Q 01/05

During which war did Spades first become popular, carried from camp to camp by American soldiers?

A) World War I

B) World War II

C) The Korean War

D) The Vietnam War

Answer · why

B) World War II

World War II made Spades a barracks favourite, because a hand could be dropped and picked up again far more easily than a hand of poker.

Q 02/05

Which tax explains why the ace of spades became the most ornate card in English playing-card decks?

A) Stamp duty

B) Window tax

C) Hearth tax

D) Poll tax

Answer · why

A) Stamp duty

Stamp duty was extended to playing cards in 1711, and the ace of spades was the card stamped to prove it had been paid, later printed by the tax offic...

Q 03/05

Which slang word do Spades players use for overtricks, which bring a penalty once ten pile up?

A) Chips

B) Slams

C) Bags

D) Burns

Answer · why

C) Bags

Bags is short for sandbags, and each one is worth a single point when it is won, which makes the penalty waiting down the line easy to forget.

Q 04/05

A Spades player who bids nil is promising to do what for the whole of that hand?

A) Win exactly one trick

B) Play no spades at all

C) Never lead a card

D) Lose every trick

Answer · why

D) Lose every trick

Lose every trick is the whole contract of a nil bid: succeed and the team banks a big bonus, but taking even one trick turns that bonus into a penalty...

Q 05/05

What score do most Spades games use as the winning target, though short games often stop lower?

A) 121 points

B) 250 points

C) 500 points

D) 1,000 points

Answer · why

C) 500 points

500 points is the usual finish line, and when both sides cross it on the same deal the side with the higher total takes the game.