1039 replies to this topic

[Graham Clayton]

Fellow NF members,

I saw this guessing competition on another bulletin board, and thought that it might be worth while trying on the Nostalgia Forum board.

As the name implies, the game involves trying to guess the identity of a driver using 20 questions or less which can be answered with either "Yes" or "No".

A new question cannot be asked until a "Yes" or 'No" response has been given to the previous question.

As well as giving "Yes" or "No" responses, the person "hosting" the quiz also states how many questions have been asked, and how many of the 20 questions are left.

Guesses can be made at any time, but they count as a question. The trick is to ask questions that eliminate most possibilities so that a guess can be made towards the end of the 20 questions.

The player who guesses the correct answer then chooses another driver. The 20 questions then commence again.

The main issue is determining how large the pool of prospective drivers should be. As this is the F1 Nostalgia Forum, should the drivers be limited to pre-1950 Grand Prix or post 1950-World Championship drivers only, or should sports car, NASCAR, touring cars or non-FI open wheeler drivers be considered? Should non-driver topics be considered, eg types of cars, circuits as well?

I have chosen a driver for the first quiz, so who is willing to ask the first question? I will attempt to give responses on a daily basis in order to keep the quiz moving along.

[Tom Thomas]

Is the driver European?

[Graham Clayton]

Yes, the driver is European.

1 question asked - 19 questions left.

[Scuderia SSS]

Is he older than 30 ?

[Graham Clayton]

Yes, the driver is over 30 years of age.

2 questions asked - 18 questions left

[Barry Boor]

Did he win one or more World Championship Grand Prix races?

[Graham Clayton]

No, this driver did not win any World Championship Grand Prix races.

3 questions asked - 17 questions left.

[subh]

Was this driver active in the 1970s?

[HEROS]

Is he a British driver ?

[David Beard]

Originally posted by HEROS
Is he a British driver ?

You can't ask yet, HEROS, if I understand the rules correctly ;) (Graham hasn't yet answered the last question)

[Gary Davies]

As a perfectly ridiculous aside while Graham is preparing his next yes or no card, I can't help being reminded of What's my line? ...."And will our next guest sign in please..."

Lady Isobel Barnett would have sliced through a thread like this ...

[kayemod]

Going further with the 'What's my line' analogy, if Graham had provided a bit of mime at the beginning, we'd all have the answer by now.

[ensign14]

I dunno, there's a lot of wankers...

[Gary Davies]

Shouldn't that be "there are a lot of wankers.."?

[f1steveuk]

Originally posted by Vanwall
Shouldn't that be "there are a lot of wankers.."?

Is that the collective name??? Choir of angels, pride of lions, murder of crows, , just wondered

anyway is it De Cesaris??

[macoran]

Seems to me you are only supposed to ask a question in the "wee" hours ?

[kayemod]

Originally posted by ensign14
I dunno, there's a lot of wankers...

I wonder how you'd mime some kind of operational failure with a soapy stick? Maybe it is De Cesaris.

[ensign14]

Why is it that at the first mention of "wanker" the name De Cesaris seems to come to mind?

[jo-briggs]

As it is a singular Lot then there is a lot of wankers is quite correct, though I'm not quite sure whether Herr Wankers was Austrian or German, or for whom he drove. And shouldn't it be pronouced Vankers?

[macoran]

Originally posted by ensign14
Why is it that at the first mention of "wanker" the name De Cesaris seems to come to mind?

he "winked"a lot or were they twitches ?

[Vicuna]

Originally posted by ensign14
Why is it that at the first mention of "wanker" the name De Cesaris seems to come to mind?

If we're playing word association, then rhymes with banker, starts with 'w' leads me to the 1992 World Champion.

Are there any other contenders?

Anyway, the way we play 20 questions is that if you guess and get it wrong, you're out!

[Tmeranda]

Originally posted by jo-briggs
As it is a singular Lot then there is a lot of wankers is quite correct, though I'm not quite sure whether Herr Wankers was Austrian or German, or who he drove for. And shouldn't it be pronouced Vankers?

First Man: How do you pronounce it Wanker or Vanker
Second Man: Vanker
First Man: Thank you
Second Man: Your Velcome!

[Vicuna]

In the 1990 USA cencus, Wanker was the 53,492nd most common surname.

;) (Winker)

[kayemod]

Originally posted by Vicuna
In the 1990 USA cencus, Wanker was the 53,492nd most common surname.

;) (Winker)

That expains an awful lot.

[Graham Clayton]

Originally posted by subh
Was this driver active in the 1970s?

Yes, this driver was active in the 1970's.

4 questions asked - 16 questions left.

[Richard Jenkins]

Originally posted by HEROS
Is he a British driver ?

I'll ask this again on behalf of HEROS.

[Graham Clayton]

No, this driver is not British.

5 questions asked - 15 questions left.

[macoran]

Did he ever drive a Connew ?

[Ray Bell]

Hey, wait a minute!

Nobody asked yet, "Is (was) he animal, vegetable or mineral?"























Don't you blokes know anything about playing this 20 questions game at all?

[Graham Clayton]

Originally posted by macoran
Did he ever drive a Connew ?

No, this driver did not drive a Connew.

6 questions asked - 14 questions left.

[Graham Clayton]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
Hey, wait a minute!

Nobody asked yet, "Is (was) he animal, vegetable or mineral?"

No, this driver is not an animal, vegetable or mineral.

7 questions asked - 13 questions left.























Don't you blokes know anything about playing this 20 questions game at all?

[David Shaw]

Is he from a country that was an ally of Britain in the Second World War?

[Graham Clayton]

No, this driver is not from a country that was an ally of Britain during the Second World War.

8 questions asked - 12 questions left.

[Ray Bell]

Is/was he/she male?





























As necessary as the 'animal, vegetable or mineral' question!

[Graham Clayton]

Yes, this driver is male.

9 questions asked - 11 questions left.

[Frank S]

Did this European,
over-30,
winner of no World Championship Grand Prix races,
active in the 1970s,
non-British,
non-Connew-driving,
Non-animal (!) vegetable or mineral,
non-ally,
male driver,
survive until today?

[David Birchall]

Vitorio Brambilla

[Ray Bell]

Good job that question doesn't count...

[David Birchall]

Borrox!!
Is it Vittorio Brambilla?

[Ray Bell]

No, it doesn't count, even if you changed it from 'Ronnie Petersen'...

Frank S has a question in ahead of you.

[David Shaw]

You also might want to look at the results of the '75 Austrian GP David.

[Graham Clayton]

Originally posted by Frank S
Did this European,
over-30,
winner of no World Championship Grand Prix races,
active in the 1970s,
non-British,
non-Connew-driving,
Non-animal (!) vegetable or mineral,
non-ally,
male driver,
survive until today?

Yes, this driver is still alive today.

10 questions asked - 10 questions left.

[Ray Bell]

German?

[Graham Clayton]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
German?

No, this driver is not German.

11 questions asked - 9 questions left.

[David Shaw]

Is this driver Italian?

[Graham Clayton]

Originally posted by David Shaw
Is this driver Italian?

Yes, this driver is Italian.

12 questions asked - 8 questions left.

[Gary Davies]

Was he ever a regular works driver?

[Graham Clayton]

Originally posted by Vanwall
Was he ever a regular works driver?

Yes, he was a regular works driver.

13 questions asked - 7 questions left.

[AAA-Eagle]

Has he ever raced a Ferrari in WDC race?

[David Hyland]

Noting that this question doesn't count, because there is a currently pending question ;) :

Just out of interest Graham, how would you have answered the question "Is the driver over 30?" if the driver had died at an age younger than 30, but would now be over 30 if he had survived?

(A good reason for asking the question "Is the driver alive?" before asking anything about age, methinks)

Also, in the context of "20 questions", I think "animal" (as in "animal, vegetable or mineral?") is usually interpreted to include the human animal. But since we're only allowing Yes/No answers, the answer to "Is the driver animal, vegetable or mineral?" therefore always has to be "Yes", so it's not perhaps the most enlightening of questions.