Reproduction attempt

Take a small, safe, well-documented practice and try to reproduce it from the record alone, then report what the record didn't tell you.

Due: 23 April 2027 · Weight: 25%

Pick something ordinary that’s documented somewhere — a recipe, a craft technique, an assembly instruction, a piece of folk repair knowledge — and try to do it using only the documentation, with no help from anyone who already knows how. Then write up exactly where the documentation held and where it didn’t.

This is the F-1 and FOGBANK cases run at a scale you can actually attempt yourself, on something with no stakes attached. The report matters more than the outcome: a failed attempt that names its exact gap precisely is a better piece of work than a success that can’t explain why it worked.

The spec

The brief poses the problem and leaves room for a response. The spec is the fixed part: what a marker checks. Some lines can be checked mechanically; the rest call for judgement.

The chosen practice is small enough to attempt in the time available and involves no hazard, restricted material, or specialised equipment.
The attempt is made using only a written or recorded source, with no live help from someone who already knows the practice, until the attempt is complete.
The report names, specifically, what the record supplied and what it didn't — not just whether the attempt worked.
The report connects its gap, if there was one, to a specific case from weeks 1–10.

How it is marked

Judged on the honesty and specificity of the gap report, not on whether the reproduction succeeds. A clearly reported failure, with the exact missing piece named, outscores a vague success.