WBC Facts in Five Tournament

All players compete in five rounds, attempting to fill in a 5 x 5 grid of information (five different starting letters in five different categories). Each round will have diverse categories, for example: geography, entertainment, gaming related, history,  sports.  Categories are designed to allow every player to do reasonably well on most categories. The top six combined scores will earn laurels. The emphasis during the tournament will be on having fun and the GM promises to entertain.

Game Rules:
* A score sheet will be provided for each round with five categories printed at the top of each column and five letters printed on the left side. The categories can be just about anything that has a finite number of answers: Olympic female ice skaters, car companies, soap opera titles, NFL teams, English prime ministers, books of the bible, Napoleon's marshals, Rolling Stones album titles, etc. 

* Each player must fill out his or her name and badge number on the score sheet. A score sheet without either will be void.
* The GM will announce the categories and answer any questions about them and then permit players to look at the score sheet.
* A timer will be started for 5 minutes. All players will try to write an answer for each of the 25 boxes on the score sheet, each of which corresponds to the category at the top and begins with an initial letter on the left.
* After the five minutes run out, the GM will ask the players to pass their sheets to another player for judging and scoring. GM will announce every possible correct answer for each grid box.  There are only a finite number of answers for each category and letter, so disputes should not occur.  GM ruling final. 
* After all answers are determined, players will score the game awarding one point for each correct answer and writing the total on the scoresheet. These will be turned in. The GM and Asst. GM will verify each sheet, tally the combined scores for each player across the five games and publish the results and laurelists after the tournament.

Tournament format:
* All players will play and score each of the five rounds in exactly one hour.  
* The player with the highest total score in all five rounds will win the championship. If there is a tie, the tied player with the highest score in the final round will be the winner. If there is still a tie, then the highest fourth round score will win, then the highest third round score, etc. It is possible for the tournament winner not to score the highest in any single round and still have the highest combined score.
* Difficulty of the rounds should increase during the tournament.
* Any player may enter late and play the remaining rounds or leave early. Total score is still eligible, but unlikely to win. 

Validity of answers:
* Each valid answer must match the category at the head of the column and its "Keyword" must begin with the given letter on the left. The Keyword is USUALLY the first letter in the first word of the answer, except:
** For a person's name, the person's surname is the key word (Exceptions: categories that specify another name and people who are known primarily by a single name (soccer great Pelé, singers Beyonce or Cher )) If only a surname is given, the answer is valid. If the wrong first name is tied to a surname, the answer is wrong.
** In titles, the articles "A", "An" or "The" are never considered Keywords. The next word is the keyword.  Foreign words are not permitted unless the word has entered the English language, such as foie gras or passe.
** The GM will note any other exceptions.

* Spelling generally WILL count.  A misspelled word must be close enough to be easily recognizable as correct.  A word beginning with the incorrect first letter will be wrong (e.g Korgi instead of Corgi for dog breeds starting with K):

* There is no penalty for using the same answer in two different categories in the same round and sometimes it may even be necessary. (This is different than the published rules.)

* Any player may bring information to the GM's attention as to whether a proposed answer should be ruled valid. However, the GM's ruling will be final.