Quicksilver (2)

Quicksilver was a short-lived Stone-Stanley game show hosted by Ron Maestri that aired on USA Network from June 27, 1994 to October 13, 1995.

The main game
Three contestants competed in this game of questions & answers. Most of the questions had pun-typed answers meaning that the answers to questions typically became completely different than what the contestants expected.

Round one
Four words or phrases were revealed at the start. These words or phrases were the answers to three questions in a packet. Maestri began reading a question, and players buzzed-in whenever they wanted, knowing that an early buzz-in meant they would miss out on crucial information. For example:

Given these choices: Monty Hall, Picador, Pandora's Box and Trading Places

And this question: "On the game show Let's Make a Deal...this is what host Monty Hall would ask players to do."

A player buzzing in before the question was finished might choose Monty Hall, thinking the question would have been completed with "...he gave the contestants the choice of the money or what was behind the curtain." That contestant then missed out on the rest of the question. The correct answer is "picador," a portmanteau of "pick a door." Most questions had misleading wording and pun answers given in this format, known as a "swerve" in quiz bowl culture. The first player to buzz-in with a correct answer got 25 points, but an incorrect answer locked that player out of the rest of the question.

After every three questions, four new answers were revealed. Five packets of questions and answers were played in round one.

Round two
Five answers were revealed at the start with one answer being dubbed the "Quicksilver" answer ("Mystery Blank" on some episodes). Correct answers were worth 50 points, and right answers were removed and replaced with a new answer. If the contestant that buzzed-in first thought the correct answer was not on the board, the contestant called out the title of the game show "Quicksilver" and gave the correct answer. A correct "Quicksilver" judgment was worth 100 points and a bonus prize if it was the first one in the game. In addition, the player that answered a "Quicksilver" question in this round was given the chance to bet up to 200 points on a follow-up question pertaining to the actual "Quicksilver" answer. An incorrect answer or running out of time deducted the points from the player's score. After that the "Quicksilver" answer was replaced with a regular one. After twelve questions were played, the round had ended.

Round three
In the first half of the final round, the board began empty, and filled with the eight answers to eight questions in part one. Right answers were worth 75 points at that time.

In the second half of the round, the eight answers from the first half were answers for the second half. Each correct answer was worth 100 points; and there were two "Quicksilver" answers to be found. A "Quicksilver" answer was worth 200 points (and potentially the bonus prize if it wasn't claimed earlier) The player that answered a "Quicksilver" question in this round was given the chance to bet up to 400 points on a follow-up question.

After each question, the correct answer disappeared from the board. After the second set of eight questions were asked, or if time runs out, the round & the game were over and the player with the most points won the game and a prize. If there was a tie at the end of round three, those tying played one final question with the two remaining answers.

Silver Streak (bonus round)
The winning player played a bonus round called Silver Streak. To start, 15 answers in a particular category were revealed. Then the winning player had 45 seconds (60 in earlier episodes) to answer 10 questions with some of the answers corresponding to each question. Each correct answer was worth $50. Getting all 10 right won $500 and a grand prize trip.

External link

 * A Quicksilver rule page