From 146c6f36c136517376645d4eaa94deaac8960efc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: type-two <jingkohn@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2026 01:32:36 +1000
Subject: [PATCH] THE CRITIC: every 10th day, the flaw is the headline
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Days 10, 20, 30... he seats himself. The ticket warns you in red, the
scorecard portrait drains to grayscale, and the scoring changes shape:
the worst row on the card counts DOUBLE. Perfection survives him
untouched (doubling the worst weight of a flawless run moves nothing) —
anything less gets leaned on, exactly where it hurts. His lines are his
own: an S gets 'I came to write a takedown. I cannot. This is the worse
outcome — for me.'; an A learns that 'competent' has never once appeared
in a good review; a failure gets mercy in print, which is worse.

The Daily is exempt (same deal for everyone means the same judge), and
demonstrations reset the flag — he doesn't review his own cooking.

Verified live on day 20: banner up, grayscale portrait, critic line on
the card, day 21 clean; flawless eggs still 10.0 by construction.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 src/game/game.ts    | 17 ++++++++++++++++-
 src/scenes/judge.ts |  3 +++
 src/style.css       |  9 +++++++++
 3 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/game/game.ts b/src/game/game.ts
index 01ce12b..f25beaf 100644
--- a/src/game/game.ts
+++ b/src/game/game.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import { TOOLS, type ToolId } from '../sim/cutlery';
 import { audio } from '../core/audio';
 import { coolStep } from '../sim/toasting';
 import { SPREADS } from '../sim/spreads';
-import { judge, type Grade } from './judging';
+import { judge, gradeOf, type Grade } from './judging';
 import { DAYS, proceduralOrder, nameBrowning, prepAsk, type Order, type PrepStep } from './orders';
 import { el, Panel } from '../ui/hud';
 import { Title } from '../ui/title';
@@ -989,9 +989,23 @@ export class Game {
     if (this.demoMode) {
       this.judgeView.extraLines = ['A demonstration. None of it counts. Now you.'];
       this.judgeView.shareText = '';
+      this.judgeView.critic = false; // he doesn't review his own cooking
       return;
     }
     const extras: string[] = [];
+    // THE CRITIC: every 10th day he seats himself. He finds the flaw and
+    // leans on it — the worst row counts DOUBLE, and he says so in print.
+    const criticDay = !this.dailyDate && this.order.day % 10 === 0;
+    this.judgeView.critic = criticDay;
+    if (criticDay) {
+      const ws = v.criteria.reduce((a, c) => a + c.weight, 0);
+      v.total = Math.round(((v.total / 10) * ws + v.worst.score * v.worst.weight) / (ws + v.worst.weight) * 100) / 10;
+      v.grade = gradeOf(v.total);
+      if (v.grade === 'S') extras.push('The Critic: I came to write a takedown. I cannot. This is the worse outcome — for me.');
+      else if (v.grade === 'A') extras.push('The Critic: competent. The word has never once appeared in a good review.');
+      else if (v.grade === 'F') extras.push('The Critic: I will be gentle in print. This kitchen has suffered enough today.');
+      else extras.push(`The Critic: the ${v.worst.label.toLowerCase()} betrayed you. It will be the headline.`);
+    }
     // The streak. He notices. He hates that he notices.
     const prev = this.save.streak ?? 0;
     if (v.grade === 'S') {
@@ -1033,6 +1047,7 @@ export class Game {
     this.ticketEl.innerHTML = '';
     el('div', 'ticket-day', this.ticketEl, `DAY ${o.day}`);
     el('div', 'ticket-who', this.ticketEl, o.who);
+    if (o.day % 10 === 0 && !this.dailyDate) el('div', 'ticket-critic', this.ticketEl, 'THE CRITIC is in today. The flaw will be the headline.');
     const demos = (window as unknown as { __t?: { demos?: Record<number, unknown> } }).__t?.demos;
     if (!this.demoMode && demos && demos[o.day]) {
       const watch = el('button', 'btn ghost watch-btn', this.ticketEl, '▶ watch him do it');
diff --git a/src/scenes/judge.ts b/src/scenes/judge.ts
index eee2903..0decc01 100644
--- a/src/scenes/judge.ts
+++ b/src/scenes/judge.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ export class JudgeView implements View {
   onNext: (() => void) | null = null;
   /** One-shot lines the game adds to this verdict (streaks, regulars' memory). */
   extraLines: string[] = [];
+  /** Every 10th day THE CRITIC seats himself — same face, drained of warmth. */
+  critic = false;
   /** The one-line result SHARE copies to the clipboard. */
   shareText = '';
   /** What the polaroid prints under the photo. */
@@ -264,6 +266,7 @@ export class JudgeView implements View {
     this.lastCaption = { day: order.day, grade: verdict.grade, total: verdict.total, line: lines[1] ?? lines[0] ?? '' };
 
     this.faceEl.src = assetUrl(`/assets/img/judge_${judgeFace(verdict.grade)}.png`);
+    this.faceEl.style.filter = this.critic ? 'grayscale(1) contrast(1.25)' : '';
     this.stampEl.textContent = verdict.grade;
     this.stampEl.className = `judge-stamp grade-${verdict.grade}`;
     // re-trigger the stamp animation
diff --git a/src/style.css b/src/style.css
index 1bb96ae..a2b6d57 100644
--- a/src/style.css
+++ b/src/style.css
@@ -732,3 +732,12 @@ body.shadow .load {
   border-color: #b98f4e;
   color: #e8c98a;
 }
+
+/* Every 10th day: THE CRITIC. */
+.ticket-critic {
+  color: #b23a2a;
+  font-weight: 700;
+  font-size: 11px;
+  letter-spacing: 0.06em;
+  margin: 2px 0 6px;
+}