hah! 19 steps!
Shoe shop ==>Table tennis (4 steps)

 

[G01]

Sex -> Sexism -> United States -> Global Warming.

How about:

Start: Global Warming
End: Ping Pong / Table Tennis.

(Actually, this one isn't too hard apparently!)

Nice, more efficient than my route if I remember.

Nice solution, I hadn't thought about that one.

Sex -> Biology -> Natural Environment -> Global Warming

Start: Global Warming
End: Wooden iron

edit... Looks like I was beat!

Note to self: ExxonMobil, Shareholder, Volunteer, Oxymoron, Wooden iron

This was more along the lines of my path to global warming.

Table tennis => sport => Hewie Louis and the News => Elvis Costello => Shakespeare => Stratford-upon-Avon => Arthur C. Clark => British Interplanetary Society => Barnard's Star => Red Dwarf => metals => carbon => London => Royal Albert Hall => Led Zepplin => Dave Edmonds => Elvis Costello (again!) => Rock n Roll Hall of Fame => Little Richard => Elton John!

Hah! 19 steps!
Shoe shop ==>Table tennis (4 steps)

You seemed to have looped around a little there!

Shoe(redirected from Shoe shop)-->Athletic Shoe--->Tennis--->Tennis(disambiguation)--->Table Tennis

Would this be 4 or 5 steps?

 

[Four]

what about this one:

start: spookie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spooky
end: Permafrost http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permafrost

Edit: finally I found it

Start: Global Warming
End: Wooden iron

Wooden Iron <= Arthur Schopenhauer <= The World as Will and Representation <= Category:1819 books <= Category:1819 works <= Category:1819 <= Category:1810s <= Category:1815 <= 1815 <= 1812 <= War of 1812 <= United States Navy <= Iron Curtain [use U.S. Naval] <= Europe <= Hardwood <= Wood <= Fossil fuel <= Global warming

Haha. Just follow the arrows. Going backwards as I wrote it I was clicking back on the browser. I would reverse this list but I'm tired and sleepy.

 

[mattmns]

what about this one:

start: spookie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spooky
end: Permafrost http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permafrost

Spooky -> 2006 -> Alaska -> Permafrost

If you don't like 2006, take: Spooky -> UK -> USA -> Alaska -> Permafrost

 

[Four]

you did it; faster than me. I had to go through toilets before I got to permafrost

 

[mattmns]

Start: D'oh!
End: Differentiable Manifold (corrected)

 

[AKG]

D'oh > Gerald Ford > University of Michigan Law School > University of Michigan > Information theory > Applied mathematics > Topology > Manifold > Differentiable manifold (you did mean Differentiable right, not Differential?)

Start: Differentiable manifold
End: Neuron
(5 Steps)

 

[moose]

Start: D'oh!
End: Differential Manifold

I took f***ing forever, and gave up trying to find a quick route.

D'oh! -> Minced Oath -> United States -> Educational attainment in the United States -> Bachelor's degree -> Bachelor of Mathematics -> Mathematics -> Manifold -> Differentiable manifold

8 steps... grr
edit: HAHA, same amount of steps as AKG

 

[mattmns]

Differentiable Manifold -> General relativity -> Albert Einstein -> Albert Einstein's Brain -> Neuron. Probably not what was expected, but it works

 

[mattmns]

I should perhaps admit that I don't know if there was a quick route on that one at all. I was first looking for using Al Jean and his degree in Math to get to math, but that fell through. Then I started working through Harvard, which I think was not that easy. Then I went with the US route which worked after a while.

Also you would think there would be a link, or at least mention, of Homer's obsession with doughnuts, which gives a quick connection, but there isn't one that I could find.

 

[mattmns]

How about:

Start: TV guide
End: Energy

Done in 5 or less. Probably too easy.

 

[mattmns]

How about Queen Elizabeth II to dislocations (materials science)?

I found a very short path.

Queen Elizabeth II -> United States -> Material Science -> Dislocation

 

[fourier jr]

this reminds me of networking & that "6-degress-of-separation" saying. if someone wants to get a message to another person it would have to go through no more than 6 people, no matter how far apart they are. that's the saying anyway; in practice it's probably a bit different, especially today with the internet, etc (the world is a lot smaller than it used to be). i wonder what the maximum number of wikipedia pages someone would need to go through get to any other wikipedia page? someone would have to be pretty bored to try to figure that out imho lol.

 

[moose]

How about:

Start: TV guide
End: Energy

Done in 5 or less. Probably too easy.

TV guide -> Television -> Electrical energy -> Energy

Start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool_aid
End: Treaty of Paris (1783)
If you get this, good job!EDIT: I found a good way to get Neuron from Differentiable manifold
Differentiable manifold -> Physics -> Electricity -> Neuron

EDIT2: I also found a way to cheat...
http://tools.wikimedia.de/sixdeg/

EDIT3: Lol, that website has the same method of getting to Neuron as I had, MUAHAHA!

 

[morphism]

Start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kool_aid
End: Treaty of Paris (1783)

Kool Aid -> America (The Book) -> Politics of the United States -> American Revolution -> American Revolutionary War -> Treaty of Paris (1783)

Now:

Start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket-weaving"
End: Felix Hausdorff