kayahtik

Better than zero!!! 
MRR is giving me a hard time today. I can beat Abi's score, but not AAA. I keep getting stuck on level 7. I think I'm going to have to watch a video guide, because all the overlapping arrows on TDN's diagrams have me confused, and JN's written descriptions aren't any better. I may not get a gold check on this one. Hopefully I can beat AAA before the end of the event though. 

Yeah! You know what my brain did today? As well as refusing point blank to even try Moon Rock rampage? Can you guess? It made me try ZURROBALL!!! i scored 2

Do your chores first so that isn't on your mind anymore. Then follow the guide to get the score? If things are ruining your concentration, always get those things settled first, then the rest will go that much easier and faster. :)
For me it's the other way around, if I haven't gotten my score yet for DD it's on my mind the rest of the day, so I do that one first so I can relax. (what do you mean addicted? I'm NOT addicted to Neopets or games, really...  )

I also follow Garet. Here's my betting history, if it's useful to you: 
Bet History Bets Placed Bet Total Win Total Difference 3910 22898834 NP 46379030 NP 23480196 I would also recommend checking out /~Hostia for a list of all active bettors. Something that may affect your decision, aside from profitability, are the time of day when the person posts their bets. Also, a lot of bettors list their overall win statistics and explain their method/philosophy on their betting page, so you can read through some of them and find one that has the right mix of risky/conservative for you. 
(And I know that SOMEWHERE there's a page that compares the results of some of the most popular bettors, but I have to find it, if it's still active.)

Same! Thanks @kayahtik  Even had more points on Staff Tournament than the others!

Thanks for reminding me to check the Staff Tournament prize shop as well! I'd spent all my points in the regular prize shop, but none in the Staff Tournament one.

hi
!!!!!!!!!!
this happened today and i'm really excited about it! first time questing. very tough run, but i'm happy i was able to see it through.

This morning I thought today was going to be the end of DD for me. But I'm glad I persisted! I finally got a score of 102. I've been forgetting to update my counter, but now I'm up to 8 straight AAA challenges, all on day of release! 
My advice is to aim your cursor on the bottom edge of the round window, and just keep bopping your ball straight up over the line. It will probably start to go sideways at some point, and just SLOWLY move your mouse to follow it! Don't overcorrect! You'll make the ball start going crazy. Good luck everyone!
Oh, and if anyone as an extra Scarab Bookmark that they'd like to sell me, please let me know! I couldn't turn down the +2 defense boost, but I think the item is pretty cute too!

Water

Maybe you got mine? I've just visited again and still no crafting quest for me!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally, after spinning EVERY DAY for YEARS!!!!!! Ahhhhh, one more daily I can permanently remove from my list. 

*screaming*
Something Has Happened! You are now eligible to use 'Neopian Lottery' as an avatar on the NeoBoards!

Good luck everyone!
Wanted to enter this round as well but had no time unfortunately, time is my only problem. That's why my only entry at this contest was with my real pet.
I had an idea for this round but simply had no time  Wanted to do Storm from X-MEN. 
This was all I had, when I finish it (someday ) I'll post it on Backstage thread.
 

https://impress.openneo.net/outfits/1628203
 

I also had problems with my cursor misbehaving, it would suddenly jump to the side and back quickly when I wasn't even moving the mouse. I've no idea if that was the game or my mouse, but I have used it as an excuse to get another mouse.
Look who's going to be becoming my friend soon!

Just a reminder for those who already know, and a tip for those who don't, if you have the boon for the faerie quest refresh from the obelisk, and you don't want to complete a crafting faerie quest, refresh her quest and you will get a REGULAR faerie quest!  You heard correct.  You could receive anything from a Grey faerie, to a dark faerie, battle faerie, faerie queen, any of them!  Yep, even the fountain faerie!  So if you aren’t doing the crafting quests, don’t just abandon them.  REFRESH them AT ONCE!  LOL

This game has so many things that can drive you nuts it's crazy they put it in almost every single DD/GMC.
But here are any tips that -might- help you: play on REGULAR, try to get all the x2/x3/x5 balloons (Scan for them in the countdown if you can) then try and grab the doughnutfruits and as last go for the letters, with a whole lot of patience, not too many black balloons that mess things up and a leprechaun or two with a bucket of luck you'll get the scores!
I found that following the hassee that's in the air with my mouse helps, even when the safetynet is up. Don't stray with your mouse below the screen, that messes things up big time. Steering isn't really possible, but you can aim a little by having the hassee land on the edge of the seesaw or more to the middle. On the edge it seems you will catapult more in an angle and closer to the middle (but stay on the correct side!) it will go more straight up. Unless there are silly blocks in the way ofc).
In any case: Just keep trying! I know you can do it! If needed and you don't mind restarting over and over, try to get at -least- 50 points with all your lifes left after level 1. I prefer to have a score close to 100 or more though.

Got 630 on my first try, currently at 300 on my second
I guess what annoys me about this game is how luck-based it is (at least I certainly have no Hasee-aiming skills, lol). Also how much it trolls you with the stun balloons, the Hasees ALWAYS hit the doughnutfruit when they're stunned, I'm sure it's programmed like that intentionally.

JS - pushing the boundaries of possibilities every day!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally, after spinning EVERY DAY for YEARS!!!!!! Ahhhhh, one more daily I can permanently remove from my list. 

I'm a little disappointed with the prizes... I mean, the book is nice. But what in Neopia is THIS:

Ugh. This looks like some bootleg nonsense. And that's not all... The description says, "This is the Snowmunchers favourite drink. You know why." 

Excuse me, but who is "the Snowmuncher"? His name is Dieter 
The snowglobe looks alright, except... We already have an item named Snowmuncher Snowglobe 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally, after spinning EVERY DAY for YEARS!!!!!! Ahhhhh, one more daily I can permanently remove from my list. 

Well, if you've already bought NC items from the mall and used gift boxes to send them to friends, then you know the absolute basics. Still, here is TDN's very introductory guide to the NC world: http://thedailyneopets.com/customization-wearables/trading/. Particularly useful is the "commonly used trading lingo" section. 
For a guide more specifically about NC trading, check out this petpage: http://www.neopets.com/~luculla. That should tell you pretty much anything you need to know. Of course, you can only learn so much from reading. Once you've familiarized yourself with the general idea and most of the terms, then go ahead and try making a trade. It'll become clearer once you've actually done it. 
To answer your other specific questions...
Is it all just a long process of contacting people one by one to see what they want for each item or is there a site comparing asking prices?
Check out http://www.neopets.com/~rheet and http://www.neopets.com/~waka, which are both NC value guides. These pages give the value of all (or most) NC items in terms of GBCs. Most trades are for items worth roughly equal amounts of GBCs. Of course, the value can differ from person to person depending on if they are particularly attached to a certain item and reluctant to trade it, or really want an item you have and willing to offer higher than its actual value to get it. If you have a trade in mind, you can suggest it to the other person, and they'll either accept or decline. If you don't have a trade in mind, you can just say what you're looking for or what you're willing to offer, and have the other person tell you what they want to get or give in exchange. 
I'm also wondering if anyone has had good luck using NC to get an item they thought would be worth more later and then successfully trading for something of higher value than the NC they spent for the original item.
Personally I don't have experience with this, although obviously some items do end up being worth much more than the original NC they were purchased for. An example of this is Armin's Collectors Contacts, which seem to have become very popular immediately after they were released. However, my advice would be not to spend NC on anything unless you actually want it for yourself. Since you are spending real money, I wouldn't recommend trying to 'invest' in something that may or may not increase in value. 
Also, is it possible to use Neocash to get an NC item in a trade, such as offering 100 NC in a gift box? I'd like to get NC back for some items that I don't want, if possible.
Unfortunately, no. The closest thing to this is offering a 'custom' as part of a trade, which means that the person offering the custom will buy specific items currently available in the mall in exchange for an item that the other trader has. So you couldn't give someone an item in exchange for actual NC, but you could ask them to buy you something from the mall that you want, instead of asking for an item they already have. But be sure to only do this if they've already offered to do a custom trade. It would be pretty rude of you to ask them to spend real money if they didn't offer first. 
Like I said, the fastest way is to learn by doing. It can be nerve-racking, especially when you first dip your toe into those fast-moving NCC boards. But be brave, and you'll figure it out. Most traders are very nice. And I'm sure other TDNers will have more advice for you too! 

Nicely done, Kaya! 
This and Excitement still eluding me, happy for you if not also a teeny bit envious!
 
I'm at level 85, what level did you catch avatar at?  Congrats!
 
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Congrats Kaya!!!
It happened the same to me, as soon as I got that "nice" *cough cough* avatar, I never never NEVER used it again! 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally, after spinning EVERY DAY for YEARS!!!!!! Ahhhhh, one more daily I can permanently remove from my list.