FAQ

Questions, questions, questions. It’s usually the quizmaster asking them though occasionally you ask us. The most popular include ‘how long does Bar Wars take to write’ and, ‘where to you get all your information?’

We never thought you’d be overly interested in us but considering the amount of times we’re asked stuff like this we’ve decided to get Leon to answer all your questions.

So anything you want to know just email us the question!

How do you generate the questions?

Our most asked question! It varies. Sounds sad but I now keep pen and paper handy everywhere I go in case some interesting factoid crops up. Our main source is the interweb but we still use books, encyclopedias, TV, newspapers and the radio.

And how long does it take to write?

On a good week I’ll get Bar Wars done in 3 to 4 hours. When the creative juices aren’t flowing though I have been known to stare blankly at the screen for about 5 hours writing the quiz.

I’ve got a really great idea for a round. Can you do it?

Yep! Bar Wars is your quiz and we love input from the teams. If there’s anything you feel is missing or you have a genius idea let us know. Sadly though we do not currently accept whole rounds from external sources.

Can I Have A Bar Wars T-Shirt?

Yes you can! Mugs, T-Shirts, Pants and Baby Grows are now available from our online store.

Why have you called the Bar Wars League the ‘Tim Evans Cup’?

Tim Evans was a member of the TGS staff throughout 2006. He was also a regular at Bar Wars and even celebrated a victory at the quiz on December 24th 2006. Tragically, just under a fortnight later, he died in a road traffic accident. Tim was much loved by many of the TGS staff. We wanted a way of ensuring Tim’s memory lived on and seeing as he attended Bar Wars felt this was an ideal opportunity! The Tim Evans cup is awarded annually on the first Bar Wars of each New Year.

Bar Wars sure uses a lot of paper, as a tree hugger I may have to punish you…

Rest assured we recycle every scrap of paper and we also recycle & refill the ink cartridges used to print the quiz. It’s not much but at least we can feel we’ve done our bit to help the environment.

Can I request a song to play?

Oh yes! Just holler us on Twitter

Why don’t you do a sports round? All other pub quizzes do?

You’ve answered your own question! Bar Wars isn’t ‘another pub quiz’. It’s designed to be slightly different. We’ve tried the sports round out a couple of times in Hereford but as MFA Bowl has a more mixed crowd we feel doing a sports round alienates 50% of the audience. (No, we’re not being sexist, we’re including the men that don’t like sport in that stat!) But don’t worry sports fans we do try to include a number of sport questions in the general knowledge rounds each week.

What's the biggest jackpot you've ever had?

In 2018 we gave away £850 to one lucky player on our Play Your Cards Right end game. Sean Jolly had played the quiz alone and in a quirk of X-Factor style story-telling had just quit his job. He was over the moon with the win enabling him to pay for a trip to Canada to visit an old friend.

What’s the record number of players?

Spring is usually our busiest time of year and we have had some record breaking attendance levels:

These days the quiz is quieter that its 00s peak but we still regularly attract up to 80 people playing.

Anything Ever Gone Wrong?

The infamous ‘fight night’ on January 28th 2007. Just before the quiz started a knuckle dragging Neanderthal decided he didn’t like the way almost everyone was looking at him and had a slight strop about it. Although the quiz went ahead following his romp the atmosphere just wasn’t right. Worst. Bar Wars. Ever!

Bar Wars Mania - have you really surveyed 100 people?

Sorry to shatter illusions but no. We’re just a small scale local pub quiz. We haven’t got the time, money or resources to do that. Instead we’ve used research and surveys from independent sources. So the data is genuine but not actually done by us. Same for Vital Stats which is again pooled from statistical data released by the government and various news agencies over the last few years.

Do you ever play pub quizzes?

Absolutely. Before Bar Wars was established I was an avid pub quiz fan and visited many throughout the creative process to discover what I felt worked & what didn’t.

Mark & I often still take part in quizzes, though doing Bar Wars every Sunday does restrict that somewhat. Our two favourite quizzes locally are The Three Elms (Thursday nights) and the Tuesday night pub quiz at the Victory - great atmosphere, nice balance of questions and you get a curry at the end!

If you’re ever taking part in a pub quiz and another team is called ‘Neil Hates Plymouth Grr’ then you’ll know you’re playing someone connected with Bar Wars.

That’s enough for now. Any questions about Bar Wars you want answered? Email us - quiz@barwars.co.uk