Trivial Matters

I’ve noticed that many of my hits on this site are from searches for “pub quiz” and the like. So, in an attempt to pander to my audience, I’m going to expand on the original Pub Quiz FAQ in a special series. If you got here first, you may want to start with the original FAQ .

Why start with a bingo round?

The bingo round is probably the longest round in a pub quiz, both because it has more questions than other rounds and it takes longer to read back the answers.

How is a bingo round played?

A bingo round is 25 questions. Each team has two answer sheets. The first is just a page to record all of your answers on, in the order that the questions are asked. The second is a 5×5 grid with question numbers randomly placed. At Oregon Pub Quizzes, they have a specialty transfer-paper answer sheet, so that you actually fill out two “cards,” one for the quizmaster to grade and one for the team to use when playing the “bingo” game itself. At our pub quizzes, we just use a 5×5 grid and rely on teams to *not* cheat and change their answers to get a bingo.

More specific, please?

Ok, since you insisted… The quizmaster asks 25 questions. Each team fills out both sheets with their answers, making sure they put the right answer with the right question on the 5×5 sheet.

Wait, what if I get bingo while the quizmaster is reading questions?

Good for you! You get a gold star! What you don’t get, however, are any points. The “bingo” part of the round is not played until the correct answers are read back by the quizmaster. Can I continue now?

Please.

Thank you. Now, as I was saying, make sure you have the right answer in the right spot. And by “right,” I mean correct. You answer must be correct (according to the quizmaster) in order for it to count in the bingo round.

After all of the questions have been read, it is a good idea to ask for repeats just in case a team missed a question. I can’t count how many times a team had stalled on a particular question and then gotten off track and started putting answers in the wrong spot… you get the idea. Or, more often, the quizmaster has to deal with an obnoxious player, and gets offtrack themself.

Once everone is ready, they turn in their first answer sheet and one fo the 5×5 sheets. When it’s just our small group, each team holds onto the single 5×5 sheet. The quizmaster grades the main answer sheet, giving 5 points for each correct answer.

Now it is time to read back the answers. The answers are read back randomly, so it is a good idea for the quizmaster to reread the question too. Each team checks their answer and circles it if they got it right or “X” through it if they got it wrong.

What constitutes a “bingo”?

The standard five-in-a-row or four corners.

What do I do when I get a “bingo”?

Stand up and shout “bingo!” This will almost immediately be followed by groans and hissing fromt he other teams who were only one right answer away from getting it themselves. Turn in your 5×5 card to the quizmaster, who will them compare it to both his answer sheet and your other 5×5 card to make sure you didn’t change any answers.

What does a “bingo” get me?

Twenty bonus points or whatever the quizmaster decides for his/her game.

What if two (or more) teams get “bingo” at the same time?

The most attractive woman from each team has to compete in a special “jello wrestling” round… just kidding. Normally, each team splits the bonus points (so 10 apiece in this case). But, really, it is up to the quizmaster.

Is there a “free space”?

No. If you had been paying attention, there are 25 questions and 25 (5 times 5) spaces, so no free space.

Doesn’t that make the the center square more important?

Yep. So you better make sure you have that one correct.

How hard are the questions?

They shouldn’t be extremely hard (like some of mine were in the Music Pub Quiz). They also should not have really long answers, as these are hard to fit in the tiny square on the 5×5 sheet.

What if I want to dispute a question?

Good luck. Distputing a question in bingo is very tricky. The quizmaster is less likely to stop the game midway to address your grievance. Instead, they’ll wait until the end, which lets another team get to the “bingo” first. Then, once you have been vindicated and show that you would have also gotten a “bingo” (albeit, first) you’ll probaly split the bonus with them.

That’s not fair. We would have had it first!

Be aware, though, that other teams may have also put your answer down and now they too are correct and could have gotten “bingo” before you would have. So in the interest of fairness, everyone gets a bonus. (Including the other teams, in away, because the bonus is worth less as more teams claim it.)

Is there any other way to get bonus points in this round?

In the Oregon Pub Quizzes, the quizmaster usually has a movie clip as one of the questions. The movie is the answer they are looking for, and the actor speaking is usually 3 bonus points. I’ve used followup questions in my bingo round for the 3 bonus points. It is really up to the quizmaster.

So what comes after the Bingo Round?

That’s a FAQ for another day.

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