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From: svanegmo@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca (Stephen van Egmond)
Subject: Re: alt.xyzzy
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Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 08:36:28 GMT
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From the rec.games.int-fiction FAQ:

>XYZZY                                                          (1.8)
Nothing happens.  In the distance you hear a voice:

    People frequently ask about the origins of XYZZY.  From the Jargon file
    3.2.0:

    :xyzzy: /X-Y-Z-Z-Y/, /X-Y-ziz'ee/, /ziz'ee/, or /ik-ziz'ee/
       adj.  [from the ADVENT game] The canonical `magic
       word'.  This comes from ADVENT, in which the idea is to
       explore an underground cave with many rooms and to collect the
       treasures you find there.  If you type `xyzzy' at the appropriate
       time, you can move instantly between two otherwise distant points.
       If, therefore, you encounter some bit of magic, you might
       remark on this quite succinctly by saying simply "Xyzzy!"
       "Ordinarily you can't look at someone else's screen if he has
       protected it, but if you type quadruple-bucky-clear the system will
       let you do it anyway."  "Xyzzy!"

       Xyzzy has actually been implemented as an undocumented no-op
       command on several OSes; in Data General's AOS/VS, for example, it
       would typically respond "Nothing happens", just as ADVENT
       did if the magic was invoked at the wrong spot or before a player
       had performed the action that enabled the word.  In more recent
       32-bit versions, by the way, AOS/VS responds "Twice as much
       happens".ks remain the property of

>XYZZY                                                          (1.8)
Nothing happens.  In the distance you hear a voice:

    People frequently ask about the origins of XYZZY.  From the Jargon file
    3.2.0:

    :xyzzy: /X-Y-Z-Z-Y/, /X-Y-ziz'ee/, /ziz'ee/, or /ik-ziz'ee/
       adj.  [from the ADVENT game] The canonical `magic
       word'.  This comes from ADVENT, in which the idea is to
       explore an underground cave with many rooms and to collect the
       treasures you find there.  If you type `xyzzy' at the appropriate
       time, you can move instantly between two otherwise distant points.
       If, therefore, you encounter some bit of magic, you might
       remark on this quite succinctly by saying simply "Xyzzy!"
       "Ordinarily you can't look at someone else's screen if he has
       protected it, but if you type quadruple-bucky-clear the system will
       let you do it anyway."  "Xyzzy!"

       Xyzzy has actually been implemented as an undocumented no-op
       command on several OSes; in Data General's AOS/VS, for example, it
       would typically respond "Nothing happens", just as ADVENT
       did if the magic was invoked at the wrong spot or before a player
       had performed the action that enabled the word.  In more recent
       32-bit versions, by the way, AOS/VS responds "Twice as much
       happens".

       The popular `minesweeper' game under Microsoft Windows has a
       cheat mode triggered by the command `xyzzy<enter><right-shift>'
       that turns the top-left pixel of the screen different colors
       depending on whether or not the cursor is over a bomb.
