A quizmaster fed up with smart-phone cheats has devised the country’s first Google-proof pub quiz.
Scott Bray, 30, has run quiz nights in Manchester bars for five years. But the trivia expert – who goes by the professional name Quizmaster Flash – says the contests are being ruined by players using their iPhones and Blackberries to crib answers.
He has now launched an ‘UnGoogleable’ quiz – believed to be Britain’s first – designed to baffle internet search engines.
Rather than testing general knowledge, the monthly quiz at the city centre’s Retro Bar poses a series of lateral-thinking, spot difference and observation-based puzzlers.
Scott, who also works full-time at the pub and nightclub, said: "I’ve been doing the quizzes for a while. At first you used to get people sneaking Collins Encyclopaedias into the pub. Now people are using their phones all the time. It’s a shame because it defeats the whole purpose of the quiz, which is to test your own general knowledge.
"The trick has been to ask questions like ‘What have these three items got in common?’ and ‘Which is the odd one out?’. They are not questions which the internet would instantly tell you."
Scott’s 60-question quizzes also use music and video rounds – and even tests where participants are challenged to recognise common aromas.
Downloadable software, such as Shazam, can be used to help easily recognise the artist and track of pop songs.
But Scott has confounded would-be spoilsports by digitally masking his chosen soundtracks before he plays them to the crowd. Regulars at the Sackville Street pub do not take part in the two-hour contest for riches – the prize is a case of bottled beer.
But Scott, from Salford, said he expected other high-stake events would follow his lead.
He added: "The quiz is a bit of novelty at the moment. We are still running our normal quiz at the pub, where the prize can be up to £300. I guess trying to prevent cheating in this way might take off. Nobody likes to feel stupid, so that’s one reason why if people have a way to find out the answer, they are going to use it."
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http://www.facebook.com/events/322478834447376/
And there I was expecting to read an article about a quiz based around an interpretive dance routine. There is an easier way around this though; only allow O2 customers into your pub. No one will be able to get internet access through their phone for at least three hours.
As a person who doesn't like cheating and just likes to play the game, I had a really great time doing this quiz. My boyfriend however wanted to challenge the quiz and attempted Googling a question and thought he was right and felt very proud of himself. However he was Quizmaster flashed! as it was a trick and had been cleverly disguised and was a different answer! 1 point down to our team, 1 more life-point to Quizmaster flash!
So in what way is that a new concept!? Loadsa quiz masters do it... Digitally masking music in quizzzes is something we've been doing since 1998!!
Odd one out rounds and inventing rounds to prevent people using google is just the staple of any quiz it doesn't make mr Flash's quiz unique!
Oh well, nice bit of publicity...
Eat My Mind Quiz
Using different techniques to make it impossible for punters to cheat is something loads of quiz masters and our Quiz ...The Big Fat Stupid Quiz and Eat My Mind have been doing since 1998. Digitally masked audio and other concepts such as odd one out rounds etc ...again not new.
Deffo not a world first so why say make that claim?
Nobody is claiming that the technique of masking digital sounds is new here. In 60 questions, only 8 of them used that method. You seem to be focusing on one small aspect of the quiz. Further I wouldn't suggest that half the different tricks or quetsions or rounds are truly unique, nothing really is. As a punter of both quizzes so far, I have experienced a very different quiz to the normal pub quiz styles I have seen before. The feature here is publicising the ungoogleable nature of the quiz and the challenge to try and google the answers if you can... there is even a prize for doing so. Is this unique? a quick google search "ungoogleable pub quiz" gives you lots of adverts for Mr Flash's quiz, some internet based music quizzes and some spoof questions like "which religion is right?". In this regard, it is a new idea, or at the very least a well executed version of an uncommon idea.
can someone please explain what ''digitally masking'' the music before he plays it means???
Giles did you say the same thing twice because you're a quizmaster?
A good question example in these situations is something like " What is the name of my brother's daughter's dog?" (You can't Google that). I used to be a quiz-master, and my family were always grateful for such questions, much to the consternation of the rest of the competitors.
:-)