# Boticelli, Part II
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 14, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892 "2007-03-14T15:21:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/1 "2007-03-14T15:21:10Z")
Who wants to play Boticelli?
Based on **Zeldar’s** thread found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=412154&page=1&pp=50)…
I’d never played this before yesterday, but it’s a cool game. It’s sort of a 20 Question style puzzle, but it’s got a few wrinkles that make it a lot more interesting. One person will choose a person (we’ll say for the purposes of this thread that the person has to be real) and give his or her initials, and the rest of the people in the thread have to figure out who the person is by asking questions.
The questions come in two parts: the indirect and the direct questions. The indirect question always comes first. The questioner has to have a person in mind (this person may be fictional, as opposed to the selected person) who has those initials. If the host knows the person to whom the questioner is referring, they answer, “no, it’s not [this person].” In this case, there is no direct question, and we just go on to the next indirect question.
An example from yesterday’s thread: **Zeldar** had selected somebody with the initials **FC**.
[ul]
[li]Indirect Question: Is it an ailing communist dictator?[/li][li]Zeldar: No, it’s not Fidel Castro[/li][/ul]
If **Zeldar** can’t think of somebody with those initials who qualifies as an answer to the indirect question, he answers “no, and I don’t know who you’re talking about.” In this case, the same person who asked the indirect question then asks a direct question. The direct question must be answerable with a simple yes or no.
Another example (I’m cheating now - this is pieced together rather than what actually happened) from yesterday (FC):
[ul]
[li]Indirect Question: Is it the scion of a famous Ohio political family, now serving as an appellate judge?[/li][li]Zeldar: No, and I don’t know who you’re talking about.[/li][li]Original Questioner: Frank Celebrezze. Are you male?[/li][li]Zeldar: Yes.[/li][/ul]
The indirect/direct questions continue until one of two things happen. The first option is that the indirect question describes the chosen person, and the host can’t think of anybody else it describes. Yesterday, **Zeldar** was asked whether FC was “a pianist who played with Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline.” The answer to this was “yes, it’s Floyd Cramer.”
The second ending option is for the person to be identified in the direct question. “Are you [this person]?” is answerable with yes or no.
There’s another wrinkle that I think should be mentioned. If the indirect question describes the chosen person, but also describes somebody else, it can be answered “no, I’m not [the other person].” For example, the chosen person may be Eddie Mathews, a former baseball player. Somebody may ask, “is it a Hall of Fame infielder?” Eddie Mathews was a hall of fame infielder, but so was Eddie Murray. The person may answer, “no, it’s not Eddie Murray” without admitting that the chosen person, too is a Hall of Fame infielder.
If you have any questions about the rules, please post them. **Zeldar** also provided a link to the [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botticelli_(game)) page on the game.
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/2 "2007-03-14T15:22:14Z")
The first person has the initials **DG**.
---
### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/3 "2007-03-14T15:27:13Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd]
The first person has the initials **DG**.
[/QUOTE]
Are you a legendary college wrestler?
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/4 "2007-03-14T15:29:04Z")
No, I’m not Dan Gable.
---
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/5 "2007-03-14T15:29:21Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd]
The first person has the initials **DG**.
[/QUOTE]
Are you a Native American actor?
---
### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/6 "2007-03-14T15:30:45Z")
Are you a drag racer?
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/7 "2007-03-14T15:30:54Z")
No, I’m not Dan George.
ETA: Native American Actor.
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/8 "2007-03-14T15:32:00Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal]
Are you a drag racer?
[/QUOTE]
No, and I don’t know who you’re talking about.
---
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/9 "2007-03-14T15:32:56Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd]
The first person has the initials **DG**.
[/QUOTE]
Are you the title character in an opera?
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/10 "2007-03-14T15:33:58Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar]
Are you the title character in an opera?
[/QUOTE]
No, I’m not Don Giovanni.
---
### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/11 "2007-03-14T15:36:31Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd]
No, and I don’t know who you’re talking about.
[/QUOTE]
That would be “Big Daddy” Don Garlits.
DQ: Are you alive?
---
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/12 "2007-03-14T15:37:11Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd]
The first person has the initials **DG**.
[/QUOTE]
Are you and your sister actresses of the silent era?
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/13 "2007-03-14T15:38:34Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal]
DQ: Are you alive?
[/QUOTE]
Yes indeed.
**DG** is…
[ul][\*]Alive.[/ul]
---
### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/14 "2007-03-14T15:38:51Z")
Are you a “lonesome” country singer?
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/15 "2007-03-14T15:40:28Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar]
Are you and your sister actresses of the silent era?
[/QUOTE]
No, and I don’t know who you’re talking about.
---
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/16 "2007-03-14T15:41:21Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd]
No, and I don’t know who you’re talking about.
[/QUOTE]
Dorothy Gish
Are you male?
---
### Author:  [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/17 "2007-03-14T15:42:06Z")
Are you an ambassador to the United Nations Development Programme?
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/18 "2007-03-14T15:42:23Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal]
Are you a “lonesome” country singer?
[/QUOTE]
No, and I don’t know who you’re talking about.
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/19 "2007-03-14T15:44:25Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar]
Are you male?
[/QUOTE]
Yes.
**DG** is…
[ul][li]Alive.[/li][li]Male[/li][/ul]
---
### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boticelli-part-ii/395892/20 "2007-03-14T15:45:52Z")
[QUOTE=dnooman]
Are you an ambassador to the United Nations Development Programme?
[/QUOTE]
No, and I don’t know who you’re talking about.
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