Q56 Quizmail

[marje]

Q56. Is the answer to this Michael Caine's character in the 1971 or the 2000 version of the film? The person I do this quiz with has the 1971 character, but is this being too obvious?  Is the 1971 version inspired by the novel and the 2000 version inspired by the 1971 version?

What do others think?

[oarsman]

I must say that I agree with the remarks made by postalquiz. At least 140-145 of the Quizmail questions are quite simple to research and the others are not really difficult if you read the question properly and check all the facts that the quizmaster has given you.

The reason that so many people get the answers wrong is that they are not willing to spend sufficient time reading the questions.

These are the same people who post numerous questions on Answerbank in the hope that someone else has spent their time checking the question properly and will give them the answers.

The more information the quizmaster gives you the less likely it is that the answer will be the obvious one.

And just in case you are wondering why I visit Answerbank it is because I enjoy reading the questions and answers posted here.

I used to do Quizmail but I gave it up about 18 months ago as I believed it was becoming to easy.

Nowadays the only Postal quiz I am involved in is helping a lady friend with her Great Brain Quiz entry. This is a real test of a competitors ability to research properly. 

[marje]

postalquiz

Thanks for your reply.   Yes I do understand what you mean, but if someone is genuinely stumped, then a nudge in the right direction surely can't be wrong.

I do hope that the future of postal quizzes is not damaged by our postings but if other people are genuinely interested in doing this quiz, I would hope that they won't be disillusioned by the postings on Answerbank.  I know I wouldn't be in their place.  Others who use this site do research their answers, as do I.  This is only another way of researching I suppose, but maybe you disagree with this?

I do like to interact with other quizmailers on this site and maybe start a discussion.

I'm sorry that you disagree with this, however I do wish you well in this month's quiz.

[Del424]

Thanks oarsman, I'm sure we all feel just that little bit better knowing that the quiz is getting too easy.  I obviously still have a while to go yet before I am ready for the GBQ.

[marje]

Me too Del424.  It appears we're not quite in that league yet.

[Del424]

Well, you know I can sympathise with them to a degree because one does find that some questions do get posted before I have even opened my quizmail.  However, no-one is going to get rich on the prize money so some of us and it does only appear to be some of us, do this for FUN. On the other side of the coin there are also some of us that seem to take it all very seriously.

I agree that we should probably restrict our responses to clues rather than giving the answer straight out. But look at the Rain/Miss Thompson debate that took place last month.  No-one can argue that research took place across the board on that question and in the end it turned out that we were all right.  It is a pity that we did not have a similar result with the BATA question, much to the amusement of Genesis69 or was it 59 last month.

The point he/she missed with that one was not that question had not been researched thoroughly enough. In the end, because of the debate taking place here we probably researched it too much, we may never have found BATA; I am pretty confident that everyone found Santa Isabel first, we did, but as we know how devious Vic and Dave are it all seemed just too easy.

I suppose this debate will continue as the months go by.  I shall continue to use this site because, it is after all FUN and I enjoy the interaction between other quizmailers.  If you monitor the site you will find that there are only a few of us that come here and contribute regularly, others only come to chastise us.

I wonder if any of these other quiz questioners that appear longside quizmail get the same kind of barracking that we do.

[marje]

Well, I really did start a debate of a kind didn't I?

Del424: I too do the quiz for fun and enjoy the contact between the regular contributors.  It does appear that some people take it far too seriously and whilst I can agree that being given an answer instead of a clue can be frustrating to those who want to research more, it's up to the individual to post what they think contributors want.  We're here to help each other in any way we can.  I for one will continue to do my research and ask for help with a clue if I'm really at my wits end!

[Del424]

Well I suppose that if we are debating this we are not upsetting anyone else by debating the validity of certain quizmail answers.  Mind you, we have moved the debate further up the board and I see you too have contributed so I suppose we should continue up there, see you there.

[currie]

I agree entirely with the comments about giving answers. Let's give good clues or hints otherwise these postal quizzes are going to lose competitors.