Scholars Bowl Rules/Format

Vermont-NEA Scholars' Bowl

Rules

Each two-team match has three parts: toss-up and bonus questions, rapid-fire questions, and more toss-up questions. Teams may change players only between rounds.

Part one: Toss-ups and Bonus.

This part of the competition is nine minutes long [in regional play, 10 minutes].
Four students per team.
No consultation between teammates on toss-up questions.
Only the student who buzzes in first has three seconds to answer a toss-up question worth ten points.
For all toss-up questions, the student who rings the buzzer first may not answer until the moderator recognizes him/her by school and last name.
Incorrect answers given after the full question has been read are not penalized.
If a person buzzes in prior to the full question being read with an incorrect answer the team is assessed a five-point penalty and the remainder of the question is read to the opposing team. It is discretion of the moderator to either pick up the remaining words or reread the beginning of the sentence to make the question flow more easily. If the second team also interrupts the moderator with an incorrect answer, they too are penalized five points.
The team that correctly answers a toss-up question may then collaborate on a bonus question worth up to twenty points. The team only has three seconds to begin answering. All answers on bonus questions should be made through the team captain or a designee, clearly identified by the captain. If there are multiple answers, then the team has three seconds to give each answer.
In regional play: On any part of the bonus that the team does not get, it is then bounced back to the opponent for them to answer for the same point value within three seconds. Each part must be asked of both teams first before going onto the next part.

Part two: Rapid Fire

Teams may now have up to six students participating
The team with the lower score has the choice of two categories read by the moderator (the instructions may NOT be read until a category is chosen). If the score is tied, a coin toss will decide which team will go first.
Ten questions worth 5 points apiece
If any team “sweeps” a category getting all 10 answers correct, they get an additional 10 point bonus
After reading the instructions, a team will have 60 seconds to answer all ten questions.
All answers are to be from the team captain or designee.
If unsure of an answer, a team may call “Pass” to skip over the question and go onto the next.
At the end of the 60 second period, the opposing team will have 45 seconds to answer any passed or incorrectly answered questions.

Part three: Toss-up Questions

This part of the competition is nine minutes long.
Four students per team.
Only toss-up questions are read, there is no collaboration between students.
All questions are worth 10 points, with the same rules applying as in the first round regarding interruptions and missed answers.

Teams may not ask for questions to be re-read by the moderator.

Any discrepancies in student answers must be made prior to the next question being read. The judge will act accordingly, conferring with the moderator and coaches, if necessary, and stopping the clock if necessary. The ruling of the judge is final.

Score tie-breaker: Any ties at the end of a PLAYOFF match will be decided through a five toss-up mini-round, with the team answering the most number of questions correctly being declared the winner. If the teams are still tied, another five questions will be asked, and this will repeat until an outright winner is decided. There are no penalties for incorrect answers. Ties at the end of preliminary matches will remain ties.