I Really HATE My Bingo Word Trivia Quiz

Answer: The top of a demilune table usually comes in what shape?

An early trap that some Bingo authors get into is to ask very simple questions that don't really offer any challenge or interest. Questions about simple words that ask what something is, what you do with it, or what kind of thing it is are often far too easy for our general player audience. And considering we don't accept For Children questions as single question submissions, none of the overly simplistic questions would likely be accepted.

The demilune question, however, offers a bit of challenge while still keeping the essence of the idea of "table" alive. (The answer is a semicircle or half-moon, by the way.)

Answer: Montferrat is home to the wine Moscato d'Asti.

When writing about a topic that few players might naturally be knowledgeable about, it's best to drag the topic from obscure to approachable, rather than keep the topic obscure. Number questions are always difficult to pull off, and some of them (such as population numbers) are not allowed or are severely restricted in how they can be written.

The wine Moscato d'Asti is one that many players may have heard of, or even have personally drunk. Since this is something they can wrap their heads around more easily, we can craft a question that takes a rather obscure Bingo word into an interesting tidbit. The question might look something like this:

"The region of Montferrat in northern Italy is home to which variety of sparkling white wine?"

Answer: In the card game called "Scum," what title does the winner of a round receive?

Remember that the Bingo word can be used in either the question itself or as part of the answer. In this case, the answer of our Scum card game question would be "president" (and indeed the game itself is sometimes called "President").

The other three questions, which might immediately spring to mind for many players (particularly if you're from the U.S.), have already been asked many times on FunTrivia in many different iterations. They would likely get rejected by an editor on those grounds.

Be creative! Think of different approaches for your Bingo words.

Answer: march: Which of these instruments would be found in a marching band?

When writing a question using the Bingo word, and wanting to change it to some alternative form, make sure that the word is spelled exactly how you would find it on the Bingo card. Any alternative forms that do not retain the exact original spelling will not count.

If you want to know if your Bingo word has been recognized by the system, look for the word to change to an orange color on the Bingo card. If you want to know if an editor has accepted your question after the editing stage, look for a bold green color.

Answer: Cupid, the Roman god of love, was also known by what Latin name?

Asking a question about the Roman god of love focuses the Bingo word of "love" in a very central and interesting way. The Bingo word is, in essence, part of the whole that makes the question.

On the other hand, the question that starts "You're going to love this question!" doesn't use the Bingo word in any constructive way. There is no topic focus, and the word is thrown into the question without contributing anything of substance.

Editors will definitely let you know if you've used the Bingo word ineffectually, so make sure it is contributing something of worth!

Answer: unearthed

In the example question, the Bingo word "ear" is wedged inside the verb "unearthed." This is acceptable even though "ear" was originally referring to a body part. Because the word "unearthed" contributes to the question as a whole, that usage is allowed.

Feel free to experiment changing smaller words into larger ones, especially if the smaller word doesn't quite fit into a question well on its own.

(The answer to the question is Qin Shi Huang, if you were curious.)

Answer: The 2018 song "Katana" by obscure Indonesian hip-hop artist Joe Million is featured on what album?

There is often a temptation to default to a song, movie, or book title if you can't think of anything else when it comes to the Bingo word. While we do allow such usage, make sure that your example is something that a healthy portion of our players have a chance of answering.

Entertainment-related categories have been known to reject questions about artists or works that are very obscure. Just because a song/movie/book title has your Bingo word in it doesn't mean the question is suitable.

(Feel free to look up the answer to the Joe Million question if you are at all curious.)

Answer: No

Since FunTrivia is ultimately an American-owned website, the Bingo game uses American spellings for the words included in it. Unfortunately, this means that our authors that use spelling conventions from other countries need to use the American spelling when writing for the Bingo game.

As the system checks for the exact same order of letters included in the Bingo word, any letters inserted into the middle of the word will cause the system to no longer recognize it.

Answer: What do you do with coffee?

In this case "What do you do with coffee?" (with the answer probably being something like "drink it") is FAR too easy. An editor would send this back to you.

The other question doesn't contain the word "coffee" in the question directly, but the answer would be "coffee," so the question is a safe one to use.

Answer: Which of these bird species flies over the Atlantic Ocean?

While the word "butterfly" is slightly different than the concept of "fly," the Bingo word appears exactly how it was included on the Bingo card. However, "flies" would not count as it does not have the word "fly" appearing within it.

Good luck on your future Bingo endeavors!