Capstone · all ten techniques
The Field Exam
The lessons drill one technique at a time, which quietly tells you the answer before you start. Out in the wild, nothing is labeled. Below are ten fresh Crestfield specimens in no particular order, one per technique. Read each one cold and name the move. If you haven't been through the specimen drawer yet, start there.
Section 01 · The exam
Name that technique
No labels, no section headings giving it away. Every exhibit is fictional, and each of the ten techniques appears exactly once.
Exhibit A
A letter to the Gazette about the town budget:
“Everything wrong with Crestfield's finances traces back to the seasonal renters. Before they started showing up, this town never had money problems.”
Which technique is this?
Exhibit B
A flyer opposing the school athletics budget quotes the coach:
“Coach Alvarez admits it: 'Winning doesn't matter.' The full sentence in the meeting minutes: 'Winning doesn't matter more than getting every kid on the field.'”
Which technique is this?
Exhibit C
A speaker at the water-bond hearing:
“Every hour this council delays, your children are drinking the risk. There's no time to wait for more reports. Act now, before it's too late.”
Which technique is this?
Exhibit D
A council member on the bypass proposal:
“It comes down to this: either Crestfield builds the bypass this year, or Main Street becomes a ghost town. There is no middle ground.”
Which technique is this?
Exhibit E
A Gazette item during election season:
“Mayor Okafor took three taxpayer-funded trips to the state capital this year, costing $4,100. Her cousin works in the capital. (The trips were the budget hearings state law requires the mayor to attend; the visits and the cousin never overlapped.)”
Which technique is the first two sentences running?
Exhibit F
Asked at a hearing why the pool failed its safety check, the parks director replies:
“Interesting question. Nobody in this room asked a word about the school gym failing its check last year. Where was all this energy then?”
Which technique is this?
Exhibit G
A school board member on the proposed dress code:
“Every parent in this district wants this policy. Nobody serious disputes it. I see no reason to waste money running the survey.”
Which technique is this?
Exhibit H
Responding to a proposal to move the farmers market one block north:
“So the committee wants to kill the market and starve out our vendors. I will not stand by while they destroy what this town built.”
Which technique is this?
Exhibit I
A group's banner reads "TEAR DOWN THE PARKING GARAGE." At the hearing, challenged on it, their spokesperson says:
“All we're actually asking for tonight is a study of the repair costs. Surely nobody here opposes having accurate numbers.”
Which technique is this pair of positions running?
Exhibit J
A mailer about the parks department:
“Park attendance has collapsed 25 percent since June under this director. The numbers don't lie.”
June was the month of the county carnival, held in the park, which drew four times normal attendance. Which technique is this?
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