Like "To Tell The Truth" but without Peggy Cass

July 4, 2017 10:48 PM

Factitious is a game that tests your news sense, and your ability to judge Fake News from Real Genuine Mostly Factual stuff.

(yes, that title is a VERY OLD Pop Cultural reference... should I have referred instead to Kitty Carlisle, Tom Poston or Orson Bean?)

posted by oneswellfoop (23 comments total)

I tested the game on "quick" mode and in 3 rounds of 5 questions, got all but one correct for a 93% score. Top that.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:50 PM on July 4, 2017

73%, where every error involved judging real news items as fake rather than the other way around. I can live with that.
posted by flabdablet at 11:07 PM on July 4, 2017

Same as onesweelfoop. Fun.
posted by davidmsc at 11:23 PM on July 4, 2017

Needs an option for "It has no bearing on me whatsoever whether a 65-year-old man accidentally married his own adult granddaughter or not".
posted by 0xFCAF at 12:14 AM on July 5, 2017 [7 favorites]

I would have gotten 100%, except that apparently James Comey really did try to blend in with the White House curtains to avoid talking to Trump. So, it's a tie at 93%.
posted by sysinfo at 12:15 AM on July 5, 2017 [6 favorites]

Thank you! I now know *exactly* how I'm going to introduce my students to the concept of reliable vs unreliable sources.

As soon as I realized you could click to check the source of each article, I started doing that, so I got 100%. But honestly, if I hadn't looked at the sources, I am not convinced I would have done so well.

If I can just get my students to understand that The Onion is never a source of real information, but the BBC and The Guardian are reliable news sources, I'll be satisfied.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:57 AM on July 5, 2017 [8 favorites]

93%, and yeah, my error was apparently thinking a Florida Man was fake news. I should have known, if something is terrible, it's Florida Man every time.
posted by corb at 1:17 AM on July 5, 2017 [8 favorites]

I got 100%, from checking sources, but mostly because I'd seen just about all these stories during my everyday web surfing.
posted by Miss Cellania at 3:15 AM on July 5, 2017

93%, and yeah, my error was apparently thinking a Florida Man was fake news. I should have known, if something is terrible, it's Florida Man every time.

Funny. I got 87% on the quick round, precisely because I was all "Naw that's fak...oh wait, Florida? Real."
posted by romakimmy at 3:44 AM on July 5, 2017 [3 favorites]

I did very well too. I think that most MeFis have a good handle of what's fake or not.
posted by james33 at 4:00 AM on July 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

I have not thought of Peggy Cass in decades. Thanks. Miss her.
posted by Goofyy at 5:38 AM on July 5, 2017

My exact reaction to the title: "Peggy Cass has died? Peggy Cass has not died? Dammit." and googlegoogle to check.

Because I trust nothing these days. When someone wishes me a happy birthday, I check three forms of identification and call a relative for corroboration.

Is Peggy Cass dead?
posted by pracowity at 5:39 AM on July 5, 2017

For the record, Peggy Cass died in 1999. Her TTTT co-panelists Kitty Carlisle and Tom Poston both died in 2007, leaving only Orson Bean alive from the core panel. The original host, Bud Collyer died in 1969, with journeyman emcee Garry Moore taking over through the '70s. The show has been revived several times, but never with the same chemistry of panelists as the original.

And that is NOT fake.
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:56 AM on July 5, 2017 [4 favorites]

The Comey one tricked me too. I did well but not as well as I thought I would. Didn't realize that you could check sources ..
posted by bunderful at 6:05 AM on July 5, 2017

Not to brag (just kidding, I'm 100% bragging) I got a perfect score in three rounds without checking sources. I am very, very proud of my bullshit detector right now.
posted by pretentious illiterate at 6:24 AM on July 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

I tested the game on "quick" mode and in 3 rounds of 5 questions, got all but one correct for a 93% score. Top that.

Done and done: 100%, although I did narrow my eyes at one and check the source before clicking.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:59 AM on July 5, 2017

93% in quick mode. Once I started checking the source each time things went better. Cool game.
posted by fuse theorem at 8:28 AM on July 5, 2017

I recognize ALL of the names from my childhood that oneswellfoop has listed. Sigh.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:36 AM on July 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

The Comey thing wouldn't have gotten me because I saw it on multiple late night comedy news shows, but it's the kind of thing that I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
posted by JHarris at 11:52 AM on July 5, 2017

Any news involving "president Donald Trump" is clearly fake. Thank goodness most of the people in this country voted for Hillary Clinton.
posted by TedW at 4:26 PM on July 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

93% because the one about Paul LePage and heroin vending machines just seemed so....him.
posted by gnomeloaf at 6:04 PM on July 5, 2017

All the references to To Tell The Truth and nobody mentions Bill Cullen ??
posted by UhOhChongo! at 7:42 PM on July 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

Dammit, I was betrayed by Florida Man! I got a story about a man cutting off his own balls while high on meth and feeding them to a gator as he fled from capture, and this ONE TIME it turned out to be a fake.

Florida Man, you devil you.
posted by Scattercat at 8:59 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]