Shared quiz
The Rules Nobody Knows
Ten questions about why sport works the way it does. About origins and rules rather than results, so people who never watch a match can still win.
- Questions
- 10
- Time to play
- about 6 min
- Category
- Sports
- Language
- English
- sport
- rules
- history
- trivia
How to use this quiz
- Make a copy — it lands in your own quizzes, where you can edit every question. The original is untouched.
- Start a game from your copy. Ponko puts a join code and QR code on your screen.
- Players join from any phone browser, answer on their own device, and the scores update live.
Hosting and playing are free, and players don't need an account. More in the FAQ
The questions
Correct answers are shown below, so you can check the quiz before you use it.
A marathon is 42.195 km. Why that exact distance?
- It was the length used at the 1908 London Olympicscorrect
- It is the distance from Marathon to Athens, measured exactly
- It was rounded up from 42 km for television
- It is forty-two Roman miles
Why
At the 1908 London Olympics the course ran from Windsor Castle to the royal box in the stadium: 26 miles 385 yards, or 42.195 km. That distance became the official standard in 1921.
25 seconds to answer
How many balls are bowled in a standard over in cricket?
- Sixcorrect
- Four
- Eight
- Ten
Why
An over is six legal deliveries bowled by one bowler from one end. Wides and no-balls do not count towards the six.
20 seconds to answer
In golf, a score of three under par on a single hole is called an albatross.
- Truecorrect
- False
Why
An albatross, also called a double eagle, is three under par on one hole, for example a two on a par-five. It is rarer than a hole-in-one.
15 seconds to answer
In football, a player cannot be in an offside position while wholly in their own half.
- Truecorrect
- False
Why
A player wholly in their own half cannot be in an offside position. Position is judged when a team-mate plays the ball, so a player who was in an offside position in the opponents' half can still return to their own half and commit an offside offence there.
20 seconds to answer
How many points is a try worth in rugby union?
- Fivecorrect
- Three
- Six
- Seven
Why
A try in rugby union has been worth five points since 1992. The conversion that follows adds two more.
20 seconds to answer
A game of table tennis is played to how many points?
- Elevencorrect
- Twenty-one
- Fifteen
- Nine
Why
Table tennis games have been played to 11 points since 2001, replacing 21. A game must be won by two clear points.
20 seconds to answer
What is the shot clock in NBA basketball, in seconds?
Accepted answers
24 · 24 seconds · twenty-four
Why
The NBA introduced a 24-second shot clock in 1954: a team must attempt a shot within 24 seconds of gaining possession. It sped up a game that had become slow.
25 seconds to answer
Order these by how long the playing area is, shortest first.
Correct order
- A table tennis table
- A tennis court
- A basketball court
- A football pitch
Why
A table tennis table is 2.74 m long and a tennis court 23.77 m. A basketball court is about 28 m, and a football pitch usually 100–110 m.
45 seconds to answer
In tennis, a score of zero is called "love". Which explanation is most often given?
- From the French for egg, l'œuf, because a zero looks like onecorrect
- From playing for love rather than money
- From the Latin for nothing
- From an early player's nickname
Why
The most common explanation is that a zero looks like an egg, l'œuf in French. Another holds that "love" comes from playing "for love", for nothing. Neither is proven.
25 seconds to answer
Which of these rules has confused you most in an actual game?
Poll — no right answer, players just vote.
- Offside
- The tennis scoring system
- Cricket's LBW
- Basketball travelling
20 seconds to answer