Annual Great Midwest Trivia Contest

WLFM 91.1 FM in Appleton, Wisconsin

The Rules



Current Rules (amended 2019)

  1. Decisions made by the Head Master of Trivia or the Station Manager are final.
  2. When a team calls to answer a question, they will be allowed only three chances to give the correct answer. If a guess is correct, they will be asked their team name/number and be rewarded the points for that question. Only one guess can be made per call for a Garruda, and the team must identify themselves before they guess. Any team caught phone-jamming during a question will have their points for that question zeroed. Any team caught jamming during a Garruda may have their score zeroed.
  3. No question or Garruda will highlight or feature in anyway context that is racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, or prejudiced towards any person or persons.
  4. Cheating is forbidden. Cheating is the only way to lose points in this contest. Cheating is defined as:
    • Interfering with the ability of others to participate in the contest.
    • Obtaining answers from anyone on the WLFM or Trivia staffs.
    • Competing in the contest under more than one official team name.
    • Abuse of the telephone system, as determined by the Head Master. Dialing to the phone numbers provided for the other team bracket is a common example.
    • Prostitution of the Trivia Credo.
    • Considering anything sacred.

Trivia Credo (original)


1. Trivia is meant to be entertainment and should be perceived solely in that light. Conduct contrary to this governing Credo will be regarded as an infraction of the rules.
2. Decisions made by the Grand Master of Trivia, the Station Manager or the Station Engineer are FINAL.
3. When a team calls to answer a question, they will be allowed two chances to give the correct answer.
4. Cheating is forbidden. Any team caught cheating will be penalized by zeroing its point total. Cheating is defined as:
a. Interfering with the ability of another team or individual to participate in the contest.
b. Utilizing facilities not normally available for use at the expense of other contestants.
c. Obtaining answers from anyone on the WLFM or Trivia staffs.
d. Competing in the contest under more than one team name.
e. Violation of the telephone by-laws. (see below)
f. Prostitution of the Trivia Credo.
g. Considering anything sacred.


Trivia Credo (1996 addendum, addressing the WWW and BBS's)


The usage of computer systems (i.e. The Web, BBS's, Mudd's, etc..) will only be allowed as data bases. The usage of chat rooms, mudds, and BBS's for requesting answers is strictly prohibited.

The combination of On-campus halls to form teams is still allowed. However, only halls in the same residential zones may combine. The only allowed hall combinations are Colman-Ormsby, Kohler-Plantz, and Trever-Sage-Draheim. Small houses and the fraternities are allowed to combine with whichever hall they wish. The reason for this new rule is to insure the competitive spirit between halls and prevent the conglomeration of the whole campus into one large team since this detracts from the purpose of Trivia.


Telephone By-laws


1. No partial credit will be given for multiple-part answers.
2. Absolutely no cross-phone dialing will be tolerated. Teams will be assigned to either the on-campus or off-campus categories; no team can use WLFM phone numbers available to the teams of the opposite category.
3. Blocking the phone lines by any method will be regarded as cheating; the contest will stop until the problem is cleared.
Most important of these rules is the Trivia Credo; it states that trivia is all for fun. Because trivia is merely entertainment, cheating will be dealt with severely, since nothing can be lost (save sleep) by trivia players. So beware, because St. Tuchulus is ready with his tree sap.