WE DID IT!!!!!

The clock has officially struck 7:30 - we made it! Elaine, Zoe, and Derek survived twelve full hours in Rat-Town, aided by the help and support of every lovely person who came to spend time with us, many of whom spent the vast majority of the day here. It was so much fun doing absolutely no work (or maybe some people did work, but I certainly didn't), playing games, and just generally dicking around in the Ratty all day. What a glorious, successful day to take on - and beat - the Ratty Challenge.

The three twelve-hour-ers

Everyone who made it to the very end! Not pictured: All the wonderful folks who came in and out throughout the day but weren't around at 7:30 p.m.

Is there any better way to spend a day than with the Brown Band in the comfort of the Ratty? (No.) Good luck to all of next year's Challengers!

Now we're ACTUALLY nearing the end

UNDER HALF AN HOUR LEFT!

Update of the people who have joined us since our last post:

Mermelhammer!

London Cooper-Troendle Houston Rocket

Alex!

Kiki!

Lia!

Ryan!

Cassie!

Ava!

And the final Skype friend, Dennis!

We also busted out the games for a rousing Catan competition:

Settle that shit.

Congrats to the winners, Elaine and Amy! They promise they didn't cheat, but who really knows?

Stay tuned for one or two finals posts as we finish out the Challenge! It's been a great day.

Nearing the end...just kidding it's only 4 p.m.

We've been joined by some more friends as the afternoon wears on and the light begins to dim. It seriously feels like 6 p.m., but it is 100% not. Here's who we're hanging out with now!

Chris! He brought some games.

Great-grandma Emily! She brought some altitude.

Caleb! He brought a hangover.

Kristen! She brought a smile.

We were also blessed with EVEN MORE CRUST. First Leber Skyped in from the Rock where he's working on his paper, aka Doha, Qatar:

Wait a sec, that's not right...

There we go. Leber: "Should I pose?"

AND THEN we got to talk to Ronnie who is off getting even smarter than he already is in a PhD program at Cornell.

Look how smart!

Things are rolling along smoothly here. Under 3.5 hours left! And Harvard still sucks. (uH)

Even more bandies and shenanigans! (Shebandigans)

We are officially halfway there!

Quick update to display the additional lovely friends who have joined the Challenge:

Kyle!

Ben and Sid!

Charlie Gleason! (Charlie Greaser)

Brett! He loves cars.

Ken!

Eli is so beautiful and glamorous.

Nice coat, Margaret!

"Peter, are you okay?" "Yes, why?"

Kevin!

Hisyam!

Obviously this is happening. Just try not to get sucked in.

(For those of you joining us from years past - try to touch the tips of your index fingers together above your head without looking. Then try to get everyone around you do look at you weirdly when you do this in unison with 20 other people.)

6.25 hours down, 5.75 hours to go.

Skype sessions for days

So much crust (and long-distance non-crust) coming in via Skype! Take a peek at who we got to talk to this afternoon:

Lena!

Brandon, Lewie, and Puppet Pal Brooke!

Gabe, preparing to go abroad to Germany this semester! So worldly.

We were also graced by a phone call from KSarah Ostrach herself, and we're looking forward to a video chat from Leber soon. (Just to clarify, it'll be a video call from the Rock, where he's still working on his paper:)

I never get tired of this joke.

Just like Leber never gets tired of this paper.

Lunch update

Lunch is very disappointing today:

And blurry. I would take a better quality photo but...this is in my belly now.

SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE SHOWN UP SINCE OUR LAST POST

**EDIT** THIS IS THIS BLOG'S 69th POST! I'm debating never posting here again and just making a new blog.**

Holy crap, team. The Ratty is EXPLODING with Bandies right now. We now successfully control five tables, and no one seems to be judging us too hard yet (or maybe I just can't see the judge-y glares from underneath my fuzzy blanket). Check out who showed up this mid-morning!

Jesús!

Sarah and Lainie! Sarah doesn't feel good. :(

Amy and Abby! Or Abby and Amy, I'm not sure.

Francesca and Sammy!

Scott "I went home, dropped off my skates, chugged a beer, and I was still the fourth Bandie at Jo's" Underriner

Matt!

Carol!

Dana!

Shannon!

Daniel!

Kevin is REALLY excited about the snow. Oh, Californians.

Brooke!

FIVE. TABLES.

All the chairs that we sacrificed in order to put five tables together.

We also had a virtual visit from Former President Carrie Danielson '14!

Look how cute she is.

She owns a weird-crotched Beethoven action figure. Is that what ethnomusicology is?

Also, Derek brought Lord of the Rings-themed Risk. It took an hour to explain how to play, and they've been at it for about half an hour. Apparently Charlie is going down soon.

Alright, gotta post this before EVEN MORE PEOPLE SHOW UP!