MCF's COMMON Bondz 13

It's time to find out the COMMON bonds in Thursday's edition of MCF's COMMON. Thank you Lyndon and Lorna for your great guesses. Some were right, some were wrong, and some were clever and creative enough that I'm now considering dusting off MCF's Perilous as a game for next week. In any case, let's see which was which and who guessed what and where. Why? Why not:

GROUP 1
(A) Frances Bean.
(B) Mary Kate & Ashley.
(C) Haley.
(D) Macaulay.
When I heard Kurt Cobain's daughter turned 18 the other day, I couldn't believe it. Frighteningly enough, while I still envision the people on this list as infants or children, Miss Cobain, the Olsen twins, Osment, and Culkin are all adults now. I see old people. I don't want to think about how old that makes me, so we'll move on to less depressing common bonds....

GROUP 2
(A) Man About the House.
(B) Coupling.
(C) Red Dwarf.
(D) The Office.
These are four British sitcoms that were adapted in American versions. Two of the remakes proved successful; two did not. Look for Matt LeBlanc to star in a parody of the latter kind in a few months. Take that, Craig Bierko!

GROUP 3
(A) Doctor Wily.
(B) Bowser.
(C) Ganon.
(D) Mr. X.
As Lyndon correctly knew, these are all bosses from old NES games.

GROUP 4
(A) Drive Shaft.
(B) Oil Change.
(C) Greatest Hits.
(D) Live in Jakarta.
This is the discography of the fictional band Drive Shaft from LOST. But then I'm sure you all everybody knew that....

GROUP 5
(A) W.
(B) A.
(C) S.
(D) D.
Play a lot of video games on your computer? Then you might recognize the left-handed alternative to using the arrow keys. The WASD is best used for games which require use of the mouse as well as the keyboard. Personally, I find the arrow keys easier to remember, but understand why this option exists.

MCF's COMMON 13

Hey, it's my 13th MCF's COMMON! I should have done this one last week to coincide with the 13th day of the month! Instead I wrote a new M.C.F.A.T., for which my answers will be posted tomorrow. At this rate I'll need to hire an assistant to help me with my crazy scheduling....

Below I'm going to list FIVE groups of FOUR things. Each group has some thing in common, some thing that links each quartet. It's up to you to guess, and I'll reveal the answers on Saturday.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Through a combination of skill, luck, knowledge, and flat out guessing, can you guess what they are?

GROUP 1
(A) Frances Bean.
(B) Mary Kate & Ashley.
(C) Haley.
(D) Macaulay.

GROUP 2
(A) Man About the House.
(B) Coupling.
(C) Red Dwarf.
(D) The Office.

GROUP 3
(A) Doctor Wily.
(B) Bowser.
(C) Ganon.
(D) Mr. X.

GROUP 4
(A) Drive Shaft.
(B) Oil Change.
(C) Greatest Hits.
(D) Live in Jakarta.

GROUP 5
(A) W.
(B) A.
(C) S.
(D) D.

MCF's COMMON Bondz 12

It's time to find out the COMMON bonds in yesterday's edition of MCF's COMMON. Did you overthink about these, think just enough, or not think at all? I know I did all of the above....

GROUP 1
(A) Umlaut.
(B) Grave.
(C) Acute.
(D) Circumflex.
These were just what they appear to be, a quartet of accents. It's strange that the symbols these words represent don't appear in the words themselves, at least not in English. I would think the word would be ”Ümlaut”, but I would be wrong. And Circumflex sounds like a machine I should be using to build up my upper body. But I dîgréss....

GROUP 2
(A) Üter.
(B) Dolph.
(C) Martin.
(D) Wendell.
The Simpsons may have been on the air for over twenty years, but how many of you recognized these four kids from Springfield Elementary? Ralph, whose cat's breath smells like catfood, is probably my favorite, but I tried to list more obscure ones like Wendell, whose had maybe 3 lines in 20 years. I need to get out more.

GROUP 3
(A) Spike.
(B) Eric.
(C) Lestat.
(D) David.
There's nothing to see here except for blonde vampires, unless they're being photographed or you're looking for their reflection in a mirror. Then there really is nothing to see.

GROUP 4
(A) Techno.
(B) Tele.
(C) Strato.
(D) SAW.
Even I never realized how many varieties of Cobra Vipers there were. I guess I lost track of all these masked terrorists parachuting out of harm's way from enemy laser fire at the last second. The Tele-Vipers were always my favorites; loved seeing words scroll across their visor in reverse from our point of view. You know what I'm talking about, fellow ‘80s children.

GROUP 5
(A) .
(B) ,
(C) -
(D) )
And finally, we come to what obviously appears to be four punctuation symbols: a period, a comma, a dash, and a closed parenthesis. Sometimes though, we need to look at things a little differently. Together, a period and a comma might form a semi-colon. And a semi-colon followed by a dash and a closed parenthesis forms a winking emoticon. Clever, eh? ;-)

MCF's COMMON 12

If it’s Thursday, then it must be time for MCF's COMMON! And I know, by the time you see this, it will technically be Friday. For me, it’s Thursday night, it’s been a long week, and though it was a pretty good one, I’m ready for the weekend. One more day, after this one game. If you don’t know how to play, now you’ll know:

Below I'm going to list FIVE groups of FOUR things. Each group has some thing in common, some thing that links each quartet. It's up to you to guess, and I'll reveal the answers tomorrow.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Through a combination of skill, luck, knowledge, and flat out guessing, can you guess what they are?

GROUP 1
(A) Umlaut.
(B) Grave.
(C) Acute.
(D) Circumflex.

GROUP 2
(A) Üter.
(B) Dolph.
(C) Martin.
(D) Wendell.

GROUP 3
(A) Spike.
(B) Eric.
(C) Lestat.
(D) David.

GROUP 4
(A) Techno.
(B) Tele.
(C) Strato.
(D) SAW.

GROUP 5
(A) .
(B) ,
(C) -
(D) )

MCF's COMMON Bondz 11

And now we shall learn the COMMON bonds in yesterday's edition of MCF's COMMON. Were the answers as obvious as I thought? Not all of them....

GROUP 1
(A) Virginia.
(B) Josephine.
(C) Rose Marie.
(D) Jane Marie.
If you've been reading the last few days, you might recognize the names of my father's sisters, listed here from oldest to youngest. My late Aunt Josie's full name was Josephine, but probably the one that confused people who were paying attention is my Aunt Mary, whose real name is actually Jane. For some reason, her husband is the only one in the family who calls her that instead of Mary, which I guess derived from her middle name of Marie. There are a few people in my family with name changes, none of whom had bad names to begin with. I've always been happy with my name, which is....wait, I'm starting to ramble. I'd best move on and explain the next group.

GROUP 2
(A) Hal.
(B) Guy.
(C) John.
(D) Kyle.
Did you know The Green Lantern Corps has counted four Earthmen, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner among their ranks? I never really read their comics, but somehow I possess this useless knowledge, thanks to the comics I did read as well as various incarnations in animated series. And then there's Alan Scott, the first hero to bear the name and a ring, though he didn't share the cosmic origins of Hal and the rest of the corps. Ryan Reynolds will be portraying Hal in the upcoming film, hopefully the purest incarnation that will make the character more accessible to a wider, non-comic book geek audience.

GROUP 3
(A) Hoops.
(B) Camera.
(C) Rifle.
(D) Lincoln.
These are all things that someone would shoot. What, too soon?

GROUP 4
(A) Pepperoni.
(B) Ravioli.
(C) Buffalo Chicken.
(D) Caesar Salad.
Obviously, these are all toppings I've enjoyed on a pizza, though I could see this being so obvious that people might over think it.

GROUP 5
(A) 2001.
(B) 2005.
(C) 2012.
(D) 2099.
These are all dates with particular geek and/or pop culture significance.2001: A Space Odyssey was a 1968 science fiction film based on a book by Arthur C. Clarke. Our space travel wasn't quite as advanced when we reached the real 2001, although there have been advances in both that area, computers, and artificial intelligence. The year 2005 is when The Transformers: The Movie tool place. The writers and animators of 1986 were also generous in their predictions of the future, and 2005 looked nothing like that animated feature. Chalk that up to the intervention of an advanced race of giant robots sharing their technology with humans. 2012 is an unlikely movie about survival in the face of cataclysmic global destruction, the fulfillment of Mayan prophecies thanks to the sun superheating the Earth's core. At the time of this post, we haven't reached 2012 yet, so let's hope they were wrong about that one. Between heat waves, earthquakes and freaky tornados, I'm starting to wonder. Finally, the Marvel 2099 imprint debuted in the early ‘90s, and gave us a glimpse of what the heroes and villains of 2099 might be like, many inspired by those of the present. Sadly, I doubt I'll be around in 2099 to see if there are any special anniversary issues. Note to self: figure out how to live for another 89 years....)

MCF's COMMON 11

MCF's COMMON is starting to become a weekly feature, but then this week in particular has been a rough one. A variety of games, prolific prose, and real photo expeditions are surely in my future, but for this week I’m once more relying on a classic Nexus game.

Below I'm going to list FIVE groups of FOUR things. Each group has some thing in common, some thing that links each quartet. It's up to you to guess, and I'll reveal the answers tomorrow.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Through a combination of skill, luck, knowledge, and flat out guessing, can you guess what they are?

GROUP 1
(A) Virginia.
(B) Josephine.
(C) Rose Marie.
(D) Jane Marie.

GROUP 2
(A) Hal.
(B) Guy.
(C) John.
(D) Kyle.

GROUP 3
(A) Hoops.
(B) Camera.
(C) Rifle.
(D) Lincoln.

GROUP 4
(A) Pepperoni.
(B) Ravioli.
(C) Buffalo Chicken.
(D) Caesar Salad.

GROUP 5
(A) 2001.
(B) 2005.
(C) 2012.
(D) 2099.

MCF's COMMON Bondz 10

Did you guess? Did you know the COMMON bonds in yesterday's edition of MCF's COMMON? Let's find out what linked each group of four, and how close you were....

GROUP 1
(A) Magic Head.
(B) Lavender Gooms.
(C) Methuselah Honeysuckle.
(D) Trapezius Milkington.
If you're a fan of Psych, perhaps you recognized four of the myriad nicknames wisecracking “psychic” detective Shawn Spencer has come up with for his best friend and sidekick Burton “Gus” Guster over the years.

GROUP 2
(A) My upper lip.
(B) My abdomen.
(C) My right hand.
(D) My left knee.
Spockgirl's guess of my “hairy body parts” was, sadly enough, an accurate answer, though not the one I was looking for. These are all places where I bear scars: I fell on glass and split my lip open when I was five, I had surgery when I was 25 to remove a birth defect from my intestines, my right hand has small scars(and likely glass shards) from when I accidentally punched through a window as a teenager while pretending to be Colossus, and my knee has one big scar from when I fell on a chunk of asphalt while playing near some road work. Actually, these are some of the few places where I can't grow hair anymore.

GROUP 3
(A) Ryan.
(B) Loretta.
(C) Angelo.
(D) Jack.
This one was really obscure and a bit graphic design nerdy: four names that rhyme with Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, the colors in four-color process printing.

GROUP 4
(A) Wizard.
(B) Sandman.
(C) Medusa.
(D) Paste-Pot Pete.
Did you recognize the original roster of The Frightful Four? No? Congratulations; how did you like dating in high school and college?

GROUP 5
(A) Kurt.
(B) Eddie.
(C) Chris.
(D) Scott.
Cobain, Vedder, Cornell, and Weiland, all lead singers of bands who made it big during the Grunge boom in the early ‘90s.

MCF's COMMON 10

Hey look! Up on my blog! Is it a bird? A plane? A collection of curiously connected quartets? If you guess that last one, chances are you’ve played MCF's COMMON before!

Below I'm going to list FIVE groups of FOUR things. Each group has some thing in common, some thing that links each quartet. It's up to you to guess, and I'll reveal the answers tomorrow.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Some will be obscure. Others will be obvious. But can you guess what they are?

GROUP 1
(A) Magic Head.
(B) Lavender Gooms.
(C) Methuselah Honeysuckle.
(D) Trapezius Milkington.

GROUP 2
(A) My upper lip.
(B) My abdomen.
(C) My right hand.
(D) My left knee.

GROUP 3
(A) Ryan.
(B) Loretta.
(C) Angelo.
(D) Jack.

GROUP 4
(A) Wizard.
(B) Sandman.
(C) Medusa.
(D) Paste-Pot Pete.

GROUP 5
(A) Kurt.
(B) Eddie.
(C) Chris.
(D) Scott.

MCF's COMMON Bondz 9

Did you guess? Do you know the COMMON bond's in yesterday's edition of MCF's COMMON? Read on, to find out what links each group of four....

GROUP 1
(A) Day Break.
(B) Drive.
(C) The Black Donnellys.
(D) Happy Town.
Sadly, these are all great shows that were prematurely canceled, with unaired episodes burned off online. I just found out the other day that this was the only way I'd see the final two episodes of Happy Town. I'll never understand why networks think repeats and reality shows will get better ratings, especially during the Summer when people aren't watching much television. I have a strange feeling the same fate awaits Persons Unknown even though it's meant to be a finite series, because changing time slots on Monday and then moving to Saturday within the first five episodes of a 13-episode series isn't a good sign.

GROUP 2
(A) Bacon.
(B) Cheese.
(C) Croutons.
(D) Lettuce.
In my book, these are all key ingredients to a tasty salad, with the lettuce of course being the only thing that makes it a salad. Swap roast beef for bacon, and you describe exactly what I had for dinner the night I wrote this.

GROUP 3
(A) Ray.
(B) Peter.
(C) Winston.
(D) Egon.
If you guessed Ghostbusters, then you correctly knew who you're gonna call.

GROUP 4
(A) Dick.
(B) Jason.
(C) Tim.
(D) Damian.
Did you recognize these as the first names of characters who've been Batman's sidekick Robin? Holy comic book geekery!

GROUP 5
(A) Mouser.
(B) Tryclyde.
(C) Clawgrip.
(D) Wart.
If you ever played and enjoyed Super Mario Bros. 2 as much as I did, you might remember the challenge of defeating these various bosses to reach the twist ending to one of the best games in the series.

MCF's COMMON 9

It's time once again for MCF's COMMON, the game where four things are like one another, and it's up to my readers to determine why.

Below I'm going to list FIVE groups of FOUR things. Each group has some thing in common, some thing that links each quartet. It's up to you to guess, and I'll reveal the answers tomorrow.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Can you guess what they are?

GROUP 1
(A) Day Break.
(B) Drive.
(C) The Black Donnellys.
(D) Happy Town.

GROUP 2
(A) Bacon.
(B) Cheese.
(C) Croutons.
(D) Lettuce.

GROUP 3
(A) Ray.
(B) Peter.
(C) Winston.
(D) Egon.

GROUP 4
(A) Dick.
(B) Jason.
(C) Tim.
(D) Damian.

GROUP 5
(A) Mouser.
(B) Tryclyde.
(C) Clawgrip.
(D) Wart.

MCF's COMMON Bondz 8

And so, another MCF's COMMON is behind us. Sometimes these things are too obscure; other times they're too easy. I always seem to have a nice blend of both extremes.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. And here's what they were:

GROUP 1
(A) Aang.
(B) Charles.
(C) Nick.
(D) Telly.
Aang, Charles Xavier, Ultimate Nick Fury, and Telly Savalas are all guys with clean shaven/bald heads.

GROUP 2
(A) Crixus.
(B) Varro.
(C) Theokoles.
(D) Barca.
Crixus, Varro, Theokoles, and Barca are all names of gladiators appearing in Spartacus: Blood & Sand.

GROUP 3
(A) Bender.
(B) Robby.
(C) Scooter.
(D) Gort.
Bender, Robby, Scooter, and Gort are all robots.

GROUP 4
(A) Letter.
(B) Tabloid.
(C) Legal.
(D) Ledger.
As my fellow digital artist B13 correctly guessed, these are all common Paper Sizes, at least here in North America.

GROUP 5
(A) Beast.
(B) Colin.
(C) Yellowjacket.
(D) Tom.
Would you believe, they're all HANKS? Thanks, everybody; I'll be here all week!

MCF's COMMON 8

Do you want to play a game? It’s been nearly a year since the last edition of MCF's COMMON, so I’d say we’re well overdue.

Below I'm going to list FIVE groups of FOUR things. Each group has some thing in common, some thing that links each quartet. It's up to you to guess, and I'll reveal the answers tomorrow.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Can you name them all?

GROUP 1
(A) Aang.
(B) Charles.
(C) Nick.
(D) Telly.

GROUP 2
(A) Crixus.
(B) Varro.
(C) Theokoles.
(D) Barca.

GROUP 3
(A) Bender.
(B) Robby.
(C) Scooter.
(D) Gort.

GROUP 4
(A) Letter.
(B) Tabloid.
(C) Legal.
(D) Ledger.

GROUP 5
(A) Beast.
(B) Colin.
(C) Yellowjacket.
(D) Tom.

MCF's COMMON Bondz 7

So, how did you all do with yesterday's edition of MCF's COMMON?

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Here's what they were:

GROUP 1
(A) Ryan.
(B) Taylor.
(C) Willard.
(D) Joker.
These were the names of protagonists from great war movies, in the order listed: Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Apocalypse Now, and Full Metal Jacket.

GROUP 2
(A) Barker.
(B) Craven.
(C) Argento.
(D) Romero.
This was probably an easy one; horror directors Clive Barker, Wes Craven, Dario Argento and George A. Romero.

GROUP 3
(A) Air.
(B) Water.
(C) Earth.
(D) Fire.
These are the four classical elements, but the reason why I'm listing them now and in this particular order is something I'll be able to elaborate on in another week or two...

GROUP 4
(A) Michael.
(B) River.
(C) Rain.
(D) Ricki.
These are the first names of famous people whose first or last names are water based: Michael Bay, River Phoenix, Rain Pryor, and Ricki Lake.

GROUP 5
(A) Clutch.
(B) Steeler.
(C) Hawk.
(D) Grand Slam.
And finally, we have the names of the original four 1982 G.I.Joe figures packaged with vehicles.

MCF's COMMON 7

Welcome to MCF's COMMON, the game in which I give you four things, and you tell me what they have in COMMON! How keen is your sense of grouping?

Below I'm going to list FIVE groups of FOUR things. Each group has some common link, some reason for grouping each quartet. It's up to you to guess, and I'll reveal the answers tomorrow.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Can you name them all?

GROUP 1
(A) Ryan.
(B) Taylor.
(C) Willard.
(D) Joker.

GROUP 2
(A) Barker.
(B) Craven.
(C) Argento.
(D) Romero.

GROUP 3
(A) Air.
(B) Water.
(C) Earth.
(D) Fire.

GROUP 4
(A) Michael.
(B) River.
(C) Rain.
(D) Ricki.

GROUP 5
(A) Clutch.
(B) Steeler.
(C) Hawk.
(D) Grand Slam.

MCF's COMMON Bondz 6

Last week I brought you the sixth edition of MCF's COMMON, and hopefully I can remember the common bondz in each set of four...

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Here's what they were:

GROUP 1
(A) Archer.
(B) Bartowski.
(C) Beckett.
(D) Smith.
These are all surnames of characters portrayed by Scott Bakula. After the disappointment that was Enterprise, it was great to see him get back to awesomeness with a recurring role on Chuck.

GROUP 2
(A) Bronx.
(B) Hudson.
(C) Broadway.
(D) Lexington.
I would have accepted names associated with the city of Manhattan, but what I was specifically looking for was the names of Gargoyles characters. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I urge you to check out the first season and the first half of the second season, available on DVD. Despite a strong fanbase that apparently included dedicated conventions, low sales kept the remainder of the series from being released. These days, creator Greg Weisman still makes a strong contribution to animation with The Spectacular Spider-man.

GROUP 3
(A) Spock.
(B) Hobbit.
(C) Wookie.
(D) Troll.
These are among the many nick-names I suffered growing up. Teachers can be so cruel. I mean kids. Kids can be cruel....

GROUP 4
(A) 3.
(B) 5.
(C) 8.
(D) 13.
With only four integers provided, it might not have been immediately apparent that these were excerpted from the Fibonacci sequence, in which one number is the sum of the two preceding numbers, in this case 8 is the sum of 3 and 5 and 13 is the sum of 5 and 8. 21 would have been the next number in sequence, followed by 34...

GROUP 5
A) Swan.
(B) Pearl.
(C) Orchid.
(D) Arrow.
LOST fanatics should have immediately recognized these as DHARMA stations.

MCF's COMMON 6

Hey folks! It's time for MCF's COMMON, the game that keeps coming back, something it has in common with my other games and regular features.

Below I'm going to list five groups of four things. Each group has some common link, some reason for grouping each quartet. It's up to you to guess, and I'll reveal the answers next week.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Can you name them all?

GROUP 1
(A) Archer.
(B) Bartowski.
(C) Beckett.
(D) Smith.

GROUP 2
(A) Bronx.
(B) Hudson.
(C) Broadway.
(D) Lexington.

GROUP 3
(A) Spock.
(B) Hobbit.
(C) Wookie.
(D) Troll.

GROUP 4
(A) 3.
(B) 5.
(C) 8.
(D) 13.

GROUP 5
(A) Swan.
(B) Pearl.
(C) Orchid.
(D) Arrow.

MCF's COMMON Bondz 5

I hope you all enjoyed the latest installment of MCF's COMMON as much as I enjoyed thinking it up!

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Here's what they were:

GROUP 1
(A) Time Travel
(B) Death
(C) Amnesia
(D) Exile
If you guessed plot devices used to protect Clark's secret or undo game changing developments on Smallville, then you've probably stuck with the show as long as I have, or long enough to drop it because of those clichés. Still, the show has lasted a surprising 8 seasons, has actually had one of it's best seasons so far, and has been renewed for a 9th.

GROUP 2
(A) Jan
(B) Wanda
(C) Natasha
(D) Monica
How many of you guessed these were the real first names of four female members of The Avengers? If you couldn't think of Wasp(Janet van Dyne), Scarlet Witch(Wanda Maximoff), Black Widow(Natasha Romanoff), and Captain Marvel/Photon/Pulsar(Monica Rambeau), don't feel too badly; you probably dated a lot more than I did in high school and college. And in life...

GROUP 3
(A) Mark
(B) John
(C) Doug
(D) Carol
Lyndon recognizes classic ER characters when he sees them. I haven't watched in years, and it's been a long time since Mark Greene, John Carter, Doug Ross, and Carol Hathaway were together as regulars on the show. I've been seeing commercials that a few have returned in some capacity for flashbacks, cameos, and other contributions to the final season.

GROUP 4
(A) Mason
(B) Driscoll
(C) Buchanan
(D) Yassir
Special Agents in Charge of CTU on the hit show 24 don't seem to hold the job for long, but we remember their contributions and often, their sacrifices.

GROUP 5
(A) Roughs
(B) Comps
(C) Mechs
(D) Proofs
I may have been working too hard these past few weeks if I included four stages in the process of print design from conception and planning to execution and doublechecking.

MCF's COMMON 5

We haven't played MCF's COMMON in a few months, and I think it's time for another round of one of my favorite Nexus games.

Below I'm going to list five groups of four things. Each group has some common link, some reason for grouping each quartet. It's up to you to guess, and I'll reveal the answers tomorrow.

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Can you name them all?

GROUP 1
(A) Time Travel
(B) Death
(C) Amnesia
(D) Exile

GROUP 2
(A) Jan
(B) Wanda
(C) Natasha
(D) Monica

GROUP 3
(A) Mark
(B) John
(C) Doug
(D) Carol

GROUP 4
(A) Mason
(B) Driscoll
(C) Buchanan
(D) Yassir

GROUP 5
(A) Roughs
(B) Comps
(C) Mechs
(D) Proofs

MCF's COMMON Bondz 4

B13 and Lyndon both had some great guesses to yesterday's edition of MCF's COMMON! Some answers were right, and though some answers weren't the ones I was looking for, they weren't technically wrong. So, how obscure were the connections in each group? How big of a geek am I? Rhetorical though that may be, I'm still about to prove it:

GROUP 1
(A) Hart to Hart.
(B) Suddenly Susan.
(C) Star Trek.
(D) Unsolved Mysteries.
This is going to be the most obscure set of all, and I would have bowed to anyone's geek superiority for noticing that each show counted among its stars Lionel Stander, Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, and Robert Stack, respectively. Some of you may now realize that all four actors provided vocal talents in The Transformers: The Movie.


GROUP 2
(A) Africa.
(B) Canada.
(C) Germany.
(D) Russia.
The X-Men were not always as popular as they are today, but they got their first big boost with the introduction of several diverse new team members in 1975's Giant Size X-Men #1. These popular characters are still around today and hailed from the countries listed above: Storm(Africa), Wolverine(Canada), Nightcrawler(Germany), and Colossus(Russia). And as Lyndon guessed, yes these are also all countries I've yet to visit.


GROUP 3
(A) Keri Russell.
(B) Jennifer Garner.
(C) Evangeline Lilly.
(D) Anna Torv.
These lovely ladies have all held leading roles in popular J.J. Abrams series: Russell in Felicity, Garner in Alias, Lilly in Lost, and Torv in the new hit Fringe. And yes Joe, they are all HOT BABES. Abrams knows what he's doing.


GROUP 4
(A) Chris Latta.
(B) Aron Kincaid.
(C) Scott McNeil.
(D) Rob Zombie.
These guys are voice actors who have played reptilian characters: Cobra Commander(Latta), Killer Croc(Kincaid), Dinobot(McNeil), and The Lizard(Zombie).


GROUP 5
(A) Mass Increase.
(B) Fire Manipulation.
(C) Limited-time Invulnerability.
(D) Flying Raccoon Transmogrification.
I knew the last ability would give it away, but anything else would have made it impossible: these are indeed a list of upgrades that Mario has had over the years; Lyndon even specified Super Mario Bros. 3 as the one game in which all of those upgrades were available. He also had a frog suit in that game, as well as a leaf that gave him just the ears and tail of a raccoon, as opposed to his full-fledged Tanuki suit.

MCF's COMMON 4

So, the other day I thought I had this great “new” idea about geek degrees of separation, asking readers to find the connections in various geeky lists. But, as I suspected after thinking about the idea some more, I realized my “new” idea was MCF's COMMON, a little game we haven't played in about a year.

It's a pretty simple concept. Below are 20 items broken down into 5 groups of 4. Within each group, there is some common bond. For example, if I listed apple, orange, grape, and pear in one group, the answer would be “fruit”. Of course, to make it interesting, the connections won't be that obvious. Or, in some cases, it might be so obvious that you second guess yourself and miss it. Most importantly, it should be fun!

20 items. 5 COMMON bonds. Can you name them all?

GROUP 1
(A) Hart to Hart.
(B) Suddenly Susan.
(C) Star Trek.
(D) Unsolved Mysteries.

GROUP 2
(A) Africa.
(B) Canada.
(C) Germany.
(D) Russia.

GROUP 3
(A) Keri Russell.
(B) Jennifer Garner.
(C) Evangeline Lilly.
(D) Anna Torv.

GROUP 4
(A) Chris Latta.
(B) Aron Kincaid.
(C) Scott McNeil.
(D) Rob Zombie.

GROUP 5
(A) Mass Increase.
(B) Fire Manipulation.
(C) Limited-time Invulnerability.
(D) Flying Raccoon Transmogrification.