60% +/- 20% of MeFites will enjoy this

August 27, 2004 8:42 AM

Tired of quizzes where you get no credit if your answer is just slightly off? Then you'll like the Estimation Quiz.
posted by DevilsAdvocate (13 comments total)

Somewhat UK-centric, but still fun. I was surprised at some of the things I was very close on, and some for which I was very far off. I was surprisingly close on the number of "petrol" stations in the UK, but there are a lot more MPs than I thought there were. I got a score of 129/310. And I have no idea who Tony Benn is, or what they mean by "carrier bags."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:46 AM on August 27, 2004

...if your answer is just slightly off?

OK, great, let's try it. First answer generates

Please answer the question with a number like "42.5" or "123" (no commas, please)

Do you mean "don't answer with any number over 999" or "write large numbers like this: 234785963"? Unclear. Not worth finding out. Bye.
posted by soyjoy at 9:07 AM on August 27, 2004

I got half way through. 31 +/. 15
posted by Quartermass at 9:13 AM on August 27, 2004

What the hell is a carrier bag?
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:44 AM on August 27, 2004

I received 84 points. I was damn close on the UK history questions and right on the money with some of the more general ones, but for the most part I am a crappy estimator.
posted by sciurus at 10:10 AM on August 27, 2004

This is a neat quiz, and seems to give fair scores after factoring in how close you were, and how much slack you gave (ie more slack = lower score). It also seems to consider tossing you a point for at least being in the right order of magnitude.

I got a 33%, but I'm not from the UK, and my least favorite subject is history =P

It'd be awesome if there were more questions, or if this quiz engine were opened for people to build their own quizzes from.
posted by joquarky at 10:27 AM on August 27, 2004

I got ripped off! I guesstimated 37 +/- 5 for the number of Counties and got a big 0. 39 is not +/- 5 from 37? I'm a stupid yank I think I should get bonus points for even coming close on that one!
posted by Pollomacho at 10:46 AM on August 27, 2004

Hm I got 32%. I was only about 1000 words off on Pride and Prejudice!
posted by synecdoche at 11:01 AM on August 27, 2004

That quiz was too long. I only got 27%, too, but I couldn't really be bothered with estimating things properly towards the end.

Oh, and a carrier bag is a bag that you carry things in (hence the name). They are made of thin plastic, and given away for free at supermarkets.
posted by reklaw at 11:37 AM on August 27, 2004

Oh, and a carrier bag is a bag that you carry things in

As opposed to a bag that you... what? Set things on top of?
posted by soyjoy at 11:55 AM on August 27, 2004

soyjoy, feel the love!

I got 27%. I suck.
posted by chrismear at 7:08 AM on August 28, 2004

I got 36% right, having been off on the number of words in Pride and Prejudice by a factor of 10 (Must have been thinking of Sanditon). My only question is how the actual distance from Edinburgh to Cardiff as the crow flies has a 5 mile margin of error. Is this taking into account the distances between city limits and city centers or does the UK just have unreliable crows?
posted by pokeydonut at 9:55 AM on August 28, 2004

See, I thought a carrier bag sounded like something plush and upholstered that you'd pay 100+ monetary units for, so my guess was far too low.
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:29 AM on August 30, 2004