Michigan Memorandum 2002
I. CARDINAL RULES
These four cardinal principles underlie this Memorandum. Should question writers follow them, as well as the spirit of fairness they embody, no further instructions would be necessary.
1. All questions must contain many pieces (ideally 4+) of substantial information, with clues ordered from most obscure to least obscure. The challenge is to compact as much information as possible into 3 or fewer sentences. A well-written question will often contain 3-4 pieces of information per sentence.
2. All questions must clearly and succinctly move unidirectionally toward one unambiguous answer from the first word to the last. What that means is this: writers should read questions one word at a time, thinking of all possible answers at every point in the question. If the question at any point is narrow enough to draw a reasonable answer that is wrong, the question must be rewritten. Questions can be a little bit sneaky in terms of where they're going, so long as they don't invite someone to leap to a wrong answer.
3. Someone with perfect knowledge of the subject should usually know the correct answer first. Of course, that player may not always buzz-in first but questions should create conditions in which the most knowledgeable player is the one likely to answer the question first. In no event should knowledge be punished, though many of the best questions are puzzles that reward more than just "pure" knowledge.
4. When the above three rules are not violated, questions should also entertain as well as educate, as boring questions destroy the joy of the game.
An important, but unnumbered, rule is that the above rules can be violated. There are always some cases in which exceptions are perfectly OK. As you gain more expertise. you will learn these exceptions. However, know what you are doing first, as even experienced question writers should approach exceptions with caution.
This is a wickedly fast game played by many truly gifted players. Should one of your questions violate one of these rules and draw an unjust penalty from a good player, you justifiably deserve their wrath.
Anatomy of a Good Tossup
Consider these examples:
Example 1:
He is beaten by Maurice after he refuses to pay an extra five dollars for the prostitute he hired, but didn’t sleep with, at the Edmont Hotel. He then makes a date with Sally Hayes, which falls apart after he asks her to run away to Vermont with him. He then tries to buzz Jane Gallagher, who he hasn’t heard about since he left Pencey Prep. For 10 points – identify this sixteen year-old who spends three days in New York in The Catcher in the Rye.
Answer: Holden Caulfield
This question is a straight-forward factually-dense question. It has many substantial clues: (1) the story about the prostitute, (2) the name of the hotel, (3) the name of the girl he tries to run away with, (4) the name of another girl, (5) the school he attended, (6) his age, (7) the city the novel is set in, and (8) the name of the novel.
Example 2:
This band was named partly in parody and partly in tribute of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Their first "full length" album, Take a Look Inside, has 14 songs but clocks in at less than 22 minutes. Their other full releases, Dare to Be Surprised and One Part Lullaby, have not matched the popularity of their soundtrack work. For 10 points – identify this band best known for its work on the 1994 soundtrack to Kids and the single Natural One.
Answer: The Folk Implosion
This question's lead-in has a twist, where the correct answer can be deduced from an obscure fact. It still has many substantional clues: (1) the origin of the band's name, (2) the names of three albums, (3) the length of the first album, (4) the band's involvement with the Kids soundtrack, (5) the time setting of the soundtrack, and (6) the band's best known single.
Someone who knows a lot about the band may be beaten on this question by someone who is able to figure out the answer based on the parody of "Blues Explosion." In the beginning, this question is more like a puzzle, rewarding deduction more than "pure" factual recall (but not punishing it). Many very good questions have this quality.
II. ANSWERS
The fundamental precept regarding whether or not an answer should be acceptable is simple: if a player buzzes in and gives an answer that shows precise, accurate knowledge based on the information provided by that point in the question, that answer is correct.
Players should not be penalized for failing to clairvoyantly predict the twists of a question or for not providing the exact answer listed on the packet. Therefore it is the question writer's responsibility to ensure that questions refer to one specific answer from the beginning of the question, and to ensure that all reasonable correct answers at all points in the question are listed on the packet.
1. When more than one answer is required for a tossup, that must be stated at the outset in some form. "These two U.S. presidents..." or "Two answers required."
2. When a lead-in could lead to multiple possible answers - and this cannot be corrected by rewriting the question - a prompt must be placed to either accept the other answer(s) as correct or to prompt for the listed answer. In a creator-creation situation, this caveat need not apply, as players may already give both pieces of information, but it is recommended.
Consider the question which begins: "F. Sherwood Rowland of the University of California-Irvine..." At this point there are at least two reasonable answers: “1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry” or “ozone layer,” the subject of his research. A better lead-in is “It was the subject of research by F. Sherwood Rowland…” In no event is the original lead-in acceptable unless there is a note to accept both answers or to prompt on one of them.
In general, host notes are suboptimal solutions since moderators can easily miss them during a match. They also allow a question writer to write weaker questions; it is always better to have a question that leads unambiguously to one answer from the beginning.
3. All potential acceptable alternative answers should be listed. When these are insufficient to receive credit, a prompt must be included.
Whenever the answer given is substantially equivalent to the listed answer, but the given answer is later used as a clue in the question, the given answer must be accepted or a prompt must be given. For example, if an abbreviation for a group is given as a giveaway clue, but the player buzzes in early and gives the abbreviation, that should be taken as correct, or the player should be prompted for the group's full name.
a. Married and unmarried names for persons, especially women, must be supplied whenever appropriate. Birth names, as well as professional names and pen names must always be listed, along with common nicknames.
b. Royal titles must be listed whenever appropriate.
c. Scientific names must be listed as alternate answers whenever appropriate, especially for animals and plants.
d. Answers must also list commonly used symbols and letters that represent the same answer, such as the letter "c" for the speed of light. However, questions that ask what certain letters stand for in science are almost always awful, as the hundreds of major scientific fields all have their own abbreviations and symbols.
e. Official postal abbreviations should be accepted for states, or should be listed as answers that require prompts for more information.
f. Chemical symbols as well as element numbers should be accepted, or should be listed as answers that require prompts for more information. Also, many chemicals have several names and all names must be listed. (e.g. muratic acid = hydrochloric acid = HCl)
If the question is going to be reasonably gettable by most players who have been through introductory chemistry, the formula should not be too hard in the first place.
However, a possible problem with formulae arises when the same empirical formula applies to different chemicals. For example, a question leading the answer "fructose" should prompt on C6H12O6, but not accept it as the correct response since that formula also applies to a host of 6-carbon sugars, such as glucose.
If there is a question about whether a moderator can interpret the formula, spell it out (e.g., C-6-H-12-O-6 or equivalent rearrangements, although for this example, a chemist who states it as "O-6-C-6-H-12" is a sick puppy).
4. Only the minimum information necessary to distinguish should be underlined. "Eleanor Roosevelt" or "Food and Drug Administation" is sufficient.
a. The family name must be the one underlined; for languages other than English, this is not necessarily the last name listed. When in doubt, check a biographical dictionary. (Teams should always fact check all names of persons in a biographical dictionary before submitting a packet.)
b. Court case names usually require only the first party listed, though sometimes the second party alone is sufficient, especially if the first party listed is common. (e.g., Marbury v. Madison, Gitlow v. New York, United States v. Nixon.)
Sometimes, legal scholars choose to refer to cases based on the latter party's name for other reasons (such as the first party having a long name or being a scumbag, e.g., Bowers v. Hardwick or Bowers), in which case either party's name should be acceptable, or may shorten the party's name. (Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson or Vinson) Sometimes, especially with older cases, the parties may have a different order at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels. Players should be prompted for a full case name only if the answer is ambiguous.
5. Answers must be listed in both English and the original language of the answer.
Ethnocentric English-only rules are never acceptable. The world is a diverse place, and this game is played by persons from all different parts of the world, as well as by persons from English-speaking nations who have an expert knowledge of other cultures. Someone with a native or expert knowledge of a foreign language and culture should be rewarded for this knowledge, not actively punished. More importantly, the question is about something that was originally written in another language. Indeed, if only one answer must be preferred, the foreign language title is the only correct answer. The English translation of that work is only a derivative of the work, but one that we choose to accept for ease of administering the game.
a. Country names must also be listed in the country's own language. "Kingdom of Bhutan or Druk Yul". The names of countries in their own languages are listed in almost all almanacs and geographical dictionaries.
b. Works written in a language other than English must have all original language titles listed, as well as all English translations, e.g. L'Etranger or The Outsider or The Stranger. Original titles are always listed in the various Benét's Reader's Encyclopedias, and most other reputable reference source.
c. Transliterated answers must be treated carefully, as they often generate a number of correct possible English translations. This is especially true of titles, such as "Night on the Bare Mountain," "Night on Bare Mountain," "Night on the Bald Mountain," and "Night on Bald Mountain," all of which are common English translations for the same Mussorgsky work.
6. When an exact answer is given that identifies the information in the question, that answer must be accepted, even if the listed answer is only an approximation of the given answer. Never should an exact answer to a question be counted as incorrect.
For example, if a question begins, "You want to find the area of a regular hexagon with sides 6..." and a player answers "24 radical 3," that answer should be taken as correct, even if the question finishes with "is the area closest to 31.4, 41.4, or 51.4?" (although this a terrible question…see the section on multiple choice answers below)
a. In a calculation question, the units of the final answer should be specified in the beginning, or equivalent answers must be listed to handle otherwise correct, but early answers.
7. When the information in the question is actually performed by a closely related group, or a sub-group of the listed answer, that other answer must also be listed, or ruled out.
For example, it is easy to confuse the precise roles or relationships between of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee or the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
8. Words with the same root that show knowledge of the correct answer should usually be listed also. For example, a question that begins "this word is derived from..." which asks for something like "jingoism" should also accept "jingoistic." This would normally be an example of exact and unambiguous knowledge, except that many writers at the end of the question include something like "...name this 8-letter word."
9. Questions that do not indicate a level of geographic specificity early must accept other answers that show exact and unambiguous knowledge, or must prompt for more information. For example, "The Headquarters of the International Labor Organization, GATT, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, WHO,..." should ideally be answered "Geneva." However, if the question finishes "...are all located in what country," then the question is misleading.
10. Rules that allow blitzing (giving many correct facts hoping that one is the correct answer) are only necessary if questions are not written correctly, as correctly written questions lead to one unambiguous answer. Regardless of whether or not a specific tournament allows blitzing, it should be discouraged by question writers producing tightly worded questions that lead to only one answer from the first word to the last.
III. LEAD-INS
The purpose of a lead-in is to reduce the number of possible answers from the billions possible before the first word is spoken down to one specific, unambiguous answer. If at any point, the question is narrow enough to draw a reasonable answer that is wrong, the question must be rewritten.
1. Non-unique lead-ins that narrow the field of possible answers to just a few are not acceptable. Lead-ins must uniquely pinpoint one possible answer as soon as possible, or must be general enough not to draw an incorrect early answer.
"Maya Angelou wrote a poem for this event..." is not acceptable, as she wrote poems for (among other events) both Clinton's inauguration and the Million Man March. Instead, the question lead-in must limit the range of answers to one (e.g., "In October 1995, Maya Angelou...)
However, lead-ins may take a few words to eliminate all answers but one; a player cannot buzz in after “This woman…,” say “Susan B. Anthony” and argue that he or she is correct on the grounds that Susan B. Anthony, being a woman, satisfies all the information given up to that point in the question. It is obvious to everyone that there are billions of possible answers after those two words.
A good rule of thumb is that if there are less than ten possible correct answers at any point in your lead-in (and more than one) the question must be rewritten.
2. Question writers often use pronouns poorly. "It was inspired by Sauk Center, Minnesota..." is not acceptable, as it could draw an answer of both "Main Street" as well as "Gopher Prairie." A better lead-in is "This city was inspired by Sauk Center..." Another example is "President McKinley was assassinated here...," to which the answer could be "Buffalo" or "Pan American Exposition."
a. Improper use of the passive voice may lead to multiple correct possibilities. "A new color was added in 1995..." could lead to either "blue," "M&Ms," et cetera.
b. Too often, pronouns are used correctly, but do not distinguish between characters and actors. For example, "He uttered the famous line, 'Frankly my dear...'" does not distinguish between Clark Gable or Rhett Butler.
c. A related problem is recitation of quotations without specifying whether the speaker of the quote or the subject of the quote is wanted. For example, "Tell me what brand of whiskey he drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals" could lead to either Grant or Lincoln.
3. Introductory phrases that modify a noun are not acceptable. For example, consider the lead-in "The author of the 1914 collection of short stories Dubliners, James Joyce was also famous for..." When someone hears "The author of the 1914 collection of short stories Dubliners," they will justifiably buzz in with "Joyce" and draw a penalty.
4. Introductions that do not have anything to do with the final answer are never acceptable.
a. Anything in the form "X is Y, but for 10 points, what it Z" must be rewritten (e.g., "A Tale of Two Cities was written by Charles Dickens, but who wrote 'Moby Dick.'")
Similarly, the question "Adelbert Ames served as governor of Mississippi from 1874....For 10 points - name the current governor" is unacceptable. Someone hearing "Adelbert Ames served as governor..." will justifiably buzz in with Mississippi.
b. Many lead-ins are good, but do not lead to the desired answer. If a question begins, "Manzanar in Lone Pine, California..." and a player answers "Japanese Internment Camps," that answer should be accepted as it exactly identifies what was asked, even if the question (stupidly) goes on to ask "what group of Americans were interned there during WWII," and the listed answer is "Japanese Americans." This is a case in which the question is acceptable, but the answer listed is the wrong one.
5. Lead-ins should contain facts that are substantially related to the correct answer.
a. Lead-ins should remain in the same general category as the desired answer. A question on an academic subject should not begin with a pop culture lead-in, nor should a science question describe a scientist's appearance in a work of fiction. Interdisciplinary questions are always encouraged, but should not be written as to unfairly penalize specialists in specific subject areas.
b. “Son-of-a-blank” lead-ins should only be used when there is a useful reason to know the profession of a person's parents. For example, “Daughter of an entomologist…” is an acceptable lead-in for Margaret Atwood, as her relationship with her father is an important element of some of her works (e.g. Cat's Eye) However, “Son of a tallow chandler…” as a lead-in for Daniel Defoe is inane.
c. Madlib lead-ins (Born in {YEAR}, he went to school at {SCHOOL} and studied under {PERSON}) should be used sparingly. A lead-in mentioning the year of birth should only be used when it is important to specify the proper time period early in the question.
6. Questions should be written in parallel structure when possible.
For example, a question that begins, "Until 1997, the tallest building in the world was located in Chicago..." could draw an answer of "Kuala Lumpur", the city in which the Petronas Towers were built. It is just misleading if the question goes on to ask "... in what country...," wanting Malaysia. If the question wanted the country, it should not have dangled Chicago in the lead-in.
The lead-in above, while it illustrates this point, is misleading for other reasons, as players could buzz in after "Until 1997, the tallest building in the world..." with either "Sears Tower" or "Petronas Towers," depending on where they think the question is going - the player should never be required to guess in this fashion.
a. Giving one half of a well-known pair in a lead-in, when not asking for the other half as the answer, is often misleading. For example, "One type of cholesterol is LDL..." would lead to an answer of "HDL." If the question goes on to ask "what does LDL stand for" or any other information, it is misleading. Similarly, if the question begins "Leander swam the Hellespont nightly to be with his love...," a player would buzz in with "Hero." If the question then goes on, however, to ask about Lord Byron swimming the Hellespont to re-enact this scene, the lead-in is misleading and must be rewritten.
7. The lead-in "for a quick 10 points" is not acceptable, nor are the questions that usually follow it. Questions that are only valuable to differentiate the split-second reactions of 8 simultaneous buzzes have no place in competition. Questions can be of varying length, but the absolute minimum question length should be two sentences.
8. Describing a work or a scene from a work when not asking for the title or author is misleading. A question beginning "A rat is killed with a frying pan is thrown across the room in a small Chicago apartment..." is acceptable if the answer is "Native Son," but not if the answer is "Bigger Thomas."
9. Calculation tossups are acceptable if used very sparingly, but they must be carefully written not to mislead players into buzzing before they have all the operations they must perform. In addition, they should never be exercises in brute, mechanical calculation speed.
10. A stylized type of question is a list tossup, where a large number of people or events sharing one common denominator are listed, followed by a giveaway. This type of question should be used sparingly (no more than once a packet) Ideally, the first two items in the list should be sufficient to uniquely identify the answer; if the answer cannot be uniquely identified after four items, the question must be rewritten.
a. Questions which list events and ask for which came first (or last) are unacceptable, as they devolve into buzzer races when the nature of the question is revealed.
b. A question of the form "which does not belong" is always unacceptable. For example, "Innocents Abroad, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and The Origin of Species - which one was not written by Mark Twain" is simply unconscionable.
IV. GIVEAWAYS
The purpose of a giveaway is, obviously, to give the answer away. It should not always contain one of the easiest possible clues about the desired answer (without being insultingly easy) and should never contain a swerve or twist that leads to an answer that's different from the one that the lead-in has directed the player towards.
The giveaway is usually the part of a tossup that gauges to a tossup to a certain difficulty. Please see the note on the distribution of difficulty attached as the appendix.
1. Giveaways should always contain the phrase “For 10 points.” This can appear at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence, and it indicates that the reader is in the final sentence of the tossup. There should be no lengthy pauses after the FTP clue, although the sentence that follows FTP can sometimes be rather long.
2. The giveaway should not eliminate any possible answers. If there are still possible answers that need to be eliminated by the giveaway, the rest of the question needs to be rewritten.
a. Spelling tossups are inappropriate for competition except in extremely rare circumstances in which it is clear to everyone from the beginning of the question that the tossup in a spelling question. Giveaways along the lines of “For 10 points - spell this word.” are simply evil if there has been no previous hint that the tossup is a spelling question.
b. Too often, question writers end questions with "name this 11-letter word," which punishes someone who gives an adjective form instead of a noun form.
3. Bait and switch giveaways should be used sparingly. These occur when giveaways provide information about a more well-known person or event with the same name that is only tenuously related to the subject of the question. (e.g. “For 10 points - identify this German after whom the capital of North Dakota is named.")
a. Giveaways that ask for something of the same name that has absolutely no relation to the subject asked about before the giveaway are unacceptable. (e.g. “For 10 points - identify this saint who shares his name with a 10-year-old on The Simpsons.)
V. STYLE
Questions should be written to maintain the focus on factual information, not on the writer's personal preferences or beliefs.
1. Discriminatory language is unacceptable.
a. Sexist language as well as questions that assume certain social roles for women are unacceptable. Women should be identified primarily by their accomplishments, not their relationships to men. Inappropriate comments and questions about women's weight, bodies, sexual roles, etc. must be removed from the game.
b. Racist language or racially insensitive questions must similarly be avoided.
c. Inside jokes are almost always inappropriate, as are negative comments about other schools.
d. Use of the phrase "politically incorrect" and other meaningless stock-phrases should not be used, especially if they are used derogatorily toward underrepresented players in the activity.
e. Editorial slants in the questions are unacceptable; the object of the game is to reward knowledge of facts, not the question writer's opinions.
2. Questions must be easy to read aloud. We recommend that writers read the entire packet aloud as a final edit.
a. The use of the word "[blank]" in questions is often hokey and confusing, especially in tossups.
b. Writers must use correct grammar. Though many strict grammatical rules interfere with the flow of questions meant to be read aloud, basic grammar rules must be followed whenever possible.
c. Simple past tense should be used when appropriate. Past perfect should be used only to refer to events completed at or before a past time spoken of. Simple past also removes the extra word "had."
3. Questions must be tightly edited to remove all extraneous words and syllables; Correct editing can significantly reduce the length of questions. In a timed game, this means more questions may be asked. In an untimed game, tight editing prevents the game from deteriorating into drudgery and boredom.
4. Information that is time dependent or may become out of date must be date-stamped. Usually, a month and year is sufficient.
VI. SUBSTANTIAL INFORMATION
All information in a question should help players determine the correct answer. Too many questions contain vague, weak, fluffy, or insubstantial information, or meander for 2-3 lines before the meat of the question begins. Just ask the question.
1. Clues must be ordered from most to least obscure. Writers still do not apply this basic rule, perhaps because many lack the experience and knowledge to anticipate what other players will and will not know.
a. Too many questions have very difficult clues followed by very easy clues, with no intermediate levels of information. If a question topic lacks intermediate information, the subject may be inappropriate for a tossup. When a potential 80+ point swing hinges on every question, every professional attempt must be made to make the tossups multi-leveled and favorable toward players with more knowledge.
b. Stock clues should usually be avoided, and should never be used as lead-ins.
Question writers should strive to uncover new and interesting information about familiar subjects. Using tired, often-repeated information as clues makes for boring games and provides an unnecessary advantage for warhorse players over novices.
c. Non-clues are a waste of space.
Question writers should avoid using clues like “131 rivers flow into this lake, but only one flows out of it.” No one is going to know which lake has 131 rivers flowing into it, and only one river flows out of all sorts of lakes. All information in a question should help someone answer the question. If it doesn't, don't put it in.
2. Inexplicit Criteria must be avoided.
Qualifiers like the costliest, the most expensive, etc. invariably lead to protests. The criteria need to be explicitly stated.
What is meant by the "largest insurers"? The insurance companies with the most employees, the most office space, the greatest net profits, most insured, greatest gross revenues? What is meant by "the most expensive film ever made"? Adjusted for inflation by the CPI? In unadjusted dollars? Does it include advertising? Depending upon the qualification, this could lead to different answers and could change with time.
a. When questions refer to events that occurred in geographical entities that no longer exist, the question must carefully pinpoint which answer is desired. A question referring to a 1970 natural disaster in what is now Bangladesh would likely cause a protest if East Pakistan is not an acceptable answer, since that was the entity's name in 1970. The same goes for the USSR, Yugoslavia, etc. If the desired information is not pinpointed very early in the question, a prompt must be placed in the answer should a player give the older (or, as appropriate, newer) name for an entity.
b. Some information differs because the sources differ. When a conflict among reputable sources differs, the information must be omitted, or the conflict of the sources must be noted.
c. Word and phrase origins cause persistent protests. Take the example of the notoriously unreliable history of "OK." One reference source lists over a dozen possible derivations. Unless this conflict is the meat of the question, it is inappropriate to write a question about the derivation of "OK" as it will just lead to protests.
d. Dubious honorifics must be avoided. A question that begins with "He has long been considered the supreme lawgiver of the English language..." is not acceptable (Answer: Samuel Johnson). Who has "long considered" him "the supreme lawgiver of the English language"? Though it makes questions slightly longer, if writers want to include such dubious honorifics, they must include who bestowed them for a semblance of credibility.
e. Subjective judgments asserted as fact must be avoided. Lead-ins like "the most important book of the 19th century..." lead to debates about The Origin of Species, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Communist Manifesto, and many other works.
f. Whenever debatable judgments are made, the criteria must be specified. For example, what is meant by "the major persecuted ethnic minority" of a country - the most oppressed? Oppressed by the most people? The biggest group of people who are oppressed? The most noticeably oppressed? The group most in a position to bring its oppression to public debate? This is not the time to generate political, theological, or other endless debates. Use specific, verifiable facts in your questions.
g. Questions with weak premises should be avoided. A common such premise is "he is the last entry in the biographical dictionary." Depending upon the dictionary, this could be Zwingli, Zworykin, or perhaps others. This is not a constant fact, and the ordering of someone's name in a dictionary is just stupid information compared to their accomplishments.
h. Questions should not assume that the United States or Europe is the world. Information like "the most influential musician of the 1800s..." begs the question "influential to whom"? It is also important to specify humans when appropriate (e.g., "I will give you the name of an organ, you tell me..."), as many biologists play this game who know information about quite a number of species.
4. Factual errors occur with far too much frequency. Some occur because writers do not consult reference sources carefully when writing their questions; it is always inappropriate to write questions from memory. Others occur because some reference sources are not reliable.
a. More errors occur because misinformation permeates the information/reference source industry, as writers and publishers attempt to come up with the most outrageous, scintillating "facts" to sell their books. If something seems suspicious, check it with a reliable source. If it cannot be verified, strike the fact from the question. Overly dramatic questions with unverifiable assertions about history must be avoided.
b. In an effort to make questions creative and colorful, writers often speculate about motives, ideas, and thoughts of the question subject, or offer interesting interpretations of limited factual data. Such coloration, however, often makes questions factually inaccurate. Any "creativity" which butchers factual accuracy for cleverness isn't worthy of the label. A creative question will express information in a different, surprising, or thoughtful way, but not in a way that renders the information absurd or wrong. If speculation will make a question more interesting, it must be noted as speculation with qualifiers like "perhaps."
c. Works performed by teams should not be attributed solely to the group's leader, as it is factually inaccurate.
5. Questions with answers that are academic disciplines or broad fields of thought should be avoided. Such questions with answers as existentialism, anthropology, sociology, etc. are invariably inane, limited, and wrong. Modern academic disciplines, with dozens of subfields, do not allow for such questions. Ask something about the content of the field instead.
6. Calculation of the number of years that elapse between dates should usually be avoided, especially if rounding could yield conflicting answers (e.g., "If the next landing of humans on the moon occurs in the year 2025, how many years will have elapsed since the first?" as it depends on whether the landing takes place after July 20, 2025.) Asking for the current year in other calendar systems has the same problem. The exact reference points must be specified.
7. Make sure not to confuse similar terms in your questions.
a. Largest does not mean most populous. The largest city in the United States is not New York City, but Anchorage. Questions that ask for population figures must specify the measured entities (cities, SMSAs, etc.) as well as what measurement is being used (e.g., the 1990 Census).
b. Writers must correctly distinguish between percent and percentage. "Percentage" is a mass unit number which carries the unit of the original, while "percent" is a fraction of 100. If 18 of 24 tossups are answered correctly, the "percentage" answered correctly is 18 tossups, or 75 percent.
VII. BONUSES
Unlike tossups, a team receiving a bonus question has the opportunity to hear the entire question before answering; however, many of the same principles still apply. Bonuses should of course contain correct factual information, but they should also be succinct, easy to read, and interesting.
1. All bonuses are worth 30 points, and all possible point values are multiples of five. Bonuses should distinguish between teams with little knowledge of the subject of hand, those with some knowledge, and those with deep knowledge.
a. Commonly used bonus formats includes three questions of 10 points each; three questions, one worth 5 points, one worth 10, and one worth 15; four questions, two worth 5 points and two worth 10; the 30-20-10 progressive bonus; two 15-10 or 15-5 progressive questions; five 5 point question with a bonus five points for answering all correctly; or a one-part question asking a team to identify five or six related items.
b. Questions that stop when the players miss an answer are unacceptable. Players should not be penalized based on an arbitrary ordering of questions.
c. All or nothing single-answer bonuses cannot be used. These bonuses penalize a team with slightly less than perfect knowledge just as much as a team with no knowledge, and are therefore inappropriate.
d. 40-point clues and 1-point clues used in trash competitions are unacceptable for academic events.
2. Bonuses with a single answer per part should have no fewer than 3 parts, and no more then 5. The more bonus parts that are used, the shorter the text of the question has to be; bonuses should take no more than 40 seconds to complete in timed events, and only slightly longer to complete in untimed events.
a. Questions should not repeat the point value in each sub- part when it is the same. Just say "for 10 points each" at the beginning and ask the questions. Repeating the point value wastes time.
b. Questions with less than 3 answers should use progressive clues to have at least three prompts. The 30-20-10 bonus, as well as two 15-5 or 15-10 progressions are accepted formats.
3. Questions that require ordering of a list, with points awarded for placing each item in the proper place, are unacceptable, because they reward luck and guessing and can frequently punish knowledge. A team that places only one item out of order may receive no points. They also permit a team with no knowledge of the subject whatsoever to win a tied match by guessing the same answer for each slot. Write instead about something substantial about the subject. Content-based questions requiring exact factual recall are always better.
a. Ordering a short (3-item) list on an all-or-nothing basis is acceptable for a bonus part. (e.g. For 10 points - put the following events in order: Balboa discovers the Pacific, Cortez conquers the Aztecs, De Soto discovers the Mississippi.)
b. In a list like the one above, players should only need to give short bits of information that uniquely identify the items to get points--such as "Balboa," "Mississippi" - although "the first one" and the like are not acceptable.
c. Ordering items correctly can be used as a bonus in a question that asks for them to be named. (e.g. “Identify the five most populous countries in Africa, with a bonus five points for putting them in order from most to least populous.”) However, questions that require both the derivation and the correct ordering of a list are punitively difficult and thus unacceptable.
4. Multiple choice questions are never acceptable. If you expect teams to know nothing about the question - so much so that you must give choices - then the question is inappropriate; write a different question. Again, it is never acceptable for teams to get points by guessing when the team has no knowledge of the subject whatsoever. The same applies to true/false and other limited choice questions (even with 4+ choices). A question that does not lend itself to a unique, verifiable answer is inappropriate.
5. Progressive, or 30-20-10 questions are often written poorly.
a. The first clue must always pinpoint one unique gettable answer. For example, "This writer was born in 1907 in New York City" is unacceptable as it could apply to at least dozens of people.
b.The 30-point clue should neither be impossibly difficult or inanely easy; approximately 10-20% of teams should answer the 30-point clue correctly.
c. The 10 point clue is often far too easy. Teams are not entitled to 10 points automatically. Teams should be able to get the question at some point 80-90% of the time, though.
6. Bonus parts with more than one clue should follow a less strict pyramidal style, not to reward the team with more knowledge (as with tossups) but to make the question more interesting.
If a bonus part reads “The capital of Denmark, this city is home to the Little Mermaid statue and Tivoli Gardens,” a team will want to answer after “Denmark,” and the rest of the question will be ignored. Rephrasing the question as “Home to the Little Mermaid statue and Tivoli Gardens, this city is the capital of Denmark” is better, as teams will be more likely to need to hear the whole question before answering.
Phrasing bonus parts in this modified pyramidal style also makes it more difficult for teams trailing in timed matches to use the “hurry-up offense.” In order to both save time and earn points, they will have to have deeper knowledge of the subject.
7. Trite, insipid lead-ins to bonuses should not be used. Anything resembling the following is off limits:
"My roommate Al has a complete Beatles collection..."
"Everyone has heard of..."
"We all know that..."
"Let's play that game: match the artist..."
"It's time again for everyone's favorite African capitals quiz..."
"You might know (or not know) about X, but this question is about Y..."
"For example, if I said X, you'd say Y..." (If the question is that difficult to understand, you might consider not asking it.)
"How well do you know your Athenian history?..."
"The breakup of Yugoslavia has created a bunch of new world capitals for any good academic competitor to memorize. How far along are you."
"We all grew up listening to early 90s rock and roll..."
"Let's hearken back to the not so distant past..."
"It's time for your favorite biology game..."
"It's time again for everyone's favorite question..."
Don't waste time: just ask the question.