Editing Quiz bowl (section)

=== Tossups ===
{{Quote box|right|fontsize = 75%|title = A pyramidal tossup on [[Jorge Luis Borges]]
|quote = '''A short story by this author features the question, "In a riddle whose answer is chess, what is the only prohibited word?" A character in a story by this author describes knowing "the Secret," which is a "British artillery park on the Ancre". A story by this author features a hunt by the "Purifiers" through (*)''' infinite hexagonal rooms. Richard Madden kills sinologist Stephen Albert to signal the Germans in a story by this author. For 10 points, name this author whose [[Ficciones]] includes "[[The Library of Babel]]" and "[[The Garden of Forking Paths]]."<br/>
ANSWER: Jorge Luis '''Borges'''
|align = right |width = 30% |source = 2022 IQBT RSS #1
}}

Two common types of tossups include buzzer-beaters and pyramidal tossups, with the latter being more common than the former. Buzzer-beaters (also known as speed checks or quick-recall questions) are relatively short, rarely being more than two sentences long, and contain few clues.<ref>{{cite book|title=IHSA Scholastic Bowl Terms and Conditions|publisher=Illinois High School Association (IHSA)|year=2008|location=Bloomington, IL|page=5|url=http://www.ihsa.org/activity/scb/2008-09/t-and-cs.pdf|quote=Buzzer-beater questions that virtually any team can be expected to answer after hearing only a few words are discouraged.|access-date=2009-09-11|archive-date=2009-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104202636/http://www.ihsa.org/activity/scb/2008-09/t-and-cs.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Riley">{{cite journal|last=Riley |first=David |title=Beta Tournaments Debut |journal=Scholastic Visions |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=11 |publisher=Illinois Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association (IHSSBCA) |location=Evanston, IL |date=September 2000 |url=http://www.ihssbca.org/schovisions/sv6_1.pdf |access-date=September 15, 2009 |quote=... similar to the format used at the NAA’s National Academic Championship tournaments. Each match will be divided into four quarters, as follows: 1) Ten relatively easy, “buzzer-beater” tossup questions. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008024619/http://www.ihssbca.org/schovisions/sv6_1.pdf |archive-date=October 8, 2008}}</ref> This type of question is written specifically to test players' quick recall skills without discriminating between the different levels of knowledge on a topic that the players possess.<ref name="What is Quizbowl" /> Buzzer-beaters are not included in major state or national tournaments.

Pyramidal or pyramid-style tossups include multiple clues and are written so that each question starts with more difficult clues and moves toward easier clues.<ref name="What is Quizbowl" /> This way, players with the most knowledge of the subject have the best opportunity to answer first.<ref name="0809IHSAp5II">{{cite book|title=IHSA Scholastic Bowl Terms and Conditions|publisher=Illinois High School Association (IHSA)|year=2013|location=Bloomington, IL|page=6|url=http://www.ihsa.org/documents/scb/2013-14/t-and-cs.pdf|quote=For non-computational tossups, the preferred style is multi-clue, starting with a more challenging clue and ending with a clue that most teams should reasonably be expected to answer correctly.|access-date=2014-06-23|archive-date=2014-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712015256/http://ihsa.org/documents/scb/2013-14/t-and-cs.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Vinokurov|first=Jerry|editor=Greenthal, Jonah|title=How to Write Questions|journal=Scholastic Visions|volume=15|issue=1|pages=16–19|publisher=Illinois High School Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association|location=Evanston, IL|date=September 2009|url=http://www.ihssbca.org/gotoschobowlfest.pdf|access-date=September 24, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Gauthier|first=Greg|title=What's a Good Quizbowl Question?|journal=Scholastic Visions|volume=15|issue=1|pages=20–21|publisher=Illinois High School Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association|location=Evanston, IL|date=September 2009|url=http://www.ihssbca.org/gotoschobowlfest.pdf|access-date=September 24, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> Pyramidal tossups are considered standard for competitive quiz bowl, especially at the collegiate level.<ref name="bostonglobe200909" /><ref name="0809IHSAp5II" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Name|first=Your|title=What are "Pyramidal" Questions?|url=https://coloradoqb.org/info/pyramidal/|access-date=2022-02-09|website=Colorado Quiz Bowl|language=en|archive-date=2021-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706224124/https://coloradoqb.org/info/pyramidal/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In most formats, correctly answering a tossup earns a team 10 points.<ref name="smu">{{cite news|url=http://www.smudailycampus.com/media/storage/paper949/news/2005/02/04/News/Quiz-Competition.Decided-2275852.shtml |title=Quiz competition decided |publisher=SMU Daily Campus |date=February 4, 2005 |access-date=September 10, 2009}}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Extra points, usually for a total of 15 or 20 points, may be awarded if a question is answered prior to a certain clue-providing keyword in the question, usually marked by an asterisk, an action known as "powering."<ref name="brainiac" /> Buzzing in before the entire question has been read and answering incorrectly is called "negging" and may incur a 5-point penalty for a team.<ref name="NAQT rules" /> After a neg occurs, the moderator continues reading the rest of the question for the other team.<ref name="NAQT rules" /> There are usually no further penalties after one team has already negged.<ref name="PACE rules" />