BEATLE Significa. Beatles trivia question and answer game

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BEATLE Significa

The music, the history, the e-game.

Here's the online version of a snappy, little Beatles question and answer game. Have you seen it? It looks like this. Pretty groovy 4-color artwork, eh?

(Big deal. Where's the game?)

While this web version isn't suitable for putting on a shelf and gazing at, or taking along with you to the beach, it has been slightly improved from the card deck version. A few of the dopier questions have been surreptitiously replaced. On the other hand, some goof-ups were left in for the sake of historical interest. Don't worry, these "problem" questions have been flagged and the absolute truth revealed.

In March 2003 I unloaded my remaining stock of the Beatle Significa card decks. If you got one of those, please click here for the latest and greatest Beatle Significa rule sheet, plus some detailed discussion of the errors in the original game. I have excuses for almost all of them! By the way, even after all these years, the suggested retail price is $3, so keep those Beatlefest flea market dealers honest!

(Cut the gab, I'm ready to play, already.)

The back of the card deck box tells it like it is:

                  BEATLE Significa
        
                     A game for
                 2 or more players.
        
               832 questions and answers 
             covering every aspect of the 
                 Beatle phenomenon.

                 Beatle years only 
                   - From birth
                   - through mania
                   - to breakup.

Everything you need to know about the Beatles in the palm of your hand... Too bad it's presented in the most disorganized fashion possible. I suppose I could have alphabetized the questions. (Just kidding.)

(I said, shut yer gob. Let's play!)

Play to your heart's content, but here's the deal: don't tell me how hard it is. I've heard it a million times. Man, you all are gonna give me a complex. I was just trying to inspire some interest in all aspects of the Beatles' creativity. Is it too unreasonable to expect a Beatle fan to know a little something about the songs they gave away, or their Christmas records, or John's books, fer cryin' out loud???

Even Ringo twisted the dagger on Late Night With Conan O'Brien (Jul 13 1995). Listen to Ringo on Conan O'Brien:

Conan: The other day you were on Donahue... What struck me is that you're in kind of an odd position, so many people were asking you questions in the audience - big fans - and certainly they know more about you, probably, than you do. They knew stuff that you didn't know.
Ringo: Sure. You know they have...
Conan: They know your sons' birthdays...
Ringo: Yes, well I know that. (Audience laughs.) You know they have that Beatle trivial pursuit - trivial pursuit?
Conan: They have a trivial pursuit game now???
Ringo: Yeah, yeah, and one night we were playing it - and I couldn't answer a damned question. (Audience laughs.) But all the others were, "Oh yes, it was 1963, I know!"

On the other hand, if it's way too easy for you (which it should be) you can play the Jeopardy version. Fire up an answer and try to guess the question, ha ha.

*** RULES ***

Supposing you're off-kilter enough to actually want to play by rules, here are some suggestions.

(Knock it off! Just let me play, ok?)

The object of BEATLE Significa is to score the most points by answering these gear-fab questions.

BASIC PLAY: is a sort of "controlled free-for-all".

1. Start anywhere in the list of questions. The first Reader reads the question.

2. Any player who has an answer gives a single, decisive slap - on the table, knee, hands, etc.

3. The Reader acknowledges the first to slap. If he's right, he gets a point. If he's wrong, he doesn't get another shot at that question.

A slap indicates that the player has an answer ready to go so the Reader only allows him a second or two. If someone slaps in mid- question, the Reader stops right there and asks him for the answer.

4. If the answer is wrong, the Reader acknowledges the next person who slapped in order. This continues until the correct answer is given, or everyone (excluding the Reader) has had one chance.

5. The next player in some agreed-upon order becomes the next Reader - admittedly a pain in the neck for this web version. (Any suggestions?) He reads the next question on the screen.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 until the game is finished.

FINISHING THE GAME: Play until somebody reaches an agreed-upon final score, or until an agreed-upon time limit is reached. In a close game, play enough extra questions so that everybody has been a Reader the same number of times.

READER DUTIES: The Reader indicates quotes and says "blank" for ____ and "dot dot dot" for ... If the Reader has any doubt the given answer is close enough for credit, he simply says "no" without revealing that the answer may be close. After the question is played out, the Reader decides which answer, if any, deserves credit. What's "close enough" can't be defined by rules.

SPECIAL 2-PERSON RULES: The 2 players alternate as Readers. A question is read and the other player answers. If the Reader himself doesn't have a better answer, he checks the given answer. If he thinks his opponent might be wrong, he states his own answer and then clicks on the answer to see who is right.

SPECIAL LAWYER RULE: Don't even think about playing until you've read every word of the permissions I had to print for the use of the small song lyric quotes. You'll be pleased to know they "only" amounted to about a third of the length of the game itself. I've seen books consisting wholly of Beatle song lyrics (including Harrisongs!) that got away with just a line or two of copyright notice.

SPECIAL LAWYER QUESTION: U.S. Customs claimed all my games belonged to them (because "Printed in Belgium" wasn't printed big enough!) Then Apple came along and claimed all my games belonged to them. Who was right? (Hint - trick question.)

MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS: Guessing is fun - if you don't know the answer, slap first anyway to get a guess in.

Remember that all questions were created before the release of Live At The BBC and Anthology, although some of that material is represented by virtue of having been previously bootlegged.

Avoid team play, which is guaranteed to make any game drag. And note that background music can be hazardous, as you will often need to play a song mentally to get to the answer.

*** BUSINESS TALK ***

Distributor inquiries are still welcome. The Beatles still grab a big chunk of media attention on a recurring basis. Wouldn't it be nice to have this game in stores coast-to-coast the next time a Beatle-blitz comes along? (Think 2014.)

Not to appear small and mean, but I am hanging on to the copyright for Beatle Significa, as opposed to other material in this website. Contact me before using it for financial gain.