After deciding to wait to duel, Lewis Degoffau and Sarah Wagoner enjoyed a peaceful lunch in Saga. Courtesy | Lewis Degoffau

Spoons aren’t just for soup anymore. 

From February 7-13, members of the puzzle club turned them into deadly weapons for a game of spoon assassins, which culminated in a duel on the quad on February 13.

“It seemed like a good excuse to engage in recreational paranoia and a little bit of espionage,” said senior Ryan Bagley, the president of puzzle club. “It’s very easy to take seriously even though you’re not fearing for your life.” 

Spoon assassin is a game in which each player is assigned a target that they must “kill” by hitting them with their spoon. Once a player kills someone, they acquire their target. 

Although not a puzzle game in the traditional sense, senior Lewis Degoffau, the winner of the game, said that it is an information gathering game. 

“You are essentially playing Sherlock Holmes while attempting not to die,” Degoffau said. “If you are connected to a lot of people, you are able to gather a lot of information without putting yourself at risk because you are the only one who can get targeted. You can vicariously gain information through others.” 

Senior Sarah Wagoner, the runner-up of the game, agreed. 

“There’s definitely clues that you pick up along the way, like who you are after and who is after you,” Wagoner said. “Starting from day one, I kept a running list of who was in and who had who.” 

Both Degoffau and Wagoner said that they made it into the final two by playing a conservative game. 

At President’s Ball, however, Degoffau said he went on the offensive, killing one person and preventatively killing two others. A preventative kill occurs when a player attacks in self-defense before they can be assassinated.

“There were more people that died that night than on any other day,” said Wagoner, who came to President’s Ball with a thigh holster for her spoon. 

Although the event was a massacre, both players agreed that the Knorr Dining Hall was the most dangerous place to be. Degoffau said he avoided it for the entire week. 

Because the dining hall was a prime location to kill victims, Wagoner said that is where she made her favorite assassination.

“The girl I had, knew I was the one hunting her, which made it a massive challenge. I had been stuck on her for about 24 hours,” Wagoner said. “I finally went to lunch and sat by the fireplace so I could watch the staircase leading down. I watched her come down, waited for her to find a table, waited for her to get food, and then darted out from the sizzle line.” 

On the last morning of the game, Wagoner and Degoffau had an encounter that almost ended the game early. 

“I saw him from the corner of the street. He asked me if I was still in, sprinted across the street, and I made it into my dorm with less than a millisecond to spare,” Wagoner said.  

Rather than attempt to assassinate one another after that, the pair decided to wait to attempt to kill each other in a duel later that day. After setting aside their differences, the two enjoyed lunch together, which was Degoffau’ first time in the dining hall since the game began. 

“I never break deals that I make in games and I assumed that Sarah would also be honorable,” Degoffau said. “We actually had an enjoyable lunch in anticipation of our bloody duel.” 

That afternoon, the two combatants donned sith capes and walked onto the quad to “Duel of the Fates.” Each had traded in their traditional spoons, for ladles, a heavier option with deadly reach. 

Degoffau chose senior Noah Parker as his second and Wagoner chose sophomore Anna Jackson, who had the highest kill count in the game. Bagley, who fenced in high school, refereed the duel. 

“Both of our nerves were very high,” Degoffau said. “It was very tense.” 

Wagoner and Degoffau circled each other for two minutes parrying and blocking strikes from their ladles before Degoffau made his fatal blow. 

“I waited until she was off balance and went in and hit her opposite arms,” Degoffau said.  I was very close to dying at least twice, so I was very happy to be left alive.”

Bagley hopes to make the duel a part of future spoon assassin games that the club hosts. 

“I’m really glad that Sarah and Lewis decided to do the duel,” Bagley said. “They made it a way for everyone who played to get some closure and to provide a spectacle.”