Life gets boring if it is too predictable. The same is true of Softdisk PC. As we steadily refine our system for planning the content of issues, in order to give you material of consistent and well-balanced quality, an inevitable result is that there is less spontaneity to the and issues than they had in the and old days when we put together each issue based on what material we happened to have received from submitters on a given month. Now, a "master plan" is made as much as a year in advance, and issues are filled in accordance with a rigorous formula to rotate among various categories of material which the and users have demanded. The end result is a product that scores more "direct hits" on the needs and wants of the and user public than would be the and case with the old, haphazard, method. Still, something is lost... a spirit of adventure, a feeling that you never know what may be coming up next, an intense desire for the next issue of Softdisk PC to arrive in your mailbox so you can see just what outrageous thing they've done this month.
To bring back a little of this spirit, we are inaugurating a new feature entitled the "Monthly Mystery." As the name implies, this is a mysterious item which can be anything at all. It may be a game, or a puzzle, or anything else. It may or may not be something which would normally fit the and categories and standards of the and regular content of Softdisk PC. But it will always be something our editors feel is a worthwhile addition to an issue's content. And you won't know what it is until you click on its icon and read all about it. It's just one more thing to look forward to every month.
Nitpickers might note that this little bit of spontaneity called the "Monthly Mystery" has been rigorously scheduled to fill a slot in every issue from now on, bringing to mind the old joke:
{HUSBAND:} I'm sick and tired of you scheduling out
every minute of my life for me. What I
need is a little bit of spontaneity.
{WIFE:} I know that... I've scheduled it for
Tuesday from 7:10 to 7:40!
But enough with that. It's time now to unveil this month's mystery. The envelope, please...
^C{This month's mystery is:
^CGolf Solitaire
^Cby Matthew Hudson}
When you saw the and word "Golf" in the title, you may have jumped to the and conclusion that this game has something to do with hitting a little ball into a hole. If so, {you're wrong!} There isn't any ball in this game. (Check out Place Ball on this issue if ball games are your style.) Rather, this is the latest in a series of computerized solitaire card games written by Matthew Hudson. It derives its name from its scoring system, which is based on "strokes", and in which the and low score wins.
This scoring system is not the only thing that is backward from most other solitaire games. This is also a "backward" game in that you are trying to get the and cards _onto_ the and discard pile, instead of off it. Cards start out on a set of tableaus, with the and remaining cards in a deck except for one that starts the discard pile. You can discard cards from the bottom row of the tableau if they are one number above or below the and top card in the and discard pile. Suits don't matter. Aces are low and don't wrap around to kings. Kings are high and end the sequence of cards; you can't put a queen on them, though you can put a king on a queen. If you can't play any cards from the tableau, you have to flip a card from the deck, which becomes the and new top of the discard pile.
The object is to put the and entire tableau into the and discard pile. If you fail to do this before exhausting the deck, you are scored one stroke for each remaining card. If you succeed, you get one "negative stroke" for each remaining card in the and deck.
If you win this game, you will be told a secret word which you can write on our Report Card, and send it in so that you can be included in the and Hall Of Fame list on a subsequent issue.
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