# 20 Quesions version 3.0 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2002, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393 "2002-03-15T02:12:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/41988e/32.png) [@Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yo_La_Tengo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/1 "2002-03-15T02:12:24Z")
Here it is, the third game of **Yo La Tengo** ’s 20 Questions! Sorry, I cannot provide links to the other two games, for they were lost in the… December 7th Crisis (even though the crash didn’t happen in December). For this reason, I shall provide the rules: [ol] [li]A doper asks a yes or no question, I answer it.[/li][li]You all get 20 questions total. It’s not per person.[/li][li]First one to figure my ‘it’ out wins absolutely nothing. Enjoy.[/li][li]There are stupid questions.[/li][li]Stupid questions count as real questions, so I advise you not to ask stupid questions.[/li][li]Number your question (1-20).[/li][/ol]Yeah, just follow those and you should be okay. I’m ready when you are, so fire away. ---
**Author:** ![\_your\_name\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/919ad9/32.png) [@\_your\_name\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_your_name_here)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/2 "2002-03-15T02:23:31Z")
Is it a material thing or a non-material thing? ---
**Author:** ![Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/41988e/32.png) [@Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yo_La_Tengo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/3 "2002-03-15T02:28:46Z")
**(your name here)** asks: 1) _Is it a material thing or a non-material thing?_ **(ynh)**, I’m not quite sure what that means, but I’ll give you this - It’s not made out of matter. Err… yeah, that seems right. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/4 "2002-03-15T02:33:07Z")
Silly **Yo La Tengo**! The answer to **(ynh)**'s questions was “Yes.” 😉 **2**. Is it a commonly encountered item? ---
**Author:** ![ShadowWarrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@ShadowWarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowWarrior)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/5 "2002-03-15T10:13:03Z")
It’s not made out of matter? That means it is something non-physical like an idea or concept… or a ghost of some sort… soooooo… 3. Is it something that is/was/will be alive? ---
**Author:** ![Anubis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Anubis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anubis)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/6 "2002-03-15T13:52:02Z")
4.) Do some people use it as a number? a completely unrelated question, this has to do with the rules: does a guess count as a question if it’s wrong? ---
**Author:** ![pezpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@pezpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezpunk)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/7 "2002-03-15T14:02:40Z")
1. Can I put my balls in it? ---
**Author:** ![Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/41988e/32.png) [@Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yo_La_Tengo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/8 "2002-03-15T20:01:45Z")
**Kat** asked: 2) _Is it a commonly encountered item?_ **Kat** , hmm… I’ll say yes. **ShadowWarrior** asked: 3) _Is it something that is/was/will be alive?_ **SW** , I believe not. **Anubis** asked: 4) _Do some people use it as a number?_ **Anu** , nope. Regarding your second question (about the rules), if you make a guess at what my ‘it’ is, then it will count as a guess. Otherwise, you could just keep on guessing random things until you got it. **pezpunk** asked: 5) _Can I put my balls in it?_ **pez** , believe it or not - yeah. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/9 "2002-03-15T20:49:03Z")
**Hint:** For those of you that weren’t around for the first installment of **Yo La Tengo** ’s insidious game, the first object he used was _light_. We guessed it only question 20. So he’s into using tricky things like that , so be wary! The material/non-material question was a good way to establish that early, although by all rights **Kat** is correct and that should have been an invalid question. But our judge is merciful! ---
**Author:** ![im\_a\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/898d66/32.png) [@im\_a\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/im_a_loser)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/10 "2002-03-15T21:00:03Z")
1. If I put balls in it, would it stay the same size? ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/11 "2002-03-15T21:04:12Z")
Well, he said it wasn’t made of matter, but… 7.) Is it made of energy? ---
**Author:** ![boudicca13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@boudicca13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boudicca13)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/12 "2002-03-15T23:52:02Z")
Can I breathe it? ---
**Author:** ![Solomon7t](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Solomon7t](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solomon7t)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/13 "2002-03-16T00:07:33Z")
Can I see it? ---
**Author:** ![Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/41988e/32.png) [@Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yo_La_Tengo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/14 "2002-03-16T03:36:54Z")
Getting a little behind here… Here we go. **White Lightning** , oh man, I didn’t even catch that. I suppose it isn’t a yes or no question, is it? However, I shall correct you as you corrected me; my first game’s answer wasn’t light, it was time. Light was guessed, but was wrong. Also, my second game’s answer was love. Looking over your post, I see that you didn’t ask a question, did you? All righty then, movin’ on… **im\_a\_loser** asked: 6) _If I put balls in it, would it stay the same size?_ **ial** , I’ll say no. I’m not about to test it, though. **Ferrous** asked: 7) _Is it made of energy?_ **Fur** , [sigh] yeah, and that’s all I’ll say. **boudicca13** asked: 8) _Can I breathe it?_ **booty** , nope. **Solomon7t** asked: 9) _Can I see it?_ **Salami** , yes you can. As a side note to everyone. No one cares if I “make fun” of your name, right? I won’t do anything worse than the stuff you saw in this post (fur, booty, and salami), and if it’s too hard to change it around a little, I probably won’t do anything at all. But If it hurts your feelings, just tell me and I’ll stop. I’m not _that_ evil. Let’s just pretend it’s a perk for me for doing this for you guys. Hehehe 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@Ell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ell)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/15 "2002-03-16T04:04:32Z")
Is it the sun? ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/16 "2002-03-16T04:05:58Z")
Oh yeah, duh. Brain fart. _Love_, that’s keen, I don’t think I caught the end of that one. How long did it take them to guess it? Here’s a recap. 1. it is _not_ a material thing. 2. it _is_ a commonly encountered item. 3. it is _not_ alive past, present, or future. 4. it is _not_ a number. 5. you _can_ put **pezpunk** ’s balls in it, and 6. if you put said balls in it, it would _not_ stay the same size. 7. it _is_ made of energy. 8. you _cannot_ breathe it, but 9. you _can_ see it. Way I see it, 7 is the catch. It’s made of energy, which means it’s not some sort of liquid, which is where I thought the whole balls thing was going. So it’s some kind of energy thing that changes volume when you put things into it. At least we know it’s not some abstract concept like _time_ or _love_. Well, I’m kinda stumped, so I’ll once again leave the guessing for the more acute minds out there. ---
**Author:** ![Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/41988e/32.png) [@Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yo_La_Tengo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/17 "2002-03-16T04:12:10Z")
**Ell** asked: _10) Is it the sun?_ **Eel** , nope. **White Lightnin’** , they got in less than 10 guesses, I believe. **Hamlet** asked if was an emotion right off the bat and it wasn’t long thereafter. Also, I think your getting a little too deep with this ball-shirking thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/18 "2002-03-16T04:24:25Z")
1. Is it fire? ---
**Author:** ![boudicca13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@boudicca13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boudicca13)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/19 "2002-03-16T10:46:26Z")
I don’t mind being called Booty - I think it’s kinda funny:p ---
**Author:** ![Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/41988e/32.png) [@Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yo_La_Tengo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393/20 "2002-03-16T15:13:11Z")
**Kat** asked: 11) _Is it fire?_ [groan] Yes, it is. You guys are obviously too smart. I haven’t beaten you guys at a game of this yet. I’ll start another game this weekend. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. I’ll have to wrack my brain trying to figure out something that will mess ya guys up. Congratulations, **Kat**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-quesions-version-3-0/98393.md?page=2)