Is Mastermind Unfair?

[DTCwordfan]

Tonight the leader after phase 1 has 16 points on her specialist subject, her nearest rival, 13.

On General Knowledge, the other three score 12 to 13 as I did......come the Leaders (her) turn, she gets whacked with unbelievably difficult questions. She scored seven and was in 3rd position with 23, the winner jumping from 11 (on the first round) to 26. I scored 7 too on that round, the questions nearly 50% harder...

Unbelievably biased and unfair, perhaps?.........Anybody else have the same vibes tonight as to the consistency of the standard of the question?

[jim360]

Sometimes the questions fall for you, sometimes they don't. Not sure it's about fairness, but luck. If what you know keeps coming up, then you can look incredibly bright. And, equally, if you get hit by question after question that you don't know, you just look some kind of dullard. The worst luck is when you know the answers to questions that the other person/ team is asked, but none of your own...

[gingejbee]

Questions are only "harder" if you don't know the answers. Very subjective.

[boxtops]

They weren't that difficult, I knew many of the answers she passed on. It seems often the case that the competitors are very very good at their chosen subject, but useless at GK.

[mazie]

Would anyone like to guess at how many questions there are out there? You either know them or you don't. I don't think fair comes into it DT.

[Jeza]

A few years ago I met Chris Tarrant. He asked me how well I thought I would do on millionaire? I answered "If you ask me what I know I'll win the million". My point being they are all easy if you know the answer, or hard if you don't.

[ichkeria]

"Fair" plainly may come into it. I didn't see the programme, and I suspect it really was more a matter of pot luck, but nonetheless it wouldn't take much to make a quiz really unfair.

[cecil39]

The only thing I find unfair is the length of time to answer the questions, I think it should be the number of questions not the time, as some questions take so long to ask while others just a few seconds, there is no way 10 short questions can take up the same time as 10 long ones.

[douglas9401]

The loser on Pop Master this morning got six out of a possible thirty six.
I knew most of the answers to his (and the other guy's) questions, he didn't so he lost.
That's life.

[THECORBYLOON]

With regards to the number of questions, they are timed so that as far as is possible, the questions and the ideal answers result in the same number being asked for each person. I've not seen it for a while but if a question was answered before the whole question had been asked, it would be finished so that extra questions could not be squeezed in.

[jno]

last time I checked, I knew the answers to the million-pound questions that had been asked. However, I never know the 50p questions about who played who in Corrie and would have to ask the audience. As people have said, you know the answer or you don't; the latter are "difficult" questions.

[DTCwordfan]

Hopefully you won, Douglas!

It just came across as unbalanced to me.....accept the point that it's the luck of the draw. However.....

[tonyav]

I've seen that happen before DT, and have thought it was a fix.

[naomi24]

Questions are easy if you know the answers - but I do think the timing element should be abandoned in favour of an equal number of questions for every contestant.

[tonyav]

Yes so do I, naomi.

[DTCwordfan]

I agree with that, naomi, though there has to be a time limit on the question or one could muse for a minute!

By the way, know the answer for the alternative name for a col or a cym?

[sandyRoe]

Pass :-)

[DTCwordfan]

Correct.

[naomi24]

:o)

[joko]

i agree, harder is subjective and only applies if you know dont know the answer

you may have specialist knowledge on a subject but that doesn't mean you could answer every single question on it

I mean you may say you're and expert on, say, the harry potter books - because you have read all the books many times, seen all the films, and love them dearly, and you know all the characters really well, you could tell people all about the ins and outs of the characters, every obscure detail - but what if your questions are more about potions? or magical items? or areas and buildings? etc - things you are not quite as knowledgeable about - you would struggle ... but someone watching, who likes the potions etc most, would think those question were easy.
you just don't know what they will ask

it is a very odd thing for you to claim a set of questions to be 50% harder, just because presumably because they were the ones you yourself were unsure of...?
and to claim some sort of fix...? really?

[DTCwordfan]

It's more the general questions, joko, that I am querying, though your arguments, as well as the others, do hold. The woman leading tonight, a TV exec, would have probably romped home if she had the gen knowledge just before....