Re: FAQTP Toss-Ups

<<FAQTP, which niece of Creon was punished
for her decision to bury her brother
Polynices?
Answer: _Antigone_

Is that such a poor question?
It's still pyramidal in structure, it breaks up the
increasingly formulaic monotony of packets, and it makes the
game just a little bit shorter. I would especially
advocate "just the goose" FAQTP when one plans to write a
"duck-duck-GOOSE"* (in other words, obscure-obscure-GIVEAWAY)
question --that just lulls a lot of players to sleep
before the speed check.>>

I'd like to state
what I think can be called a theorem: no matter how
bad a question is, it can always be made worse by
making it longer.

But the nature of the tossup is
a test that's composition of a whole bunch of
little tests: "Can you get it on this? If not, can you
get it on this? If not..." (there's also, of course,
the reaction-time...I'd illustrate that if Y! had
graphics, more on that later). A one-clue tossup,
obviously, has only one knowledge test...even a two-clue,
impossible/giveaway question would be an improvement, because it
gives you an extra test for free without taking up that
much time.

Atop that, if you allow one-clue
questions, I have this fear that someone, somewhere, will
write, and someone else will not edit, questions like
"FAQTP, name H. H. Munro's publisher's
dog."

Edmund

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