Pub quiz
Encyclopedia
Quiz
A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which the players attempt to answer questions correctly. In some countries, a quiz is also a brief assessment used in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, and/or skills.Quizzes are usually scored in points and many...
held in a public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
. These events are also called Quiz Nights or Trivia Nights and may be held in other settings. Pub quizzes are still extremely popular and may attract people to a pub who are not found there on other days. The pub quiz is a modern example of a pub game. Though different pub quizzes can cover a range of formats and topics, they have many features in common.
Origins
Origins of the pub quiz are unclear but there is little evidence of them existing before 1970 in the United Kingdom.Numbers
A 2009 study puts the number of regular weekly pub quizzes in the UK at 22,445. No extensive studies have been undertaken in the US, but one website attempting to index them maintains a list of approximately 2,000 regular weekly quizzes throughout all 50 states.Formats
Pub quizzes (also known as live trivia, or table quizzes) are often weekly events and will have an advertised start time, most often in the evening.While specific formats vary, most pub quizzes depend on answers being written in response to questions which may themselves be written or announced by a quizmaster.
Generally someone (either one of the bar staff or the person running the quiz) will come around with pens and quiz papers, which may contain questions or may just be blank sheets for writing the answers on. A mixture of both is common, in which case often only the blank sheet is to be handed in. Traditionally a member of the team hands the answers in for adjudication to the quiz master or to the next team along for marking when the answers are called.
Teams
It is up to the quizzers to form teams, which are generally based on tables, though if one table has a large group around it they may decide to split up. Some pubs insist on a maximum team size (usually between six and ten). The team members decide on a team name, often a supposedly humorous phrase or pun, which must be written on all papers handed in.Quizmaster
The person asking the questions is known as the quizmaster. Quizmasters also mark and score answers submitted by teams although formats exists where teams will mark each others' answer sheets.Entry Fee
People often have to pay to participate – ranging from around 50p to £5 per person. This is often used as prize money (see below).Many pub quizzes require no payment at all, as the pub quiz is simply a way to get customers into the bar (typically on less busy nights like week nights) to spend money.
Rounds
There may be between one and more than half a dozen rounds of questions, totalling anything from 10 to upwards of 80 questions. Rounds may include the following kinds (most common first):- Factual rounds – these are usually spoken, either over a public addressPublic addressA public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
system or just called out. Common topics include:- General knowledge – covering the topics listed below (if they are not in a separate round) and also topics such as history, geographyGeographyGeography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
and scienceScienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and natureNatureNature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
. There may well be more than one of these rounds. - SportSportA Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
– comprising the statistics and minutiae of popular, well-known sports and general facts about others. - EntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
– moviesFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, TVTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
shows and music (see also below). - True or False – questions to which the answer is True or False.
- General knowledge – covering the topics listed below (if they are not in a separate round) and also topics such as history, geography
- Picture round – these use photocopied or computer-printed hand-outs and consist of pictures to be identified, such as photos of famous people (possibly snapped out of context, or else partially obscured) or logos of companies (without tell-tale lettering), famous places or objects pictured from a strange angle.
- Who Am I? – A series of clues to the identity of a famous person (or thing). Clues are given in order of descending difficulty. The earlier a team can identify the correct answer, the more points they are awarded.
- MusicMusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
round – these consist of excerpts (often only the introIntroduction (music)In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
or other non-vocal segment) of songs played over the PA system. Usually the teams must identify the song and also the singer or band (sometimes the year the song was released is also required). Variations include the inclusion of film soundtrackSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s and TV theme tunes (requiring the title), and/or classical musicClassical musicClassical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
(also requiring the composer). - PuzzlePuzzleA puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
rounds – generally on a hand-out sheet. These may consist of crossword puzzleCrossword PuzzleFor the common puzzle, see CrosswordCrossword Puzzle was the second to last album made by The Partridge Family and was not one of the most popular albums. It was released in 1973 and did not produce a U.S. single. This album was finally released on CD in 2003 on Arista's BMG Heritage label...
s, anagramAnagramAn anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
s, DitloidDitloidA ditloid is a type of word puzzle, in which a phrase, quotation, date, or fact must be deduced from the numbers and abbreviated letters in the clue. Common words such as 'the', 'in', 'a', 'an', 'of', 'to', etc. are not normally abbreviated...
s, DingbatsDingbatsDingbats is the name of a board game that was devised by Paul Sellers and is currently manufactured by Ravensburger. The game, for two or more people, involves solving rebuses...
and basic mathMathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
problems. - Novelty rounds – themed round a specific word or name (e.g. all the questions relate to a famous Norman); 'connections', where the last answer in the round provides a link to all the previous answers; true or false; and various others to break up the general stream of questions.
Joker Rounds and Bonus Questions
Jokers: In some quizzes teams are able to select one or two rounds in which their points will be doubled (or tripled etc.) The number two is used because a pack of cards has two jokers in it. Selection of the appropriate round(s) is usually made before the start of the quiz. Jokers may be made available on all rounds or certain round(s) may be specifically excluded (usually the first). Teams who consider themselves to be particularly strong on certain subjects can thus improve their chances with a good joker round. Conversely, if their joker round is more difficult than expected their chances of doing well may nosedive. The idea of using a joker in a game may come from the programme It's a KnockoutIt's a Knockout
It's a Knockout was adapted from the French show Intervilles. It ran between from 7 August 1966 to 25 December 1988 on BBC1, 28 May 1990 on ITV, 3 August 1991 to 24 December 1994 on S4C and from 3 September 1999 to 6 January 2001 on Channel 5, produced by Richard Hearsey and Ronin Entertainment...
.
Bonuses: A single answer is required with one or more clues given each round making the answer progressively easier to solve. Either the first team to hand in the correct answer wins either a spot prize or additional points to their total score OR the questions continue until all teams have the correct answer with each team been given progressively fewer additional points the longer it takes them to submit the correct answer.
Jackpots
A separate round of questions (usually 3) at the end of the quiz each week. If no team gets all answers correct more money is added for the following week. The maximum amount of the jackpot may be limited by local gaming regulations.Cash Jackpots may be won by a variety of methods including one-off questions and dance-offs.
Question setting
The questions may be set by the bar staff or landlord, taken from a quiz book, bought from a specialist trivia company, or be set by volunteers from amongst the contestants. In the latter case, the quiz setter may be remunerated with drinks or a small amount of money.Often questions may be drawn from the realm of 'everybody knows' trivia, therefore leading to controversies when the answers are false or unverifiable. In addition, as the quizzes are not formal affairs, slight errors in wording may lead to confusion and have led to a 2005 court case in the UK.
Marking
In some cases, the papers are marked (graded) by the bar staff. Alternatively, teams may have to mark their own answers and the handed-in papers are consulted only to check that prize claimants have not cheated by altering their answers. Another method is to have teams swap papers before marking, though this can be divisive.1 or 2 points are scored for each correct answer; some quizzes allow half marks for 'nearly right' answers (such as a celebrity's surname when their full name was required). In some quizzes, certain questions score higher marks, particularly if they are unusually difficult.
Cheating
With the mass use of mobile (cell) phones and mobile internet access, cheating has become a problem for some pub quizzes, with covert calls and texts made in the toilets, recent newspapers and magazines brought along especially for the event, 'ringers' and so on. Though a maximum number of members set for teams may help to prevent huge numbers of people collaborating, groups posing as several distinct teams are quite common. Some quizzes now ban the use of mobiles and nullify the score of any team found to be cheating. Though more prevalent where large sums of money are at stake (see below), cheating can be observed even for relatively low stakes.One case exists where a landlord banned the use of mobile (cell) phones completely from the establishment during the quiz evening and in order to guarantee that no contestant used such a device, an FM radio tuner was connected to the public address system. Should any team member use a mobile phone during the duration of the quiz, loud pulsing sounds would be heard while other teams tried to locate the culprit.
Some quizzes also now ban re-entry to the pub after the quiz has started, in order to prevent team members from going to use public internet stations, public telephones and mobile devices out of sight of the quizmaster. Generally, though, a pub runs its quiz alongside its normal operation, making such a measure impractical.
Prizes
Prizes are awarded to the highest scoring team, and possibly runners-up as well. Prizes are usually one of the following:- alcoholic drinks: a case of beerBeerBeer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
or some money on a bar tab to spend at that pub are common. - cash: if money was charged for entry into the quiz, this is often pooled to form prize money. This may all go to the winning team. Alternatively, there may be a separate short set of questions or even a single 'jackpot' question to win the cash; if no team gets the right answer, the money is typically rolled over, making a larger prize the next week.
- vouchers: such as cinema discount-coupons, food discounts, or even drinks vouchers for use at the bar holding the quiz.
- drink-related promotional items sent by a breweryBreweryA brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
, such as t-shirtT-shirtA T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s and beer glassPint glassA pint glass is a drinking vessel made to hold either a British pint of 20 imperial fluid ounces or an American pint of...
es advertising their products. - miscellaneous or novelty prizes, such as chocolate or cheap toys. The winning team may get first choice to pick a prize from a range on offer.
Another format for quizzing is called "infinite bounce
Infinite bounce
Infinite bounce is a quiz format.Every question is addressed to the team succeeding the team that answered the previous question. If no team answers the question, the next question is addressed to the team same team to which the previous question was addressed...
". This format is generally used when the number of teams in the quiz is large – usually around 8–10. Every question is addressed to the team succeeding the team that answered the previous question. If no team answers the question, the next question is addressed to the team succeeding the team to whom the previous question was addressed.
The Digital Pub Quiz
In a digital pub quiz wireless handsets replace the more usual pen and paper. A computer receives and records the answers from each team's handset and the results are exported to a spreadsheet at the end of the quiz. A time limit can be set for each question (e.g. 60 seconds) and it is possible to determine which team answers in the fastest time for spot prizes, tiebreaks etc. The first digital pub quiz was held at the Woodlands Hotel in Blackburn, Lancashire on 29 July 2010.Quiz leagues
A quiz leagueQuiz league
A quiz league is an organization running quizzes on a home and away basis, usually in pubs. Like the pub quiz, it is chiefly a British phenomenon although the format has significant differences to a pub quiz due to the usual number of teams and the presence of individual questions.-Team format:Two...
is an organisation that runs quizzes, normally in pubs, though such competitions are distinct from the standard pub quiz as they will normally involve two teams and often include a number of individual questions. No prizes are normally awarded at such a league match, but prizes and kudos may go to the quiz team winning a league or a knockout competition. The National Trivia Association runs a nation-wide contest involving various pub trivia games played around the US.
Commercial Pub Quizzes
As the pub quiz concept spread to the US in the 1990s, several companies formed to provide services to bars and restaurants organizing quizzes. Different from the quiz leagueQuiz league
A quiz league is an organization running quizzes on a home and away basis, usually in pubs. Like the pub quiz, it is chiefly a British phenomenon although the format has significant differences to a pub quiz due to the usual number of teams and the presence of individual questions.-Team format:Two...
in the UK, US commercial pub quizzes typically involve more than just two teams and can have as many as 25-35 teams playing in a single location, with up to 6 people per team. Quiz companies charge bars a fee for hosting the quiz, which may range from $80 per week to $175 or more depending on attendance. At least 20 different pub quiz companies currently exist in the US, with most operating events concentrated in major metropolitan areas.
Regional and national competitions
Teams from throughout a region, county, state or country meet annually for more prestigious competitions, with greater prizes. Representative teams may either be the best team(s) from each pub or a team selected from the best individuals may be chosen.Livewire Entertainment, New Zealand's largest pub quiz provider has held an annual Champion of Champions quiz in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
since 1999. Initially open to teams from pubs within the greater Auckland region it is now open to teams from throughout New Zealand. In practicality travel costs prevent most teams from the lower North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
and the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
participating although Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, Nelson
Nelson, New Zealand
Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....
and Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
have all provided teams.
In the United States National Trivia Association presents "The Riddle" a finals event open to eligible teams who play the official NTA "Quizzo!" live trivia game. Approximately 1,000 players attended the 2008 event in Atlantic City, NJ.
World record
The Eden Project claims that a Guinness World Record was set in CornwallCornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
on 6 December 2007 and claims a total of 220 pubs took part. However, this record is unsubstantiated as no evidence on the Guinness World Record site exists and Guinness itself denies existence of the record. The largest quiz, according to Guinness, was the "Quiz for Life", held at the Flanders Expo Halls in Ghent, Belgium, on 11 December 2010 with 2,280 participants.
Bingo quiz
A variation in which players are provided with a pre-printed answer sheet for each round containing lines tagged by a random number (for example 21 lines with numbers between 1 and 25). For each question the quizmaster picks a random number in that range, and the answer is written on that numbered line (if present). When a player has completed a sheet with a certain number of adjacent answers (typically 6) he can call out and submit the sheet for marking. If all the adjacent answers are correct he wins, if not any incorrect lines cannot be re-used, and the game continues. Ties can be resolved by sharing the prize, or by a tie-breaker question; typically an obscure date so that the player who guesses closest wins.Whilst a knowledgeable player will still have an advantage, particularly if the questions are 'difficult', the random element in a Bingo quiz means that even the less knowledgeable can win, and the quiz format is generally felt to be more stimulating than a conventional one. The printed sheets required are commercially available.
Australia
Quiz Nights exist in Australia similar to the UK in both pubs and community settings. Many Quiz Nights are used to raise funds for sporting, school and charity groups,. Many prizes are donated to help with the raising of funds and an entry fee is charged. There also exist professional quiz or trivia hosts who run nights for various groups.External links
- British Quiz Association - Information and a forum for quiz enthusiasts in Great Britain.
- Pub Quiz Help – background knowledge for pub quizzers and pub quiz listings, in almanac form.
- National Pub Quiz League UK pub quiz league between pubs playing games across the internet.
- TriviaReviews.com - Listing of pub quizzes in the US.