HALVES: You Cut I Choose

You cut. The raccoon chooses. An object sits on a board: an orange, a steak, a geode, a rubber duck. Draw one straight line across it. Both pieces drop onto twin scales, and then the twist: a greedy little raccoon takes the heavier piece, and you keep the lighter one. Every bit you are off, he keeps. HALVES is a precision game about fairness. It judges by weight, not by looks, and that is where it gets interesting. SHAPE. Round things are easy. A ginger root, a banana or a rubber duck will lie to your eye. DENSITY. A watermelon's rind is light. A steak's bone is heavy. A burger's patty has slid off centre. The raccoon judges by eye; the scales never lie. HIDDEN INTERIORS. An avocado pit, a yolk, a hollow pepper, a pile of coins in a piggy bank. The rules never change, but every object is rolled fresh, so you read it instead of remembering it. Knock before you cut: the deeper the thud,…