Anybody want to play Botticelli?  It goes like this: 

o The person who is "It" thinks of a name, and says the first 
  letter.  Then, the other players take turns asking questions 
  until somebody guesses the name.  

o The name may be of someone living or dead, real, fictional, 
  legendary or mythological.  

o The letter should be the first letter of the name you would 
  expect to find the person listed under in a biographical 
  dictionary or other reference work.  (Ralph Kramden would be 
  "K," Ludwig van Beethoven would be "B," Leonardo da Vinci 
  would be "L," Sauron would be "S.")  

o The name must be one that you would expect a "liberally 
  educated person" to recognize.  

o The questions must all be answerable with "yes" or "no."  

o The person who guesses the name correctly becomes the next 
  "It." 

First example:

   IT:  B.

   PLAYER 1:  Male?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 2:  Living?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 3:  Fictional?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 1:  European?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 2:  Was he born before 1900?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 3:  Was he born before 1500?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 1:  Boccaccio?

   IT:  No.
   
   PLAYER 2:  Is he primarily remembered as a writer?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 3:  Is he primarily remembered as a painter?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 1:  Northern European?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 2:  Italian?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 3:  Botticelli?

   IT:  Yes!


Whereupon Player 3 becomes "It."  

Second example:

   IT:  S.

   PLAYER 1:  American?

   IT:  Define "American."

   PLAYER 1:  Born in the USA?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 2:  US citizen?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 3:  Born before 1900?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 1:  Born before 1950?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 2:  Male?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 3:  Living?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 1:  Born in Europe?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 2:  Born in South America?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 3:  Born the the western hemisphere?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 1:  Born in Asia?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 2:  Born in Africa?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 3:  Born in the Middle East?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 1:  Fictional?

   IT:  Yes.

   PLAYER 2:  Born on planet earth?

   IT:  No.

   PLAYER 3:  Superman?

   IT:  Yes!


Whereupon Player 3 becomes "It."  

Note that in the second example the "It" player was being 
nice in asking the other player to define "American."  The 
"It" player could have given a simple "yes" answer or a 
simple "no" answer - either one would have been correct.  
Also, the "It" player might have answered "no" to "Living?" 
either because Superman did indeed die, or else because as a 
fictional character he was never "alive" in the first place.  
Either reason is correct.  The point being that your 
questions should be specific:  "Was he born in the USA?"  
"Was he a real person?"  

That's all there is to it.  Who wants to start?

366 responses total.

What if you have a Conservative education?

Actually, the version I used to play was more complex.  Person A
would pick a person and identify them with a letter, as you state.
(Example - "I am A.")

Then, the other players would ask a detailed question on whether
or not it was a specific person.
(Example - "Were you the first man on the moon?")

Person A must then answer the question, identifying who that
person is.
(Example - "No, I am not Neil Armstrong.")

If Person A can't figure out who's being referred to, or gets it
wrong, then the person who asked the question gets to ask a
yes/no question.
(Example - "Are you male?"  "Yes.")

Then the next players guesses, and so on until someone asks
the right question.
(Example - "Are you a superhero who can talk to fishes?"
"Yes, I am Aquaman.")

Note that if the question isn't specific enough, other correct
answers can be given instead.
(Example - "Are you a superhero?"  "No, I'm not Atom Man."
"Hey, I didn't mean Atom Man, I meant Aquaman!"  "Tough.")

Well, that's the version I know.  It works better on computer
conferencing systems than the other version, from the look of it.

who's first?

what's second?

I don't know third.

(no no no. who's it? I think md should go first.)

I like the #0 version better than the #2 version, since the
latter relies on multiple cycles between two people before others
can intercede.

Since no-one else has started, I am H.

are you an ex-President of the United States?

No (carson)  (Another suggestion for rules:  like the word
guesses, people don't have to wait for each question to be 
answered before asking another question, so long as no more
than four unanswered questions exist, and no person asks
two questions during a cycle.)

(and you shouldn't ask two questions in a row.)

(hint, hint)

Are you fictional?

No (aruba)

Are you alive?

Are you from Europe?

No (lilmo)
Yes (carson)

Are you male?
Hey brighn - how about restating the questions when you answer them?
Like,
  Are you from Europe?  Yes  (carson)

Are you Adolf Hitler?

Good point, Aruba.
For the record:
I am not an ex-president.  I am not fictional.  I am not alive.
I am from Europe.
Yes, Aruba, I am male.
No, Carson, I am not Hitler.

Did you live in the 20th century?

are you English?

Were you recognized as an artist?

Yes, John, I lived in the 20th Century.
Yes, Carson, I was English.
Other, that depends on what you mean by "artist":  specify.

Have you ever been the subject of a documentary and/or television series?

did you die of natural causes?

)BTW, brighn, are you keeping a summary of answers somewhere, a la
letter-match?(

Are you Winston Churchill?

Are you a musician?

Tom67:  I'd be very surpirsed if someone hasn't made a documentary about me.
Carson:  To the best of my knowledge, I died from natural causes.
Aruba:  Considering I'm H, it would be hard for me to be Hwinston Hchurchill.
Jshafer:  While I was probably familiar with some instrument or other, that
was not by any stretch what I was famous for.
(I'm not advanced or patient enough to save these answers.  Sorry -- if 
someone else wants to, they're welcome.)

Whoops, I forgot the rules.  Are you Sir Edmund Hillary?

No, I am not Hillary, Aruba.

were you involved in politics?

Carson, I was almost definitely NOT involved in politics.

were you fond of mathematics?  children?

1.  Are we going to slap ourselves for not knowing this?
2.  Am I allowed to ask more than one question at a time?

did you spend your entire life in England?

Are you famous for being an author?

Gee, Mark, I don't know if you are or not.  I'm familiar enough with myself,
that I should think you would slap ourself, but I don't know what you 
normally slap yourself over.
I can't answer that other question right now, ask again later.
No, Carson, I did not spend my entire life in England.
Yes, Aruba, I was an author.

Are you Victor Hugo?

(You missed Kami's questions in #32, Paul)
Did you die before 1950?

Did you spend most of your adult life in the USA?

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss