20 Questions?

[Staiduk]

This game's older than God; but it seems to me the brainy folks here might enjoy a round or two. :)
I always liked shows like 'What's my line' or 'Front Page Challenge' when I was a kid; I used to close my eyes and try to figure out who it was - never got one right.

Seems to me that a forum like this would be a good place to play a game; so anyone interested?

If you are; here are my rules:
1) Each question must be able to be answered by a yes or a no.

2) Questioners can ask a question at any time; but may only guess the subject's identity a) immediately (within 1/2 hour; according to the post's time) following his/her last question and b) if he/she's asked a minimum of 3 questions.
(IOW; you must've asked at least 3 questions total; the last within 1/2 hour of guessing. This keeps people from sitting back and jumping in with the guess while others are doing the hard work of questioning.)

3) The subject can be anyone; anywhere, in any field. The only stipulation for this round is that the person is alive today.

That's a lot of people to choose from; so to help the questioners:
4) The person must be internationally famous. And/or the event he/she's involved in should be. IOW; David Miller's a household word; but unless you live in Ontario you've probably never heard of the creep before.

5) People often post on top of one another; so number your question - if there are 2 #5's, for instance; the first one will be the one answered. :)

OK - easy enough? :)
So if anyone wants to play; I'll start - 'cause it's my thread. Nyeah, nyeah. ;)

OK; I've written down my identity. As per the rules; I'm famous; as is the story I'm involved in. I'm alive and well and awaiting the first question. :)

[Maksutov]

Are you human?

[ignorant_ape]

Q#1 - are you male?


YRS - APE

[Staiduk]

Q#1 - are you male?


YRS - APE

No.

(Matsukov - sorry; I took his first; 'cause it was numbered. )

But I can answer yours anyway; yes; I'm Human - I kinda assumed that criteria. :lol: )

[kucharek]

#2: North American?

[Staiduk]

#2: North American?

Yes.

[kucharek]

#3: Either scientist or actress?

[Staiduk]

#3: Either scientist or actress?

Hmmm - snuck a double in there? I'll answer the first and say no. ;)

[kucharek]

#3: Either scientist or actress?

Hmmm - snuck a double in there? I'll answer the first and say no. ;)

No no. The or is really a logical or here, not in the usual linguistic meaning which is more an exclusive-or. If you answer my question with "yes", I'll know the person is a scientist or actree. If you answer "no", I know the person is neither a scientist nor an actress, so I can look for singers, politicians etc.
I tried to cut the search room into halves. Not every simple question acieves this. Imagine I have to guess one of four colors red, green, blue and yellow. An optimal question would be "Is it green or blue?" If you say "Yes", it's either green or blue and the next question tells me the correct answer. If you said "no", it's either red or yellow and the next question will give the solution.
:-)

[Staiduk]

Hmm...... I suspect we could debate the logic of that argument some; but in the interests of not making it too tough - and the fact it was so well written... ;) I'l say no to both.
There - happy?!? :lol:

[Maha Vailo]

#4. Are you a poiltician?

[Staiduk]

#4. Are you a poiltician?

No.

[Mainframes]

#5 Are you a singer?

[Staiduk]

#5 Are you a singer?

No.

[Maksutov]

Q#1 - are you male?


YRS - APE

No.

(Matsukov - sorry; I took his first; 'cause it was numbered. )

But I can answer yours anyway; yes; I'm Human - I kinda assumed that criteria. :lol: )

I sort of remember an episode of "What's My Line?" where the mystery guest was "Francis the Talking Mule". Francis was accompanied by his trainer, who took care of the questions, since the guest could only speak in movies.

You never know, hence the question.


[edit/delete word, format]

[kucharek]

#6: Are you often on tv? (That means e.g. you are from time to time on shows, talks, etc. Not regularely).

[Staiduk]

Q#1 - are you male?


YRS - APE

No.

(Matsukov - sorry; I took his first; 'cause it was numbered. )

But I can answer yours anyway; yes; I'm Human - I kinda assumed that criteria. :lol: )

I sort of remember an episode of "What's My Line?" where the mystery guest was "Francis the Talking Mule". Francis was accompanied by his
by his trainer, who took care of the questions, since the guest could only speak in movies.

You never know, hence the question.

ROFL! I never saw that one - THAT would've been a hoot.
OK; apologies - I should've clarified the fact the subject is Human.
My favourite episode was when they had a well-known husband and wife team on WML. Due to their distinctive voices; the pair answered with knocks - one for no and two for yes. After a bit the announcer decided it was too confusing for the panel; and instructed them to give their answers verbally.

At which point Gracie turned to her husband and said "Don't tell them anything, George!" The place totally came apart - and George Burns was laughing so hard he slid under the desk. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Staiduk]

#6: Are you often on tv? (That means e.g. you are from time to time on shows, talks, etc. Not regularely).

Err.... I was; daily. Not now.

[worzel]

#7: Are you a compulsive liar?

[kucharek]

#8: Do you have your own daily tv event (show, magazine, news)?

[Staiduk]

#7: Are you a compulsive liar?

No; I'm very comitted to the truth.

[Staiduk]

#8: Do you have your own daily tv event (show, magazine, news)?

No.

[Reacher]

For some reason, I got it in my head that it was the Iraqi Information Minister, dispite the fact that you said he was North American.

#9 Are you above 50?

[Staiduk]

For some reason, I got it in my head that it was the Iraqi Information Minister, dispite the fact that you said he was North American.

#9 Are you above 50?

Yes. :)

[Kebsis]

"Are you...a mineral?''

''Yeah...''

''Are you...a tank?''

''...yeah!''

[Roving Philosopher]

#10 - Were you a newscaster?

[Staiduk]

#10 - Were you a newscaster?

No

[Gullible Jones]

Does your last name begin with one of the first 10 consonants?

[Staiduk]

Does your last name begin with one of the first 10 consonants?

Yes.

[Laser Jock]

OK, here's what we know at this point.

You are a female, that is not an actress, scientist, politician, newscaster, or singer, that was once on TV daily, but no longer, over the age of 50, "committed to the truth", and has a last name that starts with b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, or m.

#12 Was the TV show you were on any sort of cooking/home improvement show?

[Gullible Jones]

And #13 (dum dum dum)... Are you dead?

[snowcelt]

#13 Are you over 6' tall?

[ritko1]

#13 Are you over 6' tall?

going with this question and considering all the other clues,

#14 Are you Julia Childs?

[Maksutov]

#15 Are you Julia Child?

16. Who's Julia Child? :oops:

[Staiduk]

OK, here's what we know at this point.

You are a female, that is not an actress, scientist, politician, newscaster, or singer, that was once on TV daily, but no longer, over the age of 50, "committed to the truth", and has a last name that starts with b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, or m.

#12 Was the TV show you were on any sort of cooking/home improvement show?

Heh heh - now it's starting to get interesting! Strange as it may sound; I've always liked questioning games; because of the strategies that can be used by a skilled questioner to narrow the possibilities down. In general; the first ten questions are all about elimination; the remaining ten shrewd guesses based on available knowledge. It's was astonishing how the great veteran journalist Gordon Sinclair or historian/writer Pierre Burton could arrow in on the most obscure stories from decades earlier. I love strategy in any form; and these people were very good at choosing the right questions.

Anyway:
No - it wasn't.
(And I should point out - because Fred Davis would have - that the TV appearances might not necessarily been on a specific show. Not giving anything away; just cautioning against narrowing your ideas too far. :) )

#13 Are you over 6' tall?

(GJ; I chose this one rather than yours; because the answer to your question is in the opening post and I didn't want to cheat you out of a question. ;) )

No.

#14 Are you Julia Childs?

No.

(Besides - she's dead.) :(

15 and 16 are repeats; therefore don't count against the total. :)

[Silent Knight]

#15 Are you an author?

[Staiduk]

#15 Are you an author?

Yes; though my book is a bio about the event for which I became famous; it isn't the cause of my 'fame'.

[scottmsg]

#16 - Did the event for which you became famous occur in the last 20 years?

[Staiduk]

#16 - Did the event for which you became famous occur in the last 20 years?

Yes. :)

[snowcelt]

16. Who's Julia Child? :oops:

She was a famous chef who popularized French cuisine in North America. This larger than life woman (she was like 6'4"), with a acerbic wit, was an icon on T.V. and wrote many books on cooking.

[Zachary]

#17: Has she ever won a major award?

[Staiduk]

#17: Has she ever won a major award?

No. :)

(Edit: Actually; it's quite likely she won awards in university etc.; but they've nothing to do with the subject at hand. :) i.e. no Olympic medals; nobel prizes, etc.)

[Silent Knight]

#18 Are you married to a politician?

[Staiduk]

#18 Are you married to a politician?

No.

[Staiduk]

For some reason, I got it in my head that it was the Iraqi Information Minister, dispite the fact that you said he was North American.

#9 Are you above 50?

Yes. :)


Umm - Stupid me; I'd better qualify this.

The subject is over 50 now; but during the events which made her famous was not. I hope that clears that up; and didn't throw anyone off.


One other thing:

I realize that the posting restrictions (i.e. who can guess) are too...er...restrictive; I just got a PM about it and after looking at it I agree. Whoops - sorry about that. :)

OK; so I withdraw the posting restrictions on time and # of posts required to guess the subject. :)

[scottmsg]

#19 - Did the event you were involved in occur in the US?

[snowcelt]

#20 Are you married to someone famous?

[Staiduk]

#19 - Did the event you were involved in occur in the US?

Yes.

#20 Are you married to someone famous?

No.

[scottmsg]

Well, we're past 20, but I still have no clue, so here is my next question.

#21 - Was the event you were involved in political in nature?

[Eroica]

#22 - Has a movie been made about you?

[snowcelt]

23. Was there anything scandalous about your fame?

[Staiduk]

Well, we're past 20, but I still have no clue, so here is my next question.

#21 - Was the event you were involved in political in nature?

No. :)

[Staiduk]

#22 - Has a movie been made about you?

No... :)

[Staiduk]

23. Was there anything scandalous about your fame?

Hmmm - Scandalous; no. Controversial; yes.

[Eroica]

#24 - Was there a religious dimension to your fame?

[kucharek]

#25: Let's try brute force 8) :
Is the first letter of her last name in the range A-M?

[snowcelt]

#25. Was the controversy of a moral nature?

[Staiduk]

#24 - Was there a religious dimension to your fame?
no.

[Staiduk]

#25: Let's try brute force 8) :
Is the first letter of her last name in the range A-M?

Heh heh - do you swat flies with sledgehammers too? :LOL:

Yes. :D

[Staiduk]

#25. Was the controversy of a moral nature?

Ermm..... it could possibly be considered in that fashion; but I'd have to say no.

[ToSeek]

#25: Let's try brute force 8) :
Is the first letter of her last name in the range A-M?

That's already been established:

You are a female, that is not an actress, scientist, politician, newscaster, or singer, that was once on TV daily, but no longer, over the age of 50, "committed to the truth", and has a last name that starts with b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, or m.

[kucharek]

:oops:

[Eroica]

#26 - Are you or have you ever been a sportswoman?

[Staiduk]

#26 - Are you or have you ever been a sportswoman?
No. :)

[snowcelt]

#27 Is your claim to fame due to your stance in the environmental controvercy?

[Staiduk]

#27 Is your claim to fame due to your stance in the environmental controvercy?

No; sorry. :)

[Eroica]

Recap

You are:

female
alive
North American
not a scientist
not an actress
not a politician
not married to a politician
not a singer
not a newscaster
very committed to the truth
over 50 years of age
not over 6' tall
not married to someone famous
famous for an event that took place in the US
not a sportswoman
not Julia Childs
not involved in cookery programs
not famous for anything political
not famous for anything of a religious nature
not famous, strictly speaking, for anything of a moral nature
not famous for anything to do with environmentalism

You:

were once on TV daily (in the last 20 years), but not now
were under 50 when you were on TV
wrote a biography about the event for which you are famous
have a surname that begins with b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, or m
won no major awards
have not been made the subject of a movie
were controversial, but not scandalous

#28 - Is this all accurate and correct?

[Eroica]

#29 - Were you involved in education in any way?

[pghnative]

#30 Were you (or are you) a lawyer?

[Staiduk]

Recap

You are:

female
alive
North American
not a scientist
not an actress
not a politician
not married to a politician
not a singer
not a newscaster
very committed to the truth
over 50 years of age
not over 6' tall
not married to someone famous
famous for an event that took place in the US
not a sportswoman
not Julia Childs
not involved in cookery programs
not famous for anything political
not famous for anything of a religious nature
not famous, strictly speaking, for anything of a moral nature
not famous for anything to do with environmentalism

You:

were once on TV daily (in the last 20 years), but not now
were under 50 when you were on TV
wrote a biography about the event for which you are famous
have a surname that begins with b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, or m
won no major awards
have not been made the subject of a movie
were controversial, but not scandalous

#28 - Is this all accurate and correct?

Lol - Yes. :D

[Staiduk]

#29 - Were you involved in education in any way?

No.

[Staiduk]

#30 Were you (or are you) a lawyer?

Yes.

[pghnative]

Does your first name start with an "M"?

[Staiduk]

Does your first name start with an "M"?

:) :D Yes.

[pghnative]

#32 Are you Marcia Clark?

(who I don't think is famous enough, but is the most famous non-politician non-newsperson, non-actress who spent a lot of time on TV)

[Staiduk]

#32 Are you Marcia Clark?

(who I don't think is famous enough, but is the most famous non-politician non-newsperson, non-actress who spent a lot of time on TV)

Yes! Congrats!
=D> =D> =D> =D>

[kucharek]

Who's Marcia Clark? I don't claim I know everybody who is internationally famous, but I follow a lot of foreign news etc and I have not the slightest idea that I ever heard or read that name before.

Harald

[pghnative]

She was the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, which occured in ~ 1992, give or take a year. I'm sure that the trial itself was publicized worldwide, but certainly her name, and particularly her regular appearances on TV (both as a news "item", and later as an analyst for other trials) is probably uniquely American.

In other threads, whoever correctly guessed the contest was the one who continued it. So if everyone is game, I can continue.

[snowcelt]

Pghnative. Good job on guessing Marcia. I believe that you are correct in going next. Seems like a fun game to me.

[Staiduk]

Pghnative. Good job on guessing Marcia. I believe that you are correct in going next. Seems like a fun game to me.

Yup - Great job!

=D>

[Laser Jock]

Just wanted to bump this thread. It's your turn pghnative.

[pghnative]

Just wanted to bump this thread. It's your turn pghnative.
I'll bump again since I've been away for a short while. I'm internationally famous*, and I'm alive. We'll generally follow Staiduk's rules, except I see no need to number the questions --- I'll answer them in the order they're posted.

*famous at least to a subset of the world's population. I'm confident that this includes most of the people on this board.

[scottmsg]

Are you a man?

[Laser Jock]

Are you over 50 years old?

[pghnative]

No I'm not a man.

I am over 50.

PS -- I gotta go for a while. Will be back online in a few hours

[Makgraf]

Are you American?

[pghnative]

Yes, I'm American

[Makgraf]

Are you Hillary Clinton?

[pghnative]

No

[Staiduk]

Are you involved in the entertainment industry?
:)

[pghnative]

No, not involved in the entertainment industry. (Though I'm sure many people are entertained by the type of work that I did :D )

[Staiduk]

Hmmm - are you in politics? ;)

[pghnative]

No, I'm not a politician.

[kucharek]

Hmmm - are you in politics? ;)

Politics are not allowed on the BABB [-X

:lol:


Are you in science?

[R.A.F.]

Are you Martha Stewart?

[pghnative]

Yes, I'm in science --- be careful not to take that answer too specifically.

Which, redundently, means that I'm not Martha Stewart :D :D (well, I guess you could say that Martha is into food science)

[Laser Jock]

Yes, I'm in science --- be careful not to take that answer too specifically.


Interesting. Are you a pseudoscientist?

[pghnative]

No! -- I'm definitely a trained scientist.

[pghnative]

FYI, I'll be away for the weekend. Please go ahead and post questions/guesses. If I can get I-net access, I'll respond --- otherwise I'll reply on Sunday night.

[Laser Jock]

Ok, we know that you are a female American scientist over the age of 50.

Are you an astronomer? :wink:

[pghnative]

No, not an astronomer

[kucharek]

Astronaut?

[pghnative]

Astronaut?I was. Does that title pass on even after one stops flying???

To R.A.F -- yes, I am. But I think it's implied that you need to state my name, so whoever wants to continue this game had better type fast!

Edited once to add that I think R.A.F. deleted his/her post while I was typing. Either that or I'm hallucinating. Or both...

[R.A.F.]

Well, I just deleted my post, so as to not step on Kucharek's toes...he guessed it first, (basically) so he should "get it". :)

[pghnative]

Quite sporting of you. If kucharek doesn't guess soon, though, I'd say it's up for grabs

[NASA Fan]

Are you Sally Ride?

[Staiduk]

Quite sporting of you. If kucharek doesn't guess soon, though, I'd say it's up for grabs

I think I know who you are - but I don't want to muscle in on Kucharek either. So I'll ask one more question - no need to answer it until Kucharek comes on. :)

Are you also heavily into photography? :)

[kucharek]

Thanks for all your considerateness. My next guess would have been also Sally Ride, as she's the only female US astronaut that is really well known.

Harald

[pghnative]

Are you also heavily into photography? :)Umm... I seem to have forgotten. I'll have to go and check :D :D :D :D


My next guess would have been also Sally Ride, as she's the only female US astronaut that is really well knownCorrect! Your turn, if you'd like to continue.

[kucharek]

Okay. Here we go. Throw questions on me! :D

[pghnative]

Are you alive?

[kucharek]

Are you alive?

From staiduk's initial rules:

3) The subject can be anyone; anywhere, in any field. The only stipulation for this round is that the person is alive today.

[JimTKirk]

Are you from Europe?

[snowcelt]

Are you a woman?

[R.A.F.]

Are you a scientist?

[pghnative]

Are you alive?

From staiduk's initial rules:

3) The subject can be anyone; anywhere, in any field. The only stipulation for this round is that the person is alive today.Just making sure.

[NASA Fan]

Are you over 50?

[kucharek]

No.

[pghnative]

Which question is that an answer for? There are four questions pending!

[snowcelt]

Do you live south of the Equator?

[kucharek]

Ooops, sorry, I didn't see. Okay:

Are you from Europe? Yes

Are you a woman? No

Are you a scientist? No

Are you over 50? No

Do you live south of the Equator? No

[pghnative]

Are you from Germany?

[kucharek]

Are you from Germany? Yes. :D

[R.A.F.]

Are you, you? :lol:

[kucharek]

Are you, you? :lol:
Yes, I am me. But I'm not the one you have to look for. :D

[pghnative]

Are you a professional golfer?

[kucharek]

Are you a professional golfer?

No.

[Silent Knight]

Are you currently or formerly a politician?

[NASA Fan]

Here is what we know

You are

A man
who is alive
from Germany,
though you no longer live there
25-50 years old

You are NOT

A scientist. or
A professional golfer
a politician



Are you over 25?

[Makgraf]

Do you still live in Germany?

[kucharek]

Are you currently or formerly a politician?

No.

[kucharek]

Are you over 25? Yes.

[kucharek]

Do you still live in Germany? No.

[pghnative]

Did you first become world famous in 1985?

[NASA Fan]

Are you German astronaut Michael Gernhardt?

[kucharek]

Did you first become world famous in 1985?

I'm not Boris Becker (though his hometown is not far away from here). :-)

[kucharek]

Are you German astronaut Michael Gernhardt?

Nope. Is he German? I'd say, he's of German descent.

[scottmsg]

Are you a basketball player?

[kucharek]

Are you a basketball player? :-)

[scottmsg]

Are you Dirk Nowitzki?

[kucharek]

Are you Dirk Nowitzki? =D>

[pghnative]

Did you first become world famous in 1985?
I'm not Boris Becker. :-)Wow - good mind reading. Were there no other male German's under the age of 50 who did anything special in 1985???

scottmsg -- great guesswork. We were on the same track, but I picked the wrong sport :D. Your turn if you want to continue the game.

[scottmsg]

scottmsg -- great guesswork. We were on the same track, but I picked the wrong sport :D. Your turn if you want to continue the game.

Okay, I have someone picked out. This person is still alive and is somewhat famous.

BTW, when I was checking Nowitzki's age, I found out that I'm two days older than he is. :D

[kucharek]

Did you first become world famous in 1985?
I'm not Boris Becker. :-)Wow - good mind reading. Were there no other male German's under the age of 50 who did anything special in 1985???


Yeah, me! :lol:

[pghnative]

Okay, I have someone picked out. This person is still alive and is somewhat famous.Are you an American?

[Laser Jock]

Are you over 50?

[scottmsg]

Are you an American?

Yes

Are you over 50?

Yes

[pghnative]

Are you a politician?

[scottmsg]

Are you a politician?

No

[BAroxMysox]

Are you a comedian?

[scottmsg]

Are you a comedian?

No

[Staiduk]

Are you male?

[scottmsg]

Are you male?

Yes

[pghnative]

Are you on TV regularly?

[scottmsg]

Are you on TV regularly?

I am not on TV regularly. In this case, that means no daily, weekly, or any live television appearances.

[pghnative]

Are you an actor?

[scottmsg]

Are you an actor?

No

[ad hominem]

are you a scientist