A group chat of nine people has selected a restaurant, nine days after the reservation window for that restaurant closed.

The decision followed 412 messages, three polls, one poll about the polls, and a four-day silence that participants describe as “the hard part.”

“We were extremely close on day two,” said Nadia Ferris, who proposed the winning restaurant on day two. “Then someone sent a link.”

The link was to a different restaurant. It was never discussed. It remained in the chat for six days, accruing three thumbs-up reactions, which the group later agreed were not votes but acknowledgments.

The Institute for Deferred Consensus reports that chats above a certain size lose the ability to choose and retain only the ability to narrow.

“Seven is the limit,” said Dr. Ambrose Ndlovu. “At eight, a group can still agree that a decision must be made. At nine, it can only agree that someone should make it.”

One member suggested telephoning the restaurant directly. The suggestion was met with fourteen seconds of typing indicators and no message.

The group has now moved on to selecting a date. Early results are encouraging: everyone is free, on different days.