Find the Hitler

[Adam]

I've done this game on a couple of the forums I run, and it's proven to be a hit. Whilst it's totally not politically correct, it's still really addictive. It's called Find the Hitler!

Here's how to play it:
Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">Wikipedia, and click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">Random Article. Then following links in that page and subsequent pages, get to Adolf Hitler by the shortest route, or for added bonus points, by the most convoluted route - that being a route of 15 or more clicks.

Different people can use the same page twice, but if you've already used a page in one route, you cannot use that page in subsequent routes!

Well. Here's mine:
Hill repair --> Pacific Northwest --> Greece --> Greeks in Germany --> Germany --> Adolf Hitler

[ccexplore]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctubourgognea_coppingeri" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">Noctubourgognea coppingeri --> Chile -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile#Immigration" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">Germany -> Adolf Hitler

[Gronkling]

Sweden-->Germany-->Adolf Hitler

[ccexplore]

Here's a 30-click route to Hitler, once again starting at the random article "Noctubourgognea coppingeri".  I tried as much as I could to use the most tangential (ie. least topical) link on each page to maximize convolution.  I'm sure I can go on much longer, but I got sick of it around "Taro".

Noctubourgognea coppingeri
Moth
Moon
Angular momentum
Electromagnetic field
CD players
SCSI
Cyclic redundancy check
MITRE
Not-for-profit
Art
Ming Dynasty
Peanut
Cardiovascular disease
Physical exercise
Cognition
Education
Writing
Manuscript
Mummy
Starfish
Deepwater Horizon spill
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Magna Carta
Bishops
Cyprus
Taro
Brazil
Germany
Adolf Hitler

------------------------------------

I think it would be more interesting to try to reach Adolph Hitler without going through obvious pages on Germany or Nazi or related topics.  Maybe I'll try that next.

[Adam]

John Archibald Maharg
Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Cumulative voting
Consistency criterion
Simpson's paradox
United States Department of Education
Institute of Education Sciences
National Library of Education (United States)
United States Secretary of Education
Rod Paige
September 11 attacks
List of intelligence agencies of Germany
Bundesnachrichtendienst
Bundeswehr
Adolf Hitler

[ccexplore]

Okay, here's a convoluted attempt to go from "Lemmings" to Hitler:

Lemmings (video game)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
PCF theory
Power set
Multigraph
Ordered pair
Coordinate system
Galilean transformation
Ball
Kitten
Average
Domesday Book
Honey
Radioactive decay
Avalanche
Pyroclastic flow
Sumatra
Marco Polo
Coal
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Beaver
Israel
Bible
Kabbalah
Tiferet
Abracadabra
J. K. Rowling
Monty Python
Tim Curry
Four Dogs Playing Poker
SAV
Erwan Vallerie
Nono
List of Planetes characters
Cattle mutilation
Space Invaders
List of Robot Chicken episodes
Adolf Hitler

=======

I started with "Lemmings" and did the same thing as last time, but right around when I got to "Beaver", I thought I should start from the end and try to make the links into Hitler as unrelated to Germany or Nazi etc. as possible.  So I did that, making use of the "What links here" feature of Wikipedia.  That eventually leads up to "Bible", and surprisingly it was only 2 clicks to go from "Beaver" to "Bible", so boom!

I do think making Hitler the endpoint makes the game a little too easy.  A comparatively more esoteric topic like "Lemmings" might make for a more interesting endpoint for this sort of game.

[ccexplore]

And in case anyone wonders, here's the shortest clicks from Lemmings to Hitler I can find:

Lemmings (video game)
Jacques Offenbach
Germany
Adolf Hitler

Yep, you have the Can-can music to thank for this extra-short connection to Hitler. http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/winktounge.gif" alt=";P" title="Wink-Tongue" class="smiley" /> http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/undecided.gif" alt=":-\" title="Undecided" class="smiley" />

[chaos_defrost]

Fritz Aigner -> Linz -> Hitler

well that was disappointingly easy  http://www.lemmingsforums.com/Smileys/lemmings/tongue.gif" alt=":P" title="Tongue" class="smiley" />

EDIT: Very next attempt:

Boden Fortress -> Hitler

Oh come on next time I'm going to get Hitler as my random click

[namida]

I hereby state a theory:

From any random Wikipedia article, you can reach the Adolf Hitler article with 3 clicks or less.

[Dullstar]

Setshele I -> Botswana -> South Africa -> Kingdom of Great Britain -> United Kingdom -> Continental Europe -> Europe -> Adolf Hitler

Baleària -> Spain -> List of languages by number of native speakers -> German Language -> Germany -> Nazi Germany -> Adolf Hitler

. . . Maybe a bit too easy.  We should probably get a slightly different endpoint.

[Adam]

Any suggestions?

[namida]

...allow me to state the obvious, and suggest Lemmings.

[finlay]

Rango Narayan Orpe → Shivaji → Hindu → Swastika → Adolf Hitler
Sustenhorn → Switzerland → Adolf Hitler
Panchlaish Thana → Bangladesh → Genocide → The Holocaust → Adolf Hitler (surprisingly, "Genocide" only mentions Hitler, and doesn't link to him. Of course, I could always go and edit it so that it does.....)
Ounceland → Markland (Scots) → Deutsche Mark → Germany → Adolf Hitler
Golden Monarch → Indonesia → Dutch East Indies → World War II → Adolf Hitler
Nikon Instruments → Tokyo → World War II → Adolf Hitler

[Scott5114]

...allow me to state the obvious, and suggest Lemmings.

ccexplore posted a shorter one, going through Offenbach, but I went
Lemmings → Rockstar North → United Kingdom → Germany → Hitler

[ccexplore]

You misunderstood namida.  He's talking about the variation where you end with Lemmings while starting with a random article, ie.

?? → ... → Lemmings.