Quizzing the quizmaster: How the Herald compiles its puzzles

Working in journalism can be very rewarding and stimulating. Our job is to be at the forefront of cutting-edge ideas, policies and pressure points that will shape society and have an impact on our future. We also try to shine a light on corruption, greed and shonky behaviour among politicians, business leaders and public figures.

Another aspect of our work is dealing with tragedy and heartbreak. This can take a toll on the reporters, photographers and editors who are faced with grieving parents, siblings and partners of those who have been killed or injured or cut down by illness.

But this is not all we do. We know that sometimes, away from the lofty, the crunchy and confronting subject matter, our readers need a break. This is where our culture and lifestyle teams, our sports crew, our amazing food and travel writers come to the fore.

As part of our move to a subscription model, we have been looking closely at our data to see what stories and topic areas most resonate with subscribers – the content you deem worthy of paying for. There’s our unparalleled investigations of course, must read columnists including Jacqueline Maley, Ross Gittins and Peter Hartcher, our in-depth world reporting by Herald journalists on the ground in Europe, Asia and America, and our renowned Good Food coverage, to name just a few.

This is much as we expected – it’s content readers won’t find anywhere else. But the big surprise was the importance of our wonderful puzzles and quizzes in attracting – and retaining – subscribers.

It’s one of the reasons we’ve harnessed the wit and wisdom of our Friday crossword setter, David Astle – better known, and feared, as DA – to create our Puzzled newsletter, a weekly delight full of tips, tricks and word challenges for dedicated crossword solvers and newcomers alike. One of the best word hounds in the country, DA really does have a magpie mind and his newsletter always leaves me feeling just a bit better about the world.

One of the great weekend rituals in my house is sitting down to the Good Weekend Superquiz with my wife, children and mother-in-law. We also have a WhatsApp group of like-minded friends where we compare scores and occasionally rant about the questions. Many of you, no doubt, do the same.

It’s true that the Herald has some of the best and most challenging quizzes around, thanks to the efforts of a team of researchers, librarians and contributors. This week, I thought we’d turn the tables and put one of these quizmasters, Herald library manager Chris Berry, in the spotlight to find out how it all comes together.

Chris, what’s your strategy when starting a new quiz?
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.

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 sport questions each week for The Sun-Herald 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?
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. You can 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 Good Weekend Quiz here and The Traveller Quiz here.

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