How to Play Cross Questions and Crooked Answers

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Cross Questions and Crooked Answers is a circle parlour game for 4 to 20 players in which questions and answers are deliberately separated so that each ends up paired with a completely unrelated counterpart. The result is a string of nonsensical exchanges read aloud in turn, almost always producing loud laughter with very little effort from the host.

It needs no equipment whatsoever, sets up in under a minute, and works equally well at family gatherings, adult dinner parties, and children's birthday teas. Its appeal is that even the quietest player can accidentally produce the funniest line of the evening.

A little history

The game appears under this name in Victorian and Edwardian parlour game collections, and its origins are unclear beyond a broad attribution to nineteenth-century British domestic entertainment. It belongs to the same family as Consequences, which is widely documented from at least the 1890s, and the whispering mechanic is almost certainly older still, appearing in various forms across European drawing-room amusements. Beyond that, the record is thin.

Setting up

1. All players sit in a circle, either on chairs or on the floor.
2. Decide who will go first. Traditionally the host begins.
3. Agree before play starts whether you are playing a set number of rounds or until everyone has asked once.

How to play

1. The player chosen to start (Player 1) thinks of a question, for example: 'Why did you come home so late last night?'
2. Player 1 whispers that question to the player on their RIGHT. That player must remember it.
3. Player 1 then thinks of a completely unrelated answer, for example: 'Because the monkey refused to wear a hat.'
4. Player 1 whispers that answer to the player on their LEFT. That player must remember it.
5. Simultaneously, every other player does exactly the same: each whispers a question to the person on their right and an unrelated answer to the person on their left.
6. Once all whispering is done, players take turns around the circle to read out their combination: first the question they received (from the person on their left), then the answer they received (from the person on their right).
7. The pairing is almost certain to be absurd. That player reads both aloud clearly so the whole group can hear.
8. Continue around the full circle until everyone has read out their mismatched pair.
9. That completes one round. Players may play as many rounds as they wish, with the question and answer each time being brand new.

Winning and scoring

Cross Questions and Crooked Answers is traditionally played without a points system: the reward is communal laughter rather than a winner. Where a competitive element is wanted, players vote by show of hands for the funniest combination after each round, and a mark is given to the player who read it out. After an agreed number of rounds the player with the most marks wins. No standard points values exist; one mark per round won is the simplest workable system.

The fine points

The commonest dispute concerns who 'owns' a funny combination: the player who invented the question, the one who invented the answer, or the one who happened to read the pairing aloud. The standard ruling is that the mark goes to the reader, since they are the ones who delivered it to the group. This keeps scoring simple and removes arguments about creative credit.

A second issue arises when a player mishears the whispered question or answer and reads out something different from what was intended. The standard ruling is that whatever is read aloud stands: there is no going back to correct it, and the mishearing often makes the result funnier anyway. Players who whisper too quietly or too quickly only have themselves to blame.

How to win more often

• Write your question and answer mentally before you start whispering so you do not hesitate or change your mind halfway through.
• Make your question very specific rather than vague: 'Why is the vicar standing on the roof in his pyjamas?' will almost always pair better than 'Why are you here?'
• Make your answer self-contained and declarative rather than a fragment: a full sentence lands better when it is read out cold in front of the group.
• Whisper clearly and at normal speed. A mishearing can derail your best material and annoy the player trying to remember it.
• Resist the temptation to make your answer obviously comic on its own. The funniest results come from answers that sound almost plausible until the wrong question arrives in front of them.

Variations

Written Consequences Version

Each player writes a question at the top of a slip of paper, folds it over to hide it, and passes it to the right. Each player then writes an answer on the slip they have received, folds again, and passes right once more. Slips are then opened and read aloud. This version works well with larger groups where whispering across a noisy room is impractical, and it allows players to take a moment to craft something genuinely funny rather than whispering under pressure.

Category Round

The host announces a theme before each round, for example: 'All questions must be about food' or 'All answers must begin with a colour.' Players must stick to the theme when composing their question and answer. The constraint tends to produce tighter, more surprising mismatches than completely free play, and it gives younger players a helpful starting point.

Hot Seat

One player sits in the middle of the circle as the Hot Seat player. Every other player independently whispers a question to them. The Hot Seat player then gives one single answer aloud, which is applied to every question in turn. Questions are then revealed one by one and matched against the single answer. This works best with 6 or more players and puts real pressure on the Hot Seat player to think of an answer flexible enough to be absurd in multiple contexts.

Alphabet Chain

Questions must begin with the letters of the alphabet in sequence across the circle: the first player's question starts with A, the second's with B, and so on. Answers are composed freely with no constraint. The alphabetical discipline is a minor creative challenge that adds a layer of difficulty for older players and groups who have worn out the standard version.

Cross Questions and Crooked Answers: frequently asked questions