How to Win at 20 Questions

The game of 20 Questions is a fun diversion to occupy mind and spirit on long car rides, boring parties or anytime there is a few hours to kill. It consists of someone secretly selecting a famous person and answering 20 yes or no questions truthfully about them so that the other players may guess their identity. It is essentially a process of deduction and using key questions can help you narrow the field down to an intelligent guess every time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Reasoning skills and logic
• Friends with which to play
• Broad knowledge of famous individuals

1. Begin with broad questions and narrow their scope as you proceed. Remember, the answer can only be yes or no.

2. Start with gender and status (living or dead) questions.

3. Proceed by century if person is dead. Famous in the 20th century?

4. Once "living" or century status is confirmed, proceed to area of fame. Narrow field from art, politics, war, science, religion and so on.

5. Once area is established, breakdown the field; if art then film, television, music, fine art or dance?

6. Once the field is established, reduce the century in half (late or early) and breakdown into decades.

7. Narrow field further with specifics.

8. Reserve your final three questions as direct guesses on the person's name.

Tips & Warnings

• Use logic so as not to waste questions. Don't overlap questions. If you have established it is a living television personality, then a guess for the early 20th century is wasted as there was no television then.