A Couple Quick Questions

[MattB]

With regard to the bonus questions:
1) If a team conferences on a bonus question and gets it wrong, does the other team get a chance at answering/stealing the bonus?
2) If a team gets the first or second bonus question wrong, is the bonus round then over, or do they still get a chance to answer the remaining bonus question(s)?
3) Unrelated to bonus questions: Is there a time limit that teams have to answer a question before the reader moves on to the next question?

[jonah]

1) If a team conferences on a bonus question and gets it wrong, does the other team get a chance at answering/stealing the bonus?

In most rule sets, no. In some rule sets (especially some commonly used in Georgia, Illinois, and Missouri), yes, and it's typically called "bouncebacks" or "rebounds".

2) If a team gets the first or second bonus question wrong, is the bonus round then over, or do they still get a chance to answer the remaining bonus question(s)?

In most rule sets, the bonus continues. I'm pretty sure there are some rule sets in which the bonus stops as soon as a wrong answer occurs, but I'm not certain of the details; they're not very widespread.

3) Unrelated to bonus questions: Is there a time limit that teams have to answer a question before the reader moves on to the next question?

Yes. This varies by rule set.

For tossups, in NAQT rules, there are 3 seconds after the end of the question in which a player can buzz before the question "goes dead". If the tossup goes to the end with neither team having attempted an answer, then one player attempts an answer and it's wrong, players on the other team have a further 3 seconds to buzz after the first answer is ruled wrong. For computation questions, this is changed to 10 seconds, and in the case of two teams attempting to answer after the end, the second team has whatever's left of the 10 seconds or 3 seconds, whichever is more. (Rule G.6.d allows for longer time limits than 10 seconds for computation tossups, but I've never seen that used.)

For bonuses, in NAQT rules it's 5 seconds after the end of the part, with the moderator asking for an answer at 4 seconds. Some questions (typically computation) may give other time limits (typically 10 seconds), in which case the request for an answer is 1 second before the end.

In other rule sets, 5 seconds is the most common time for both tossups and bonuses, but others are more qualified to give the details than I am. If bouncebacks are available, the time limit is usually 3 seconds for the second team, as it's expected that they do most of their conferring at the same time the first team is conferring.

[Cheynem]

Matt:

What Sparta High School are you affiliated with?