20 Questions Round 345

[Hominidae]

Born in the Eastern Hemisphere?

No.

[han-shahanshah]

Described as a South American on English Wikipedia? (for example, Alberto Fujimori is described as Peruvian, and Peru is in South America, so he would be yes)

[Hominidae]

Described as a South American on English Wikipedia? (for example, Alberto Fujimori is described as Peruvian, and Peru is in South America, so he would be yes)

No.

[DreamTrawler]

Known for athletics or the arts broadly speaking?

[Hominidae]

Known for athletics or the arts broadly speaking?

Yes.

[DreamTrawler]

Born in Africa?

[Hominidae]

Born in Africa?

Yes.

[han-shahanshah]

From a current full member of la Francophonie?

[Hominidae]

From a current full member of la Francophonie?

I'm interpreting this as "from an area that is currently part of a country that's a full member of la Francophonie."

Pass.

[Hominidae]

Born in the Eastern Hemisphere?

No.

I could have justified passing on this one too, but I'm more confident here.

[DreamTrawler]

Known for involvement in music or literature?

[Spartaculous]

Known for involvement in music or literature?

This is almost certainly "yes", I would think (unless you are trying to rule out the possibility this person is a sculptor?).

[DreamTrawler]

Known for involvement in music or literature?

This is almost certainly "yes", I would think (unless you are trying to rule out the possibility this person is a sculptor?).

Oh wow, I completely missed some of the previous questions about source of fame. Let me take a sec and see if I’ll rephrase or scratch.

[Spartaculous]

1. Real human who lived to adulthood
2,3,10. Presumably* primarily famous for being an author of fiction or poetry or being a sculptor
4. Not alive
5. Born 1700 or later
6,7,8,11. Born in Africa, but not in Eastern Hemisphere
9. Not described as a South American on Wikipedia

Passed: From a current full member of la Francophonie?

*: We know this person is both: known for athletics or the arts (broadly speaking) and primarily famous for serving in government or being an author of fiction or poetry or being a sculptor [but not being royalty or nobility or being a painter, a scientist, a mathematician, or an inventor]

[Spartaculous]

Was this person born before 1800 AD?

If so, free guess: Phillis Wheatley.

[DreamTrawler]

Great guess, also I will scratch my previous question

[Hominidae]

Was this person born before 1800 AD?

If so, free guess: Phillis Wheatley.

Yes and yes! Congratulations.

[Spartaculous]

Was this person born before 1800 AD?

If so, free guess: Phillis Wheatley.

Yes and yes! Congratulations.

I sometimes think about what makes good 20Q picks*. My theory is that, to keep things interesting, you want a blend of different types of people**:

1. Standard picks: People that just about everyone would have heard of. [Recent example: Patrick Stewart.]

2. People that are well-known, but there is some interesting part of their biography that makes them difficult to guess. [Recent example: Jean-Luc Melenchon.]

3. "Clever" picks: Picks that most people would know of, but their source of fame makes them difficult to guess. [Recent examples: Chang and Eng Bunker, Muntadhar al-Zaidi; perhaps Hello Kitty]

4. People that should be more well-known than they actually are.

This was an excellent example of this final type!

* I also think about how to best ask questions and how to make good guesses, but that's another story.

** Used, of course, in the sense of "entity".