# Twenty Questions Reference Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Games\ **Tags:** thread-games, 20Qs\ **Created:** [January 28, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902 "2021-01-28T12:51:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/lucy/32/8802_2.png) [@Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Lucy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/1 "2021-01-28T12:51:57Z")
We’ve been playing 20 Questions. Someone thinks of something, and everyone else guesses yes-no questions, until either someone guesses it or we run out of questions. Typically, the person who guesses the right thing starts the next game. It was all in one enormous thread, but I’m going to break it up, and put useful references and links here. I’m also moving some posts that answer “how are we playing this” here. Not that we can’t change, but may as well be able to see what folks were doing. ---
**Author:** ![Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/lucy/32/8802_2.png) [@Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Lucy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 12:53pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/2 "2021-01-28T12:53:47Z")
Here are the initial rules, as cited by soyleche, who started the games: > [@20 Questions Game1](https://community.goactuary.com/t/20-questions-game1/1903/1): > > I am thinking of an object. Use yes/no\* questions to figure it out. If you don’t get it in 20 questions or less, I win. > > A couple notes: > > 1- The count goes up for each question. Anyone and everyone can ask questions. Any question I answer will go towards the count (see notes 2 & 3). Repeat questions will not be answered (or go towards the count). > > 2- I will only answer one question per poster in between times that I get around to answering. After I answer, everyone is free to ask another. > > 3- If you try and be clever and ask compound questions, ("Is it X or Y, but not Z - that sort of thing), I will probably just answer the first part (“Is it X”), but I may decide to include more of it - completely at my discretion. > > 4- If you ask something like “Is it bigger than…”, I will default to volume as the metric unless you specify otherwise. > > I may come up with other notes and caveats if they become necessary. > > \*there might be times that “maybe” or “most of the time” or something like that could be required. ---
**Author:** ![Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/lucy/32/8802_2.png) [@Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Lucy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/3 "2021-01-28T13:53:59Z")
Game 1 [https://community-new.goactuary.com/t/20-questions-game1/1903?u=lucy](https://community-new.goactuary.com/t/20-questions-game1/1903?u=lucy) ---
**Author:** ![twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/twig93/32/527_2.png) [@twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/u/twig93)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 3:49pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/4 "2021-01-06T15:49:47Z")
Ok, fair enough. So how does this work now? Do we keep this going? Should I pick something and y’all ask me 20 questions about it? (At least that’s how we played in my family: whomever guessed correctly was “it” in the next round… but I’m not married to that method. We could go with whomever had the most “yes” responses.) ETA: Although “most yes responses” is a tie between John S Mill and A\_Student. ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/5 "2021-01-06T16:20:16Z")
I hadn’t thought that far ahead. As far as I’m concerned anyone that wants to can go next. We could even have multiple going at the same time, but that would get all sorts of confusing… ---
**Author:** ![John.S.Mill](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/john.s.mill/32/9771_2.png) [@John.S.Mill](https://community.goactuary.com/u/John.S.Mill)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/6 "2021-01-06T16:53:21Z")
Twig asked the deciding question. she can pick the next item. ---
**Author:** ![twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/twig93/32/527_2.png) [@twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/u/twig93)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/7 "2021-01-06T17:48:34Z")
Ok, I’ve thought of something. Am I supposed to say more than that? Like soyleche said “object”… what other options besides “object” are there. When my family played this we didn’t do that part. ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/8 "2021-01-06T17:51:20Z")
I said “object” because I couldn’t think of another option. I would say that anything you would classify as a “noun” would be fair game - but you could even loosen that if you want. I’m personally only going to consider the answers to the questions when narrowing things down - say whatever you want before the questions start, that is irrelevant (to me, at least). ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 1:32am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/9 "2021-01-07T01:32:42Z")
You don’t have to feel beholden to my intentions. This round is all yours. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kat987](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/kat987/32/9370_2.png) [@Kat987](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Kat987)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/10 "2021-01-19T20:18:38Z")
Is this your official question? Also would you rather break that question up so there isn’t the ‘or’ statement? Reference to note in very first post: > [@20 Questions Game1](https://community.goactuary.com/t/20-questions-game1/1903/1): > > 3- If you try and be clever and ask compound questions, ("Is it X or Y, but not Z - that sort of thing), I will probably just answer the first part (“Is it X”), but I may decide to include more of it - completely at my discretion. ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/11 "2021-01-19T20:22:24Z")
Note: There is no reason for anyone else to follow the rules I laid out in the OP if they don’t want to. ---
**Author:** ![Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/lucy/32/8802_2.png) [@Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Lucy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/12 "2021-01-28T16:01:54Z")
[https://community-new.goactuary.com/t/20-questions-game15/1920/3?u=lucy](https://community-new.goactuary.com/t/20-questions-game15/1920/3?u=lucy) ---
**Author:** ![Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/lucy/32/8802_2.png) [@Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Lucy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/13 "2021-01-28T16:03:22Z")
Some useful clarifications > [@20 Questions Game15](https://community.goactuary.com/t/20-questions-game15/1920/33): > > But alas you are not answering **this** question. 😆 😆 For clarification on how I answered the questions (and how I planned to answer them prior to any questions being asked or before I chose an item): > > - “Is xxxxx a common [household / bathroom / zoo / etc] item”…My translation would have been “Would this item be found in something like a third or more of [households / etc]” (that third-or-more sounds like a more stringent requirement than some had in mind) > - “Is the item commonly found in xxxxxx” …My translation would have been “GIVEN THAT THIS ITEM IS BEING CONSIDERED, would I expect to find it in xxxxxx”. So even if only 5% of [households] had one, if all the owners kept them in their household, this would be a solid yes. > > The latest question, “Does it typically stay in one place”, adds a different type of ambiguity that I’d thought about before starting. I’d answer a question like that as yes if EITHER the object was frequently on the move (like the school bus) OR if the object’s purpose required it to be moved (e.g. a motorcycle, which might only be in motion for 2 hours a week). ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 1:59am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/14 "2021-02-04T01:59:17Z")
FWIW - I’m not in love with the “different threads” idea. I think in general it is more annoying than how things were before. ---
**Author:** ![twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/twig93/32/527_2.png) [@twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/u/twig93)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:05am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/15 "2021-02-04T02:05:17Z")
Feel free to just continue the next game in the existing thread, IMO. Doesn’t bother me at any rate. I was thinking maybe a new thread once a week or once a month or so. One thread per game feels like a lot to me. 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:05am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/16 "2021-02-04T02:05:56Z")
I already started a thread. Just wanted to state my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/twig93/32/527_2.png) [@twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/u/twig93)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:06am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/17 "2021-02-04T02:06:31Z")
If you do I’d be happy to rename the thread to something more appropriate like 20 Questions February 2021 perhaps. Oops, posts crossed. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/lucy/32/8802_2.png) [@Lucy](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Lucy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/18 "2021-02-04T14:44:49Z")
Because you need to find a new thread at the end, or some other reason? If the majority ages with you, i can put them back together. ---
**Author:** ![soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/soyleche/32/42_2.png) [@soyleche](https://community.goactuary.com/u/soyleche)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/19 "2021-02-04T14:52:52Z")
Making a new thread is a bit annoying, but not insurmountable. Finding the new thread isn’t particularly difficult with the “Latest” feature. A bit of confusion if the new thread started and people are still talking in the old thread, but not too bad. Looking at the Games category - it is littered with old “20 Questions” threads that make it look very cluttered. I don’t navigate the forum that way, so not a big issue, but it is kind of ugly. Mostly, I just never understood what problem this was supposed to be fixing - and if I do sort of understand it (“difficult to find things in long thread and then get back to where the action is”), this method seems more annoying than the long thread. I do see the point to having a “reference thread” to compile various people’s ideas on how questions should be interpreted. That’s kinda nice. ---
**Author:** ![MayanActuary](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/mayanactuary/32/8794_2.png) [@MayanActuary](https://community.goactuary.com/u/MayanActuary)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902/20 "2021-02-04T14:57:59Z")
For me the hardest part of new threads is they no longer fall into my unread bucket with the number after the thread title, so I have to specifically look and find the thread again. Not a big deal, just a minor inconvenience each new thread. [Next page](https://community.goactuary.com/t/twenty-questions-reference-thread/1902.md?page=2)