I stand by my earlier post, even though it was made tongue-in-cheek. It does take time to make elders. Apart from lucky events, there is no quick fix, though it helps a lot if a villager is a runner.

I don't worry too much about developing elders in the mid-to-late game, but concentrate on them once all the puzzles have been solved and my population has risen to the maximum, or close to it. After all, only one Elder and one totem is required to complete the puzzles.

Once the puzzles are out of the way I'll concentrate on getting Elders. My method could be construed as sexist, as I usually end up with a lot more female Elders than male. I'd mention that I normally wind down my involvement with that tribe from now on, only opening the game two or three times a day to guide the villagers into new skills. I'll probably start another game in another slot on which I concentrate most of my time.

When the kids turn 14 I'll put them on researching, although if they've been born with a little of different skill and have made a start for themselves already I'll let them continue. Once they've reached Master scientist (usually by their early 20s) I introduce the sexism. The females I'll set to parenting, the males mostly to farming. A couple of males I'll set to become doctors and I'll look out to see who is the "alpha male" - the one all the girls want to kiss. I'll set him to parenting so that he's not just a passive kissee but can do some kissing of his own. By this time the population should be at the maximum, so those females set to parenting will keep kissing away without much danger of falling pregnant unless an elderly villager has just died. Generally by their mid 30s the girls will have become Master parents. I'll then switch them to farming to complete the third part of their ascent to Elderhood (is that a word?).

Those who had originally inherited farming or building skills should by now have become Masters; I'll switch the girls to parenting and the boys to research. Once they become Masters I'll switch them to the third leg of their Tripos. Once a doctor becomes a Master I'll also switch him to farming until he's an Elder. At the same time I'll train up another doctor or so for safety.

At this stage I don't bother with training in building unless a villager has already got a head start as mentioned earlier. The lack of building projects means they've no real task and they spend their time enjoying the pond as often as they do fixing huts.

Using this method I have no trouble getting 50 Elders in my villages, but, be warned, it does take time!