What sort of quiz questions do you like?

September 3, 2006 4:48 AM

So you're doing a quiz. What rounds do you like / prefer? What sort of questions do you love / despise?

I've been asked to make a fun (1 - 1 1/2 hour) quiz for about 6 people, and have already have a picture round (of current British Celebrities / Bands etc) and wanted to know what other style of questions / rounds you guys love to have in a typical quiz?

Any brilliant quiz questions you have off the top of your heads?

We're all 18 - 20, mixed males and females and in the UK if it makes any difference.

Thanks!

posted by philsi to sports, hobbies, & recreation (5 answers total)

A music round is always good - 20 second excerpt of a song, you have to name the band, song and year for full marks. I like children's TV rounds too - it's another picture round or music round, but you can either base it on pictures or play theme tunes.

Finally, the themed question - three answers to discrete questions, the fourth question is "what links these three answers?".

Also, try here for computer game questions if that's your kind of thing.
posted by greycap at 5:31 AM on September 3, 2006

For your run-of-the-mill quizzes, I tend to go for History and Geography questions that really test for insight as well as knowledge. For example, "Which of these states is furthest south: Florida, Texas or Hawaii?" Or, "Who died last: George Washington, George III, or Louis XVI?"

Personally, I find partial song lyrics to be some of the most damnably difficult yet wonderfully enjoyable types of quizzes. Pick a decade... say, the 80s.

"night is young and so am I"
"because I come from the land of plenty"
"when I, you, and everyone we knew"
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:10 AM on September 3, 2006

My favourite questions:

Which two countries are double-landlocked (ie you have to go through two other countries to get to the sea)?

(Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein)

Which three countries are completely surrounded by one other country?

(Lesotho, Holy See, San Marino)
posted by TrashyRambo at 9:14 AM on September 3, 2006

you've hit on my favorite type...the picture round. I also like thematic rounds of questions Other possibilities might be exapanding acronyms, placing a set of events on chronological order, identify books/movies from their opening lines.
posted by mmascolino at 11:54 AM on September 3, 2006

* Don't ask questions where the answer is seemingly arbitrary. For example, questions with generalized, numbered answers ("What year was Brad Pitt born?").

* I always liked the quizzes where they gave the scientific names for common items. What is a canis domesticus more commonly known as? What is sodium chloride more commonly known as?
posted by frogan at 8:58 PM on September 3, 2006