For a seemingly simple assignment of finding something to photograph with a subject starting or using the letters N,T, or X, the posted results seem off the mark in many cases. I don't mind so much, since I appreciate an interesting photo even if it doesn't say "mandate accomplished". Walter Bank's connection to NTX eludes me. I caught the Escher reference, but can't figure the connection Walter saw. Yeah, the birds are duplicated in reflection, and the snow and water can pass for sky and water, but the birds don't morph to fish. Oh, well, maybe someone will explain and I'll slap my forehead and say "Duh!". The Duck could have done better. He usually does. These two look like he grabbed them at the last minute. KPetre's heraldic saltire is OK for the mandate, but I would have liked to see something of central interest in the photo with the X's as a secondary inclusion. I don't see that the mandate shape has to be the primary point of interest. Clever inclusion of both N and T in Tete-a-Tete. The daffodils do remind one of Narcissus with his head bent down to admire his reflection in the water. Bowser's Duck Bridge is not a compelling photo, but it is interesting. I like Bowser's placement of his diagonals in his compositions. I'm not so fond of the cropping of the train. I don't like the cow-catcher bumping the edge like that. Tires...yawn. Bob Coe came up with a good X, but it would - in my opinion - work better in portrait with the entire left side omitted. The X is still there, and there's less clutter. Tree stumps? That's the T mandate link? Nia's a great shot of the girl, but that dress deserves a chair closer to the period. Or, just a straight wooden kitchen chair or stool. I take it Bob doesn't do much in the way of post. I would be itching to clone out that orange rope or whatever it is to the right and do some burning on the grass to the left. Still, Nia's expression is a good capture. I can see Bob and Martha arguing over who takes the slender bent trees and who takes the fallen logs. I have wonder at conditions that required an ISO of 400, 1/100th at f/4.5. Then, seemingly on the same day (4/20) she shoots trees at the same ISO of 400, but 1/500th at f/11. The next day she's still shooting at ISO 400 for a tree in full sun. You need that high an ISO in Mass? Back in Indiana, we used to dig up a root of a sassafras tree, slice it lengthwise, tie the slices in a bundle, and make sassafras tea. Now, I think they say that sassafras is a cause of cancer. It's a wonder I survived childhood. Now we get to FrankEss. I no longer expect Frank to conform to something as bothersome as a mandate, but I always look forward to Frank's submissions. He didn't disappoint. I can hear the wind whistle around the two youngsters. I can hear the laughter of those seeing those Mexican Hairless dogs. The NTX factor is shaky, at best, in PeterN's Terrace, but it's a great sky and the trees to the right work well. Another photo, though, that makes me itch to use the clone tool and take out those concrete blocks. "Todler" (sic) doesn't, as far as I can see, meet the mandate since the mandate is not the Greek gamma, but it's one that I don't care if meets the mandate or not. Good subject matter, good composition, and good conversion to b&w. This is one where that tight crop at the left and top is exactly the thing to do. Peter's "Tree Impression" is too far out there for me. I don't get it. Is that a truck, though, in the very lower left corner? If you didn't read the comment on my "OneX", it explains that this is a composite of two images: the full sign and the letter X in the sign. Without seeing what the full sign is like, it looked like I'd created that X. It's actually black plastic cut out and placed over a very shiny metal. The lower part I photographed a different day when I saw that I needed the explanation. You can see me in that X. The bar that I shot the TwoXs in doesn't serve Dos Equis beer. I bought a six-pack at a liquor store and brought it in, shot the picture, and gave the beer to a guy at the bar. He said I didn't have to, but I bought a bottle of Budweiser beer just give the bar some business. I gave that to another guy at the bar. I was popular. They ought to close that bookstore as an offense against the eye with those colors.