New game here. Rules are reposted.
Botticelli: The Rules, An Explanation, What-Have-You
How does this work?
One person, the host, is thinking of someone and gives an initial (“I am B.”). Could be a real person, could be fictional, could be an animal or other non-human; initial could start the first name, initial could start the last name, whatever. Everyone else is trying to figure out who it is. Players first ask indirect questions (IQs), usually three per post, about people with that initial (“Did you paint a picture of Venus on a giant clamshell?”) and the host answers them (“I am not Botticelli.”). If two or more people have pending IQs about the same person, only the first player to ask should be answered; if the host has denied being a certain person, no more IQs may be asked about that person.
What if the host is correct?
Nothing happens.
What if the host doesn’t know the answer?
The player gets to ask a direct yes-or-no question (“Real?” “First name begins with B?” etc.). Note that direct questions (DQs) can be reserved, and asked later.
Does a correct answer have to be who the player was thinking of?
If the host answers with a person who was not whom the player had in mind but who still correctly fits the question–e.g. thinking of Beethoven, asking “Were you a German classical composer,” and getting the response “I am not Bach”–the question has been correctly answered and again nothing happens.
How long does this go on?
Until twenty direct questions have been answered (usually it’s best for the host to continually post an updated list.). Then players get any other earned direct questions in and people who have earned at least one DQ can get in one final direct guess at who it is (“Are you…?”).
Whoever guesses the person correctly (whether by indirect question or final guess) gets to host the next round.
Where does the name of the game come from?
Because the person has to be reasonably notable, as least as well-known as Botticelli. That being said…
What if nobody guesses who the person is?
If it’s someone players have heard of, the host goes again. If none of the players have heard of the person, the previous host goes again.
Ooh, ooh! If I’m the host, can I go with, for example, Madonna but say “I am C” because, y’know, her last name is Ciccone? I am so clever.
No. We’re going by the names people are best known by to the general public, not birth names. Unless, of course, the birth name is as well-known as the stage or other current name.
What about middle names?
Middle names (and middle initials) count if the person is always referred to as such (e.g. if the letter is P then you can ask about John Philip Sousa).
What if a name has two or more parts? What about people with only one name?? What about names outside of the usual personal name-family name set up???
Again, we’re going by how the names are best known to the general public. If you say “last name starts with…” whatever, it’s assumed that you’re referring to the letter the whole last name starts with. Charles de Gaulle, for example, would be guessed under “D”, not “G”, because his last name was “de Gaulle”. Ludwig van Beethoven, however, would be under “B”, because when referred to by last name he’s just “Beethoven”. People with mononyms get “Only name begins with…” (which is, of course, a hint in itself.). Of course, the first initial is always acceptable–Crazy Horse, for example, would obviously be covered under “C”. Going beyond this, it’s best to be specific–e.g., if doing Crazy Horse under “H”, saying “second part of name begins with ‘H’”.
How do you get your numbered lists to line up like that?
In the posting set-up with the post composition on the left and the preview on the right, type a backslash between the “1” and the “.” (just the 1 is fine), like this:
\1.
\2. etc.
(To toggle the set-up with the preview, click the blue slider in the upper left of the post composition area so it’s on the left, showing a capital “M” and down arrow.)
Another tip, especially if you’re hosting:
If you quote an entire post (like some asking IQs), and it is the last post before yours, the Discourse software will delete it from your reply. You can get around this by quoting almost the entire post and then adding in the bit (like, the first letter) you left out.
But wait, there’s more!
“America”, in questions or answers regarding the person’s home/nationality, means the US. “North”, “South” or “Central” must be added for other countries.
Just One More Thing
This is a game to test people’s memory, not their Google skills. The only person who should be using Google, an encyclopedia, a family member, or any other outside reference is the host, to ensure that a DQ (but not an IQ) is being correctly answered.
And just in case you’re wondering, the shortest game we’ve played was a few years ago, when the very first IQ asked (by Professor Pepperwinkle) was answered “Yes”.