Of Quizzes, Showmen, Technology and the Changing face of Quizzing

It's getting increasingly difficult for semi-serious quizmasters like me to set quizzes that satisfy the puzzle thirst of serious quizzers and yet keep audiences entertained. Most of us quizzers flock to the BEQs of the world for money and fuel the already swelling pockets and egos of the showmen of the quizzing world in the process.

While the collective knowledge of a quiz audience is generally decent, these audiences seem to have got hooked on to the quizzing formats peddled by the quiz showmen whom we quizzers so detest.

While these showmen have earned their keep with years of persistent work, it is time their reign ended.

The internet has changed the face of serious quizzing over the last ten years. Back in the late eighties, a few ref books and weekly quiz at KCircle were all we had in Hyderabad. Setting a quiz was easier in some ways and tougher in some.

Find a nice vignette in the papers or on TV, spin it around to make it interesting, and put a question down. Chances were that the question would draw praise and get answered by an above average quizzer.

Setting a quiz in today's "I already knew that, read it in quiz blog MMXXIII last month" world is a nightmare. Every half quizzer and his grand aunt knows exactly what was asked in a quiz half way around the globe. Information is flowing out of orifices hitherto considered un-intellectual.

Visuals were difficult to come by in the old days. Photocopying images or lugging magazines cuttings to quizzes was appreciated by most. But honestly wasn't worth it for many effort optimizers (read lazy asses) like me. Many a brilliant visual connection has gone unfertilized for want of technology. Visuals are a just a click away today. Visual connections are fun and near effortless to create. Presentations are infinitely easier.