Giveaway

The giveaway is the last clue of a tossup, and thus, per pyramidality, also the easiest clue in the tossup. The giveaway almost always comes after the words "For 10 points."

In modern quizbowl theory, around 90% of the teams in a tournament's target skill level should be able to answer a tossup at the end (after the giveaway).

A giveaway should still be internally pyramidal. For example, a tossup on Panama should prefer the giveaway For 10 points, name this Central American country located on a namesake isthmus and host to a namesake canal. rather than For 10 points, a canal over an isthmus crosses what Central American country? (assuming that "canal" is the most likely word to be directly associated with Panama and thus the easiest part of the question).

Common types of giveaways

In literature, giveaways are often the name of the author (when the answerline is a book) or the name of the most well-known book by an author (when the answerline is an author). In geography, a giveaway is often the capital city of a state or country (when the answerline is such).

Pop culture in giveaways

Pop culture clues are discouraged in giveaways to academic questions. A tossup on Jethro Tull (the inventor) might contain the giveaway For 10 points, name this man who invented the seed drill. It would not mention anything about the British rock band Jethro Tull. Some people believe that giving teams points off a pop culture giveaway in an academic portion of the distribution for buzzing on pop culture knowledge is unfair. Others, however, believing that question conversion is more important or who support mixed academic and pop culture questions, might disagree. (See also lead-in.)

What to avoid

Giveaways that are non-academic (but not necessarily pop culture) should be avoided. For example, a tossup on B. F. Skinner should not end with a giveaway about how his last name can refer to "one who sheds the coats off of animals."