Why you can choke Arty, but you can't dupe Dupin

Terrance lycidas2 at earthlink.net
Mon Jun 2 14:06:08 CDT 2003


But it is in matters beyond the limits of mere rule that the skill of
the analyst is evinced. He makes, in silence, a host of observations and
inferences. So, perhaps, do his companions; and the difference in the
extent of the information obtained, lies not so much in the validity of
the inference as in the quality of the observation. The necessary
knowledge is that of what to observe. Our player confines himself not at
all; nor, because the game is the object, does he reject deductions from
things
external to the game. He examines the countenance of his partner,
comparing it carefully with that of each of his opponents. He considers
the mode of assorting the cards in each hand; often counting trump by
trump, and honor by honor, through the glances bestowed by their holders
upon each. He notes every variation of face as the play progresses,
gathering a fund of thought from the differences in the expression of
certainty, of surprise, of triumph, or chagrin. From the manner of
gathering up a trick he judges whether the person taking it can make
another in the suit. He recognizes what is
played through feint, by the air with which it is thrown upon the table.
A casual or inadvertent word; the accidental dropping or turning of a
card, with the accompanying anxiety or carelessness in regard to its
concealment; the counting of the tricks, with the order of their
arrangement; embarrassment, hesitation, eagerness or trepidation --all
afford, to his apparently intuitive perception, indications of the true
state of affairs. The first two or three rounds having been played, he
is in full possession of
the contents of each hand, and thenceforward puts down his cards with as
absolute a precision of purpose as if the rest of the party had turned
outward the faces of their own. 

http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/works/murders.html

Compare and contrast, Oedipus, Oepdipa, Holmes, and Dupin

be sure to explain  the method employed by each (Logistic, Agon,
Logistic, Analytic)



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