Battle of the Books Rules
Teams will have no more than four players
Battles will be four rounds. Four questions will be asked per team per round. Questions will be asked in a round-robin manner. Teams will be assigned seats for each round of the battle.
The emcee will ask a question to a team. The team will have 30 seconds to decide the answer. Time will begin at the end of the question. The team may ask the emcee to repeat the question once. The time will be stopped while the question is being repeated and restart at the end of the question. At the end of 30 seconds, the timer will say “time” and ask for an answer. The team will have 2 seconds to answer. Only the captain may give answers during battles. Only one team member may be the spokesperson or captain per round.
Teams must give the full title and author’s name as it appears on the Battle of the Books bookmark to receive the full five points. Beginning articles in titles (A, An, The) are optional. If the team is able to give a partial answer or only gets part of the answer right, they will receive 2 points for the title, or 3 points for the author. The next team would then get the option to provide the missing answer and would receive 2 points for the title or 3 points for the author. This team will have 10 seconds to provide the answer, and they may not have the question repeated.
If the first team gives an answer that is incorrect, the next team will have the option to provide the missing answers. They will be given 10 seconds to confer with their team and respond. The question will not be repeated. If that team is not able to answer or gives a partial answer, no other team will be given the chance to earn points from this question. (The same question will not be posed to more than two teams.) The second team will then be asked a new question, and play will continue. Teams will not lose points for incorrect answers.
Summary of points possible:
Full answer: 5 points
Author only: 3 points
Title only: 2 points
Incorrect answer: 0 points
*answer out of turn: Lose 5 points first time disqualified second time.
*disruptive/noisy: Lose 5 points first time disqualified second time.
After 4 questions have been asked per team, the first round is over. Points will be added and announced. The teams will have a short break. Teams will go to their new positions. Teams may decide to appoint a new captain.
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds will follow the same rules. At the end of the 4th round, the team with the most points will be the winner. In the event of a tie, all tied teams will be in a single elimination tie-breaker round. All teams involved will be asked the same question at the same time. Teams will have 20 seconds to legibly right answers on paper provided. Spelling will not be considered, but the answer must be recognizable by the judge.
