BMO

Rules

All questions have been thoroughly researched by Paul Paquet, of www.triviahalloffame.com and by an international panel of trivia experts, including a million-dollar winner from Who Wants to be a Millionaire, hosts of similar events in US and other experts from India and Australia. Paul is also the chief judge.

  1. The most important rule is to have fun. Even though we're competing, we're also doing our bit to help some of this community's more vulnerable children.
  2. The event consists of ten categories of ten questions each, plus a marathon round. In addition, there is a sponsor bonus round of questions to win prizes only; the sponsor round does not count in the overall team scoring.
  3. Teams can have a maximum of 10 players. No spectators. No substitutions.
  4. Teams that have raised $1000 compete for the "ultimate" prizes. However, whichever team has the highest overall score will win the trophy.
  5. In order to stay on time, complete your question sheets quickly and hold them up to be taken by runners to the scoring tables. The marathon questions will arrive after the first round. Work on them right away; you only have until the end of the fourth category to hand in that sheet.
  6. It is your responsibility to see that your sheet has been collected. Any sheet turned in after the answers for that category have been announced will be disqualified.
  7. No cell phones. No newspapers, magazines, books or printed matter of any kind. No palmtops, laptops, PDAs or electronic devices of any kind. If we catch you using anything like that, you'll get zero points for that round and you may get zero points for the marathon round as well. If you must make or receive a cell phone call, leave the floor area and approach the judge's table. This rule will be vigorously enforced, particularly among "ultimate" teams.
  8. Unless specified otherwise, each answer requires either a number or a date or a specific name of somebody or something. We will not accept general descriptions. Adding explanations of your answer will only confuse the marker.
  9. Use the most commonly used form of an answer. If we ask for the female lead in "When Harry Met Sally," we will accept "Meg Ryan" or even "Ryan," but not necessarily "Margaret Hyra" (her birth name).
  10. A word of advice ... be economical with your answers and don't show off. There's no extra credit here. This being said, you must answer in enough detail so that similar answers are excluded. If we ask, "Which king of England had six wives?" we will not accept simply "Henry," but would need "Henry VIII," as there were many English kings named Henry. If, however, we ask, "Who was Canada's last Conservative prime minister," we would accept "Campbell" in addition to "Kim Campbell," as no other Campbell is a reasonable possible answer.
  11. There are no trick questions. That means we won't accept any trick answers. The questions are written to point to one and only one answer, so pick the best possible answer to each question. Every question has an answer and there are no null answers. We will not entertain appeals based on split hairs or grammatical pedantry. Answers are based on the current mainstream understanding of the facts involved in the question.
  12. We strongly recommend that you write neatly and in block letters. If the marker can't read your answer, the marker won't guess; it will be marked wrong. Spelling doesn't necessarily count, but if it is not phonetically the same, it may not be considered correct. You will be marked wrong if your answer has been spelled in a way that it becomes something different (for example: "Sally Fields" would be marked wrong, as her last name has no S.).
  13. Make sure you have one and only one clearly indicated answer, or you will be marked wrong. If you think there is a problem with the question that suggests two answers, choose one. Then appeal if you believe you have been marked wrong. See below.
  14. Write your answers in Canadian English, unless instructed otherwise.
  15. In all cases, the answers we have listed will be deemed correct, even if they are proved otherwise. At the judge's sole discretion, other answers may be accepted.
  16. If you feel your score is incorrect, or that an answer is incorrect, bring this to the judge's attention, by way of an appeal, as soon as possible. Appeals cost $5 if we decide against you, and that money goes to the foundation. The judge's decisions are absolutely final.
  17. At the judge's discretion, there may be a recount of a team's total score. We are unlikely to do recounts if the results would not affect the distribution of prizes. Other that this, scores will not be changed once we announce the evening's winners. Regardless of recounts or appeals, prizes awarded for category rounds will not be redistributed once they are awarded.
  18. Extemporaneous comments from the stage should not be considered "part" of the question. In the event that the question read aloud does not match the question on screen, the question on screen should be considered definitive, although the quizmaster may read explanatory instructions not included on screen. In the event of technical difficulty, however, we may replace questions dealing with audio, video or images, in which case the read-aloud question is definitive.
  19. Ties will be decided by random draw for individual rounds. If the final score results is a tie, a tie-breaking mechanism will be employed; if one of the tied teams has left the building or cannot be found after reasonable efforts, it will be considered forfeit.
  20. In all cases, the judge's decisions are absolutely final and binding on all parties. Acceptance of the judge's authority is a condition for participating in World Trivia Night.