Categories by Another Name ...
WBC Facts in Five Tournament
All players will compete in three preliminary rounds, attempting
to fill in a 5 x 5 grid of information (five different starting
letters in five different categories). Only correct answers in
opinion of GM will be accepted. The top five scorers after three
rounds will play a final round to determine the champion.
* A scorecard will be provided for each preliminary round
with five categories printed at the top of each column. The categories
can be just about anything: ice skaters, car brands, words associated
with money, household items, breakfast cereals, songs of
the Beatles, etc.
* Each player must fill out his or her name and badge number
on the scorecard.
* After any questions on the categories are answered, the GM
will announce five letters of the alphabet, which are written
on the left side of the scorecard.
* A timer will be started for 5 minutes. All players will try
to write an answer for each of the 25 boxes on the scorecard,
each of which corresponds to the category at the top and begins
with an initial letter on the left.
* After the five minutes run out, the GM will ask the players
to pass their scorecards to another player for judging and scoring.
Any questionable answer should be given to the GM for verification.
There are only a finite number of answers for each category and
letter, so disputes should not occur. GM ruling final.
* After all answers are determined, players will score the game.
(An example is given below.)
* All players will play each of the first four rounds. Any
player within 100 points of the leader (with a minimum of six
players) will play one final round for the championship.
* The player with the highest total score in all five rounds
will win the championship. If there is a tie, the tied player
with the highest score in the final round will be the winner.
If there is still a tie, then the highest fourth round score
will win, then the highest third round score, etc.
* Difficulty of the rounds should increase during the tournament.
* One player at each row will be the scorekeeper for that row.
He or she should double-check the answers for validity and the
scoring. Then the score should be recorded on the score sheet.
Validity of answers:
* Each valid answer must match the category at the head of
the column and its "Keyword" must begin with the given
letter on the left. The Keyword is USUALLY the first letter in
the first word of the answer, except:
** For a person's name, the person's surname is the key word
(Exceptions: categories that specify another name and people
who are known primarily by a single name (soccer great Pelé,
guitarist-"Coochi, Coochi" girl Charo, etc.)) If only
a surname is given, the answer is valid. If the wrong first name
is tied to a surname, the answer is wrong.
** In titles, the articles "A", "An" or "The"
are never considered Keywords. The next word is the keyword.
Foreign words are not permitted unless the word has entered the
English language, such as foie gras or passe.
** The GM will note any other exceptions.
* Spelling generally WILL count. A misspelled word must
be close enough to be easily recognizable as correct. A
word beginning with the incorrect first letter will be wrong
(e.g Korgi instead of Corgi for dog breeds starting with K):
* There is no penalty for using the same answer in two different
categories in the same round. (This is different than the published
* The GMs have prepared a list of valid answers for every
category. Any answer on the list will be accepted as valid. A
copy of the list will be given to each row. All categories
have been chosen based upon a finite number of answers in
existence. Any player may bring information to the
GM's attention as to whether an answer should be ruled valid.
However, the GM's ruling will be final.
A player has finished a round of Facts in Five. Another
player has judged each of his answers as shown. Checked answers
are valid, while answers with an X are wrong. Some notes on the
reasons for each ruling:
- "Clinton" is OK. First names may be omitted.
- Ben Franklin was never President
- Common abbreviations, such as JFK for John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
- "George Bush" is ambiguous as to which president
is being referred to, but that does not matter.
- Colin Powell: Last name begins with P, not C as required
- Donald Farragut. The famous admiral's given name was David.
- All entries are misspelled in this category. Spelling does
not count unless it incorrectly changes the first letter of the
answer (as in "Candid Camera") or if the category is
a Spelling category.
- "5 & 10-cent" store is OK, because 5 begins with
the letter F.
Movies: (note the A's and The's are not considered keywords.)
- "Erin Brockovich", in this case, refers to the title
of a movie, not a person. The title starts with "E".
1) After ruling on all of the answers, the scorer makes check
marks in the scoring grid on the right. In each column of the
scoring grid, one box is checked (filling from the top) for each
correct answer in the corresponding column.
2) Count the number of checks in each column of the scoring grid.
Square that number and write that in the box at the bottom of
that column in the grid.
3) Count the number of checks in each row of the scoring grid.
Square that number and write it in the box to the right of that
row in the grid.
4) Add all of the numbers in the right column, and enter this
total in the box marked "GENERAL SCORE". (This score
is intended to measure the breadth of your knowledge). Add all
of the numbers in the bottom row and enter this in the box marked
"SPECIAL SCORE" (This number is intended to measure
the depth of your knowledge.)
5) Finally, add the SPECIAL SCORE and GENERAL SCORE to calculate
the TOTAL SCORE.