Greenberg's Handbook of Neurosurgery · 11th Edition
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The Greenberg Eleven Contest One

Win $1,111 and a personalized autographed copy of the 11th edition of Greenberg's Handbook of Neurosurgery!

Contest Overview & Tips

(see Official Contest Rules below for details*)

The cover of the 11th edition of Greenberg's Handbook of Neurosurgery contains a collage of the human brain constructed from a number of elements, many of which are medical imaging studies. However, there are 23 objects which are not medical imaging studies, each of which is somehow connected to the number 11 in honor of the 11th edition. The first person who correctly identifies all 23 of the non-medical imaging objects (or the person who has identified the most at the contest deadline) and correctly explains their link to the number 11 will win the grand prize of $1,111 and a personalized autographed copy of the 11th edition of Greenberg's Handbook of Neurosurgery.

To ensure accurate processing of your entry, please use the downloadable entry form (click here for a link to the form). Before beginning: Download the form to your computer and open it using Adobe Acrobat Reader. The free version of Acrobat Reader is all that is required; Acrobat Pro is not necessary. If you do not already have Acrobat Reader, you can download it free from Adobe. Do not print the form on paper and do not fill it out in your web browser.

Enter a description of each object you have found, one per line, in Acrobat Reader. The order of the objects is not important. In the column under "Object Description", briefly describe the object you are identifying as best as you can, in the the same row under the column labeled "Describe how the object is linked to the number 11" provide a brief explanation of the connection of that object to the number 11. For example, if we were asking for connections to the number 8, and you saw among the objects on the cover an image of a spider, and another object that depicted a musical staff containing the notes middle C and high C, you would write something like the following:

Number Object Description Describe how the object is linked to the number 8
1 Spider Spiders have 8 legs
2 Musical staff with 2 C notes There are 8 notes in an octave

The text fields are designed to accomodate ample amounts of text for this contest, the text will scroll within the text field. Optional: If you prefer to edit this text in another application, select all and copy the contents of this text box (Mac: ⌘A, ⌘C; Windows: Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C). Paste it into the text editor of your choice. When finished, copy the edited text, return here, select all the existing text in this box, and paste the edited version in its place (Mac: ⌘V; Windows: Ctrl+V).
Save your entry form and then attach it to an email addressed to editor@grgraphics.com with the subject line "Greenberg Eleven Contest One Entry". Retain the form for future use in case you discover more objects and figure out their links to 11 after you submit your entry, you can add the new items to your previous entry form and attach the whole new list (not just the new items you found) again (see details below).

Some clues are VERY challenging. Some clues are VERY camouflaged. Reminder: zooming in is the key to seeing important details. Good luck, and have fun!

Check the status page for current leader stats and tips

See current contest status →

* Official Contest Rules

Administration

  1. This contest is offered and administered personally by Dr. Mark Greenberg of Tampa, Florida, and is not connected to Thieme Medical Publishers in any way.
  2. The judge of the winner will be Dr. Mark Greenberg.
  3. The decision of the judge will be final, unless the winning entry is disqualified for any reason.
  4. This contest is governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles.
  5. Dr. Greenberg reserves the right to cancel, suspend, or modify this contest at any time if fraud, technical failure, or any other factor beyond his control impairs the integrity or proper administration of the contest, as determined in his sole discretion.

Eligibility

  1. No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win this contest.
  2. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law.
  3. You must be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission of your entry.
  4. The contest is open only to residents of the United States. "Resident" is not used here in the sense of medical residents, but is based on the IRS definition — a natural person who is a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder) or a citizen, legally residing within the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico (see irs.gov) at the time of entry.
  5. Employees of Thieme Medical Publishers, individuals involved in the production of Greenberg's Handbook of Neurosurgery, and members of the immediate families of any of these persons are not eligible to enter this contest. "Immediate family" means spouse, parent, child, or sibling, and any individual residing in the same household, whether related or not.
  6. You do not need to be a neurosurgeon, medical student, neurosurgery resident, or even work in the field of medicine to enter.
  7. This contest, and all associated communications, must be conducted in the English language.

How to Enter

  1. Entries must be submitted via email to editor@grgraphics.com with the subject line "Greenberg Eleven Contest One Entry".
  2. Your entry must be typed. No handwritten entries will be honored.
  3. Your entry must include a numbered list, with consecutive numbers (the order of the items does not matter), briefly describing each item you are linking to the number 11 and explaining the connection to the number 11. Use of the official PDF entry form (click here for the downloadable form) is recommended for ease of entry and to ensure accurate processing of your entry, but is not required.
  4. Do not send more than one copy of the same entry — it will not increase your chances of winning. However, if you find additional items after submitting your entry, you may send a follow-up email using the same email address and the same subject line, containing the numbered list of ALL of your answers, including any previously submitted (if you are using our standard form, just add your new findings to the same form and send it in again). We will endeavor to update your entry to the new one, but we cannot guarantee this. The time your most recent submission email is sent will be used as the official time of your entry.
  5. Only one entry per person is allowed. This does not prevent you from adding to your existing entry, as delineated above.

How the Contest Ends and Is Judged

  1. The prize will be awarded to the first entry (based on the time the email was sent) that correctly identifies all 23 non-medical imaging objects contained in the brain collage on the cover of the English print version of the 11th edition of Greenberg's Handbook of Neurosurgery, and correctly explains an acceptable connection to the number 11, in the judge's opinion.
  2. If no one correctly identifies all 23 items, the prize will instead be awarded to whoever has correctly identified the most objects (with their connection to the number 11) as of 11:00 AM Eastern time on February 11, 2027 (the "contest deadline"). In other words, you do not need to find all 23 items to win — only to have found more than anyone else by the deadline. Send in whatever you have when you think you've got enough! No entries will be accepted after 11:00 AM Eastern time February 11, 2027.
  3. If two or more entries are tied for the most correct answers, the entry with the earliest submission time will be considered the winner.
  4. Connections to the number 11 that differ from the official answer will be accepted if, solely in the judge's opinion, the connection is meritorious and is not obscure, weak, or dismissive of key elements of the clue image.
  5. In awarding the prize, the judge will consider both the number of items correctly identified and the clarity of the explanation of each item's connection to the number 11.
  6. If all 23 objects are correctly identified and described before the contest deadline, a winner will be declared, an announcement will be made on the status page and no further entries will be accepted.
  7. When the contest concludes, the official solution to all 23 objects will be published on the status page.

Prize and Taxes

  1. The following only applies to the winner of the contest. Under U.S. tax law, the winner is legally responsible for declaring the full value of the prize money plus the fair market retail value of the book prize when filing their personal income tax return (approximate total value $1,256 U.S.) and they are responsible for all local, county, state and federal taxes on the value of the prizes. Regardless, the prize will not be awarded until after January 1, 2027.

Winner Notification

  1. The winner will be contacted by email only, using the email address from which the winning entry was sent. If we do not receive an email response from the winner within 10 business days of when we send the notification email, the award will be forfeited and will be given to the next-best entrant.
  2. By entering the competition, you grant permission to publicly announce your name and city if you are the winner.
  3. The winner cannot assign or transfer the prize.

Limitation of Liability

  1. Participation in this contest is at the entrant's own risk. The contest administrator bears no responsibility for error, omission, interruption, delay in operations, theft or destruction or other unauthorized access or alterations or deletion of entries, late or misdirected entries, inability to award the prize, receive and/or read a submission, or contact a winner, and no responsibility for any difficulty enlarging the cover image for viewing, or for unintentional loss, displacement or omission of a submission — whether any of these issues are caused by electronic or computer malfunction, internet connection problems, incompatible software, failure to follow the directions for submitting the entry (as delineated above), human error or any other impediment. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the contest administrator is not liable for any loss, injury, or damage arising from participation in this contest or the receipt or use of any prize. The administrator makes no guarantees that you will receive email announcements or other communications.
  2. All entry materials may be maintained as part of the contest.

Email Address and Privacy

  1. To enter the contest, you must provide a valid email address. Your email address will be used to contact you if you are selected as a winner, and may also be used to send important announcements or updates relating to the contest. You may opt out of nonessential contest communications at any time.
  2. Your name and email address will not be sold or provided to third parties for marketing purposes. This information will be stored on a system protected by encryption and two-factor authentication, and reasonable measures will be taken to safeguard it. However, no method of electronic storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Despite these precautions, there remains a possibility that unauthorized persons could gain access to stored information through hacking, a security breach, or other circumstances beyond the sponsor's reasonable control. By entering the contest, you acknowledge and accept this risk and consent to your name and email address being collected, stored, and used as described above. If you are not comfortable with this level of risk, please do not enter the contest.
    If you would prefer not to provide an email address that you ordinarily use, you are welcome to enter using a separate or temporary email address, provided that you continue to have access to it for the duration of the contest so that you can be contacted if you win. Services such as Apple’s “Hide My Email,” or similar email-alias services, may provide an additional layer of privacy.

Communication

  1. If you have any concerns or comments about the book or the contest, please email us at editor@grgraphics.com. We regret that during the duration of the contest we will be unable to answer individual questions related to the contest.
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