This is "classical" Botticelli - it works as follows:

Person A picks a person and identifies them with a letter.
(Example - "I am A.")

Then, the other players ask a detailed question on whether or not it is
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!"

170 responses total.

Since I initiated this, I'll start:
I am C.

Are you the founder of Detroit?

Nice question!  I don't know any specific names of founders of
Detroit, only that it was founded by French settlers.
You get a free yes/no informational question.

(The founder of Detroit was named Cadillac.)

Are you fictional?

No, aruba, I am not fictional.

One additional rule, which I would like to propose as standard for
the conference: You may not try again until either another player
has tried or 48 hours has passed since your attempt was answered.
(If your attempt got a free question, then it's 48 hours since
your free question was answered.)
This is open to negotiation if people feel it's unreasonable in
either direction, but it's an attempt to keep the game moving if
not enough folks are guessing.

Sounds reasonable to me.

That is, in this item and the other Botticelli item, since they are so low
traffic.  We haven't needed a 48-hour rule in the 6- and 7-letter word
games.

Are you a famous mathematician who invented the "game of life" (not the
Milton Bradley version, the computer simulation which models something akin
to bacteria colonies, using a deterministic algorithm)?

No, I am not the inventer of Life, whose name I cannot for the Life of me
remember.
Free question.

(His name is John Conway.)  Are you human?

Yes, aruba, I am human.

When I've played Botticelli with people in person, the rule was that not
only did a question have to stump the person who was "it", but someone else
in the room had to be able to answer it.  That kept the questions from
becoming too obscure.

However, since there seem to be only two of us here...

Did you escape from a South African prisoner of war camp and later take up
painting?

That rule would make sense if there were at least four participants...

I've been tempted to "cheat" by looking certain things up -- only stuff
that I think I *should* know, like John Conway.  This one is a field of
study that I've never taken part in, so I wouldn't even if I were allowed
to research questions in fields I am knowledgeable in.

I am not a former POW held in South Africa who took up painting.  Free
question.

(I don't have a feel for whether this is too obscure or not.  As I say, it's
a field I haven't studied.)

Winston Churchill was the person I was asking about.  Not an obscure person,
but bits about his life that most people don't know, so I don't know if it's
too obscure or not.

Are you living?

Yes, I am living.

Are you Doctor Dolittle's pet chimp?  (Is it fair to ask about a character
who is not human, but is sentient?)

I don't know Dr. Doolittle's chimp's name.  As far as I know, there is no rule
against asking about an individual which has been eliminated by a previous
yes/no question.  (Not only am I human, I'm not fictional.)
If you want to let the question stand, take your free question.

Dr. Dolittle's chimp's name is Chee-Chee.  Are you male?

Yes, I am male.

Are you the founder of America Online?

No, I am not Steve Case.
(Finally, a question I could answer! ;-> )

Are you a physicist who pioneered theoretical studies of white dwarfs?

Blast, I should know this... No, I'm not.  Free question.

(His name is Chandrasekhar.  The Chandrasekhar limit is the maximum mass a
white dwarf can have.)

Let's see...  Is English your native language?

Yes, English is my native language.

Are you the only English king to be beheaded?

No, I am not King Charles II (I think that was Bonnie Prince Charlie's dad's
number...)

Actually it was Charles the first.  Charles II died some other way.

OK, free question.

Are you a citizen of the United States?

Yes, I'm a US citizen.

Are you a Mormon science fiction writer?

No, I am not Orson Scott Card.

Are you someone who had a musician's backup band named after you?

I'm here, but I'm still puzzling this out.

I'm here and listening attentively.

<DRIFT>
What other Botticelli item?
</DRIFT>

puzzle item 133 is the other current botticelli item.  It's different from
this item in that there isn't a two-tier question system; it's really a
subset of 20 questions.  I have been it since December of 1994.  The guesses
so far are in ~aruba/bott1.guess.

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