just good at answering general knowledge questions?’
‘ Before they’re even asked?’ said Izzy.
‘Huh?’ I said.
‘It’s not very noticeable until you listen carefully for it, because the questions are very quick-fire,’ explained Izzy. ‘But it’s like this: each team has a
buzzer, right? First team to buzz gets first go at answering, right? Several times, Spykeside have buzzed before that twerpy DJ who’s asking the questions has even finished.’
‘Lucky guesses?’ I said. ‘You see that sometimes on quiz shows. People can sometimes correctly anticipate the question.’
‘Forty-three times?’ said Izzy. ‘Once we started getting suspicious, I went back and checked. I counted. Don’t forget, Spykeside have been in exactly the same number of
heats as we have. That’s forty-three times in three half-hour quizzes they’ve pressed their buzzer before the end of the question. And thirteen of those times, they pressed the buzzer
before you could sensibly anticipate what the question was going to be. Like I said, it’s actually quite easy to miss unless you’re listening out for it, because of the speed of the
questions.’
‘It could still be that they’re simply very, very bright,’ I said.
‘OK,’ said Izzy. ‘Here’s an example. Answer this question: Who was the third actor . . . ?’
I stared at her. ‘The third actor who what?’ I asked.
‘Exactly,’ said Izzy.
‘That’s when Spykeside buzzed,’ said Jeremy. ‘And they got it right. Roger Moore. Who was the third actor to play James Bond in the official movie series?’
I thought for a moment, hmmmm-ing and wrinkling my nose. ‘I guess they could still have worked it out,’ I said. ‘After all, the words “third actor” narrow
down possible answers to just a handful. If three actors have all played one part, then it must be an unusually successful and long-running part. And how many of those are there? Saying
“James Bond” could have been an answer based on weighing up the limited possibilities and some very fast thinking.’
Jeremy muttered, ‘It might have been: Who was the third actor to get swept out to sea by a giant squid at last year’s Dorset Film Festival?’
I pulled an oh-yeahhh-right face at him. ‘I don’t think that’s very likely, do you?’
‘OK, answering a barely-asked question once or twice could be down to very fast thinking,’ said Izzy. ‘But thirteen times? Try these three:
‘Question one: In what year did the first [BUZZ!] . . .?
‘Question two: In which play by Shakespeare does the main character say [BUZZ!] . . .?
‘Question three: At what temperature does [BUZZ!] . . .?
‘Spykeside had answered them all correctly.’
Hmmmmm.
What do you think? Can you work out the answers? Did Spykeside cheat?
I scratched my head. Then I scratched my chin. Then I scratched my nose. Once I’d run out of things to scratch, I said, ‘No idea. What year was the first sausage
roll made? In which Shakespeare play does someone say “Hey dude, check out my cool new trainers”? At what temperature does our form tutor Mrs Penzler explode? Those questions could
refer to anything.’
‘So you can’t answer them?’ said Izzy.
‘Well, the last one might be about the boiling point of water, maybe?’
‘Close,’ said Izzy. ‘It was about the freezing point of water.’
‘Zero degrees centigrade,’ said Jeremy.
‘I know that!’ I said.
‘Sorry,’ mumbled Jeremy. ‘Y’know, if you haven't done your science homework yet . . .’
‘I have to admit,’ I said, ‘it looks very much like Spykeside did know what the questions were going to be. They did cheat. What were the other
answers?’
‘The first one was 1969. In what year did the first man land on the moon? The second was Hamlet . In which play by Shakespeare does the main character say “To be or not to
be”?’
‘You’re right,’ I said, ‘the odds of correctly guessing the answers over and over again
‘ Before they’re even asked?’ said Izzy.
‘Huh?’ I said.
‘It’s not very noticeable until you listen carefully for it, because the questions are very quick-fire,’ explained Izzy. ‘But it’s like this: each team has a
buzzer, right? First team to buzz gets first go at answering, right? Several times, Spykeside have buzzed before that twerpy DJ who’s asking the questions has even finished.’
‘Lucky guesses?’ I said. ‘You see that sometimes on quiz shows. People can sometimes correctly anticipate the question.’
‘Forty-three times?’ said Izzy. ‘Once we started getting suspicious, I went back and checked. I counted. Don’t forget, Spykeside have been in exactly the same number of
heats as we have. That’s forty-three times in three half-hour quizzes they’ve pressed their buzzer before the end of the question. And thirteen of those times, they pressed the buzzer
before you could sensibly anticipate what the question was going to be. Like I said, it’s actually quite easy to miss unless you’re listening out for it, because of the speed of the
questions.’
‘It could still be that they’re simply very, very bright,’ I said.
‘OK,’ said Izzy. ‘Here’s an example. Answer this question: Who was the third actor . . . ?’
I stared at her. ‘The third actor who what?’ I asked.
‘Exactly,’ said Izzy.
‘That’s when Spykeside buzzed,’ said Jeremy. ‘And they got it right. Roger Moore. Who was the third actor to play James Bond in the official movie series?’
I thought for a moment, hmmmm-ing and wrinkling my nose. ‘I guess they could still have worked it out,’ I said. ‘After all, the words “third actor” narrow
down possible answers to just a handful. If three actors have all played one part, then it must be an unusually successful and long-running part. And how many of those are there? Saying
“James Bond” could have been an answer based on weighing up the limited possibilities and some very fast thinking.’
Jeremy muttered, ‘It might have been: Who was the third actor to get swept out to sea by a giant squid at last year’s Dorset Film Festival?’
I pulled an oh-yeahhh-right face at him. ‘I don’t think that’s very likely, do you?’
‘OK, answering a barely-asked question once or twice could be down to very fast thinking,’ said Izzy. ‘But thirteen times? Try these three:
‘Question one: In what year did the first [BUZZ!] . . .?
‘Question two: In which play by Shakespeare does the main character say [BUZZ!] . . .?
‘Question three: At what temperature does [BUZZ!] . . .?
‘Spykeside had answered them all correctly.’
Hmmmmm.
What do you think? Can you work out the answers? Did Spykeside cheat?
I scratched my head. Then I scratched my chin. Then I scratched my nose. Once I’d run out of things to scratch, I said, ‘No idea. What year was the first sausage
roll made? In which Shakespeare play does someone say “Hey dude, check out my cool new trainers”? At what temperature does our form tutor Mrs Penzler explode? Those questions could
refer to anything.’
‘So you can’t answer them?’ said Izzy.
‘Well, the last one might be about the boiling point of water, maybe?’
‘Close,’ said Izzy. ‘It was about the freezing point of water.’
‘Zero degrees centigrade,’ said Jeremy.
‘I know that!’ I said.
‘Sorry,’ mumbled Jeremy. ‘Y’know, if you haven't done your science homework yet . . .’
‘I have to admit,’ I said, ‘it looks very much like Spykeside did know what the questions were going to be. They did cheat. What were the other
answers?’
‘The first one was 1969. In what year did the first man land on the moon? The second was Hamlet . In which play by Shakespeare does the main character say “To be or not to
be”?’
‘You’re right,’ I said, ‘the odds of correctly guessing the answers over and over again
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