explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3236: Border Message

2026-04-22T22:53:53Z

82.132.238.56: /* Explanation */ re-arranged the merger, to make it not look quite so much like the "such as" only applied to the unlabeled-enclaving option.

{{comic
| number = 3236
| date = April 22, 2026
| title = Border Message
| image = border_message_2x.png
| imagesize = 736x316px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Thanks to differences in logging regulations, the messages actually turned out to be visible from the air.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bored legislator. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In this comic, legislators who were negotiating the boundary between two geographic areas ("Southlake" and "East Valley") livened up the normally boring process by arranging for the boundary to spell out a message when viewed on a map. It's unknown whether the areas are municipal regions, counties, etc. The boundary definition {{w|Enclave and exclave|includes}} multiple areas — such as the bottom of the W, the interior of the O's and other letters with "holes", the apostrophe and so on — that are exclaves (probably of the northern territory, that are surrounded by the southern one, in most cases) or else may be (unlabeled) enclaved territories in their own right that are associated with no other disconnected area.

The title text implies that the area around the border is forested. Due to the different logging regulations in the two areas, the densities or types of trees on each side of the border are so different that you can see the border, and hence the messages, when looking down on the land.

This comic may have been inspired by {{w|gerrymandering}}: defining voting districts to favor a particular group. This often results in districts with very unusual shapes. The comic was published on the day after Virginia voters passed {{w|2026 Virginia redistricting amendment|a referendum approving redistricting}} that favored the Democratic Party. See also the {{w|Belgium-Netherlands border}}, which is extremely chaotic.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[A section of a map showing the border between the geographic areas East Valley and Southlake. The border is shown as a dotted line, and it spells out a message:]

WE HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS MAP

[Caption below comic:]

When local legislators get bored

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3236: Border Message

2026-04-22T22:48:58Z

82.132.238.56: /* Explanation */ The discontinuity and/or embedding of territorial areas. (Edit-conflicted with an attempt to say very much the same thing. Merged my attempt with theirs, hopefully satisfactoraily..!)

{{comic
| number = 3236
| date = April 22, 2026
| title = Border Message
| image = border_message_2x.png
| imagesize = 736x316px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Thanks to differences in logging regulations, the messages actually turned out to be visible from the air.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bored legislator. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In this comic, legislators who were negotiating the boundary between two geographic areas ("Southlake" and "East Valley") livened up the normally boring process by arranging for the boundary to spell out a message when viewed on a map. It's unknown whether the areas are municipal regions, counties, etc. The boundary definition {{w|Enclave and exclave|includes}} multiple areas that are exclaves (probably of the northern territory, that are surrounded by the southern one, in most cases) or else may be (unlabeled) enclaved territories in their own right that are associated with no other disconnected area, such as the bottom of the W, the interior of the O's and other letters with "holes", the apostrophe, and so on.

The title text implies that the area around the border is forested. Due to the different logging regulations in the two areas, the densities or types of trees on each side of the border are so different that you can see the border, and hence the messages, when looking down on the land.

This comic may have been inspired by {{w|gerrymandering}}: defining voting districts to favor a particular group. This often results in districts with very unusual shapes. The comic was published on the day after Virginia voters passed {{w|2026 Virginia redistricting amendment|a referendum approving redistricting}} that favored the Democratic Party. See also the {{w|Belgium-Netherlands border}}, which is extremely chaotic.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[A section of a map showing the border between the geographic areas East Valley and Southlake. The border is shown as a dotted line, and it spells out a message:]

WE HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS MAP

[Caption below comic:]

When local legislators get bored

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3234: Europa Missions

2026-04-22T22:25:26Z

82.132.238.56: /* Explanation */ Too close to another Citation Needed, now. Also, might it really be more a matter of an Actual Citation Needed, rather than of humorous intent?

{{comic
| number = 3234
| date = April 17, 2026
| title = Europa Missions
| image = europa_missions_2x.png
| imagesize = 515x274px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Before resurfacing, they promise to inspect the ice for any evidence of hockey-playing life.
}}

==Explanation==
In recent years, multiple space agencies have sent spacecraft to observe Jupiter’s moon {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}. In part, this is because, according to {{w|NASA}}, the moon could be a candidate for life due to the presence of a subsurface ocean and (possibly) {{w|hydrothermal vents}}. The first two craft — the {{w|Europa Clipper}} and {{w|Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer}} (Juice), respectively — will investigate the ocean, topography and chemistry of the moon, to help in searching for signs of life. Europa's ocean is frozen on top — the whole surface being solid ice with no exposed liquid, except perhaps at the bottom of any transient deep crevasses — which is why it described as a "subsurface ocean".

A {{w|Zamboni}} is a vehicle that is meant to quickly resurface ice rinks that have been worn down — not a scientific mission or a transport for other scientific missions. The comic describes a non-existent spacecraft known as the ''Zamboni Voyager'', operated by the {{w|National Hockey League}} (NHL). The spacecraft is carrying a Zamboni because the NHL is trying to 'expand the league'. Normally, expanding a sports league would involve, at the very least, forming a new team in a city which did not have one. In this scenario, they appear to be more literally trying to expand the available space for play, by resurfacing Europa to make it viable for hockey-playing. (Although Europa is the {{w|Europa (moon)#Surface environment|smoothest known body}} in the solar system, it's probably not smooth enough for playing hockey.) Hockey in reduced gravity — Europa's gravity is less than 1/7 that of Earth — would be {{What If|124|an interesting idea}}. However, it would be ridiculous to, even if the plan succeeded, ferry spaceships to and from Europa simply to get hockey players and fans over just to see a game of Hockey.{{Citation needed}}

The title text talks about finding hockey-playing life on Europa, which would be unlikely, as any life on Europa would exist underwater, where it's difficult to play hockey.{{cn}} In addition, any conceivable culture(s) there would almost certainly be extremely different from Earth's, so even if the lifeforms on Europa do have entertainment similar to sports, it's unlikely that they have even {{w|Convergent evolution|remotely similar}} rules or equipment. If, though, there were intelligent non-hockey-playing life on Europa, the NHL may consider them fair game as a virgin market for their product.

On top of that, making a spacecraft to send a Zamboni to Europa would be very difficult, as 14,000 m/s of delta-v (a measure of the total change in velocity required to transfer between orbital or 'ground' locations) is needed. With a typical Zamboni weighing five tons, a very heavy rocket would be needed. Europa clipper weighs about six tons, which is comparable to a heavy Zamboni. That particular spacecraft will not perform an orbital insertion or a landing, but only a fly-by to save fuel. Even then, it needs a fully expendable Falcon Heavy, the largest commercially available rocket (as of the comic being published), to achieve the fly-by. A landing would need much more available delta-v for the final approach.

If whoever was talking (e.g. NASA) tried to stop them, something like an SLS launch with more payload capacity may not even be possible. Even with an SLS, successfully achieving a propulsive landing would be very difficult, as demonstrated by {{w|IM-1}} and {{w|IM-2}}, which both failed to land on our own Moon. A normal Zamboni is probably not hardened against Jupiter’s intense radiation environment and, unless adapted for robotic remote control, the life support system for the operator would greatly increase the total weight of the mission. Also, the water in a Zamboni would freeze.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball's upper body is shown; he is in front of an image of a spacecraft.]
:Cueball: There are now three spacecraft headed to Europa:
:Cueball: NASA's ''Europa Clipper'', which investigate Europa's subsurface ocean,

:[In a longer shot, Cueball, Ponytail, and Hairy are all shown standing in front of another spacecraft image, with Cueball gesturing at it.]
:Cueball: ESA's ''Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer'', which will study the topography and chemistry of Europa and the other moons,

:[Another closeup on Cueball, who is in front of an image of a Zamboni with a firing rocket nozzle on its bottom.]
:Cueball: And the NHL's ''Zamboni Voyager'', which plans to resurface Europa.
:Voice out of frame: Oh no.
:Cueball: We tried to stop them, but the league is set on an expansion.

==Trivia==
* The [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/f/fd/20260418170145%21europa_missions_2x.png original version of the comic] incorrectly referred to the "Jupiter Icy Moons ''Orbiter''" rather than "Jupiter Icy Moons ''Explorer''."

* This comic was created at around the time of the start of the season's NHL playoffs.

* This comic was posted 10 days after April 7, 2026, a pivotal date in ''{{w|17776}}'' — a space-probe related and sports-related webcomic which features Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer ("Juice"), the space probe mentioned in this comic, as a main character. (While the webcomic began in 2017, it received another wave of popularity in the lead-up to April 7, 2026, the date on which humans stopped being born (and essentially stopped dying and aging) within the story's fiction.)

* Kerbal Space Program is a great way to learn the basics of orbital mechanics.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Sport]]

Talk:3235: Types of Board Game

2026-04-22T22:19:59Z

82.132.238.56:

I created a starter explanation, but I have no idea how to create tables. [[Special:Contributions/47.146.30.92|47.146.30.92]] 04:08, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

It is rare that xkcd makes me laugh out loud, but this comic's title text really got me! XD [[Special:Contributions/2601:241:8002:3E0:C95E:1939:2ED0:CD78|2601:241:8002:3E0:C95E:1939:2ED0:CD78]] 04:22, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

I wonder if blackhat is the one who committed the murder in the last game, and was expunged from the current round with the social deduction game [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 04:35, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
: Also, I "fixed" panel 6: https://www.pasteboard.co/hxBFDL497SLH.png [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 04:54, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
: Whoever it was didn't necessarily commit the murder ''in the game'' - all we know is that it was ''discovered'' during the game. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:39, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

The reference to Monopoly seems ultra-specific given the plethora of games that have this structure, including Candyland, Snakes and Ladders, Sorry, and if one allows for multiple tokens, Parchisi and even Backgammon. Despite the amount of hate for Monopoly, it seems more likely that the editor has something against Monopoly than Randal. [[User:Mneme|Mneme]] ([[User talk:Mneme|talk]]) 05:14, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
: Also, Monopoly, played by the correct rules, is not that boring. It's just, that too many people skip the bidding rule. With 4 Players, after one turn around the table for all four game pieces (which required 10-12 dice rolls per player), statistically 75% of all properties should be snatched up. [[Special:Contributions/195.65.24.115|195.65.24.115]]

::Probably not worth debating how boring/bad Monopoly is or isn't. Suffice it to say that there are a large number of people who despise it, rightly or wrongly. [[User:Mneme|Mneme]] ([[User talk:Mneme|talk]]) 06:13, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
:::No, there are a large number of people who aware of the fact that Monopoly is supposed to be despised, and so espouse that view – like people who say they hate the word "moist" or believe that "We Built This City" is the worst song ever, because they've been told to say that. The number of people who have actually played Monopoly (using the actual rules) and who actually hate it is much, much smaller. People widely advertise hatred for a badly designed game based on a misinterpretation of Monopoly. That's not hating Monopoly – that's just not getting it and blaming someone else. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 11:15, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
::::Even if you play Monopoly by the proper rules, it means that players get eliminated and leave the game. That's not a good thing for a social activity. It's less fun to finish a game if the majority of players (supposing you started off with 5 or 6 players) have already left the room to watch TV before the game ends. --[[Special:Contributions/208.59.176.206|208.59.176.206]] 13:42, 22 April 2026 (UTC)
:::::That's assuming you don't reincorporate the bankrupt/departing players by having them 'employed' by the remaining ones, in some interesting manner (even without being represented by pieces that can move). Evolving into some kind of Cooperative, Party and/or Social Deduction team-game, by the time it's one-on-one by playing pieces alone.
:::::Or allow it to become suitably entertaining to spectate, such as everyone not now in the game being allowed to make entirely separate side-bets using real-world cash (or other deals/promises... "Strip Monopoly" need not bother the ''players'' directly, except for having a reason (or not) to try to keep playing well).
:::::Clearly, none of this is stipulated directly in the boxed rules, but none of it need change the rules that ''are'' provided, which can be adhered to as strictly as you like. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.188|82.132.238.188]] 15:44, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Monopoli? Is that the Italian version?--[[Special:Contributions/2A00:23CC:D248:8901:8046:B94B:F152:34FA|2A00:23CC:D248:8901:8046:B94B:F152:34FA]] 07:51, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

It's possible that [[Special:Contributions/2A02:8071:5C20:40:84FB:9239:8AB8:1729|2A02:8071:5C20:40:84FB:9239:8AB8:1729]] (who made both this edit and the Pachisi edit), coming from Germany, doesn't realize that in America, Parcheesi and Monopoly are the more accepted spellings (Pachesi is probably more appropriate for the historical game Parcheesi is based on, but this is about table games not historical games). [[User:Mneme|Mneme]] ([[User talk:Mneme|talk]]) 08:02, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

I misread the tie-in as being Grogu, which would have made it even weirder. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:52, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
:Me too. Maybe because I'm not a board gamer and have never heard of Goku before. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:19, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

I think a clearer example of a "boring" game is Ludo, where the goal is simply to move all the pawns around the board once. [[User:Redmess|Redmess]] ([[User talk:Redmess|talk]]) 09:57, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
: Ludo is Pachisi/Pachesi/Parcheesi, apparently (can't say I've ever heard of any of those names - always knew it as Ludo - but Ludo is a later name). There is a minimal amount of strategy involved in Ludo, in that you get to choose which pawn to move on any given go - unlike, say, Snakes & Ladders, which is entirely down to chance. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:57, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

Where does the 3.75 for Twilight Imperium come from? First and second editions have 3.46, 3rd edition has 4.26 and 4th is even at 4.35. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:03, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

I miss the board game extention pack to Calvinball. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:1888:3B86:68A0:FA0F|2A02:2455:1960:4000:1888:3B86:68A0:FA0F]] 11:47, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
:Remember: If you don't touch the 30-yard base wicket with the flag, you have to hop on one foot! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 13:26, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
Went with a base game rating for Twilight Imperium, maybe one of the expansions is higher, but base game seems like most appropriate to reference. --[[User:Trimutius|Trimutius]] ([[User talk:Trimutius|talk]]) 11:58, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

What did the comment mean about the truth or dare murder reveal being untrue?
:I’m confused about this as well. I looked it up and it looks like he was convicted on some pretty compelling evidence. I’m not seeing anything about him being found not guilty on appeal. [[User:Salsmachev|Salsmachev]] ([[User talk:Salsmachev|talk]]) 14:01, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
:: I assumed it meant that it turned out that the bit about admitting it in a game of Truth or Dare turned out to be embellishment, but I can't find any evidence of that either. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:58, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

I ''REALLY'' want "Candles of Vienna" to exist. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 14:31, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

Maybe add some real hyperspecipic games? Like "castles of mad king Ludwig" or "Whitechapel". [[Special:Contributions/2A02:BA0:10A8:4CB6:C1DE:6320:68C1:1C95|2A02:BA0:10A8:4CB6:C1DE:6320:68C1:1C95]] 16:06, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

I'm not sure Hive is a good example for an abstract game; as it has a clear theme based on real things (bugs) even if some of the mechanics seem a little arbitrary. The other one given seems to fit; although the example in the comic feels to me like a parody of the Gipf games specifically. And trying to see how many others I could think of made me wish I had friends to play Otto Game Over with. -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 17:14, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
: Do replace it if you have better examples - I just put in the first couple that came to mind to replace the previously quoted games that didn't seem to fit the theme at all. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:13, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Are there actual rules for cones of dunshire available somewhere, or is it purely fantasy? [[User:New editor|New editor]] ([[User talk:New editor|talk]]) 18:35, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
:Being Category Theory, it's complete fantasy. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 19:25, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
::I don't think the ([https://parksandrecreation.fandom.com/wiki/The_Cones_of_Dunshire_(game) fictional], then [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/165694/the-cones-of-dunshire defictionalised]) Cones Of Dunshire game is actually based on Category Theory. It's the comic's 'overcomplicated' game (''also'' with Cones Of Dunshire elements, merged with something else) that ultimately has the Category Theory basis. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:27, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

The newest version of Twilight Imperium has a complexity of 4.35. The 3.46 mentioned in the explanation is for the 1st edition, from the 90s, which nobody plays nowadays. I think the explanation is therefore wrong. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:BA0:10A8:4CB6:7B66:7B00:5558:336C|2A02:BA0:10A8:4CB6:7B66:7B00:5558:336C]] 20:52, 21 April 2026 (UTC)
: Factcheck: It's not wrong, but it may be misleading. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:17, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

And these are ALL of the types of board game? I guess Randall's never played Settlers Of Catan, or Betrayal At The House On The Hill. (Though, I guess you could always just default to calling them "boring," since that has no real criteria.) [[Special:Contributions/69.5.140.194|69.5.140.194]] 23:20, 21 April 2026 (UTC)

Oh dear, the party game is using the deprecated standard identified in XKCD 3232.--[[Special:Contributions/108.175.232.134|108.175.232.134]] 05:48, 22 April 2026 (UTC)
: "Wait - how do we know which one of us is the Count of Three?" [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:17, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

I'm not sure I agree that it stands to reason that Black Hat wouldn't be invited back after admitting to murder. I mean, you wouldn't want to annoy him, would you? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:17, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

The games that are Abstract and Themed are two sides of the same coin (which could also have further 'sides' from the list, of course). If you have to make a game around a given theme, you have the option of starting off with an established ruleset (e.g. "it's Monopoly, reskinned for Star Wars!") or you have to take canon features and invent some canon-logical gameplay mechanism to how they interact. But, having obtained your theme-game, you can strip the theme away and you still have the playable mechanism. Even if it ''seems'' arbitrary and inexplicable (e.g. "you sit Chandler and Phoebe together on a table at Central Perks" now becomes something about putting triangles and squares on a movable hexagon). Even with a 'pre-Theme' to the Themed game, like Monopoly, that can be reduced to the simplicity of mere tokens and it might seem nonsensical that the big red tokens on a given landing zone on the perimiter of a square board (or around a circular one, or it could be ''any'' kind of twisty, looping path, even) make it so that other players occasionally have to surrender other tokens to you. Or that other tiles may take counting tokens off/give counting tokens to ''anyone'' who lands there (or passes them), another sends you to another tile with further rules for when you can move again. You could play the 'framework monopoly' easy enough, without ever imagining Hotels, Mortgages, Taxes, etc as 'reasons' behind the rules provided.
 Compare and contrast: Something like Uno is very simple and self-describingly abstract (itself is based upon a standard 52-cards (+jokers?) game which seemingly arbitrarily assigns some card-values/faces to non-obvious functions - such as 8="change direction of play"). But Uno (or the standard playing-card game) can be reskinned into a canon-conversion. Say you want (out of thin air, this, no idea if it's been done like this at all!) Babylon 5... Kosh (or Kosh, of course) is shown on the 'change direction' card, maybe, and Mr Morden on the 'skip next player' one, with Zathrus (or Zathrus, or Zathrus... but maybe not Zathrus!) as the wildcard. The 'suits' of the relevent cards could be Human Minbari, Centauri and Narn, any values being the number (or scale) of the fighters/warships concerned. ''Alternatively'', you construct a game around the theme (moving through Brown Sector, Blue Sector, etc, encounter cards featuring the main characters (and more generic appropriate 'monster of the week'-like cameos) buff or penalise your progress on the way to some winning/losing condition in whatever Cooperative/Competitive/hybrid manner the designer wished to implement. But you can pluck the framework of the game away from the theme and the gameplay would work the same in the abstract sense. Or perhaps even shoehorn it into an (apparently) Hyperspecific game, totally unrelated to the Theme it was designed for (essentially a Themed game, but one or other of Themed or Hyperspecific might be considered a case of the Tail Wagging The Dog, if directly compared to the 'logical' other, with the Abstract being just the wagging with no dog and maybe no obvious tail - a kind of Cheshire Cat thing, buf the other way round).
 ...if you see what I mean. For those wanting a '''TL;DR;''': I'm saying that these aren't distinct game-types, but end-(or mid-?)points on a multidimensional spectrum. Being one type of game does not preclude something from possibly being another type. If not simultaneously (want to play a Cooperative Party Social-Deduction game, anyone?) then after merely superficial details are changed. You can de-Theme/re-Theme chess all kinds of ways... a computer chess-player doesn't need to know about how mediæval knights are abstracted to pieces that can leap others, or by mystified as to how fortified buildings are apparently mobile in a certain manner, yet ''can'' in the right circumstances be utterly defeated by a single footsoldier or even an otherwise useless head-of-state, etc. (You can play a game where your 'classical West-style turrets' are playing against the Elephants-with-Howdahs version of the opposing piece. This doesn't change your gameplay. It's not Games Workshop figures with "that figure doesn't have a Power Fist, so he can't ''use'' the Power Fist". You can move your Castle the same whether it's a building or an armoured pachyderm or Laurel And Hardy Stuck In A Chimney Pot.) ...umm, that was supposed to be a TL;DR;, of course, but please excuse the additional philosophising details that got added anyway. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.188|82.132.238.188]] 15:44, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Wanted to put in a completely unrelated comment on how the table is portrayed. It is rare to have a table with solid panels rather than either legs at the corners or more centralized pillars, particularly at a group gathering for tabletop gaming. Mentally we don't clock this portrayal as an abnormality because we almost never have an orthographic view of the table and players - the panel blocking out the view of the players sitting on the far side of the table fits our experience with the tabletop blocking our view of their legs and the seat of the chairs. [[Special:Contributions/57.140.32.1|57.140.32.1]] 17:15, 22 April 2026 (UTC)
:The text of the Transcript initially described it as a "counter", by the way, which more describes a 'block-not-leg(s)'-supported table. It was changed from that because of the more typical use of "counter" in a gaming context.
:But I also find it interesting. Probably rather than a typical dining (or living room) table, it's a countertop in an 'island kitchen' that's being used. Or a 'gaming room' with its main table/'[[2742: Island Storage]]' being of a type chosen to hold some or all of the various gaming options the owner possesses. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.56|82.132.238.56]] 22:19, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

If anyone actually designs ''Candles of Vienna,'' let me know so I can design the Goku expansion. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 17:37, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

I am not particularly familiar with either {{w|Friends}} or {{w|Dragon Ball}}, but…why is the Goku tie-in "ill-advised"? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 01:18, 22 April 2026 (UTC)
: Pretty sure it's because Goku doesn't really have anything to do with the existing characters the board game is based on. A Mario and Sonic cross over makes sense, but a Mario and Doom Guy crossover? Might be cool, but doesn't really make sense, and the mix of target audience is weird. [[Special:Contributions/110.145.224.178|110.145.224.178]] 04:04, 22 April 2026 (UTC)
:: A tie-in that "doesn't really make sense" does not, for me, sound "ill-advised." I'd reserve ill-advised for unexpected consequences of a tie-in, like hypothetical award-winning bakers Hansel Adams and Gretel Garbo join forces in a new pastry company called Hansel and Gretel that brings to mind the dark fairy tale when it was unintended. Maybe I'm being too strict about it. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:13, 22 April 2026 (UTC)
::: I think it's problematic because there is no tangible or easily conceptualised overlap between the two (or more!) respective canons. Whatever the premiee is for the core game, we can presume that shoehorning Goku into it is going to be... Strange. Either suddenly Goku is more likely to be sitting on a sofa saying how things are "soooooo <something-or-other>" (or whatever it is that a Friends-themed game tries to convey... but I'm not a games designer, and it's also been far too long since I've seen the show!), or the player-character Ross has to deal with situations that Goku brings into the conjoined scenario.
::: It is also quite possible that some reasonably 'unforced' intersection could be made to allow such a crossover situation to work ''very well''. However, it seems clear that that this idealist result has ''not'' happened. It has perhaps preditably failed to be done well. More than that, it seems that it may have been meshed together ''very badly''. The only real information we have is Randall's 'in-universe critic' lambasting the effort. At the very least it failed to satisfy the voice-of-the-titletext, for whatever reason. The basis of this is more {{tvtropes|NoodleIncident}} than actually justified in any way, but there's no great reason to presume this isn't truly as ill-advised as we are informed it is. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.56|82.132.238.56]] 22:19, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

User talk:GSLikesCats307

2026-04-22T21:31:43Z

82.132.238.56: /* I apologise for making this the first Talk for you... */ new section

Hello! This page is for anyone that for some reason or other wants to discuss anything on my page! So if you do, just fire away!

Yeah, no-one's done that, have they.

== I apologise for making this the first Talk for you... ==

Hi there, just thought that since you've now established your Talk page, I could finally chat directly to you about {{diff|410923|an edit I just edited}}.

Firstly, you're keen on using ampersands, I note. But can I persuade you to spell out 'and' in prose like that? It's not like you're trying to keep the character count down, and stylistically it's a bit jarring (to me, at least). At least outside of some scenario where space (or the time needed to jot something down) actually ''is'' at a premium, and two less characters.

They have their place, like "/” in leiu of "or" also does, but I've been redoing them 'in full' a few times (and have seen others update it, too, clearly with the same idea in mind) a few prior times that you've applied. Ampersands rather draw the eye, disproportionately, at least for me. YMMV.

Secondly, the convention for the {{template|Citation needed}} tag (and aliases for that, and also the {{template|Actual citation needed}} ones, etc) is to follow the punctuation. Follow the link I just gave to see the examples.

As for using "cn" versus "Citation needed" template name (and other abbreviated or case-adjusted versions), the former redirects to the latter and gives the same resulting appearance wherever either is embedded. I wouldn't normally go in and expand it out, as a lone edit, but as I was in there shuffling the "." position (and spelling out "and"), I took the liberty. Again, no real need to spare the (markup) space, and I only made ''that'' change to spare the need to evaluate a redirect and be more obvious to hypothetical future editors. I'm much less personally worried about "cn" vs "Citation needed" vs "Citation Needed" or any of the other various aliases ({{template|fact}} used to be one!), so am not suggesting you stop using the 'wrong' version in anything like as strong a term. But thought I'd at least explain why I also made that alteration, along the way.

But, otherwise, let me congratulate you on your contributions, over the last month or so. You've been a decent contributor (the above points notwithstanding), and this little note (which isn't anything but my own individual opinion on the matter) is by no means intended to detract from your generally good style and authorship! [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.56|82.132.238.56]] 21:31, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

3234: Europa Missions

2026-04-22T20:47:02Z

82.132.238.56: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3234
| date = April 17, 2026
| title = Europa Missions
| image = europa_missions_2x.png
| imagesize = 515x274px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Before resurfacing, they promise to inspect the ice for any evidence of hockey-playing life.
}}

==Explanation==
In recent years, multiple space agencies have sent spacecraft to observe Jupiter’s moon {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}. In part, this is because, according to {{w|NASA}}, the moon could be a candidate for life due to the presence of a subsurface ocean and (possibly) {{w|hydrothermal vents}}. The first two craft — the {{w|Europa Clipper}} and {{w|Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer}} (Juice), respectively — will investigate the ocean, topography and chemistry of the moon, to help in searching for signs of life. Europa's ocean is frozen on top — the whole surface being solid ice with no exposed liquid, except perhaps at the bottom of any transient deep crevasses — which is why it described as a "subsurface ocean".

A {{w|Zamboni}} is a vehicle that is meant to quickly resurface ice rinks that have been worn down — not a scientific mission or a transport for other scientific missions. The comic describes a non-existent spacecraft known as the ''Zamboni Voyager'', operated by the {{w|National Hockey League}} (NHL). The spacecraft is carrying a Zamboni because the NHL is trying to 'expand the league'. Normally, expanding a sports league would involve, at the very least, forming a new team in a city which did not have one. In this scenario, they appear to be more literally trying to expand the available space for play, by resurfacing Europa to make it viable for hockey-playing. (Although Europa is the {{w|Europa (moon)#Surface environment|smoothest known body}} in the solar system, it's probably not smooth enough for playing hockey{{Citation needed}}.) Hockey in reduced gravity — Europa's gravity is less than 1/7 that of Earth — would be {{What If|124|an interesting idea}}. However, it would be ridiculous to, even if the plan succeeded, ferry spaceships to and from Europa simply to get hockey players and fans over just to see a game of Hockey.{{Citation needed}}

The title text talks about finding hockey-playing life on Europa, which would be unlikely, as any life on Europa would exist underwater, where it's difficult to play hockey.{{cn}} In addition, any conceivable culture(s) there would almost certainly be extremely different from Earth's, so even if the lifeforms on Europa do have entertainment similar to sports, it's unlikely that they have even {{w|Convergent evolution|remotely similar}} rules or equipment. If, though, there were intelligent non-hockey-playing life on Europa, the NHL may consider them fair game as a virgin market for their product.

On top of that, making a spacecraft to send a Zamboni to Europa would be very difficult, as 14,000 m/s of delta-v (a measure of the total change in velocity required to transfer between orbital or 'ground' locations) is needed. With a typical Zamboni weighing five tons, a very heavy rocket would be needed. Europa clipper weighs about six tons, which is comparable to a heavy Zamboni. That particular spacecraft will not perform an orbital insertion or a landing, but only a fly-by to save fuel. Even then, it needs a fully expendable Falcon Heavy, the largest commercially available rocket (as of the comic being published), to achieve the fly-by. A landing would need much more available delta-v for the final approach.

If whoever was talking (e.g. NASA) tried to stop them, something like an SLS launch with more payload capacity may not even be possible. Even with an SLS, successfully achieving a propulsive landing would be very difficult, as demonstrated by {{w|IM-1}} and {{w|IM-2}}, which both failed to land on our own Moon. A normal Zamboni is probably not hardened against Jupiter’s intense radiation environment and, unless adapted for robotic remote control, the life support system for the operator would greatly increase the total weight of the mission. Also, the water in a Zamboni would freeze.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball's upper body is shown; he is in front of an image of a spacecraft.]
:Cueball: There are now three spacecraft headed to Europa:
:Cueball: NASA's ''Europa Clipper'', which investigate Europa's subsurface ocean,

:[In a longer shot, Cueball, Ponytail, and Hairy are all shown standing in front of another spacecraft image, with Cueball gesturing at it.]
:Cueball: ESA's ''Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer'', which will study the topography and chemistry of Europa and the other moons,

:[Another closeup on Cueball, who is in front of an image of a Zamboni with a firing rocket nozzle on its bottom.]
:Cueball: And the NHL's ''Zamboni Voyager'', which plans to resurface Europa.
:Voice out of frame: Oh no.
:Cueball: We tried to stop them, but the league is set on an expansion.

==Trivia==
* The [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/f/fd/20260418170145%21europa_missions_2x.png original version of the comic] incorrectly referred to the "Jupiter Icy Moons ''Orbiter''" rather than "Jupiter Icy Moons ''Explorer''."

* This comic was created at around the time of the start of the season's NHL playoffs.

* This comic was posted 10 days after April 7, 2026, a pivotal date in ''{{w|17776}}'' — a space-probe related and sports-related webcomic which features Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer ("Juice"), the space probe mentioned in this comic, as a main character. (While the webcomic began in 2017, it received another wave of popularity in the lead-up to April 7, 2026, the date on which humans stopped being born (and essentially stopped dying and aging) within the story's fiction.)

* Kerbal Space Program is a great way to learn the basics of orbital mechanics.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Sport]]