Answers Plus

Answers Plus (A+) is a question writing company based in Breese, Illinois. Until 2000, it wrote questions for the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State Championship Series. The company was founded and is run by Robert Pierce in the fall of 1989, and originally was marketed as a training program for high school quizbowl coaches. A pioneer in the use of the internet, the company's website is: www.quizbowl.com. For a time, the company also owned the rights to www.geography.com, but that domain has long since been sold for a lot of money. They also own www.pyramidquestions.com.

The company specializes in short "buzzer beater" questions, and (especially in computation) patterned bonuses where a single skill is repeated three-five times.

The contract with the IHSA State Series called for the company to provide questions, gratis, in return for retaining the rights to resell the questions. As the official provider, and in an era before there were many other question writing companies, especially given Illinois' unique question requirements, the company held a virtual monopoly on question sales in Illinois.

One of the few scandals that ever hit Illinois Scholastic Bowl was the time Answers Plus provided questions to a tournament at Northern Illinois University. After the second round, a team with a first round bye admitted to having heard these questions in the previous year's State Series. Almost as scandalous was the fact that many other teams would have heard these questions, and never acknowledged same.

Complaints about question quality and the complete correctness of answers were an annual event at the IHSA Advisory Committee meetings. Finally, the Executive Director felt that something needed to be done. Despite many letters to the company asking for changes, the letters were often unanswered. The IHSA finally refused to renew the contract. The company soon after lost the contract for the Illinois Masonic State Tournament.

The company advertises selling an "Illinois State" series in its annual mailing. Some coaches feel this is weasely advertising, as it implies usage in an Illinois State playoff series, while in fact the company does not write for any statewide playoff series.

The following are a sample of their questions, taken from their "Free High School Questions" set advertised on its website:

Who wrote the following words? “At the time of Billy Budd’s arbitrary enlistment in the Bellipotent, that ship was on her way to join the Mediterranean fleet.” (Herman Melville)

Which U.S. state legislature is the only unicameral legislature in the United States? (Nebraska)

What is the eccentricity of a circle? (zero)