Trivial Pursuit Error
Dave Esan
Interesting that you brought up trivial pursuit and its errors.
I played the game a few times and besides finding certain questions
not within my definition of trivia, and certainly not in the definition
of the category, I found at least three errors that I could document.
Yours makes a fifth (I discovered a fourth in an ad in Time magazine).
The ones I've found are:
1.A baseball game is not over until? (I will not discuss the use of English
in this question.) Do they want the real answer, the Yogi Berra answer, or
the Casey Stengel answer? They chose "until the last out." This is not
true since obviously a game can end when the home team scores the winning
run in the bottom of the ninth or later, in a forfeit, or in a rain shortened
game.
2. What planet did Mariner explore? Answer: Venus. Correct answer: Venus and
Mars.
3. Which was the first country to legalize abortion? Answer: Iceland, 1933.
Correct answer: USSR in 1917 (okay don't hit me, it was Russia at the time,
and not the USSR until later).
4. And in Time, in an ad for the game they asked: D'Artangan (sp?) was the
leader of which group? Answer: The Three Musketeers. Correct answer:
If these guys had read the book they would know that Athos was the leader
and that D'Artangan was a person attempting to join the group.
In answer to your query, I do not believe that JFK had any last words, and
that My God I've been shot, were said by John Connally in the same car. I
can't prove this, and may be wrong.
I would interested in other people could post to net.trivia any additional
errors they find in trivial pursuit, or any of the dozens of look alikes
that have surfaced.
David Esan
James McParland
The authors of Trivial Pursuit have admitted to at least 15 errors
in the original "Genus" edition of the game. Maybe that can become a
trivia question in a new edition...
Jim McParland
ATT-IS (is that what we're called this week?)
kitc!mac
Bob Garmise
Q: Which country is proud to claim Volcanos National Park?
A: U.S.
However, every reference I have says its real name is Hawaii
Volcanos National Park.
...bob garmise...at&t bell labs, columbus...
Will Martin
answer has changed since the game was printed or devised, like who did
the most "x" in baseball, or what bridge is longest) be to have the questions
specify the date of writing? Thus, they become, "As of January, 1983, the
longest suspension bridge in the world is:", and so on.
Using this format can also add an element of difficult, if you desire:
"As of January, 1937, the tallest building West of the Mississippi River is:"
(hmmm... I just made that up off the top of my head. Would the correct
answer be "The Empire State Building"? After all, if you go West far enough,
you come 'round again. And that was built by then, I think...)
Anyway, now all you have to do is get the Trivial Pursuit people to
recall all their games on grounds of errancy, and reissue cards printed
with all the caveats necessary. Class-action suit, anyone?
Will
Sherry Mann
Q. How many Pope John's have there been?
A. ~20 (not sure of their answer, but I know it was less
than 23 because I know that in the late 50's, early
sixties there was a Pope John XXIII - I named a puppy
after him (I was living in a rectory apartment at the
time and thought PJ-23 a clever name).
Ken Fishkin
>
>Using this format can also add an element of difficult, if you desire:
>"As of January, 1937, the tallest building West of the Mississippi River is:"
>(hmmm... I just made that up off the top of my head. Would the correct
>answer be "The Empire State Building"? After all, if you go West far enough,
>you come 'round again. And that was built by then, I think...)
>
When I was in Minneapolis this summer, I was told that some building
there (the IDS building?) was the tallest building west of the Miss.
until recently. What is it now? The TransAmerica pyramid?
--
Ken Fishkin Berkeley Computer Graphics Lab
ucbvax!fishkin fishkin@berkeley
T C Wheeler
wrong Ever hear of the 'Twin Towers' of the Trade Center?
Will Martin
> wrong Ever hear of the 'Twin Towers' of the Trade Center?
This is most strange. Did you READ the item? It was explicitly and
repeatedly referring to citing conditions AS OF A CERTAIN DATE.
The example given clearly began "As of January, 1937...".
Read that again. "1937", see? I have no idea of the actual construction dates
of the World Trade Center, but I thought it was in the 60's or thereabouts.
The only purpose of the whole thing was to discuss the "As of [date]"
concept. I would add more, but every phrase that comes to mind is
pure "ad hominem" attack and would move this to net.flame...
Good Grief!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!