explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3082: Chess Position

2025-04-29T17:13:36Z

172.68.3.27: F-pawn moves in early game are usually blunders, notwithstanding an accepted King's gambit.

{{comic
| number = 3082
| date = April 28, 2025
| title = Chess Position
| image = chess_position_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x598px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's important to learn the moves that take you into the vortex, but it's best not to study vortex itself too closely. Even grandmasters who have built up a tolerance lose the ability to play for a few hours after studying it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|CREATED BY a Chessnado. This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Cueball]], a newer chess player, talks to [[Ponytail]], presumably a more experienced player, about a chess game he had last week against [[Knit Cap]]. After Cueball made a {{w|blunder (chess)|blunder}}, a critically bad mistake which frequently changes the course of the game, both of them quickly made inaccurate moves, probably rated as a "{{w|Blunder (chess)|blunder}}", "mistake", or "miss", leading to an odd configuration of the chess pieces. Blunders that are not taken advantage of can lead to this effect for less experienced players.

The rest of this comic becomes absurd, as Cueball then describes himself and Knit Cap descending into a fantasy world "on a deep branch of the game tree." Chess strategy is commonly described in terms of following a {{w|decision tree}} or {{w|game tree}}, as one usually needs to calculate multiple moves ahead when planning out what move to play. As a chess game progresses, the {{w|phase space}} of possible positions increases wildly, though this will include many more configurations than are typically seen or anticipated by players. Rarely, an expert player may 'discover' a truly clever {{w|Glossary of chess#theoretical novelty|novel opening}}, but centuries of recorded gameplay has explored many of the possible moves, both good and not so good, that are often recognized by experienced students of the game as common stepping-stones on the way to possible victory (or frequent traps that send the unwary down the road to defeat). Both precise game-board states and more general variations may be easily recognized by an experienced player, and even be {{w|Checkmate pattern|given a name}} by the player community as a whole.

However, it seems that Cueball and Knit Cap each made a sequence of seemingly obvious 'blunders' that neither opponent then took advantage of, reaching a board configuration that Cueball had never even anticipated happening. In some apparently mystical (or at least psychological) manner, by travelling such an unlikely and unfamiliar branch of the player/board game-space, the precise positioning of pieces combined with the state of mind that Cueball had developed created the impression of literally entering a mythical garden, with time even stopping.

Ponytail reacts nonchalantly to this story, as she says this is a common scenario for new players, and that there even is a defined name for it: the Kasparov Vortex Gambit. Russian grandmaster {{w|Garry Kasparov}} was the number-one rated chess player from 1984 to 2005, and is considered one of the greatest chess players of all time, if not ''the'' greatest. A {{w|gambit (chess)|gambit}} refers to a chess opening in which a player sacrifices material with the aim of achieving a subsequent positional advantage. This name seems to indicate that Kasparov himself either discovered/’invented’ or made popular this "gambit" to suck new players into a "vortex" and trap them from getting out. This is not the case, but, within the xkcd universe, he has performed an equally absurd gambit (also named after himself) in [[2936: Exponential Growth]].

Ponytail's advice to Cueball after he "recovers" from the disillusionment of the "vortex" is that she can teach him how to defend against the attack, by using the "f pawn". The f-pawn is the pawn that begins on the "f-file" (the 6th vertical column of the chessboard from white's perspective). The pawn would start either on f2 (sixth column, second row) for the white player or f7 (sixth column, seventh row) for black. The fact that an apparent distortion in the fabric of space can be countered with ''a single pawn'' just adds to the absurdity of the situation. Equally absurd is the fact that moving the F rank pawn in early game, due to its starting position relative to the starting position of the king, is itself usually a blunder that exposes the king to a diagonal attack.

In the title text, Ponytail continues with her advice, telling Cueball that he needs to understand how the vortex can be entered, but not to study the actual vortex. It appears that if you spend too much time in the vortex focusing on it, you will lose your ability to play chess. Even experienced players such as grandmasters who have build up some kind of tolerance against the effect of the vortex, lose their chess abilities for a few hours after studying the vortex. Thus being able to get your opponent into the vortex, without getting caught in it yourself, should win you the game, since they would lose their ability to play chess.

==Transcript==
:[In the first panel, Cueball is walking in from the left, while talking to Ponytail.]
:Cueball: Something odd happened to me last week in a game at the chess club.

:[Cueball is playing a game of chess against Knit Cap.]
:[Caption above frame:]
:I moved, then instantly realized I'd blundered. But my opponent didn't notice and made a weird move.
:I got rattled and moved almost randomly, then I think we both panicked and made a couple of nonsensical moves, rapid-fire.

:[Zoomed in on Cueball, with three question marks above his head]
:I don't know how it happened, but suddenly I realized I was staring at an indescribably strange board position.

:[Cueball is talking to Ponytail.]
:Cueball: I've never seen anything like it. It seemed like every move attacked every piece, yet every piece was also protected. Pieces refracted through crystalline pawn structures.
:Cueball: The game clock slowed and then stopped.

:[Cueball and Knit Cap are floating in a complex five-fold symmetrical plant-like pattern of "game tree branches".]
:[Caption above the frame]
:It didn't even feel like we were playing chess. We had stumbled into a magical garden tucked away on a deep branch of the game tree.

:[Cueball is talking to Ponytail.]
:Cueball: I don't remember how the game ended, if it did.
:Cueball: I don't remember how I got home.
:Cueball: It's all a blur.

:[Close-up of Cueball's head.]
:Cueball: I've spent all week trying to reconstruct the position and can't.
:Cueball: It's consuming me.
:Cueball: I don't want to play chess. I just want to return to that garden.
:Cueball: Does... any of this make sense to you?

:[Cueball is standing with hands on face surprised as Ponytail talks with him.]
:Ponytail: Yeah, that's the Kasparov Vortex Gambit. Common trap for new players.
:Cueball: ''What?!''
:Ponytail: Once you recover I'll show you how to block it with the f pawn.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
[[Category:Chess]]

Talk:1756: I'm With Her

2025-03-26T22:32:07Z

172.68.3.27: /* Hey Randall */

Comments from before 2017 can be seen here: [[Talk:1756: I'm With Her/Comments from 2016|Comments from 2016]]

The woman to the right of the H looks more like Jill than Hairbun without glasses.[[User:1234231587678|1234231587678]] ([[User talk:1234231587678|talk]]) 21:33, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

'''Found the joke'''

It turns out that this comic was funny in hindsight. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.160|162.158.75.160]] 08:50, 12 January 2017 (UTC)
:Ha ha ;-) But I think that most of those that rooted for Randall and Hillary fails to see the funny part now, [[1756#Sad_comics|especially Randall]], but probably also several of those that actually voted for Trump in a protest either against the system of Hillary personally... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:29, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

Today was the first time I saw it, and yes, I guffawed, though definitely from a schadenfreude perspective. Not that I cared who would win, the second most hated person in America or the first most hated person in American (and, in retrospect, those titles were interchangeable), but it is ~always~ funny to see those that either beg for more gov't or those that note that ~their particular~ reason for wanting more gov't is justification to force those ideas onto those who disagree get what they wanted/justified handed to them in spades.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.30|162.158.186.30]] 01:09, 15 August 2017 (UTC)

: I invoke Poe's law. Either way, a comment here from a living, breathing barrier to human progress and happiness. *insert troll insult spiel here*[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.236|172.70.91.236]] 03:24, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

This 'sad comics' list is utterly ludicrous, and really should just be removed altogether. It's headed by many bullet points of meaningless blather. And the content is just stupid. Funny gag about a notification bar in a flag being seen as a Randall making a flag for a conspiratorial three-state independence move? Comic about random funny security mishmashes (and clearly about border enforcements and laptop passwords - a very old issue) being seen as comments on Trump's presidency? Just a population distribution map being seen as Randall being 'still sad about election results'? A frigging bunch of funny emoji ideas being seen as SECRET REFERENCES to US politics, and not just the dumb things they very very obviously are? A comic about unnecessary reviews being seen as reference to nuclear war? New Year is.. maybe sad, kind of? But pretty spurious. A comic about focus being seen as political commentary. Every freaking comic here is somehow linked to Trump. Most for no reason whatsoever.
:The only person wasting time here is me, for some reason pointing out the utter meaninglessness and ridiculousness of this list. I'll go prune it now. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.241|162.158.111.241]] 00:38, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
:: I reverted the edit that took an axe to the 'Sadness' section, as it seemed needlessly antagonistic. The section may need some culling or re-presenting, but it should be done in a more dispassionate way. For the most part, perhaps simply putting a statement at the top of the section noting that it represents speculative interpretation would suffice? (Also, for an edit that purported to be fixing spelling and grammar, it was somewhat rife with typos and grammatical errors.)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 09:44, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

A) Why does the sad comics list exist (see comment above)?
B) If it did have a reasonable argument for existing, why is it in here and not in its own category?
C) If it should not have its own category, wouldn't it be more reasonable to put it in a table?
D) ''How the hell are vomiting emojis supposed to represent a significant connection to Trump?''
E) A flag with 3 stars. Definitely connected to the Trump election/inauguration.
F) The list is just stupid in general. [[User:Halo422|Halo422]] ([[User talk:Halo422|talk]]) 14:25, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

This utterly ludicrous 'sad comics' list only exist because just one single editor likes and maintains it. Of course it's NOT a trivia belonging to this comic which was released BEFORE the election. Randall just shows his choice to vote and he further provides some hints how to vote. So in general the entire trivia should be removed because it doesn't explain anything of this particular comic. AND if all that mentioned ''sad'' comics are really sad is highly questionable, but more worse that's also mentioned all over at the other comic explanations and nobody had criticized this before.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:20, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

Ok, not American-from-US, and frankly finding Trump amusing (Nobel!! Ha!) Anyway....why, in the comment, is Danish or possibly Megan "setting up the kite for black hat"? She's a competent and confident woman, whichever she is, and if she's setting up a kite she probably intends to fly it herself. Black Hat is just there to applaud. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.11|108.162.250.11]] 07:39, 9 July 2018 (UTC)

'''INCOMPLETE'''

I've moved entries from 2016 to a sub-page mentioned at the top, I removed the mentioning of "trolls" because a moderator always has to be polite. Nevertheless there are at least four major issues here to be solved (maybe more):
:The transcript is not standard.
:The table at the explanation is bad layout.
:The title text is bad explained, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel is irrelevant here but Barack Obama's famous speech "Yes, we can" has to be mentioned.
:The "Sad comics" section at trivia doesn't belong to this comic.
I am happy about any input here at the discussion or even more at the explanation. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:27, 27 October 2018 (UTC)
:I've squeezed the "Sad comics" section, but that's a preliminary solution. We can delete that irrelevant content, but maybe there is a better place for this. Most referenced comics are not actually ''sad'', but maybe we should preserve a reference at this trivia to other comics, entitled by a less sad, whining, header. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:52, 27 October 2018 (UTC)
::Sad comics tivia moved to [[Sad comics]]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:51, 2 November 2018 (UTC)

== Hey Randall ==

No-one minds you backing Hillary Clinton, but we do mind you being insufferably smug about it.

Insufferable smugness became a big thing in 2016 and it won the election for the opponents of insufferable smugness.

But hey, don't think insufferable smugness will win you future elections. Don't even think elections will happen the way you think in 2200 or whenever. Insufferable smugness may become a disqualifying factor for office.

"Ugh ugh ugh TRUMP!" isn't an argument. At best, it's an 'argument' automatically dismissed. In future, 'arguments' automatically dismissed may become a disqualifying factor for office.

You people imagine that because you won the immediate present you won the future, but I gather various people in the past imagined they'd won everything that followed, and they didn't. Just bear it in mind in your arrogance. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.184|172.69.43.184]] 19:14, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

:You're projecting. And acting at least as smug. One could even suggest that insufferable smugness has been a trademark of Hillary's opponent, but of course there's been plenty of water under that particular bridge (and we've yet to see where it all might end up, still). Making a long rant almost eight years after the event doesn't really help make anybody's point, however. Surely there a better place for you to discuss the current reality with the politically engaged, if you actually wish to discuss political futures and not pasts. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.18|172.70.162.18]] 21:53, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

Talk:3056: RNA

2025-02-26T14:34:39Z

172.68.3.27:

I really hate that feeling when you need an explanation for at least a couple frames but you're too early to read it and too dumb to write it. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.3.27|172.68.3.27]] 14:34, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:2893: Sphere Tastiness

2025-02-14T17:55:53Z

172.68.3.27: commenting

base balls are delicious after boiling and peeling[[Special:Contributions/172.68.64.212|172.68.64.212]] 00:19, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:You seem to be confusing baseballs with eggs. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]])
:And who the hell calls baseballs “bAsE bAlLs”. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 02:40, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:yeaaa!! i fucking LOVE base ball yolk [[Special:Contributions/172.68.3.27|172.68.3.27]] 17:55, 14 February 2025 (UTC)

who's the authority on whether or not the earth and the moon are "not tasty"????, i think the moon would be pretty delicious actually [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.71|172.69.71.71]] 00:26, 13 February 2024 (UTC)GR8GH
:Some Apollo astronauts reported that moondust tastes and smells like gunpowder. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:28, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
::Yum! [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 02:41, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
::Sounds {{w|Gunpowder_tea|delicious}} to me.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.26|172.70.85.26]] 11:09, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:::My favorite! [[User:L-Space Traveler|L-Space Traveler]] ([[User talk:L-Space Traveler|talk]]) 12:56, 15 February 2024 (UTC)
:Sure, if you like green cheese! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.123|172.70.207.123]] 03:26, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
::I actually quite like a good blue cheese, and had a blue (red) leicester only yesterday. But some actual sage derby would fulfil the role of a green one quite tastily. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.112|141.101.99.112]] 04:56, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
::{{w|Green_cheese}} can be perfectly tasty - it's just a young unaged cheese.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.26|141.101.99.26]] 11:13, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:"Not like any cheese I've ever tasted"-Wallace[[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.43|172.70.127.43]] 21:30, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

In Fuck Grapefruits, watermelons were just slightly tasty. Does he like other melons so much that the average melon is as tasty as grapes? Or has he learned how delicious watermelon actually is? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:42, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:I think that he probably just learned how delicious watermelon is. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 02:41, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
::Watermelon is different genus (albeit in the same family) to most melons, so I'd assume watermelon is excluded here.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.162|172.69.194.162]] 11:19, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:::Of course silly discussion but the melons is listed below grapes on the tasty scale. And if that scale is also log then they could be deemed to taste much less nice than grapes even with this slight difference. Maybe even grape fruit would be close to this line? But also melons does not mean water melons! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:33, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

This comic is begging for another of his four-corner plots, not a line graph. Ball bearings: lower left. Bowling balls: middle bottom. Tapioca: upper left. Cheese balls: upper middle. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.123|172.70.207.123]] 03:26, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:My first thought was that he clearly isn't accounting for frequency, because I'm pretty sure there's a ''lot'' more oranges than baseballs...
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 05:06, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

:Where do you place eyeballs in that graph? (Don't need to eat them to taste them... Only lick) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.138.57|172.68.138.57]] 08:25, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
::(But that means you're missing the best bit... Would you just lick an egg? Or even a ''scotch'' egg?) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.124|172.69.195.124]] 15:18, 27 February 2024 (UTC)

It's a linear interpolation, Michael. How big could the error be? 10%? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.166|108.162.245.166]] 03:51, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

Grapes are spherical? I guess some varieties. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 04:12, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

With a logarithmic x axis and an unlabelled y axis, I find calling it “linear interpolation” without further explanation disingenious. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.121|172.68.110.121]] 08:08, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

I think we have to give serious consideration as to how untasty the Sun is, and the possibility of subatomic particles being absolutely delicious. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.189|172.69.79.189]] 10:07, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:Can't we just ask whoever tasted quarks to figure out the different flavours?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.24|172.69.195.24]] 11:22, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

Baseballs aren't the only questionable object for this theory..... think of the marbles!!!--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 12:41, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:Marbles are tasteless. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 14:44, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

In looking for something else that might fulfil the 800m sphere criteria I stumbled across [https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/p0qws3/self_if_you_blended_all_788_billion_people_on/ this] :o(| I'll make no comment on potential tastiness.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.191|172.70.90.191]] 12:58, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:Soylent Green meatball. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:31, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

Galactus would totally disagree with this graph. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.175.25|172.70.175.25]] 16:24, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:As would Unicron... and Dormammu...
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 17:57, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
::[https://tick.fandom.com/wiki/Omnipotus . . . Omnipotus . . .] [[User:L-Space Traveler|L-Space Traveler]] ([[User talk:L-Space Traveler|talk]]) 12:56, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Here's a link to a mile-long hotdog [https://www.lifeinthecarolinas.com/syndicated-columns/2018/3/6/miles-and-miles-of-hotdogs-from-an-igloo miles-of-hotdog], while technically not a single hotdog nor a sphere it's a mile's worth of hotdogs. I recall there once being created a mile-long submarine / hoagie / po-boy sandwich, but couldn't find it on a quick google search. That also is not remotely spherical. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 16:41, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

The moon is made of delicious cheese, isn't it? That would put it in the upper right corner.
[[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.15|172.71.102.15]] 16:53, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

Giant peaches? {{unsigned ip|172.70.135.220|17:04, 13 Febuary 2024}}

Am I reading this wrong, or is the mark for grapes just slightly to the left of the tick for 10^-1 m? Which suggests that grapes are about 8 cm wide? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.82|172.70.38.82]] 19:21, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:Looks to me like it's about 2/3 the way between 10^-2 and 10^-1. So call it between 10^-1.3 and 10^-1.4. Which is between 4cm and 5cm. Still a rather large grape, but perhaps more plausible if he's measuring across its widest dimension. 10^-1.6 (2.5cm) would perhaps give a more representative grape length, or maybe 10^-1.7 (2cm) if he normalised the measurements to account for their spheroid(ish) nature. But we'd also have to get in to the question of when is a grape a grape? There will be lots of grapes that will never reach more than a few mm, but not ones that we would normally eat. His melon looks to be about 10^-0.7, or 20cm, which again seems rather large for an average dimension (though proportionately less so than the grape).[[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.203|172.69.194.203]] 09:57, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

I wonder if this is a reference to James and the Giant Peach [[Special:Contributions/172.71.155.39|172.71.155.39]] 21:04, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

IDK how you'd define "tastes okay", but I bet you could find an 800m comet that's about 50% ice & 50% dust. [[User:Snuffysam|Snuffysam]] ([[User talk:Snuffysam|talk]]) 21:29, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:I think you would need less than 50% of dust for "taste OK". Still, you may be on right track - there should be some comet consisting of mostly ice which would taste OK. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:15, 14 February 2024 (UTC)
::Or one that was 50% dust and 50% ice cream.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.216|172.70.85.216]] 09:39, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

Why and how did John Young taste the moon? I heard moon dust is cancerous, far more jagged than earth sand, and even if it WAS just earth sand, it would be awful to put anywhere near your mouth. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.59.203|172.69.59.203]] 09:16, 14 February 2024 (UTC)
:I've heard it had some pretty nasty effects on Cave Johnson. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.3|172.70.46.3]] 11:13, 14 February 2024 (UTC)
::SPAAAAAAACEEEE!!!! [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 12:34, 14 February 2024 (UTC)
:I'm sure that when they removed their helmets back in the capsule, some of the dust was airborne. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 14:44, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

Anyone else notice that the Earth is slightly more tasty than the Moon? [[User:Weslar|Weslar]] ([[User talk:Weslar|talk]]) 16:40, 14 February 2024 (UTC)Weslar
:This was mentioned, for some time (I even rephrased the original prose about it), but it seems to have been excised during a subsequent edit. The thoughts were that this is because there were known tasty bits in it. I refined that to "on the surface", or similar wording. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.108|141.101.99.108]] 17:28, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

Maybe the 800-meter sphere that tastes okay would be humans? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.143.120|172.70.143.120]] 03:29, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

Probably best candidate for the 800 m sphere that tastes ok would be some kind of fungus. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.75|172.68.26.75]] 16:54, 16 February 2024 (UTC)
:Cheese. A big wheel of cheese. (Maybe blue cheese, for anyone still liking the idea of fungus...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.48|162.158.74.48]] 18:46, 16 February 2024 (UTC) -- addendum: no, wait, that'd be absolutely ''delicious, not "tastes ok". At least if it's actual proper cheese and not squeezy stuff or hamburger-slice stuff.

Jumon (the “j” pronounced like the “s” in “measure”), desert treat from India, perfectly spherical, between grapes and tangerines in size, and spiked upward off the scale for tastiness, also breaks this correlation. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.172|172.69.34.172]] 21:42, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

Is it worth mentioning that in "What if? 2" Randall says that stars (roughly spherical) taste overwhelmingly sour? [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 17:31, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

Randall Munroe

2025-01-15T15:12:21Z

172.68.3.27: /* Timeline */ Added release for the 10th anniversary of what if to the timeline.

{{Infobox character
| image = Randall_Munroe_speaks_at_MIT.JPG
| imagesize = 250px
| caption = Randall speaking at {{w|re:publica}} in 2016
| first_appearance = [[120: Dating Service]]
}}

<noinclude>:''For a list of comics, see [[:Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe|Comics featuring Randall Munroe]].''</noinclude>

{{Quote|I'm just this guy, you know? I'm a CNU graduate with a degree in physics. Before starting xkcd, I worked on robots at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. As of June 2007 I live in Massachusetts. In my spare time I climb things, open strange doors, and go to goth clubs dressed as a frat guy so I can stand around and look terribly uncomfortable. At frat parties I do the same thing, but the other way around.|Randall Munroe|[https://xkcd.com/about Source]}}

[[File:What If? 2 signature.png|300px|right|thumb|Randall's signature with [[Cueball]] from ''[[What If? 2]]'']]

'''{{w}}''' is the creator, writer, and artist of ''[[xkcd]]''. He has a degree in physics from the {{w|Christopher Newport University}} and, prior to his career as a professional webcomic artist, was a roboticist independently contracted with {{w|NASA}}. Since his contract was not renewed in 2006 as they [https://blog.xkcd.com/2006/10/06/many-news-things-some-overdue ran out of money to rehire him], he has supported himself primarily through xkcd, selling books and merchandise among other income streams. In his ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' blog, he occasionally posts "scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions", while on his [https://blog.xkcd.com personal blog], called ''[[Blag]]'', he posts announcements related to his projects, comics, and books.

The content of ''xkcd'' tends to stem from Randall's thoughts, experiences, and his physics background. He sometimes writes comics in the first-person and even uses [[Cueball]] to represent himself (such as in [[541: TED Talk]]). That said it is likely that many of these strips are not factually based on Randall's real life; for example, the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby series]] appears to be written about Randall's own hobbies, although it is likely that few if any are things Randall has ever done himself. Based on his ''what if?'' blog, he wrote two books called ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]'' and ''[[What If? 2]]''. He also published ''[[Thing Explainer]]'', where he explains complex topics using only the 1,000 most common words'', and [[How To]]'', where he gives "absurd scientific advice for common real-world problems". His first book, ''[[xkcd: volume 0]]'', is a collection of his favourite comics published in 2009.

In June 2011, Randall announced that his then-fiancée had been diagnosed with stage 3 {{w|breast cancer}}. They married in September of that year. As with other events of his real life, the cancer diagnosis was [[:Category:Cancer|the subject]] of many future ''xkcd'' comics.

==Timeline==
{| class="wikitable"
! Date
! Event
|-
|October 17, 1984 || Is born.
|-
|September 30, 2005 || [https://archive.vn/hjmW Launches xkcd.com].
|-
|2006 || [https://xkcd.com/about Graduates] from Christopher Newport University with degree in Physics.
|-
|October 2006 || Starts working on ''xkcd'' full time after [https://blog.xkcd.com/2006/10/06/many-news-things-some-overdue NASA stops renewing his contract].
|-
|May 2008 || Moves to Somerville, Massachusetts.
|-
|2008 || Gets nominated for "Outstanding Use of the Medium", "Outstanding Short Form Comic", and "Outstanding Comedic Comic", and wins "Outstanding Single Panel Comic" in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20090310200607/https://www.ccawards.com/2008finalists.html 2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards].
|-
|September 2009 || Releases ''[[xkcd: volume 0]]''.
|-
|June 2011 || [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/06/30/family-illness Announces] his fiancée was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
|-
|August 2011 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20110429050214/https://www.renovationsf.org/hugo-intro.php Gets nominated] for "Best Fan Artist" in the 2011 Hugo Awards.
|-
|September 2011 || [https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/09/12/672 Marries his fiancée].
|-
|August 2012 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20120408045604/https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2012-hugo-awards Gets nominated] for "Best Fan Artist" in the 2012 Hugo Awards.
|-
|September 2013 || The asteroid {{w|4942 Munroe}} is named [https://blog.xkcd.com/2013/09/30/asteroid-4942-munroe after him].
|-
|August 2014 || [https://www.thehugoawards.org/2014/08/2014-hugo-award-winners Wins] the 2014 Hugo Awards for "Best Graphic Story" thanks to [[1190: Time]].
|-
|September 2014 || Releases ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]''.
|-
|November 2015 || Releases ''[[Thing Explainer]]''.
|-
|September 2019 || Releases ''[[How To]]''.
|-
|September 2022 || Releases ''[[What If? 2]]''.
|-
|November 2024 || Releases ''[[What If 10th Anniversary Edition]]''.
|}

==Speeches and interviews==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOWntIdegws MIT Talk] (3 minutes) – May 14, 2007, {{w|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}, Cambridge, MA

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24 Talks at Google: xkcd] (58 minutes) – December 7, 2007, {{w|Googleplex}}, Mountain View, CA

* [https://youtu.be/z_zwyJ6IYR0 XKCD Comes to Dartmouth!] (86 minutes) – Fall 2008, {{w|Dartmouth College}}, Hanover, NH

* [https://youtu.be/fCa4wPRuicY Randall Munroe at MIT] (excerpt, 7 minutes) – December 17, 2009, {{w|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}, Cambridge, MA

* [https://youtu.be/AHp_Vh9TESU JoCo Cruise Crazy 3: Randall Munroe] (50 minutes) – February 15, 2013, {{w|MS Freedom of the Seas}} cruise ship, Caribbean Sea

* [https://archive.oredev.org/oredev2013/2013/wed-fri-conference/art-and-code-with-xkcd.html Øredev developer conference 2013: Art & Code with xkcd] (47 minutes) – November 7, 2013, [[Wikipedia:sv:Slagthuset|Slagthuset]], Malmö, Sweden

* [https://www.ted.com/talks/randall_munroe_comics_that_ask_what_if TED 2014: Comics that ask "what if?"] (9 minutes) – March 20, 2014, {{w|Vancouver Convention Centre}}, Vancouver, Canada

* [https://youtu.be/EnbhjvNRD_8 Live Talks Los Angeles: Randall Munroe] in conversation with {{w|Wil Wheaton}} (90 minutes) – September 14, 2014, {{w|Aero Theatre}}, Santa Monica, CA

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GIDDaF26zE Talks at Google: What If?] (60 minutes) – September 24, 2014, {{w|Googleplex}}, Mountain View, CA

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm4Gn9iQ6sE World Economic Forum: Simplicity In Complexity] (13 minutes) – June 27, 2016, Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center, Tianjin, China

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_mrGoFQgGs World Economic Forum: Education for a New Age], with {{w|Justine Cassell}}, R. May Lee, and Andrew Fursman (52 minutes) – June 28, 2016, Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center, Tianjin, China

* [https://youtu.be/ewdDSGv7Css BookCon 2019: Randall Munroe] in conversation with Adam Savage (34 minutes) – June 2, 2019, {{w|Javits Center}}, New York, NY

* [https://twit.tv/shows/triangulation/episodes/412 This Week in Tech: Triangulation], hosted by {{w|Leo Laporte}} (75 minutes) – August 30, 2019, podcast

* [https://mbmbam.simplecast.com/episodes/mbmbam-475-edchup?t=34m19s Maximum Fun: My Brother, My Brother and Me], by {{w|Justin McElroy|Justin}}, {{w|Travis McElroy|Travis}}, and {{w|Griffin McElroy}} (59 minutes) – September 2, 2019, podcast

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwmt2M4-C9Y Politics and Prose: How To by Randall Munroe], with {{w|Alexandra Petri}} (72 minutes) – September 4, 2019, {{w|Sidwell Friends School}}, Washington, DC

* [https://teamcoco.com/video/randall-munroe-s-comics-inspired-fans-to-bring-chess-boards-on-coasters Conan: Randall Munroe’s Comics Inspired Fans To Bring Chess Boards On Coasters] (4 minutes) – December 12, 2019, Stage 15, {{w|Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank|Warner Bros. Studios}}, Burbank, CA

* [https://teamcoco.com/video/how-chris-hadfield-serena-williams-helped-randall-munroe-with-his-new-book Conan: How Chris Hadfield & Serena Williams Helped Randall Munroe With His New Book] (10 minutes) – December 12, 2019, Stage 15, {{w|Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank|Warner Bros. Studios}}, Burbank, CA

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/ejt89o KPFA Radio 94.1 FM: Randall Munroe: How To] with {{w|Adam Savage}} (from {{w|MythBusters}}) (59 minutes) – September 10, 2019, First Congregational Church, Berkeley, CA

* [https://grist.org/video/how-to-power-your-house-with-xkcds-randall-munroe Grist Magazine: How to power your house, with xkcd's Randall Munroe] (5 minutes) – October 16, 2019, Grist Headquarters, Seattle, WA

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEExr56oXmw Tableau Conference 2019: Overthinking Things with Randall Munroe] (62 minutes) – November 14, 2019, {{w|Mandalay Bay Convention Center}}, Las Vegas, NV

==Absence from ''explain xkcd''==
{{Quote|xkcd has inspired a wiki of its own, [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Explain xkcd], where fans dissect every comic and share their theories, including about Munroe himself. On the [[Talk:Randall_Munroe|talk page]] for the "Randall Munroe" entry, one user speculated that Munroe pranked Wikipedia editors into putting the fact that he was raised as a Quaker in his bio to illustrate the fake-news cycle of "citogenesis", a concept perhaps explained [[978: Citogenesis|best by Munroe himself]]. "No, I was really raised Quaker", he said bemusedly, when I asked him about the speculation. (He hasn’t spent much time on Explain xkcd, believing instead in "{{w|The Death of the Author|the death of the author}}".)|Marissa Martinelli|[https://slate.com/culture/2019/09/xkcd-randall-munroe-interview-how-to-book-wikipedia.html xkcd Creator Randall Munroe on the Joys of Overthinking Everything], Slate, September 6, 2019.}}

==See also==
* The [https://xkcd.com/about About page] on ''xkcd''.
* The {{w|Randall Munroe}} article on Wikipedia.
* The comics made for ''[[:Category:A Smarter Planet|A Smarter Planet]]'', an IBM corporate blog
* The science columns for ''[[New York Times: Good Question|Good Question]]''

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