How to Ask Better Yes-or-No Questions

A strong question creates a useful division

• Test a property that several remaining candidates have and several others lack.
• Use the clues already collected instead of following a fixed script.
• Prefer a question that remains informative whether the response is Yes or No.
• Save identity guesses for candidates that fit the complete clue trail.

1. Review what has already been confirmed.
2. Identify the broad possibilities that still fit.
3. Find one property that separates those possibilities.
4. Ask about that property in clear yes-or-no form.
5. Use the response to choose the next distinction.

Begin broad and narrow progressively

• Opening stage: identify the broad class of answer.
• Middle stage: narrow by subgroup, purpose, habitat, region, or period.
• Late stage: test a distinctive property shared by very few candidates.
• Guessing stage: name an identity only after it agrees with every confirmed clue.

1. Ask a broad classification question.
2. Use the response to select a relevant subgroup.
3. Ask about a property within that subgroup.
4. Compare the remaining candidates.
5. Ask a decisive question or make a supported identity guess.

Ask about one property at a time

• Weak: “Is it large and dangerous?”
• Stronger first question: “Is it larger than an adult human?”
• Possible follow-up: “Can it seriously injure a person under ordinary conditions?”
• Weak: “Is it in Europe or Asia?”
• Stronger: “Is it in Europe?”

1. Underline every property in the proposed question.
2. If there is more than one, choose the most useful property.
3. Ask that property by itself.
4. Save the other property for a later question if it is still relevant.

Prefer objective properties over subjective descriptions

• Replace “Is it big?” with “Is it larger than an adult human?”
• Replace “Is it old?” with “Was it made before 1900?”
• Replace “Is it expensive?” with a functional or category question unless a price threshold has been agreed.
• Replace “Is it scary?” with a specific behavior or risk property relevant to the subject.

1. Find the opinion word in the question.
2. Decide what observable property you actually mean.
3. State a clear comparison or boundary.
4. Check that different answer keepers would probably interpret it similarly.

Use the full response model accurately

• Yes: the stated property applies.
• No: the stated property does not apply.
• Sometimes: the property varies or applies only under some conditions.
• Not Applicable: the property is not meaningful for that kind of subject.
• Not Appropriate: the question is unsuitable for use as a game clue.

1. Read the response literally rather than converting every answer into Yes or No.
2. When the response is Sometimes, ask what more precise condition would matter.
3. When the response is Not Applicable, return to a property suitable for the known category.
4. When the response is Not Appropriate, abandon that question and choose a neutral, relevant clue.

Avoid questions likely to produce Sometimes

• Weak: “Does it live in water?” for an animal that uses both water and land.
• Stronger: “Does it spend most of its adult life in water?”
• Weak: “Is it used outdoors?” for an object used in many settings.
• Stronger: “Was its primary design purpose outdoor use?”
• Weak: “Can it fly?” when gliding, powered flight, and occasional flight could be confused.
• Stronger: “Can it perform sustained powered flight?”

1. Identify what could vary in the proposed question.
2. Add a relevant life stage, time period, setting, or primary-purpose standard.
3. Remove words that rely on frequency without defining it.
4. Accept Sometimes when variation remains part of the accurate answer.

Do not repeat an established clue

• Known: it is not living. Do not ask whether it is an animal.
• Known: it is a natural place. Do not ask whether people manufactured it.
• Known: it is fictional. Do not ask whether the person existed historically.
• Known: it does not use electricity. Do not ask whether it needs to be plugged in.

1. Write down each confirmed clue.
2. Compare the proposed question with the clue list.
3. Remove synonyms and restate the proposed property plainly.
4. Ask a new question only if it creates a new distinction.

Recover when a line of questioning stops helping

• Stop extending a line that keeps producing Sometimes or Not Applicable.
• Recheck whether an early assumption was ever confirmed.
• Compare at least two plausible candidates instead of thinking about only one.
• Switch dimensions: from appearance to function, from size to habitat, or from fame to time period.
• Use a broad reset question when the category remains uncertain.

1. Review every Yes, No, and Sometimes response.
2. Separate confirmed clues from your assumptions.
3. List two or three candidates that still fit.
4. Find one objective difference among them.
5. Ask about that difference in a single-property question.

Weak questions and stronger rewrites

• Weak: “Is it nice?” Stronger: ask about a public role, function, behavior, or design purpose.
• Weak: “Is it big?” Stronger: provide a comparison standard.
• Weak: “Is it old and in Europe?” Stronger: test one of those properties first.
• Weak: “Is it always outdoors?” Stronger: ask about its normal location or primary use.
• Weak: “Is it the Eiffel Tower?” Stronger early question: ask whether it is a human-made landmark.

1. Identify whether the problem is subjectivity, ambiguity, repetition, excessive specificity, or multiple properties.
2. State the distinction you actually need.
3. Rewrite it as one objective yes-or-no property.
4. Check what Yes, No, Sometimes, and Not Applicable would each mean.
5. Ask it only if the result would affect the remaining possibilities.

Apply these questions while playing or exploring