From: esquel@sommarskog.se   
      
   Mark Brader (msb@vex.net) writes:   
   > This was not only the longest but also the hardest round in the   
   > original game... an unpleasant combination.  Oh well, these things   
   > happen.   
      
   Indeed. I thought this would be easy, since this is my strong   
   point, but many of the questions were quite thin on leads despite   
   the wordiness. For instance:   
      
   >> 2. Great Britain formally acquired possession of it in 1814.   
   >>    It staunchly supported the UK through both World Wars, and   
   >>    remained in the Commonwealth on becoming independent in 1964.   
   >>    A decade later it became a republic.  Since about the mid-1980s,   
   >>    it has transformed itself into a freight transshipment point,   
   >>    a financial center, and a tourist destination.  It became an   
   >>    EU member in May 2004 and adopted the euro in 2008.   
   >   
   > Malta.  4 for Dan Blum, Joshua, and Dan Tilque.   
      
   I knew that this must be Cyprus or Malta. I settled for Cyprus,   
   because Cyprus-registered freighters and tankers are not unheard of.   
   And for Malta I would have expected some reference to betting, as   
   many betting-related companies are based here. This is not intended   
   as a protest, just a comment on how difficult the round was.   
      
      
   >>    B2. This noble gas, atomic number 86, """is""" the heaviest   
   >>        of the noble gases.  It """is""" the only gas that only   
   >>        has radioactive isotopes, and is considered a health hazard   
   >>        due to its radioactivity.   
   >   
   > 2012 answer: radon.  2022 answer: oganesson (see below).  4 for   
   > everyone -- Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, Dan Tilque, and Pete.   
   >   
   > Oganesson has atomic number 118, and is likewise always radioactive.   
   > No doubt it *would* therefore likewise be a health hazard if there   
   > was enough of it around to affect anyone, but only a few atoms of   
   > it have ever been made.   
      
   To be picky the 2022 answer is still radon, since the question specified the   
   atommic number.   
      
   As for the "is", I guess that depends if there exists any oganesson in   
   the very moment you speak.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)