A Stressful Game

The above poem is intended as a sort of puzzle, encoding a very particular game of Tic-Tac-Toe. From merely its text, one can derive the precise state of the board at the end of the game.

The key insight is that each of the lines is exactly six syllables. Thus, each of the three lines can be split into exactly three metrical feet, matching the three-by-three Tic-Tac-Toe board. Carefully reading the text will reveal moves made by X to correspond to iambs (a foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one), e.g. “An X”, and moves made by O to correspond to trochees (a foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one) e.g. “Vowel”. Thus, the final board state was:

X O X
O O X
O X X

From the final board state and the textual description of the course of the game, one can determine with some confidence how the game might have gone. X and O each started by playing in the top row. O then played the center, forcing X to block at the bottom, and then O played the center left, forcing X to block on the center right. The game was looking to end in a draw from this point, until O played in the bottom left corner, missing X’s win in the bottom right.