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An excerpt from a typical "Conventions" section in the event rules:
In most cases, the questions are more difficult in the smaller and more remote cemeteries. Answers may be found either inside or outside the cemetery. The larger the cemetery, the more likely the answer will be found near the main gate, unless there is some other indication (such as "near the flagpole").
Some cemeteries are located near a church, and the answer might be located near the church rather than the cemetery. If an address or fire number is given, it may be that of the church. If there's not a church, it might be the address or fire number of an adjacent building or other property.
Names may be abbreviated as initials in the questions, but never referenced in part nor embellished, except that middle names or maiden names may or may not be included. A middle or maiden name will only be referenced if it appears on a marker, and never as the beginning of the name. In other words, John F Kennedy could be called John, Kennedy, John Kennedy, J. F. Kennedy, JFK, or John Fitzgerald, but not Fitzgerald or Fitzgerald Kennedy. Hillary Rodham Clinton could be Hillary Rodham or Hillary Clinton, but not R Clinton. Robert could not be called Rob or Bob unless it appears on a marker as a nickname.
Ages may be given in complete years, unless exact dates are specified. For example, 5 years and 8 months is 5 years of age, not 6, despite any text indicating otherwise. Persons with a birth date and no death date are presumed to be still living. Years, months and days may be abbreviated on tombstones, but the abbreviations will be obvious, even when given in a non-English language. Examples include, but are not limited to "y", "yrs", "mo", "mos", "d", etc.
Anything in the questions or answers in quotation marks refers to exact text. Punctuation and case are irrelevant. So "3 yrs." is the same as "3 YRS", but "years" is not the same as "yrs" when it's in quotes. Not in quotes, they're the same. An ellipsis (...) indicates text that is missing or unreadable.
You will be required to apply a little deductive reasoning. For example, if there are two people on a marker and the question asks about a man, you could assume the man was the person with the man's name. A man and woman buried in close proximity with the same last names and close in age could be assumed to be married (there will be no tricks concerning spouses vs. siblings). If a woman's name indicated remarriage, you might find that children of the right age with different surnames could all be hers.
You may find headstones with abbreviated information such as initials or words like "father". If they are part of a family plot, you can assume they belong to that family, however, someone with a different last name next to a family plot cannot be assumed to share their last name. "John" on a headstone in the Kennedy plot could be assumed to be John Kennedy, and he may or may not be the same John Kennedy listed on the family marker, depending on what is indicated by dates on either marker.
Don't use the above rules to do goofy stuff, like assuming a woman had children after the age of 60, or anything like that. We just use a little logic to find interesting things for you to look out for.
If a question only contains an image or the name of a landmark, you need to find that image or landmark somewhere. A landmark may or may not be identified by a sign.
All questions must be answered from the multiple choices. For instance, the nearest object to a landmark would have to be the nearest of those listed. If you think you have an answer that does not match any of the multiple choice answers, you may have found something that we didn't notice. Keep looking.
See a typical Glossary section.
Return to the Rules page.