1. Benet's. An intricate problem 2. The QuizWizard II buzzer system owned
and abused by the Maryland team, and possibly by Berkeley as well. The
QuizWizard II has 16 individual buzzers coming out of a hole in its control
panel. Each buzzer cord is nearly 12 feet long, and all 16 of them
inevitably become tangled up in an inextricable mess, hence the nickname
"The Gordian Knot." Players are usually happy to have 4 or 5 feet of buzzer
cord free, content to leave the remaining 7 feet lost in a huge ball of
tangled cables on the floor. The only way to tell who buzzed in is for the
moderator to look at a digital LED display, then call out the letter and
number of the person who buzzed in first, for example, "B3." Everyone in the
room will then look at the letter and number printed on his buzzer, and
whoever is holding B3 will answer. It sounds bad, but you get used to it,
and it's worth it to know who buzzed in second and third ("And what were
you going to say, you
chucklehead?"). Starting in 1994, graduating
Maryland players were presented with a severed buzzer from an old, defunct
QuizWizard II. Sadly, it didn't sprout two new buzzers whenever one was cut
off, so the team bought a Zeecraft buzzer system like the one pictured in
the title graphic of the main page. But, a year later, an increasing number
of dead slots
on the Zeecraft compelled the purchase of another Gordian Knot in June of
1996. When Ken LaSala first saw the new system, he exclaimed "Look at it!
It's evil!" A longstanding myth among Maryland players is that when two
people buzz in at the same time, the buzzer with the lower number and letter
will win out, and thus that the A1 buzzer is the best one to have.
Knot repair info kindly provided by Dave:
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 22:30:18 -0400
From: mkkjohnson
To: dhamiltn@wam.umd.edu
Subject: Quiz Wizard info
Dear David,
As the sole distributor of the QWII, I found your article most fun and
interesting. I will take this opportunity to pass along some ideas that
may help with the tangled cord problem.
1. Have only one person in charge of putting the monster away.
2. I had the same problem with the demonstration model I use at
conventions. My wife made three cloth bags red, blue, and green 16"x14".
Each team was wound loosely and place in each bag. Though not perfect it
was very helpful.
3. Place plastic electrician ties about every foot or so for each team.
This creates a single bundle of cords for the three teams and reduces
tangle.
O' yes, there is no advantage to "A1" unless the other 15 cords are broken.
Thanks for the mention and keep up the good work.
__________________________________________
QWII Product information:
Price: $545.00 Plus $15.00 S/H (as of Jan 1, 2000)
The electronics are covered for five years and the cords of death are
covered for one. (But they do last forever)
If you have an old machine we can recondition it. Send it to Creative
Electronic Design, 2565 Celia Drive, Beavercreek, Ohio 45385. Ask for an
estimate.
For sales information send me an email. It is much faster than U.S. mail or phone
Michael K Johnson
C.E.Distribution
5492 Glasgow Place
Columbus, Ohio 43235
quizwizard@email.com
614-457-0741
Maintained by Alvin Wong
Comments, complaints can be sent to akwong@wam.umd.edu
Last updated February 1, 2001.
