20 Questions - Game 317

[Hominidae]

Male that was alive during WW1 or WW2?

If this ends up being a "no", then it's very likely that this person is not male.

[cdngooner]

Born in what is currently the United States?

No.

if no: born in what is now the UK, Ireland, Greenland, Iceland, or an island in the Atlantic Ocean?

Yes.

Primarily famous for holding a political office or a military role?

No.

Male that was alive during WW1 or WW2?

No.

15 questions in and you still don't know gender, place of birth, or source of fame. I may have stumped you here, but this is a very famous person.

2,5,6,7. Real human born in Western Hemisphere.
1. Born on an island smaller than Australia.
13. Born in UK, Ireland, Greenland, Iceland, or island in the Atlantic.
4,8,11,12. Not born in England, Canada, US, or on a Caribbean island.
3,10. Born 1900-1948.
15. Either female; or male who died before July 28 1914, or was born after September 2 1945.
9. First language not Spanish.
14. Not primarily famous for political or military.
All geographic expressions as defined by the questioner in the various questions; refer to those for details.

[cdngooner]

Even though this person was born before 1949, when Newfoundland joined Canada, I'll grant you this person was not born in Newfoundland.

[DreamTrawler]

Woman involved in the arts broadly speaking?

[cdngooner]

Woman involved in the arts broadly speaking?

No.

2,5,6,7. Real human born in Western Hemisphere.
1. Born on an island smaller than Australia.
13. Born in UK, Ireland, Greenland, Iceland, or island in the Atlantic.
4,8,11,12. Not born in England, Canada, Newfoundland, US, or on a Caribbean island.
3,10. Born 1900-1948.
15. Either female; or male who died before July 28 1914, or was born after September 2 1945.
16. Either male; or female not involved in the arts.
9. First language not Spanish.
14. Not primarily famous for political or military.

[Hominidae]

Even though this person was born before 1949, when Newfoundland joined Canada, I'll grant you this person was not born in Newfoundland.

I specified "what is currently Canada" for this reason, so this hint wasn't even necessary.

[cdngooner]

I've railed on this before, but I think this game is illustration of the folly of asking so many compound questions ("was this person a male, born under the sign of Libra, who played tiddlywinks at a French language elementary school?"). Unless you guess extremely lucky and get a yes, if you get a no, you have no information on which element(s) of the compound question are wrong. I think you would have been much further along, if you asked simple questions such as "Male?" "Famous for X?" or "Born in Y?".

[Hominidae]

Is this a woman born in what is currently Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, or the country of Ireland?

[Hominidae]

I've railed on this before, but I think this game is illustration of the folly of asking so many compound questions ("was this person a male, born under the sign of Libra, who played tiddlywinks at a French language elementary school?"). Unless you guess extremely lucky and get a yes, if you get a no, you have no information on which element(s) of the compound question are wrong. I think you would have been much further along, if you asked simple questions such as "Male?" "Famous for X?" or "Born in Y?".

Ha! Didn't see this before I typed my question. I agree that these questions are a bit high risk, but they can be high reward sometimes.

[DreamTrawler]

I've railed on this before, but I think this game is illustration of the folly of asking so many compound questions ("was this person a male, born under the sign of Libra, who played tiddlywinks at a French language elementary school?"). Unless you guess extremely lucky and get a yes, if you get a no, you have no information on which element(s) of the compound question are wrong. I think you would have been much further along, if you asked simple questions such as "Male?" "Famous for X?" or "Born in Y?".

Ha! Didn't see this before I typed my question. I agree that these questions are a bit high risk, but they can be high reward sometimes.

Honestly, I was hoping for a yes for the compound questions I asked and thought I would give us an extra tidbit of info while doing so. Ah well

[cdngooner]

Is this a woman born in what is currently Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, or the country of Ireland?

No.

Three questions left.

2,5,6,7. Real human born in Western Hemisphere.
1. Born on an island smaller than Australia.
13. Born in UK, Ireland, Greenland, Iceland, or island in the Atlantic.
4,8,11,12. Not born in England, Canada, Newfoundland, US, or on a Caribbean island.
3,10. Born 1900-1948.
15. Either female; or male who died before July 28 1914, or was born after September 2 1945.
16. Either male; or female not involved in the arts.
17. Either male; or female not born in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland.
9. First language not Spanish.
14. Not primarily famous for political or military.

[DreamTrawler]

Ok - is this person a woman?

[Hominidae]

Ok - is this person a woman?

This is good. If this is a "yes", we're down to some very low population islands, and if this is a "no", we're down to a narrow window of birth years (albeit one with a lot of famous people) assuming that this isn't some famous murdered child from the very early 20th century.

[Hominidae]

Ok - is this person a woman?

If no: born in Scotland or Wales?

If yes to that question: Pete Ham

[cdngooner]

Ok - is this person a woman?

No.

If no: born in Scotland or Wales?

Yes.

If yes to that question: Pete Ham

No.

One question left.

I will not, as some QM's have, invite more than 20 questions. That is the name of the game after all. I will give a hint, but you are so far off it will be a Spartaculean miracle if you get it. The hint is: this person earned fame in a country not of his birth.

1,2,4,5,6,7,8,11,12,13,16,17,18,19. Real human male, born in Scotland or Wales (that was an awful lot of questions to get very little information).
3,10,15. Born 1900-1948.
15. Either died before July 28 1914, or born after September 2 1945.
9. First language not Spanish.
14. Not primarily famous for political or military.

Not: Pete Ham (Hominidae).

[Hominidae]

OK, I'll ask the 20th question: was this person primarily famous for music and/or acting?

If yes: Bon Scott

[Hominidae]

OK, I'll ask the 20th question: was this person primarily famous for music and/or acting?

If yes: Bon Scott

To clarify, by "was" I mean "is/was".

[cdngooner]

CORRECT! It is, in fact, Bon Scott! That was a Hominidaean guess!

Bon Scott, for those who don't listen to music before Ariana Grande, was the lead singer of AC/DC until his death by acute alcohol poisoning in 1980. Most bands would have fallen off the charts after such a loss. AC/DC released their biggest selling album of all time, Back in Black.

I had no idea you were this close. Although you did have the DOB pegged to within two years, so if you Wiki'd people born in those countries in those years, you could find one that achieved fame elsewhere. Or did you actually deduce this with your own general knowledge?

[Hominidae]

I tried scouring Wikipedia for the birth years, but clicking on literally everyone (since I had no idea what this person's primary nationality was) was taking too long. I tried looking up famous actors born in Scotland and Wales, but that didn't turn up anyone extremely famous. Then I went to "born in Scotland" on Famous Birthdays and Bon Scott was on there (pretty far down, because that site tends to focus on TikTok stars).

Great pick, great game, and the next thread will be up soon.

[Spartaculous]

I tried scouring Wikipedia for the birth years, but clicking on literally everyone (since I had no idea what this person's primary nationality was) was taking too long. I tried looking up famous actors born in Scotland and Wales, but that didn't turn up anyone extremely famous. Then I went to "born in Scotland" on Famous Birthdays and Bon Scott was on there (pretty far down, because that site tends to focus on TikTok stars).

Great pick, great game, and the next thread will be up soon.

Congratulations to Hominidae for becoming (I believe) the first contestant to win 5 straight rounds of 20Q! (Omitting, of course, the rounds played as QM.)