Similarly, some Ultra Bonuses of the past provided just 2 or even 1 clue per hour, but the 24-item format is fairly entrenched. Another benefit of the three-clue rule of thumb is that it permits teams to organize its items into amusingly or cleverly related subsets that are almost always unhelpful to the authentic answer. Another humorous aspect of the Ultra Bonus often arrives between the end of the contest, and when the final scores are tabulated and announced. Hosts have often entertained their audience and themselves by reading several of the incorrect guesses received during the night. Because there is no penalty for wrong answers, players are encouraged to let their imaginations run free.
Most teams submit multiple attempts as the night progresses.
This can lead to some strange attempts. Some guesses that made a kind of sense at 2 AM are thoroughly repudiated by later clues. Probably the most infamous Ultra Bonus occurred in December, 1986. The clue list was a bizarrely evocative one, as compared with earlier efforts. This wasn't your father's Ultra Bonus.