The Difficulty Select
Sixteen women in four corners, every one an AI character. Pick a card, or jump down to the Opener Gauntlet and see what a bad first line earns.
More filters: hair, look, build, temper
AICorner 14
Lindiwe, 22
Apprentice electrician
“Are you tired? Because you have been running through my mind.” That is not a pick-up line, it is a short circuit with a nice finish.
AICorner 8
Elin, 44
Air traffic controller
“Hey, can I tell you something?” Vague request, no callsign, no altitude. You are in a holding pattern now.
AICorner 7
Camila, 31
Boxing gym owner
“I could probably take you.” I am taping my hands, and you are one syllable short of a good decision.
AICorner 12
Mika, 42
Ski patrol lead
“I am not much of a skier.” Yes, I saw. The angle on the third turn was excellent for a person who then did not stop.
AICorner 16
Yara, 38
Stunt driver
“Go on then, surprise me.” I am doing eighty through a tunnel and you have just asked me to be interesting.
The Opener Gauntlet
Sixteen bad first lines, each answered by the woman best placed to take it apart. Filter by corner and by how she takes it, then press Answer her: her chat opens with that reply already sent. It is all text, and the best lines are the ones that fail instructively.
Harder · DryYou opened with “You look like a lawyer.” Exhibit A: I am a lawyer, and it says so on my door.Leading, thin and based on nothing. Objection sustained, and you have not even finished the sentence.Rephrase. This time give the witness something she can confirm.Roz Kowalski Answer her
Easy · Fond“Are you a comedian? Because you are funny looking.” I retired that one in a drawer years ago, but thank you for the visit.To steal from a stand-up you have to do it better than the original, and you did it worse with great confidence, which I respect.Tell me one true thing that went wrong for you this week and I will let you keep the laugh.Jess Abara Answer her
Brutal · Savage“I am not like other men.” You said that quickly, and your thumb moved.Everyone I have beaten at a table says something like it right before the river card.Tell me one thing you are actually afraid of. Slowly.Vivian Leung Answer her
Hard · Dry“I like all kinds of wine.” That is how people say they have never paid attention.Taste starts with a preference you are willing to be wrong about, and so far you have offered me beige.Name the last bottle that surprised you, or the last one you finished.Margot Tessier Answer her
Harder · Amused“So, do you play chess?” You moved the pawn you were not supposed to touch, and I like that more than you know.It is the kind of opening nobody has studied, because nobody has been brave or careless enough to try it.Your move. And please, do not tell me you planned it.Dilnoza Rahimova Answer her
Brutal · Savage“Sorry, I got caught up with work.” I have that excuse on file under the second drawer, between traffic and a dead battery.It has been used eleven hundred times in this building and never once survived a follow-up question.Try the truth. It is a rare filing and I would enjoy reading it.Hattie Greer Answer her
Hard · Dry“I could probably take you.” I am taping my hands, and you are one syllable short of a good decision.Confidence is welcome in this gym. Nonsense gets sent back to the car park.Tell me what you would actually do in the first ten seconds, and mean it.Camila Soto Answer her
Harder · Dry“Hey, can I tell you something?” Vague request, no callsign, no altitude. You are in a holding pattern now.Pilots who say that want clearance and give no reason, and clearance is not issued on a hope.State your intention in one sentence, and I will see about a runway.Elin Bergstrom Answer her
Easy · Amused“You are so mysterious.” Lovely. In this scene I am a lighthouse keeper and you have walked into my lamp room in wet socks.That is the first rule of the game I run: whatever you hand me, I make it bigger and ask you to match it.Your line. And the socks are part of the plot now.Naledi Dube Answer her
Brutal · Savage“Hey u up?” Four words, one letter doing the work of three, and none of them mine to forgive.I have returned your message with corrections in red. It scored a D, and only because the question mark was in the right place.Resubmit. Full sentences, a point and something to say that I could not have predicted.Margaret Okonkwo-Hale Answer her
Hard · Amused“I am a great catch.” Do I hear any bids? Lovely condition, a little overstated, and the reserve price unmet.Going once. The lot is only as good as the story behind it, and so far it is all sticker.Give me something with provenance, and I will open the bidding myself.Saoirse Quinlan Answer her
Easy · Fond“I am not much of a skier.” Yes, I saw. The angle on the third turn was excellent for a person who then did not stop.Nobody here minds a fall. We mind a fall followed by pretending it was planned.Tell me what actually happened, and I will find you some tea.Mika Aalto Answer her
Brutal · Dry“What do I have to do to impress you?” You opened with your demand. That is the least favourable position I have ever seen anyone volunteer.Good negotiators ask what the other side values before they name a price. You named the price.Start again with a question, and make it a better one.Farah Nasser Answer her
Easy · Amused“Are you tired? Because you have been running through my mind.” That is not a pick-up line, it is a short circuit with a nice finish.The fault is in the second sentence, where the current loses all sense of where it is going. I can fix it in a minute.Hand me the line again and I will show you where to splice.Lindiwe Zulu Answer her
Hard · Fond“You are a mystery to me.” I set clues for a living, and that is a clue with no definition and a lot of spaces.Seven across, two words, a feeling you have not named. I could solve it, but where is the fun in that?Give me a second attempt with an anagram in it, and I will be easy to impress.Maud Lindqvist Answer her
Harder · Savage“Go on then, surprise me.” I am doing eighty through a tunnel and you have just asked me to be interesting.Passengers who make that request tend to find the answer on the next corner, usually while holding the door.Tell me what you are actually here for, or enjoy the view.Yara Mansour Answer her
