Editing Quiz bowl (section)

=== Variations ===
Several variations on the game of quiz bowl exist that affect question structure and content, rules of play, and round format.<ref name="PACE rules" /> One standardized format is the pyramidal tossup/bonus format, which is used in NAQT and ACF (or mACF, referring to question sets produced in a similar style to those of ACF) competitions.<ref name="PACE rules" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.naqt.com/naqt-style.html|title=NAQT-Style Events|website=NAQT|access-date=July 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015040249/http://www.naqt.com/naqt-style.html|archive-date=October 15, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Most quiz bowl question producers, including ACF and NAQT, publish a distribution of the number of tossups and bonuses per round that will feature material from a given area of study.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://acf-quizbowl.com/distribution/|title=ACF Packet Distribution|website=Academic Competition Federation|access-date=2020-03-24|archive-date=2020-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130175755/https://acf-quizbowl.com/distribution/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.naqt.com/college/distribution.jsp|title=College Subject Distribution|website=NAQT|access-date=2020-03-24|archive-date=2020-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415033514/https://www.naqt.com/college/distribution.jsp|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.naqt.com/hsnct/distribution.jsp|title=HSNCT Subject Distribution|website=NAQT|access-date=2020-03-24|archive-date=2020-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415042107/https://www.naqt.com/hsnct/distribution.jsp|url-status=live}}</ref>

ACF/mACF tossups are written in pyramidal style and are generally much longer than College Bowl and NAQT questions. Games are usually untimed and last until a total of 20 tossups are read.<ref name="brainiac" /> The published distribution of ACF quiz bowl emphasizes academic subjects, with very little popular culture.<ref name="brainiac" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://acf-quizbowl.com/distribution/|title=ACF Packet Distribution|website=acf-quizbowl.com|access-date=2020-03-24|archive-date=2020-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130175755/https://acf-quizbowl.com/distribution/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, many "housewrites", or question sets written by schools themselves, may choose to modify the category distribution.

NAQT is another common variation on the tossup/bonus format that balances academic rigor with a wider variety of subjects, including popular culture and an increased amount of [[current events]] and [[geography]] content.<ref name="brainiac" /><ref name="college distro" /> Unlike many mACF events, most questions used in this format are written and sold by NAQT themselves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.naqt.com/about/|title=About Us|website=NAQT|access-date=2020-03-24|archive-date=2020-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412213404/https://www.naqt.com/about/|url-status=live}}</ref> NAQT also uses "power marks" in their tossups, which reward players with 15 points instead of 10 for a tossup answered before a predetermined point.<ref name="NAQT rules" /> Games played on NAQT rules consist of two nine-minute halves and a total of 24 tossups.<ref name="PACE rules" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/97/970128.quizbowl.shtml|title=University of Chicago Quiz Bowl Team Beats Harvard to Win the First Annual National Academic Quiz Tournament|publisher=[[University of Chicago]] News Office|date=January 28, 1997|access-date=September 15, 2009|archive-date=June 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610054711/http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/97/970128.quizbowl.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> NAQT tossups are typically shorter than most other pyramidal tossups because of shorter character limits on its questions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.naqt.com/application-advice.html|title=Advice for Prospective Writers|website=NAQT|access-date=March 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110414/https://www.naqt.com/application-advice.html|archive-date=April 2, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The format used for the now-defunct College Bowl tournament uses comparatively shorter questions.<ref name="brainiac" /> Gameplay is relatively quick as it is played in eight-minute halves, to a usual total of 22–24 tossups read.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collegebowl.com/pub/gamerules.pdf|title=Game Rules|website=College Bowl|access-date=March 25, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923205417/http://www.collegebowl.com/pub/gamerules.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Honda Campus All Star Challenge and ''[[University Challenge]]'' in the U.K. use similar formats.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.collegebowl.com/format.asp|title=The Original College Bowl Format|website=College Bowl|access-date=October 7, 2014|archive-date=October 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013074131/http://www.collegebowl.com/format.asp|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hcasc.com/pub/gamerules.pdf|title=Game Rules|website=HONDA CAMPUS ALL-STAR CHALLENGE|access-date=March 25, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402145257/https://www.hcasc.com/pub/gamerules.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/show_rules.html|title=The rules of University Challenge|website=Sean Blanchflower|access-date=March 25, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923191717/http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/show_rules.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Matches played at the National Academic Championship and its affiliated tournaments are split into four quarters, with differing styles of gameplay in each phase.<ref name="Riley" /> Individual tournaments may use worksheet rounds, lightning rounds, or tossups without accompanying bonuses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.hiwaay.net/~asca/documents/Rules2015_001.doc|title=Rules|date=January 2015|website=Alabama Scholastic Competition Association|access-date=March 25, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110251/http://home.hiwaay.net/~asca/documents/Rules2015_001.doc|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 2020–2021 quiz bowl season saw a dramatic increase in the number of large online quiz bowl competitions due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. In-person quiz bowl tournaments were cancelled, including all NAQT National Championships.<ref>{{cite web |title=COVID-19 Outbreak Cancellations |url=https://www.naqt.com/articles/2020-coronavirus.jsp |website=NAQT |access-date=12 April 2022 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225194520/https://www.naqt.com/articles/2020-coronavirus.jsp |url-status=live}}</ref> Online competitions, often using the platforms [[Zoom (software)|Zoom]] or [[Discord (software)|Discord]], were widely used by tournament directors, including state championship organizers in 2020-21, as well as for the NAQT HSNCT and PACE NSC high school nationals tournaments.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.naqt.com/hsnct/2021/details.jsp|title=2021 High School National Championship Tournament Logistics Information|website=NAQT|access-date=2021-07-08|archive-date=2021-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190628/https://www.naqt.com/hsnct/2021/details.jsp|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Tournament Schedule|url=https://pacensc.github.io/docs/tournament-schedule|access-date=2022-02-09|website=2021 PACE NSC|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-02-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209134517/https://pacensc.github.io/docs/tournament-schedule|url-status=live}}</ref> This allowed competition in spite of national and international lockdown requirements. These matches and tournaments were run in a similar manner to in-person competition, although some tournaments switched to tossup-only formats.