Wild and Crazy Quiz Writing

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. It helps to come up with a nutty sounding idea - say, writing a quiz on insect wings. Which of the following would not present a challenge in writing such a quiz?

Answer: Getting an editor to seriously evaluate your quiz

I would contend that a wacky quiz can be written on any topic no matter how narrow and dull it might seem. A quick look at Uglybird's quiz list would underscore Funtrivia.com's editor's willingness to place online quizzes dealing with obscure topics. On this list are quizzes on a single work of art executed by a Dadaist artist, a quiz on a man who reached an altitude of 10,000 feet while riding a lawn chair to which weather balloons were attached, a quiz on English monasteries, and even a quiz on the life and death of a helium balloon.

The Internet is a sure remedy for your ignorance of insect wings. No, the challenge when one has selected a seemingly dull topic such as "insect wings" is to create a title that will lure the potential player into reading the introduction.

2. You've decided to write a quiz on insect wings and to entitle the quiz "Flying With Bugs." Which of the following first introduction sentences seems LEAST likely to attract players?

Answer: This quiz will explore the inherent humor implicit in the entomologic study of flying insects.

In writing a humorous quiz on a potentially serious topic, the title must arouse a glimmer of hope in the potential player of there being a modicum of entertainment value in the quiz. The introduction must convince the reader that the quiz is entirely without serious intent and may even be fun to play.

3. Planning to write a wacky entertaining quiz on the dull topic of insect wings, a topic about which you know nothing, you wish to insure that you have not stumbled unknowingly into a well-covered subject. Which of the following methods would most rapidly and effectively provide you with information on the number of insect wing quizzes and questions?

Answer: Using Google, search "insect wing site:www.funtrivia.com/playquiz.cfm".

Hopefully, no one would consider addressing such a question to an FT editor. Funtrivia.com's quiz search feature would disclose any quizzes with "bird wings" in the title but would not find the host of bird wing questions that might be tucked into more general quizzes. Reading all quizzes in the "Animals:Invertebrate" category would not only be time consuming but would miss the only question on insect wings on FT quizzes at the time this quiz was written, since it is in the "General" category.

Searching Google with the string "bird wing site:www.funtrivia.com/playquiz.cfm" will reveal any quiz question containing the two words "bird" and "wing" and display the title of the quiz as well.

In 2007 in the FunTrivia database, such a search provided no hits. (A similar search on "Harry Potter" returned more than 100 hits each representing a separate quiz containing the term "Harry Potter".) More extensive searching of Funtrivia's quizzes at the time indicated that the only reference the "bird wing site:www.funtrivia.com/playquiz.cfm" search missed was a question in the "General" category referring to "The Queen Alexandra's Birdwing butterfly".

4. Having decided to attempt to write a humorous quiz on the topic of insect wings, which of the following Google searches is least likely to uncover the type of off-the-wall information about insect wings you are seeking?

Answer: Insect wings

The Bard can often turn out to be a source for a thoroughly wacky, while still interesting question. The Shakespeare insect search leads not only to a paper on Shakespearean entomology but to information regarding a book entitled "Insect Poetics". As a result of an "insect wing humor" search, I became familiar with Viktor Grebennikov's paper on insect antigravity. Through the "Sci Fi insect wing" search, I learned of "The SadGeezers Guide to Cult TV Sci Fi".

5. You are attempting to write an engaging quiz on the intrinsically dull subject of insect wings. You decide to find (should one exist) a humorous insect wing quotation. At which website could you find the five most visited quotation sites?

Answer: Alexa.com

How, you might be asking, does one find the five most visited (and therefore potentially most useful) websites on a particular topic? The author believes the answer to this question to be the most helpful aid to quiz writing he has to pass on. (The founder of Funtrivia.com's QuizWriters Guild, Nutmeglad, made me aware of this astonishing resource as I was writing this quiz). Visit "Alexa.com". There you will find not only a listing of the top websites based on traffic to those sites, but you will see a link to listings of top sites by subject. If you wish, there is a link to a list of all 80 quotation sites that Alexa.com tracks. Although popularity hardly guarantees quality, it may well suggest sites that are worth a lock. The ability to search many subcategories is a particularly useful feature.

Is it truly fair, some might ask, to inquire about the result of searching five websites for on an obscure topic? In my opinion, it wouldn't be fair unless I telegraphed the correct answer. An experienced quiz taker would no doubt notice that three of the answers are clearly "best website" links. The answer correct answer is the one not even mentioning the topic. I may compose a quiz on telegraphing/telegraphed quiz answers in the future.

6. Sometimes when writing a ridiculous quiz, it's worth taking a chance on the existence of a weird website. Which of the following websites actually exist?

Answer: Both

It never hurts to remember when writing ridiculous quizzes that there are bound to be correspondingly ridiculous websites.

7. Surely no deliberately off-the-wall insect quiz should lack a Bard bug question. Which of the following sites has the ability to do a word search on Shakespeare's works?

Answer: RhymeZone.com

The RhymeZone is an invaluable resource for creation of questions related to the Bard. It contains searchable text for Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, a compendium of his coined words and a continuously updated list of the most frequently referenced lines.

8. Intending to write a quiz with a humorous bent on insect wings, you have stumbled across a fascinating paper on Shakespearean entomology, a book on insect poetics and an obscure paper on insect anti-gravity. Would any state or federal statute be broken if you changed the topic of your quiz?

Answer: No

A willingness to be "led by the web", which is generally beneficial when writing Funtrivia quizzes, is especially useful when constructing humorous quizzes. Of course, one must be careful in using websites not to cross the line into plagiary. Ever wonder about plagiary? Consider playing "Quiz - Plagiarism" at "http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/General/Plagiarism-75134.html".

9. After originally beginning a quiz on insect wings, you have become fascinated with the topic "Entomology Etymology". Which of the following websites could provide you with the etymology of the word insect?

Answer: Both

Both sites are reasonable sources of etymologic information. This author has found the "Oxford English Dictionary" online to be the best source, but access to the OED requires a password. Check your local library if you are interested, as some provide access. Alternatively, individual web subscriptions are available.

10. Having completed your insect wing quiz you are now considering one on flying insect anagrams. On which of the following sites would one find an advanced anagram server?

Answer: Any of these

I have worked mostly with the "Wordsmith" anagram server. Of course, such tools should only be used for anagram quiz creating and never for anagram quiz solving (ha, ha!).

In this quiz, I have disclosed most of the techniques that help me create quizzes that are... well... a bit off. No doubt most were already known to you, but I hope at least some original, thoroughly absurd quizzes and quiz questions will be generated as a result of this quiz.

Source: Author uglybird

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Exit10 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

See if you're cut out to write wacky quizzes. Interesting information sections disclose this author's favorite web sources of odd and entertaining quiz tidbits.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>