Is technology secretly destroying one of Britain's most beloved traditions: the pub quiz? If you're picturing yourself, pint in hand, racking your brain over trivia with friends, the thought of cheating might seem unthinkable. But a growing problem is threatening the very spirit of fair play.
Think you know your pop culture? Perhaps you can answer this: Who's older, Gary Numan or Gary Oldman? (The answer's at the end!). If you do, you're likely among the hundreds of thousands of Brits who regularly enjoy a pub quiz. But what happens when some participants decide to bend the rules?
The recent revelation of cheating at a Manchester pub quiz has ignited a furious debate. A quizmaster outed a team for using their phones, sparking outrage. Where, we ask, is the special place in quizzer hell reserved for those who sneak a peek at their smartphones under the table? The BBC reported on the "massive whodunnit" that ensued after the landlord of the Barking Dog in Urmston exposed the cheating team… but refused to name names. Scandalous!
But here's where it gets controversial... Is this just a bit of harmless fun, or a serious betrayal of the quiz's integrity? Some quizmasters believe it's a growing epidemic that's undermining one of the nation's favorite pastimes. David Hartley, a quizmaster from Staffordshire with almost a decade of experience, notes that cheating is "definitely more prolific now, especially with smartwatches." He started banning devices two years ago, explaining, "It just takes the mickey out of your quizmaster if all you're going to do is sit on your phone."
And this is the part most people miss... It's not just about winning; it's about the shared experience, the camaraderie, and the joy of testing your knowledge alongside others. When someone cheats, they're not just stealing points; they're stealing from everyone else's enjoyment.
David Moyce, landlord and quizmaster at the Alma in Cambridge, recently banned a group of students after a suspiciously lucky win. He suspected foul play when the team, previously struggling, played their "joker" (doubling their points) right before a round they aced. While he lacked concrete proof at first, one of the guilty students later confessed, overwhelmed by guilt. "The guilt must have been so heavy on him that he literally handed his share of the money back," Moyce said. "None of the others did though, so maybe he slept better than the other four."
Some pubs are fighting back with hi-tech solutions. Smartphone quizzes require participants to type answers on their phones within a dedicated app, penalizing those who switch to other apps. SpeedQuizzing, for example, promises to eliminate "cheats and chancers" by imposing a strict 10-second time limit for each answer, aiming to restore the "once proud British tradition" of fair play.
Others prefer a more traditional approach. The Prince of Wales in Highgate, North London, relies on fierce peer policing, according to Marcus Berkmann, a veteran quizzer and question writer. "We're very harsh on anyone who cheats, so no one does it," says Berkmann. "The regulars would rather boil themselves in oil than cheat... Occasionally, you read out a warning and say: 'We're testing you on what you know, not what you can look up on Google,' and people generally go along with that."
The history of the pub quiz is somewhat hazy, but its popularity surged in the 1970s, thanks to companies like Burns and Porter, who provided quizzes to pubs seeking to attract customers on slow nights. Today, quizzing remains a serious business in the UK, blending drinking with the satisfaction of being right. A 2023 survey by Greene King revealed that 70% of people regularly participate in pub quizzes, with nearly 10% attending every week.
Quizmasters might yearn for the simpler days of Burns and Porter, but they can find comfort in knowing that cheating has always been a challenge. Gail Taylor, in response to a Guardian callout, confessed to her youthful cheating escapades in Sheffield pubs during the 1980s. Taylor claimed to have planted rudimentary bugging devices under pub tables to transmit questions to friends armed with encyclopedias in a van outside. While the Guardian couldn't verify her story, Taylor insisted it was true. "Something always went wrong," she said. "If the signal didn't work, we'd write the questions down, rush out to the van with two pints and a list, then someone else would go out and bring back the answers. Nobody seemed to catch on what we were doing."
Reflecting on her crimes decades later, Taylor feels no remorse. "We didn't have Google then, so we never won anything anyway," she says. "I don't feel guilty about it at all. And if I had the chance, I'd do it again tomorrow." This raises a fascinating point: Is cheating somehow more acceptable if it's done with ingenuity and a bit of old-fashioned resourcefulness, rather than a quick Google search?
So, what do you think? Is phone cheating a minor offense or a major threat to the pub quiz tradition? Have you ever witnessed cheating at a pub quiz? Or, dare we ask, have you ever been tempted to cheat yourself? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!
Answer: Gary Numan is older than Gary Oldman by 13 days.
