Tag: in jeopardy’s footsteps

Quiz: Answers in the Form of a Question

17-October-07 / James Callan

1) Elizabeth Taylor won her second Best Actress Oscar for playing Martha in what 1966 film based on an Edward Albee play?
2) What soundtrack is the only album with a question for a title to win the Grammy for Album of the Year?
3) What 2000 buddy comedy inspired the title of Michael Moore’s 2003 followup to his book Stupid White Men?
4) Madonna had a #1 hit in 1987 with a song that shared its title with what 1983 top 40 hit by Eurythmics?
5) According to the movie Stripes, the answer to this riddle is “to get from the left to the right.”
6) What 1993 song by Haddaway had a second burst of popularity starting in 1996 when it was featured on Saturday Night Live?
7) What advertising slogan debuted in 1971 in a commercial featuring vocals by Ella Fitzgerald?
8) Turns out the answer to this Fox Television question was Darva Conger, but only for about two months.
9) The short film “True” inspired a series of Anheuser-Busch TV commercials centered around what catchphrase?
10) According to M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense was inspired by an episode of what 1990s horror anthology series?

Average score (21 teams): 6.67

A lesson from Jeopardy!

12-October-07 / James Callan

As I mentioned on Seattlest, I passed the in-person Jeopardy! audition in Seattle a couple of weeks ago. Now I officially have about a 1 in 6 chance of appearing on the show in the next couple of years. I’m coming out ahead regardless — I won a Jeopardy! home game when bwouns from the Ken Jennings Message Board misremembered what year the show came back on the air.

One thing the Jeopardy! people said that stuck with me: The people on the show want you to win money. They’re not there as your adversary — your fellow contestants are your adversaries.

When I started writing quizzes, I had to learn that. In my first few quizzes, I deliberately included questions that I knew would be difficult, possibly even stumpers. At least one per round, sometimes two.

Why? I had in the back of my head that I was competing with the players. Somehow it was points for me if I stumped them.

It took reading some other people’s advice on writing questions — particularly Jennings in Brainiac, and the guys at the Trivia Hall of Fame.

Turns out it’s a lot more fun to host when you try to write questions that a lot of people can answer. I definitely still try to challenge players — a great question rewards lateral thinking. But stumping them isn’t that hard to do, and it’s not much fun when you’re on a team with a half-empty answer sheet.

I’m not there to beat the players. I’m there to give teams a good playing field where they can compete with each other.

Quiz: Answers Phrased in the Form of a Question

5-September-07 / James Callan

1) Comedian Ryan Stiles frequently appeared on both the British and US versions of what improv comedy show?

2) On April 24, 1992, ABC aired the final episodes of Growing Pains, MacGyver, and what long-running sitcom, ending the popular career of Danny Pintauro?

3) What catchphrase, later quoted by Walter Mondale, was first heard in a commercial called “Fluffy Bun”?

4) What’s the first album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, later spoofed on a collection of Get Fuzzy cartoons?

5) Someone beat up Dan Rather in 1986. Inspired by the incident, R.E.M. wrote what song, the first single off their 1994 album Monster?

6) What four-word question from the 1933 version of Island of Dr. Moreau was answered “We are Devo” in 1978?

7) The ACME Detective Agency tracks a criminal mastermind around the globe in what software game series and educational children’s game show?

8) What’s the love theme from Superman, spoken by Lois Lane in the film, the title of which could also make a good icebreaker with Professor X?

9) What advertising slogan was introduced in a TV commercial set in an Alexander Hamilton museum?

10) What 1987 book made the American Library Association’s “most frequently banned books” list because, in addition to the main character, you can find a topless woman “On the Beach”?

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on Sept. 4, 2007.