Read the tossup at a consistent and natural rate. Do not pause dramatically before important pieces of information. That is, do not say, ....FTP, name this country whose capital is at ... Tashkent.
Do not announce the answer for each bonus part until you have finished the entire bonus (unless the question contains instructions to read each answer before going on to the next). This ensures that teams must use knowledge, not process-of-elimination strategy, to answer each part.
Clearly announce how many points the team earned at the end of the bonus. Also go over the missed answers at the end of the bonus. You need not reread each bonus part:
If the bonus part said:
2. In order to disprove the claim that the universe exists only in our
head, what other man stubbed his foot on a rock and said, "I refute it thus?"
Answer: Samuel _Johnson_
You can give the answer by saying:
"The guy who stubbed his foot was Samuel Johnson".
What is an improper blitz? If the player has given several answers that are all within a single category according to the question, then you can rule the player incorrect if his first answer was not the correct one. For instance, if a question starts, This sculptor of David..., and a player buzzes and blitzes with "Donatello, Michelangelo, Bernini, and Verrochio," and the answer was Michelangelo, then you should rule the player incorrect because all his answers fit the category sculptors of David and he should have waited for more information to narrow it down. If, however, the answer was Michelangelo, and the player said, "Michelangelo Buonarotti who was employed by Julius II to paint the Sistine Ceiling," then you should accept the blitz because Michelangelo, Julius, and the ceiling are in three different categories (artist, patron, work).
Note that the blitz, "Alexander the Great defeated Darius III at the Battle of Issus" is a perfectly legitimate blitz for Darius III because Alexander is the winning general while Darius is the losing general. They are thus in different categories.
If you are unsure about whether to accept a blitz, accept it and the tournament director can deal with any protest concerning it later.
Reader: (buzz)---1---2---3---4---5 (reader is counting time) Player: (buzz)------------------The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat...
However, the official time limit is from the point of the buzz to when you call "time". If you were counting "1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi..." in your head, then that is the official time. Teams cannot protest that your 5 seconds were not a real 5 seconds. Therefore, since teams do not have recourse if you miscount, try to be consistent and as close to 5 seconds as possible. If teams are complaining about your timekeeping, you should probably use a watch to pace yourself.
In order to call time on a player, you must say "Time" before he begins to say anything. That is, you cannot let him say the answer while you sit there and then say, "I'm sorry, you didn't get it out in time." You have to say "Time" before he begins his answer. It is up to you, the reader, to determine whether you said "Time" before the player started his answer (it can be very close sometimes).
Never prompt for an answer on a tossup. Simply call time after 5 seconds.
If a player has buzzed, the very fact that he has buzzed gives him the right to answer the question. You, the reader, do not confer that right on him by recognizing him.
By buzzing in, a player has also taken away everyone else's right to answer the question. If a player on the same team then gives an answer, you are to award a minus 5 to that team, and finish the question for the other team. E.g.:
Reader: "...Edict of Nantes. FTP, name this second wife --" [player A buzzes] Player B (on same team): "Maria Theresa." Reader: "Minus five. FTP, name this second wife of Louis XIV." [player 3 on other team buzzes] Player 3: "The Marquise de Maintenon." Reader: "Correct."You may indicate that Player 3 had not buzzed in, but in so doing, do not give any indication whether his answer was correct or incorrect.
But if a player who has not buzzed in gives an answer when the OTHER team has buzzed in, you should ignore him and let the correct player give an answer. You may let him know that he has in fact buzzed in. E.g.:
Reader: "...Edict of Nantes. FTP, name this second wife of Louis XIV." [player A buzzes] Player 2 (on other team): "Maria Theresa." Reader: [pointing to player A] "You have buzzed in." Player A: "The Marquise de Maintenon." Reader: "Correct."
You should accept any protest a team wishes to lodge, even if it concerns a matter usually covered by "moderator discretion." The admissibility of the protest is the concern not of the reader, but of the tournament director.