Talk:Twenty questions

message: Perhaps someone should gather the alternative names for Twenty Questions throughout the world.  Alfr%C3%A9d R%C3%A9nyi noted the Hungarian "Barkochba game" in 1969, while Charles Dickens noted that the Victorian version was called "Yes and no." Calbaer 22:13, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Alternative names

message: If the TV version began in the UK two years before the US version, surely the UK is the country of origin and did not buy the rights from the US. --92.15.51.199 (talk) 15:02, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: In actuality, as explained in the article, the American version began on Mutual Radio on February 2, 1946 – a year before the BBC version began. The Corporation did televise specials in 1947 and 1948 which predate the American series, but the American version is put first since its roots are earlier than the UK one. I hope you understand. Daniel Benfield (talk) 16:46, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: One thing I understand is that a game described by Charles Dickens in his writing cannot possibly have been invented in America in the 1940s. 91.107.169.238 (talk) 00:09, 28 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: TV version

message: Seriously, why?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.58.150.157 (talk) 20:26, 18 November 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: What is it? — LlywelynII 10:03, 2 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Ha..I had wondered, when glancing over the technology section if it might be mentioned. Akinator was (is?) a web site that was basically the questioner in a 20 questions style game, and would   try to guess any notable person (real or fictional, nonhumans included) that you think of. It was fun, the novelty of it wore off after not too long. the OP posted that here during the height of said novelty XD. Firejuggler86 (talk) 07:34, 6 March 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Why akinator is not mentioned? 

message: Connection with Situation puzzle should be explined in the article. Is Twenty Questions is a particular variant of a Situation puzzle? Or, are they basically the same game (in which case, the articles should probably be merged)? Maxal (talk) 18:01, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: It's not the same game. Maybe they're variants of a more general kind of game. But Twenty Questions' goal is to guess what one of the players is thinking of. A situation puzzle involves seeking through questions for the explanation of a puzzling scenario posed at the start. The Tetrast (talk) 18:36, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: On review, I shouldn't have been so quick. I don't think that the two articles should be merged but the comparison not only is worth pursuing but arises naturally in Twenty Questions article. I've added about situation puzzles in a section now renamed to mention situation puzzles. The Tetrast (talk) 18:01, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Connection with [[Situation puzzle]] 

message: I was thinking of putting the intro section's current 2nd & 3rd paragraphs into a separate new section "Rules and strategy". Or maybe I should just leave it alone. Comments? The Tetrast (talk) 02:05, 19 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Intro section too long? 

message: "Mathematically, if each question is structured to eliminate half the objects, 20 questions will allow the questioner to distinguish between 2^20 or 1,048,576 objects."
This might be correct if there is only one object for each trait or quality that is represented in a question. But it is a little misleading if there are more than one objects for each trait. For instance, if there are 1 Trillion red marbles and 1 Trillion blue marbles, then in one question, "Is it red?" I have distinguished 1 Trillion from 1 Trillion objects. 
67.241.61.203 (talk) 13:38, 26 November 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Then that would be the perfect opening question! This is describing a perfect situation where you are able to eliminate half of the remaining objects every time you ask a question, ultimately being able to distinguish the one sought item from the 1,048,575 others. Your "Is it red?" question distinguishes half of the marbles from the other half, but it doesn't distinguish Red Marble #63,382 from Red Marble #463,827. --McGeddon (talk) 13:58, 26 November 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Computer Science 

message: When did people start playing this game? Surely not in the 20th century. Perhaps in the Victorian era? Or was it known in Samuel Johnson's time? 173.174.85.204 (talk) Eric  —Preceding undated comment added 01:54, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  History 

message: According to my research, Wheeler himself never called his version of Twenty Questions "negative twenty questions", and the source cited for the paragraph does not refer to it by that label. Though some other sources use that label, they do not cite any writing by Wheeler actually using the label.
Wheeler referred to his version as "the surprise version of the game". See the book "Quantum Theory and Measurement" p.202 ( https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=L7r_AwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=%22quantum+theory+and+measurement%22&ots=7kLCrevnps&sig=YVlsmqfPoGJCp3xQCE7hgLu5ImQ#v=onepage&q=%22surprise%20version%22&f=false ). Accordingly, I am editing the entry to change "negative twenty questions to "surprise twenty questions". Nick (talk) 18:15, 28 July 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Surprise Twenty Questions