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The Distributed Easy Lyrics Quiz: the results

Somewhat later than planned, here are the results of the Distributed Easy Lyrics Quiz. 34 players took part in some fashion: 5 set lyrics but didn't solve them, 12 solved lyrics but didn't set one and 17 both set and solved lyrics. The top five finishers in descending order were bopeepsheep with 36 points, addedentry with 30 points, huskyteer with 29 points, venta with 28 points and heidi8 with 24 points. (I have listed you under the name and site with which you solved lyrics.)

There were 22 lyrics in the game, each of which was potentially answered by each of 29 players, 18 of whom used the LiveJournal poll, 10 of whom used the Dreamwidth poll and one of whom used neither. The average lyric was solved correctly slightly under 36% of the time, despite my drive towards easy lyrics. Remember, you earnt points for solving lyrics correctly, points for submitting a lyric that was solved by as close to two-thirds of players as possible (in this case, 2/3 of 29 players, so ideally 19 players) and points for having other players name your lyric as their favourite. In order:

1. that lightning storm, that tidal wave, this avalanche, I'm not afraid was "Imitation of Life" by R.E.M. submitted by ashkitty. 5 players solved it correctly, 24 players did not. Comments included this one took me ages, singing it in my head, and I know the song well! and Oh, um, that song by REM that I really really love, but I can't think of the title and I consider myself honour-bound not to grab my best-of CD and look it up... 4 players named it as their favourite: zoomy_zoomydid, huskyteer, lambertman and addedentry. This song was unique in that two of the players naming it as a favourite couldn't remember what it was called.

2. Nobody's gonna go to school today/she's gonna make them stay at home was I Don't Like Mondays submitted by bopeepsheep. 17 players solved it correctly, 12 players did not, so very close to the perfect 2/3 for full points. We didn't require players to name an artist, because cover versions in lyrics quizzes start conflicts of the sort barred by the Geneva Convention, but this was variously credited to The Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof (logically) and Jon Bon Jovi. No players named it as their favourite.

3. He's a liar and I'm not sure about you. was Kirsty MacColl - There's A Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis submitted by heidi8. 10 players solved it correctly, 19 players did not. One player responded There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis(h) and I'm suddenly very curious to know whether someone has come up with a fannish version. A popular song; 3 players named it as their favourite: beingjdc, klepsydra and oenomel.

4. Waiting for the moon to come and light me up inside // I am waiting for the telephone to tell me I'm alive was "Daylight Fading" from Recovering the Satellites by Counting Crows submitted by meggitymeg. One player solved it correctly, 28 players did not. No players named it as their favourite.

5. But then she went to Cleveland with some guy named Leland that she met at the bank. was Bowling for Soup, "Ohio (Come Back To Texas)" submitted by klepsydra. One player solved it correctly, 28 players did not. 2 players named it as their favourite: meggitymeg and pseudonomas. A comment was Even though I don't know the song, I *want* to know the song now, because that is an awesomely random sentence. Link, please?

6. I was born to love her / And I will never be free / You'll always be a part of me was "Always Something There to Remind Me" by Naked Eyes submitted by brakusjs. 7 players solved it correctly, 22 players did not. One player responded My head says "Don't leave me this way", but it isn't (indeed not) and another tried 24 hours from Tulsa, which has forever been ruined for me by a TV commercial years ago. and I'm suddenly very curious to know whether someone has come up with a fannish version. No players named it as their favourite.

7. Faith has been broken, tears must be cried, Lets do some living after we die was Wild Horses, The Rolling Stones. submitted by frayer. 2 players solved it correctly, 27 players did not. No players named it as their favourite.

8. Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide. No escape from reality. was Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen) (and, indeed, pretty much everyone else in the world) submitted by bateleur. 27 players solved it correctly, 2 players did not. One of those players was me with my deliberately all-incorrect entry, about which I did warn you, and I ain't sayin' who the other player was. 2 players named it as their favourite: citizenpsmith and leiabelle.

There now follows an obligatory pause for some headbanging. It's a good poll that has reason to make you headbang.

9. The image has gone, only you and I, it mean's nothing to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! was Ultravox - Vienna submitted by slashkilter. 13 players solved it correctly, 16 players did not. No players named it as their favourite. Oh, shaddupayaface. (He said, cutting to the punchline of the only piece of trivia that UK people know about this song, not actually inviting people to shaddupa their faces.)

10. Let's play Twister, let's play Risk. was 'Man On The Moon' - R.E.M. submitted by huskyteer. 18 players solved it correctly, 11 players did not, so almost bang on the perfect 2/3 for full points. It would have been closer still but for this comment: Erm... it's one of the tracks on REM's "Automatic for the People" and I can't recall the title! 4 players named it as their favourite: bateleur, venta, undyingking and, er, chris. Yeah, spot the gamers hooked by the bait of a game-related lyric. To be fair, knowing your audience and picking a song accordingly is an entirely valid tactic and one which has earned a bagful of points on this occasion.

11. It took time to understand the man was I Know Him So Well - Elaine Paige and Barbara Dixon submitted by emmazon. 9 players solved it correctly, 20 players did not. heidi8 named it as her favourite and also noted it was originally sung by Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson. No known relation.

12. He'll be the man who's already working, spreading a memory all through the sky was In Liverpool - Suzanne vega submitted by veronikamg. One player solved it correctly, 28 players did not. tablesaw named it as his favourite.

13. Why do birds suddenly appear / Every time you are near was Close to You submitted by quintus_marcius. 24 players solved it correctly, 5 players did not - over 2/3 of players got it correct, but still decent scoring. For me, the definitive version will always be that immortalised by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Daniels and a cast of dozens of "colourful characters". baxwest named it as his favourite.

14. Ever since I can remember you've been hanging round this joint was "Dead Ringer for Love" (Meat Loaf) (he supports Hartlepool United, you know) submitted by citizenpsmith. 9 players solved it correctly, 20 players did not. One player said: Dead Ringer For Love? No, that's not it, dang, which one was it? and backed into the correct answer. No players named it as their favourite, though it's a guilty pleasure of mine. Actually, between the lot of you, you've managed to get three of the thirteen songs I named there into this lyrics quiz. You are good to me.

15. You better hang on tooth and nail was "New York Minute," Don Henley submitted by 2ndavemusic. 6 players solved it correctly, 23 players did not. No players named it as their favourite, though my wife did note that she loves this song, which is good to know.

16. Said she, "Able am I, son." was I Palindrome I submitted by tablesaw. 4 players solved it correctly, 25 players did not. athenienne named it as her favourite. bopeepsheep noted that she had been listening to it just ten minutes before taking the quiz.

17. You’ve got your career, spent the best part of last year apart. was Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) submitted by oenomel. 2 players solved it correctly, 27 players did not. No players named it as their favourite.

18. guardian angels sang this strain was Rule Britannia submitted by pseudonomas. 5 players solved it correctly, 24 players did not. One player quibbled: That's not really a lyric now, is it... and diddled himself out of a point. No players named it as their favourite.

19. Last night I dreamt of San Pedro, Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song. was La Isla Bonita - Madonna submitted by venta. 15 players solved it correctly, 14 players did not; "just over half" is close enough to 2/3 to earn a hefty score. Two players named the song as Spanish Lullaby, but that's a lyric rather than a title. 2 players named it as their favourite: bopeepsheep and emmazon.

20. When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me was Let It Be (The Beatles) submitted by undyingking. 25 players solved it correctly, 4 players did not. There was a tendency for those who played in venta's game to go really, really easy, to a slight excess. No players named it as their favourite.

21. Time goes by so slowly / And time can do so much was "Unchained Melody", The Righteous Brothers submitted by addedentry. 19 players solved it correctly, 10 players did not, which is about as close to exactly 2/3 of players getting it correct as you can get. quintus_marcius named it as his favourite.

22. I'm not gonna spend my life being a color was Black or White submitted by me as my own little Michael Jackson tribute. 9 players solved it correctly, 20 players did not. No players named it as their favourite, though it's my favourite of his work.

And that concludes the scoring from the Friends list jury. One interesting conclusion we can draw is a list of (some of) the most famous songs in the world, at least among the self-selecting audience who played in this music quiz:

27/29 - Bohemian Rhapsody
25/29 - Let It Be
24/29 - Close To You
19/29 - Unchained Melody
18/29 - Man On The Moon
17/29 - I Don't Like Mondays
15/29 - La Isla Bonita
13/29 - Vienna

though whether any other audiences would react the same way is another matter. It's also worth noting that, en masse, we like R.E.M., being the only band represented twice and their two songs tying for "most frequently nominated as favourite". And so to the final scores. Here are the top half of finishers:

36 pts. - bopeepsheep (19/22 solving, 17 setting) (top solver, third best setter)
30 pts. - addedentry (10/22 solving, 19 setting, 1 favourite) (best setter)
29 pts. - huskyteer (7/22 solving, 18 setting, 4 favourites) (second best setter)
28 pts. - venta (11/22 solving, 15 setting, 2 favourites)
24 pts. - heidi8 (11/22 solving, 10 setting, 3 favourites)
22 pts. - emmazon (12/22 solving, 9 setting, 1 favourite) (third best solver)
19 pts. - undyingking (11/22 solving, 8 setting)
16 pts. - quintus_marcius (5/22 solving, 10 setting, 1 favourite)
14 pts. - brakusjs (7/22 solving, 7 setting)
14 pts. - klepsydra (11/22 solving, 1 setting, 2 favourites)
14 pts. - meggitymeg (13/22 solving, 1 setting) (second best solver)
13 pts. - slashkilter (0 solving, 13 setting) (best setter not to solve)
13 pts. - citizenpsmith (4/22 solving, 9 setting)
12 pts. - oenomel (10/22 solving, 2 setting)
12 pts. - tablesaw (7/22 solving, 4 setting, 1 favourite)
11 pts. - pseudonomas (6/22 solving, 5 setting)
11 pts. - athenienne (11/22 solving, 0 setting) (best solver not to set)

with the remaining seventeen players scoring as follows: 10, 9, 9, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 7 (low score among those both setting and solving), 6, 6 ,4, 3, 3 (low score among those setting but not solving), 2, 2 (low score among those solving but not setting) and -991. If you wish to know where you finished among the bottom half of the field, drop me either a comment or an e-mail and I shall reply in kind.

The last-place finisher was me; I scored 0/22 for solving, 9 for setting and -1,000 for running the game. I have deducted an appropriate points from my score for taking so long to produce the results but also for managing to completely lose one lyric submitted by e-mail altogether. Sorry about that, Iain. There are other games I'd like to run on Dreamwidth (and I have free invite codes available if you'd like them!) but should probably wait until I would be capable of providing a somewhat more capable and less shoddy refereeing service.

Many congratulations to bopeepsheep for an awesome score with near-perfect performances at both solving and setting!

Players' comments on the game would be highly welcome. The level of difficulty of the lyrics was still rather higher than I would like. There are a number of tweaks that could easily be implemented in order to add some easier lyrics to the quiz, but I was deliberately trying to keep the complexity very low in an attempt to try to boost participation. One possible tweak, as someone else has suggested, would be to invite players to submit more than one lyric and adjust the target percentages to incentivise some really easy lyrics. However, 22 lyrics is quite a few already, and may be sufficiently many to turn some would-be solvers off from participation. It may well be that a second game would see players calibrate the difficulty of their lyrics rather closer to the mark.

There are plenty of possible tweaks on the scoring side: one concept I like would be to give each player three Little Helpers, who will automatically answer the lyric they set either correctly or incorrectly in an attempt to push the proportion of correct answers as close to 2/3 as possible. In this case, any lyric answered correctly by 19/29 would get three bonus correct answers and end up at 22/32, which would lead to the best setting score possible; any lyric answered correctly by 20/29 would get two bonus correct answers and one bonus wrong answer to also end up at 22/32; any lyric answered correctly by 21/29 would get one bonus correct answer and two bonus wrong answers to also end up at 22/32; any lyric answered correctly by 22/29 or more would get three bonus wrong answers to push them in the direction of the perfect 22/32. Is this so complicated as to be off-putting, though?

If anyone enjoyed the game sufficiently that they want to run it themselves, feel free. Share, adapt, improve and enjoy.

I hope you enjoyed the game, apologise for the late results and thank you all for playing!

Please redirect any comments here, using OpenID or (identified, ideally) anonymous posting; there are comments to the post already. Thank you!