What is Scholar Bowl?

Scholar Bowl, alternatively called Quiz Bowl, is a game in which 2 teams of 4 members each answer questions with a goal to score more points than the other team. Questions cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, art, and current events.

There are two types of questions in Scholar Bowl: TossUp questions and Bonuses. In a game, 20 Tossup questions are read, with each followed by 3 Bonus questions. Players must answer TossUp questions individually but can work together with their team when given Bonus questions. Information about common "Scholar Bowl Lingo" can be found below.

A Guide to Scholar Bowl Lingo

Packet

A packet consists of 20 TossUp questions, each followed by 3 Bonus questions read to the team that can correctly answer the TossUp first.

TossUp

5-6 sentence questions, players can buzz in to answer at any point as the question is being read. 20 TossUp questions are read per game.

Bonus

1-2 sentence questions worth 10 pts each, players can work together to answer these. 3 are read for each TossUp, for a total of 60 per game.

Bounceback

If one team incorrectly answers a Bonus question, the other team is given an oppurtunity to discuss and give an answer

Power

If a player answers a TossUp within a certain point in the question, the team is awarded 5 more points, for a total of 15 points for the TossUp.

Neg

If a player incorrectly answers a TossUp, their team is deducted 5 points and the reader continues reading for the other team.

Dead TossUp

This occurs when neither team is able to correctly answer a TossUp question, and the 3 corresponding Bonus questions go unread.

Buzzer Block

If a member answers a TossUp question incorrectly, their entire team is barred from answering the TossUp question.

Captain

A team's captain is in charge of determining and announcing the team's final answer during Bonus questions and making substitutions.

Defer

During a Bonus, a captain can request that the answer be given by another member of the team, usually for a clearer pronunciation.

Vulchneg

This is when a player incorrectly answers a TossUp and a player from the other team immediately buzzes in to give another, incorrect, answer.

Ninja Turtles

Short for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this refers to Italian artists Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, and Donatello.

Prompt

If a player gives an answer that is not specific enough, the moderator can prompt them to give a more specfic answer.

Anti-prompt

If a player gives an answer that is too specific, the moderator can anti-prompt them to give a more general answer.

Difficulty Drop-Off

This occurs when a set of Bonuses quickly changes in diffculty.

Perfect Question

This is when a team gets a TossUp in power and each Bonus part correct.

Biking

This refers to a player who cheats during an online tournament, such as by switching tabs and looking up clues on Google or another search engine

Carding

This is a form of studying through the use of flashcards, with an answerline on one side of the card and clues on the reverse side.

Grailing

This occurs when a team is able to buzz and correctly answer every Tossup of a game and is not affected by ppb or end scores.

Mirroring

This is when a tournament uses a question set from a housewrite or vendor such as NAQT not affiliated with the tournament.

H-M Limit

When two players on the same team achieve over 70 ppg for a game, they are considered to have broken the H-M Limit.

Open

This can refer to a tournament in which people from all levels of competition can compete, or a difficulty of approximately 4 dots on Ophir's scale

Clear

This can be used as a term to refer to sets that have been posted to online qb databases or as a saying to moderators to reset the buzzer system

Unclear

This can refer to sets or set content that has not been made publicly available; disclosing unclear set content is not allowed