# 20 Questions
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 10, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580 "2005-10-10T15:56:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Corporate\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corporate_Hippie)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/1 "2005-10-10T15:56:54Z")
[20Q](http://www.20q.net/)
Check this out! It’s creepy how well it works sometimes.
If you’re too lazy to click, it’s an AI program that plays 20 questions with you to guess whatever thing you’re thinking of. It has a huge, growing database that learns as more people play.
If you play, post interesting things it guessed (or didn’t guess) and how many questions it took.
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### Author:  [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/2 "2005-10-10T16:04:07Z")
It got to about thirty or so questions before it gave up on guessing my beef jerky. However, when I won, it did suggest that might have been what I was thinking of, along with a list of several other itme,s then scolded me for picking the “wrong” answers to some quetions.
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/3 "2005-10-10T16:08:35Z")
What I was thinking of (a film reel) was not in their knowledge base (though “movie” and “film/camera” was). After 30 questions, it gave up.
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### Author:  [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/4 "2005-10-10T16:28:36Z")
It took 30 questions to guess duck. I didn’t think duck would be that hard.
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### Author:  [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/5 "2005-10-10T16:31:09Z")
I can’t wait 'till the techno-utopians get ahold of this… :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/6 "2005-10-10T16:32:28Z")
Has anyone noticed recent commercials for a little device that plays Twenty Questions with you? (Also called 20Q, I believe.)
I was kind of hoping that the [20q.net](http://20q.net) people found a way to make a little moola off their project.
I always enjoy [20q.net](http://20q.net)’s “spontaneous knowledge” – “a squirrel is not a mineral!”
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### Author:  [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/7 "2005-10-10T16:37:51Z")
I was thinking of Mardi Gras beads. It kept giving me various precious stones.
“Is it a garnet?” No.
“Is it a ruby?” No.
“Is it turquoise?” No, it’s a fucking plastic necklace!
No fun.
-foxy
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### Author:  [@Corporate\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corporate_Hippie)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/8 "2005-10-10T16:54:32Z")
Hmm, for me it got “beef jerky” in 26 questions.
It didn’t “get film” reel.
It got “duck” in 18.
It didn’t get Mardi Gras beads.
Haha, I guess this thing is turning out to be a disappointment. Oh well.
(BTW **Hello Again** , that 20Q toy is in fact made by the [20Q.net](http://20Q.net) people. There is a link for it over to the right of the main page)
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### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/9 "2005-10-10T16:58:14Z")
I was thinking “Eliza” and it couldn’t figure that out, although its first guess was ‘20Q’ so I guess it wasn’t too far off.
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### Author:  [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/10 "2005-10-10T17:00:23Z")
It got skunk in 20, twig in 28 (although in hindisght, some of my answers weren’t great), traffic cone in 18, and politician wasn’t in its knowldge base.
Cool.
–Cliffy
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/11 "2005-10-10T17:05:12Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#):
>
> I was thinking of Mardi Gras beads. It kept giving me various precious stones.
> “Is it a garnet?” No.
> “Is it a ruby?” No.
> “Is it turquoise?” No, it’s a fucking plastic necklace!
>
> No fun.
> -foxy
:dubious:
You were trying to get a website to flash its tits at you???
It guessed archaeopteryx, pterodactyl, and stegosaurus before giving up (I was thinking of a basilisk).
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/12 "2005-10-10T17:12:13Z")
It worked out that the SDMB was a web page.
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### Author:  [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/13 "2005-10-10T17:12:22Z")
it got “highlighter pen” in 17 questions, and “can” in 28 . . . guess where I’m doing this from . . .
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### Author:  [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/14 "2005-10-10T17:15:15Z")
African Violet in 16. I find [this](http://www.smalltime.com/dictator/) AI much more fun.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/15 "2005-10-10T17:23:29Z")
I stumped it with Band Saw. It guessed table saw, which was close, but I still won. Yay!
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### Author:  [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/16 "2005-10-10T17:23:32Z")
Got “Candle” in 23… not bad!
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### Author:  [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/17 "2005-10-10T17:26:58Z")
It guessed “mouth” “lips” and suggested “sphincter” when I was trying “vagina”.
about 3 questions in, it asked, “is it furry?”
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### Author:  [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/18 "2005-10-10T17:27:39Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#):
>
> I stumped it with Band Saw. It guessed table saw, which was close, but I still won. Yay!
WTF is a band saw?
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### Author:  [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/19 "2005-10-10T17:28:11Z")
> [@Little Bird](#):
>
> African Violet in 16. I find [this](http://www.smalltime.com/dictator/) AI much more fun.
20Q took 26 to get rattlesnake. \*\*Little Bird’s \*\* site is fun. Here is my first result.
> [@](#):
>
> It wasn’t easy, but I won this time. You are player number 7 to have chosen Maynard G Krebs from Dobie Gillis. Maynard G Krebs from Dobie Gillis was a tough one, but I’ve had a lot of practice. Thanks for giving me something to do. Please visit again soon.
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### Author:  [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-questions/325580/20 "2005-10-10T17:28:59Z")
> [@Little Bird](#):
>
> African Violet in 16. I find [this](http://www.smalltime.com/dictator/) AI much more fun.
After awhile, it asked me if I was an idiot. I said, “yes” and it then asked me if I was George Bush, from America!
😃
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