Quizzing the quizmaster: How The Age sets the Superquiz

Unless this is your first Note from the Editor, you will have heard me stress the importance of The Age’s investigative journalism and public interest reporting. This kind of journalism really is the bedrock on which everything else we do rests.

I’m talking about investigations such as the Building Bad series, which exposed allegations of corruption and organised crime in one of the country’s most powerful unions and prompted swingeing responses from state and federal governments, plus the union movement itself. There are few better examples of the power of journalism to have a positive impact on society than this compelling set of reports from Nick McKenzie, David Marin-Guzman and Ben Schneiders.

Meanwhile, The Age has this week been “shining light in dark places”, as the cliche goes, on problems with the $14 billion Metro Tunnel rollout. With so much of your money being spent on this project, you deserve to know about any problems and imperfections. Thankfully, you’ve got The Age’s Clay Lucas to bring you the stories the state government would prefer to hide from public scrutiny.

Jacinta Allan (right) and a Metro Tunnel worker in 2021. Allan was then minister for transport infrastructure and is now premier.Credit: Jason South

Reporting like this is what sets The Age apart from other outlets, where fearlessness and rigour are in short supply. It is not, however, the only reason you subscribe. Many, many, of you also like to partake in some of the more, er, trivial parts of our offering. I am, of course, referring to our quizzes. Quizzes are to newspapers what batteries and coathangers are to Bunnings. They may not be what you went to the store for, but you find them hard to resist. At least I do.

The Age has some of the best (and toughest) quizzes in the business, thanks to the dedicated team of librarians, contributors and researchers who compile them. Today, I thought I would introduce you to one of the people behind the Superquiz, The Age’s library manager Chris Berry.

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing from some of the many people who contribute to making The Age excellent in this note recently. In the coming weeks, you will hear from more of them, and a bit more from me too. Thanks again for supporting their work through your subscription.

Now, it’s time to quiz the quizmaster ...

What’s your strategy when starting a new quiz?

Chris: It’s horrible to have a blank sheet staring back at you with a deadline looming. I find that’s the surest way for the mind to go completely blank. The best questions for me come when I’m doing other things completely unrelated to the quiz. We all have strategies to try to note those down as we go. And it is great to then have a quiz half-filled already as deadline approaches rather than having to start from scratch.

How big is the Superquiz brains trust?

There are five of us.

How long does it take to compile each quiz?

A couple of hours, give or take.

What’s the toughest question you’ve ever set?

We aim to make our last question of each daily Superquiz the hardest and a bit of a stumper. There’s been far too many to remember them all but I had a look back at the first quiz I wrote and it had a pretty tough one: What is traditionally drunk using a zarf? (See the answer at the end of this note).

What’s the toughest quiz question you’ve ever been asked? Did it leave you stumped?

Oh, there’s a new one every week. I’m stumped all the time! Any film question that begins “Who directed” is likely to have me stumped.

Which question has sparked the most feedback or discussion?

If we get something wrong in the quiz (and eventually, we all get something wrong) the feedback comes thick and fast. But the nicest feedback I’ve had is from a reader talking about how they would do the quiz with members of their family, and they’d written in to thank us quiz writers for helping bring their family together each day. It was lovely to get that feedback.

What sparked your passion for quizzes and trivia?

Probably playing the board game Trivial Pursuit as a child on camping holidays with extended family and friends, when the adults seemed to know the answers to so many questions that I had no idea about.

What is your expert topic and why?

It’s either the beaches of the east coast of Australia (I love getting in the water and catching a wave or two) or Manchester United (I’m a lifelong football tragic – blame my dad). But I only have a United question in the quiz on special occasions, such as in May, when both the men’s and women’s teams won the FA Cup.

Readers will know a Chris Berry quiz if it contains a reference to his beloved Manchester United.Credit: Getty Images

Where do you draw your inspiration for new questions?

I’m always on the lookout for new ways of phrasing a question to keep it interesting, which can be more of a challenge than the subject itself. I’ve been writing 10 questions each week for The Sunday Age sport quiz, and as a bit of a sports nut, it’s a joy to do a “round the grounds” of various sport websites on the hunt for questions. A couple of “who won/who lost” questions are fine, but it’s nice to have time to dig a little deeper for some questions. To find a fact we all know – such as the fact that tennis players are getting taller – and then find a way to turn that into an interesting question, such as: Who was the last male tennis player under six feet tall to win a grand slam singles event?

What do you most enjoy about the experience of creating the Superquiz?

I like the challenge of having a diverse range of questions and that for a couple of hours each week, I’m allowed to wander around the internet and down a few rabbit holes in search of them.

What’s your favourite piece of trivia that you’ve discovered while compiling the quiz?

A sad fact about koalas made an interesting quiz question.

Wow, that’s a tough question. There’s a new one every week. If I find out a fact that’s interesting to me and maybe slightly shocking and doesn’t seem well-known, it’s going straight in the quiz. I remember once doing unrelated research in our newspaper archives and coming across some shocking stats that I turned into this question: In 1919, a Queensland open season on koalas killed how many koalas: 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000? (The answer is sadly 1,000,000). But I also like trivia and questions that have a bit of fun. I like that I’ve learnt what the days of the week are actually named after. They make great questions because there’s something interesting that’s hidden behind something very familiar. A recent question I wrote along these lines that I quite liked was: According to the mythical Norse origins of their names, which two days of the week were married? (See the answer at the end of this note).

What book would you recommend to Superquiz fans who can’t get enough trivia and general knowledge?

Well, there is a new Classic Good Weekend Quiz Book, compiled by our very own quiz writer, Brian Yatman. I’m told they’re putting the finishing touches on it right now with the printer. That’s definitely one to look out for! (You can pre-order your copy here).

Answers: What is traditionally drunk using a zarf? Coffee. According to the mythical Norse origins of their names, which two days of the week were married? Wednesday (Odin) and Friday (Frigg).

You can play the Superquiz here, The Age Quiz here, The Good Weekend Quiz here and The Traveller Quiz here.

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