The penalty will apply if the reader has not completed the absolute last word on the paper. If the reader is in the middle of the last word, it is reader judgment whether to assess a penalty.
A player who buzzed in may answer with or without being recognized by the reader. No player who has buzzed in will be called for consultation.
If it is necessary to use a buzzer system that does not have lights, either team may at any time request to see the display panel showing which player rang in.
The same clarification rules apply to bonus questions.
No answer may be a list of a class of answers. For example, a player may not ring in and list all the chemical elements in response to a question that begins "This chemical element...".
In all ACF competitions, any two or three pieces of linked information may be given as an answer. In all cases, such information must be correct.
If the desired answer is included in the three answers, then the answer should be accepted. Such answers include, but are not restricted to:
| Class | Example |
|---|---|
| character-title-author | Robert Jordan in For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway |
| title-author | Hamlet by Shakespeare |
| artist-work | The Raft of the Medusa by Gericault |
| composer-work | Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead |
| opera-composer-librettist | The Girl of the Golden West by Puccini based on Belasco's play |
| character-opera-composer | Leonora in Fidelio by Beethoven |
| scientist-discovery | Einstein's General Theory of Relativity |
| process-product | the Haber process produces ammonia |
| discoverer-discovery | Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean |
| event-date | the Battle of Waterloo was fought in 1815 |
What follows is an explanation of the blitz rule. While blitzing is allowed in official ACF events, the fact that the questions are well-edited will render it unnecessary in 98 plus percent of all tossups. In the interest of rewarding knowledge first, blitzing will continue to be allowed. PLEASE do not get overly worked up over it or confused by it. If you don't understand what is allowed, then simply stick to the above type examples and you'll be fine. If you see a blitz, it will be a rare bird. You may, for all practical purposes, ignore this section if it will make you feel better.
Blitzes including more than three pieces of information are allowed. An example of an acceptable blitz is as follows. For a question that began:
On April 6, 1862....
You can buzz in and say: "Grant defeated Johnston at the Battle of Shiloh or Pittsburgh Landing in Tennessee."
This illustrates a subtlety of blitzing that is hard to put into words. Though there are TWO generals (seemingly the same class of answer) listed in the blitz, they are linked by the battle of Shiloh and that link is specified in the blitz. This is not equivalent to buzzing in and naming random Civil War generals.
At the end of the allotted time period, the reader will request an answer. An answer or a designation must occur immediately upon the reader's prompting for an answer. A designation must be short and specific at the discretion of the reader.
All answers to bonus questions, especially on lists, must be continuous. A pause stops your answer.
All bonuses are to be 30 points. If your team receives a bonus valued at less, you may request a replacement. If you choose to keep the lesser-valued bonus at the time of play, it will stand. A request for a replacement must be made at the time it becomes apparent that the bonus is not 30 points in value.
All bonuses must also contain multiple parts. Any single part bonus will not be read.
It should be the general policy of readers to provide bonus answers only at the end of a bonus. In the event of a follow-up question that requires knowledge of the first answer, the reader is allowed to give that infomation to the team receiving the bonus.
If the reader reveals the answer to a tossup after one team has madea -5 or given an incorrect answer but before the other team has had a chance to ring in, the second team will receive a replacement tossup read only to that team.
If the reader makes an error on a bonus part, the tournament director will replace it with an equally valued bonus part. In the event that the bonus was a 30-20-10, a new question will be substituted in its place.
If a reader prompts you for more information when you have given a reasonably unique answer and you are prompted for more information and can't give it, you may protest on the grounds that your answer is equivalently as correct as the answer on the paper.
If there are two conflicting pieces of uniquely identifying information within the question, there are two possible outcomes in terms of protest resolution.
This is best explained by example. Consider the following question:
After getting his Ph.D., he won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the photoelectric effect...
Answer on paper: Albert _Einstein_
Case 1:
Team A buzzes in after the word physics and says "DeBroglie" and is ruled
wrong. In this event, team A may protest that they gave an answer that was
uniquely identified and be awarded the points. This will occur even if
team B gives the answer Einstein after the entire question is read.
Case 2:
The two conflicting pieces of information are given before a player on
either team rings in. In this instance, a team may protest and have the
question thrown out.
If the protest cannot be resolved in the room where the match is being played, it will be referred to the Tournament Director, who may, in the event of corroborating information fount in a reference book or via experts on the subject, rule in the protesting team's favor. At ACF Nationals, this role will be played by a group of three experienced tournament directors or moderators.
All Tournament Directors are expected to attempt to verify errors but will only have a limited number of reference books on hand. In the event that the TD cannot find documentation or experts to support a protest, it will be up to the protesting team to provide documentation to the satisfaction of the tournament officials.
Readers may not award penalties, declare a team ineligible for a tossup or in any way attempt to penalize a team via score for improper behavior of a player! However, making a reader angry may result in less generous rulings that cannot be protested, so treat the readers with respect.
Observers, including team alternates, spouses, friends, enemies, etc. have no rights and can be summarily expelled from any room by any reader who deems their behavior disruptive.