A Wikipedia Game

The object of the game is simple. You are given a famous person from the past or the present, and you have to connect that person to Sir Francis Bacon in Wikipedia in as few links (degrees) to other people as possible. Enter your response in the comments section of the post announcing the challenge, using the “>” symbol to indicate a link. The winner will be the one who makes the connection in the fewest degrees, with ties to be broken by who posted their response first.

Example: The challenge is Harry Potter.

Possible response: Harry Potter > Ralph Fiennes > William Shakespeare > Sir Francis Bacon (3 degrees)

Before posting each challenge, I will make sure that the subject can be linked to Sir Francis Bacon in six degrees or fewer. But this shouldn’t stop you from posting a longer response, or looking for a shorter one.

There are a few rules to consider:

1. The links must be internal links within Wikipedia. External links may not be used.
2. Simply appearing together in an entry is not sufficient. One entry must link directly to the other, and in the correct direction.
3. The links must be made through individuals. Fictional characters are acceptable. Animals are okay too, as long as they are specific animals. So “Lassie” is okay, but “dog” or “collie” are not.
4. Links must be active at the time the challenge is posted. So no fair editing Wikipedia to make a new link or eliminate the link of another entry.
5. Links must be within the main body of the text. Category links, links to the references cited for the entry, “See Also” links, or any links within boxes, are off-limits, though “Trivia,” “Quotes,” “In Popular Culture,” or other lists within the different sections of the entry are fair game.
6. Disambiguation pages are allowed, as they may lead to some creative responses. Even though this may require two clicks, it will only count once in your link total if linking between two items being disambiguated. Otherwise, links to and from disambiguation pages both count.
7. You may post more than one response to each challenge. So, you are encouraged to post your first successful attempt, and post again later if you find a response with fewer links.

The contest will stay open for one week, and the winner will be announced the following week along with a new challenge.

Sound like fun? Then, jump right in! All visitors to the blog are welcome to play.

Good luck!