All decisions of the tournament director are final.
The term tournament director includes the director's designated agents or committees.
Each game will have a moderator. The moderator will read the questions, enforce
time limits, determine the correctness of answers, award and deduct
points, and otherwise enforce the rules of competition. If no scorekeeper
is present, the moderator will also keep the official running score.
Each game may have a scorekeeper, who will keep an official running score. The
moderator may delegate recognition and/or timekeeping duties to
the scorekeeper if one is present.
B. Equipment
Matches should be played with a "buzzer," electronic equipment which determines
which player signals first. Should no working buzzers be available,
tournament officials may require players to signal by physical means.
Teams may agree to use a partially working buzzer system. If either team objects,
the game will be played or resumed without a buzzer.
In the absence of a completely functioning buzzer system, a designated official
will be the final judge of which player signaled first. These determinations
are not protestable.
If a player objects to using a working buzzer because of religious or other
reasons, the player may signal in a suitable manner, and a designated
official will be the final judge of which player signaled first.
These determinations are not protestable.
Each player is responsible for monitoring whether his or her own buzzer is operating
properly throughout a match. If a buzzer malfunctions, only the
current tossup or the just completed tossup can be replayed, subject
to the moderator's ruling that the malfunction affected play of
that question.
C. Participants
All participants are responsible individuals and will be treated as such.
Players and schools are responsible for any liability arising from their
conduct while at the tournament, or while traveling to or from such events.
A team consists of any number of players who meet all eligibility rules. It is suggested,
for ease of administration and to match currently available buzzer
systems, that a maximum of eight members comprise a team, with no
more than four playing at any one time. Teams may, of course, play
short, with a minimum of one player.
No player may play for two different teams in the course of a tournament.
A team may substitute one or more players at halftime or before the first overtime
question. Players substituted for may reenter the game at a later
opportunity.
A coach is a person who acts in a recognized advisory role to a particular
team. A coach may not be a player for any team in the tournament.
A team can have an unlimited number of coaches or no coach, but
only one may be designated the official coach prior to each match.
A person may act as a coach for any number of teams.
D. Questions
Each game uses tossup questions worth 10 points each and bonus questions worth 30 points each.
A team receives a bonus question for each tossup question correctly answered by one of its players (except in overtime).
E. Time
Lateness of more than 5 minutes may result in a forfeit, unless this lateness
is the fault of the tournament, or the tournament director is satisfied with other good cause.
A game consists 20 tossup questions and their associated bonus questions.
The team with more points at the end of the game wins. If the score is tied:
An overtime period consisting of three tossup questions will follow. Bonuses
are not used in overtime.
If the game is still tied after three tossups, the moderator will read
tossup questions until the score changes.
F. Tossups
A player may signal to answer a tossup question at any point after the moderator
has begun reading the question. Only one player per team may signal
to answer each tossup.
When a player has signaled, a game official will recognize the player by name,
or by number, or by pointing toward the player. There is no penalty
if a player who has signaled answers before being recognized.
If a player signals before the moderator has finished reading, the moderator
will stop at that point. If the answer given is incorrect, the moderator
will finish the question for the other team only (if they are still
eligible to answer the question). The moderator need not reread
the entire question, but should resume at a natural point in the
question.
An answer to a tossup must begin within 2 seconds after the player has been
recognized. An answer begun after the moderator has said "Time"
will be treated as no answer. Ties between the player and the moderator
are decided in favor of the player.
Players have 2 seconds to signal after the moderator has finished reading the
tossup. If the player answers incorrectly, the other team (if it
is eligible to answer), will then have two more seconds to signal.
Some questions may permit more time, which will be noted specifically
by the question.
Decisions as to whether players have exceeded the allotted time to signal
or to answer may be rendered only by the game officials of a given
match and are not protestable.
Each tossup question is worth 10 points.
There is a 5-point penalty if the first team interrupts a tossup with an incorrect
answer. The second team will not be assessed a 5-point penalty for
an incorrectly interrupted tossup - but it is still a good idea
to listen to the entire question.
If a player who was not the first to signal gives an answer:
If the player who answers is on the other team from the first player
to signal, the moderator will ignore the answer and will recognize
the player on the other team who had actually signaled. Only
that player will have a chance to answer, as the non-signaler
has disqualified his team on that tossup by illegal conferral.
If the player who answers is a teammate of the first player to signal,
the moderator will treat the response as an incorrect answer
from that team, assess a 5-point penalty to the player who answered,
if appropriate, and turn the question over to the other team.
If a player answers because an official incorrectly identified who signaled
first, the question must be replaced.
If the moderator inadvertently reveals the answer to a question after one team has
given an incorrect answer, but before the other team has had a chance
to answer, the moderator will read a tossup for the second team
only. If neither team has had a chance to answer, the tossup is
thrown out and replaced.
Players may engage in non-verbal, non-written conferral with teammates (not
alternates, coaches, or spectators) on tossup questions, provided
that the conferring does not convey any substantive information
about the answer. In other words, players may hold their buzzers
forward, gesticulate, or otherwise indicate that they know the answer,
but cannot indicate in any manner what they believe the answer
to be, nor can they communicate with teammates verbally or in writing.
Illegal conferring on a tossup question will be treated as an incorrect
answer.
G. Bonuses
Teams may confer on bonuses. The team captain may give the answer for the
team or clearly indicate who will give the answer.
A team has 5 seconds to answer each part of a bonus question, unless otherwise
noted by the question. After reading each part, the moderator will
prompt the team for an answer after 4 seconds. Once prompted, the
team captain must begin answering, or the captain must immediately
designate the person who will answer.
A team may begin its answer before the end of a bonus question. In such cases,
the moderator stops reading when the team begins its answer. If
the bonus contains another part, the moderator then asks the next
part.
If the bonus question contains multiple parts, a team may answer only the part
that is being read. Any "introduction" (e.g., "For 10 points
each--given a Vice-President of the United States, name the President
under whom he served.") belongs to the first part of the question.
If a bonus question calls for multiple answers, the answer must be given as
a continuous list. Any pause of 1 second ends the answer. The moderator
will not prompt a team to complete its answer if it gives a partial
list.
On progressive bonuses, with three clues to a single answer ("30-20-10" questions),
a team may answer after each part. On list bonuses that call for
a specific order, the moderator matches the first given answer to
the first correct answer, the second to the second, etc., to determine
correctness. If a bonus calls for no specific order for multiple
answers, a team may give the answers in any order.
If a moderator inadvertently reveals the answer to a bonus or to part of a bonus
before the team has answered, the next bonus will be read, instead.
However, the team may not earn more or fewer points on the replacement
bonus than would have been possible with completion of the original
bonus. For example: a team earns 10 points on a three-part bonus
before the moderator botches the third part; they will get a replacement
bonus, but will receive a minimum of 10 points, even if they actually
score only 5 on the replacement bonus, and a maximum of 20, even
if they actually score 30.
H. Correct Answers
The moderator will accept only the first answer given by a player, except for
multiple answer questions and situations enumerated below.
Anything a player says will be ignored unless it modifies the first answer
given. For example, if a player says Nixon, Watergate,
the moderator will consider only Nixon. If
a player says Nixon, Fred Nixon, then the moderator
will consider Fred Nixon. Similarly, matter,
cold dark, is treated the same as cold dark
matter.
Modifying words before the first noun of a response are, of course, considered
as one answer with the noun.
Extraneous information preceding a response is disregarded (e.g.,
What is a wombat? or They're all Californians),
unless the moderator determines that the extraneous information
was given in an unsporting attempt to delay the game, in which
case the response is treated as incorrect (in addition to any
other penalty for misconduct). Harmless or inadvertent embellishment
of responses will not be penalized, so long as the embellishment
does not make the response wrong.
If a question has multiple answers, a player may give multiple responses in any
order, and without a pause of 1 second between responses. Since
the multiple responses are still considered one answer, the moderator
will rule the answer as wrong if any part is wrong.
Multiple responses are permissible under these situations.
The created works rule (defined below).
Director-movie.
City (or specific location)-state (or equivalent)-country (or equivalent), in any combination.
When called for by the question.
The created works rule.
The created works rule applies to works that are created by individual humans,
corporations, groups, or computers, such as books, pamphlets,
essays, stories, plays, scientific theorems and theories, inventions,
products, compositions, artwork, and musical compositions, but
not movies. This rule also includes architectural work-architect,
choreographer (or composer)-work of dance, librettist-libretto
(or opera). Being able to copyright or patent the product usually
establishes this rule (except for movies).
The link between creator and created work must be obvious. One may not
use this rule for instances in which the creation is a multi-faceted
effort (though one such circumstance, director-movie, is separately
acceptable).
To receive credit, a response must indicate exact and unambiguous knowledge
of the correct answer. The moderator's question sheet will also
list acceptable alternate answers. The minimal information for a
correct answer is underlined.
If a player gives an answer that demonstrates exact knowledge, but is ambiguous,
the moderator will prompt by saying "more information, please" (e.g.,
a player says Roosevelt, and the answer sought
is Eleanor Roosevelt.) Unless
otherwise noted by the question, the moderator will not state what
type of information is sought by the prompt (e.g., it would
be inappropriate for the moderator to say "I need a first name.")
On a multiple-answer bonus, however, the moderator should indicate
which part of the answer is ambiguous. A moderator may prompt more
than once so long as each additional clarification by the player
demonstrates exact, but still ambiguous knowledge.
A player who has been prompted on a bonus may quickly check with a teammate for
the further information, or simply designate that person to give
the additional information, so long as it is not done in an unsporting
attempt to delay the game.
The following are generally acceptable for persons, unless the question indicates
otherwise: last names for real persons, first or last names for
fictional characters, nicknames that are nearly universally known
(e.g., LBJ but not Landslide Lyndon),
pseudonyms, birth names, unmarried or married names, and royal names.
Dates must be exact (e.g., the year 71 will not be
accepted if the answer is 1971.) Years given will
be assumed to be A.D./C.E. unless otherwise modified. Moderators
will not prompt a player to differentiate in cases of ambiguity.
Titles of works must be exact, except that leading articles may be omitted.
All words other than leading articles must be correct (e.g.,
Bridge of San Luis Rey is acceptable, but Bridge
over San Luis Rey is not.) Rarely will subtitles or working
titles be accepted for the published title.
If an incorrect leading article is used, the response is incorrect
(e.g., A Bridge of San Luis Rey is not
acceptable.)
Insertion of a leading article before a title where none exists will not
invalidate an answer (e.g., The San Francisco
Chronicle for San Francisco Chronicle),
so long as no other ambiguity is introduced (e.g., Invisible
Man by Wells is acceptable; The Invisible Man
by Ellison is not.)
Commonly used titles may be accepted if the actual title is long and
cumbersome (e.g., Wealth of Nations
in lieu of Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations).
Common acronyms and abbreviations are often acceptable (e.g., chemical symbols,
state postal abbreviations, organizational acronyms), unless they
appear in the question, in which case the moderator may prompt the
player to expand the acronym or abbreviation. If the question does
not indicate, the moderator will take the response as correct if
a tossup, and will prompt if a bonus.
If a player interrupts a question and gives a response that is equivalent to
the answer sought, but the response is later used in the question
as a clue, the moderator will take the answer as correct if a tossup,
and will prompt if a bonus, unless the question directs otherwise.
Titles and names in the original language of the answer are almost always acceptable.
Actual English translations will also be accepted (e.g.,
for the Camus work, L'Etranger is acceptable, as
is The Stranger or The Outsider--the
original British translation--but Der Fremde is
not, as the work was not originally written in German.) Beware,
as many translations are not true to their original language's meaning,
such as the German film Himmel Ueber Berlin, which
is Wings of Desire in English.
If a question asks to identify an answer from a list, the player must name the
exact answer (e.g., NOT the second thing you read
or the one that started with F).
Players may spell answers, but it is considered misconduct for a player to spell
an answer intending to delay the game.
Pronunciations do not have to be exact. A plausible or phonetic pronunciation is
usually acceptable, unless it demonstrates a fundamental lack of
understanding about the correct answer (e.g., Malcolm
the Tenth is not acceptable for Malcolm X).
As a general rule, while leeway may be given to vowel sounds, consonants
should be in the correct order (e.g., Olduvai
is not the same as Olvudai), and syllables should
not be added or omitted.
A player may be prompted to spell a phonetically close response. In such cases,
the exact spelling is not always required (e.g., a player
says Muh-NAY and is prompted. A response of M-A-N-A-Y
would be sufficient to remove ambiguity with Monet.)
At the end of each question (or each part of a non-progressive bonus), the
moderator will read the correct answer if no one correctly answered.
The moderator may wait until the end of the half if the answer is
long or complicated. If both teams agree, the moderator may be directed
to refrain from reading the correct answers. This decision must
be made at the beginning of a half, and may be revoked at the request
of either team at halftime.
While UF College Bowl strives to include all acceptable alternate answers, players
should resist giving esoteric equivalents when they know the more
common response. The verification of such responses may slow down
a tournament needlessly. Also, many supposed equivalents vary in
subtle ways from the answer sought, and may be wrong for highly
technical reasons.
I. Protests
Mistakes happen (well, we hope not, but ...). Take a deep breath and treat the tournament
staff and the opposing team calmly. We all want a perfect tournament,
and will do our best to correct errors with your cooperation.
Protests may be lodged only by an active player or by the official coach and
should be lodged immediately after the question in protest. All
protests about events in the first half must be lodged before the
second half begins.
The person making the protest should briefly explain the nature of the protest.
Protestable matters include the acceptability of an answer, the
execution of game procedures, scoring errors, insufficient prompt
or excessive underlining, and like factors that have a concrete
and quantifiable effect on the game.
If a question contains a verifiable factual error which misled a player into giving
a reasonable response, the response given will be accepted as correct
only if the information available when the player signaled uniquely
identifies the given response. Otherwise, the question will be replaced
as if the moderator had prematurely revealed the answer.
Technical protests, such as an incorrect score, as well as protests that can
be quickly resolved, may be handled by the staff in the affected
game. Insofar as possible, the game must not be delayed because
of protests. Protests will not be adjudicated until the end of the
half, except in exceptional situations in which the moderator decides
the problem can be quickly corrected.
For protests lodged in the first half, game officials should try to quickly resolve
the protest to both teams' satisfaction, pursuant to Rule (I.5).
If this cannot be done, the protest will be deferred to the end
of the second half. No protest(s) will be adjudicated unless it
(they) could change the outcome of the match. For example, if one
team loses by 50 points and protests a 10 point bonus answer, the
protest will not be considered. If the game officials are unable
to resolve a protest quickly to both teams' satisfaction, the protest
may be appealed to the tournament director.
The tournament director may resolve a protest with or without a protest committee,
depending upon the protest (e.g., one that simply requires
verifying the correctness of an answer with a reference source).
If the tournament director gives a decision, it is final.
The tournament director may choose to convene a protest committee by selecting
three or more tournament staff (which may include the tournament
director) not involved with the game. The committee's decision is
final.
If a protest is upheld, the remedy is to restore the game to its condition had
the error not been made. Thus, all points erroneously awarded or
not awarded shall be removed or added. If a team was incorrectly
credited with a tossup, both the tossup points and any bonus points
will be removed. If the other team was not given a chance to answer
the tossup, it shall hear a replacement tossup and, if answered
correctly, a bonus. Once a decade or so, a protest remedy may call
for the replaying of a significant portion of a game.
If a protest is not upheld, life goes on.
J. Ethics and Conduct
All players, coaches, institutional representatives, and other persons associated
with a team are bound by an honor code to behave responsibly and
ethically. This includes, but is not limited to: treating all other
participants and staff with courtesy, not receiving or giving impermissible
assistance, not creating the temptation for another to cheat, abiding
by all decisions of the tournament staff, not colluding with another
person to "fix" a match result, not intentionally "throwing" a match,
honestly reporting details of game situations to tournament officials,
and promptly reporting violations of this honor code to a tournament
staff member.
Any tournament official may find that a player, coach, institutional representative,
or other person associated with a team during the tournament has
committed misconduct. Misconduct includes disruptive behavior, unethical
behavior, any violation of the honor code, or other unsporting conduct.
Officials may interpret these categories broadly.
All instances of misconduct must be reported to the tournament director at the
conclusion of the game, or as soon as practical.
Instances of misconduct may result in sanctions to be determined by the tournament
director. These sanctions include, but are not limited to, suspension
of a participant from one or more matches, loss of game(s) for a
team, score adjustment, or expulsion from the tournament for an entire team.
Unless the tournament director decides otherwise, other staff may not impose
sanctions, except that a moderator must eject from a game any person
found to have committed misconduct a second time during that game
(i.e., a tournament director may give the staff greater powers
to sanction than this minimum.) A player ejected from a game may
not be replaced during that game.
Sanctions are not appealable.
UF High School Tournament Variations to NAQT Rules