The Bus

Never played before? Here's some praise for the game:

Rules


• The object of the game is to out-think everyone by picking answers to questions that are the most common (Sheep) or least common (Reverse Sheep), but still correct.
  
• Example Sheep question: "Name an extended member of the Simpson family." A good answer might be Grandpa Simpson and a bad answer might be Herbert Powell.
  
• Example Reverse Sheep question: "Name someone shown in the opening sequence." Bart Simpson might be a bad answer, but Mr. Dewey Largo might be a good answer. (Unless everyone is trying to go as obscure as possible).
  
• Sheep scores are tallied as negative numbers. Reverse Sheep scores are tallied as positive numbers. The lowest score wins.
  
• The answers to each question are tallied up. Wrong answers in Reverse Sheep are scored two points above the most common answer. This penalty is multiplied by the Lightning Round Multiplier. Wrong answers in Sheep are not penalized.
  
• Certain rounds are considered Lightning Rounds (designated by a multiplier, such as ×2). In these rounds, scores are adjusted by the number on the multiplier. A wrong answer still gets a +4 penalty in a ×2 round and a +6 penalty in a ×3 round, and so on. In a sheep round, a wrong answer scores normally.
  
• You may not cheat by using Google, Wikipedia, SNPP, etc. Use only what's in your head, with the exception of questions followed by a √ Check. (None in this game).
  
• Please send in your answers to me via PM. Place only one answer per line, without numbers or the question itself. Those who do not do this will be penalized 10 points right off the bat.
  
• For your convenience, I've made an Excel file where you can prepare your answers. When finished, just select the column of answers and send that in as text via PM. Don't email me the Excel file, that would be silly. (Google version here).
  
• Note: Be creative with your answers, but don't be stupid.
  
• Sheep questions are marked by an S:, Reverse Sheep questions are marked by an R:.
  
• Unique Bonus: Reverse Sheep questions will generate additional bonus (negative) points if there are less than 6 people with unique answers according to the following:
  1 Unique is awarded -15
  2 Uniques are awarded -10 each
  3 Uniques are awarded -6 each
  4 Uniques are awarded -3 each
  5+ Uniques are awarded -1 each
  
• Poor Man's Bonus: If you are in the bottom 50% (rounded up) and you get a Unique Bonus, you get an additional -2. If you are in the bottom 25% (rounded up) and you get a Unique Bonus, you get an additional -3, for a total of -5 extra.
  
• NEW! Cromulent Questions. Some questions, marked as C:, are perfectly Cromulent, and are designed to embiggen the scores of some players. Think of them as a Sheep / Reverse Sheep hybrid. The most common answer is scored via Reverse rules. All other answers are scored via Sheep rules. Example below:
  
  Spoiler:

  
  Suppose the question is as follows:
  
  C: Name a color.
  
  And the answers were:
  
  The Boss, Harpo, FasonJ, grapefanta18: Blue
  greendayispunk93, ChinatownWarsCorvin, Road Dog: Red
  VenVoga, Pharoahe: Yellow
  Venusian: Black
  
  Answers are scored as follows:
  Blue: +4
  Red: -3
  Yellow: -2
  Black: 0
  
  The bottom line is you want an answer that is common, but not too common. As in Sheep, there are no wrong answers, although wrong answers are likely to give you no points.
  

1. S: Name one of Homer's vices.
   
2. S: Name a state the Simpsons have lived in.
   
3. S: Name a foreign country visited by at least one of the Simpsons.
   
4. R: Name a job that Marge Simpson held or a business she started. Stupid answers like stay-at-home-mom will be thrown out.
   
5. R: List a Springfield radio or TV personality, past or present.
   
6. S: Aside from Moe, Homer, or Barney, list someone who is at Moe's often.
   
7. R: Name a movie that Rainier Wolfcastle has appeared in. This could be a movie that was filmed, or shown in theaters, or that a character had mentioned.
   
8. C: Name a character employed by the Springfield public school system who has appeared in more than one episode.
   
9. S: Name a character that Lisa had a crush on or was romantically involved with.
   
10. R: Name one of the Springfield Elementary bullies or one of the members of the Springfield Mafia.
    
11. R: ×2 Name a Simpsons video game that was released for a Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega, or Sony console. That is, no handhelds, mobile games, PC games, etc.
    
12. R: ×2 Name a primary or recurring character in The Simpsons who is black.
    
13. S: ×2 Name a writer for The Simpsons, current or previous.
    
14. C: ×2 Name a character voiced by Phil Hartman.
    
15. R: ×2 Name a member of the Stonecutters.
    
16. S: ×3 The Simpsons has aired twenty seasons. Out of those, how many were at least very good?
    
17. R: ×3 Name a guest star that has since passed away.
    
18. S: ×3 Name one of Martin Prince's hobbies or interests.
    
19. R: ×4 Name a human character who lives or lived in the Flanders household.
    
20. R: ×4 Name a language in which The Simpsons series is broadcast in anywhere in the world. Official/authorized translations only. Esperanto fan-dubs don't count.
    
21. S: ×5 Name the most memorable single segment on any Treehouse of Horror.
    
22. R: ×5 Name a female musician that has appeared as herself in The Simpsons.
    

I will only accept 20 entries, aside from myself. An additional four spots are reserved for the following players:

NORML54601
Rockmjd23
orangecrush18
Groucho

who were kind enough to PM me question suggestions. Additionally, anyone who has run a Sheep Game before has a spot (over and above the original 20).

It will run at a time determined by me.

* ** *** **** ***** GAME IS FULL ***** **** *** ** *

These people, who have not given me answers, have grandfathered-in spots: NORML, Rockmjd23, JasonF, Jeremy517.

Groucho

Challenge: that picture of Lenny doesn't have a Matt Groening signature, and is thus not official.

The Bus

The plan is to have the questions up by the end of the week and have the game be sometime next week.

This will be a smaller/shorter game, likely 15-20 questions. I will only be taking 20-25 contestants.

What I would like, however, are suggestions on questions.

This game will concentrate on early Simpsons (first half of the series) as well as the feature film, although answers can be from all seasons.

Red Dog

Sweet. Can I request this be restricted to season 9 or 10 and prior, when it was good/great?

The Bus

I will not ask any questions about recent seasons, but answers could always come from them.

Groucho

I had some questions in the hopper already for this, so I sent them to you.

JasonF

Name a Simpsons character whose name explicitly tells you where they are from.

stp115

Name a car that has been in The Simpsons. For the purposes of this question, moon buggies are cars, while tanks are not.

Groucho

Millionaire Texan

orangecrush

Sent you a few suggestions. Reverse sheep questions are hard for the Simpsons.

Damfino

I'm in. I may be rusty on the early Simpsons by now, but I will try to think of a question.

also...

Pearl Jam!

macnorton

How about who is Lisa's favorite Traveling Wilbury?*

*I can tell you that it is now Axl Rose.

Wazootyman

Name the title of a song sung by the characters on the show or in the movie. (... did the movie have any songs?)

Raul3

Name a pet owned by the Simpsons! duh!

Groucho

I think The Bus was soliciting questions via PM guys.

fumanstan

I hope I can get in with the small number of entries. I had absolutely zero interest in Babylon 5 and Lost sheep, and didn't see the #2 Sheep game here in time before it filled up. It would suck to miss out

wishbone

Which popular "Simpsons" characters have died in the past year?

My Other Self

I always loved that bit.

NORML54601

Count me in!

Venusian

Haven't seen the movie, but seen the first 13 or so seaons...but I'm always willing to guess.

The Bus

Keep your eyes peeled. Questions will be posted soon. I will only accept 25 entries.

Red Dog

Soon being a relative term.

Can I reserve a spot if you don't have them up by 5 pm?

orangecrush

My computer is being moved this afternoon, so take your time Bus.

macnorton

+1 on that. If it isn't up by 5 I am going to miss out too. Damn I got a 3:30 I have to go to, hopefully it isn't up around that time either. But I would like to reserve my spot.

Groucho

If you get 24 entries, and haven't heard from me yet, just submit my card as the 25th entry with "Homer" as the answer to every question.