Facts In Five

Facts in five is a 'trivia' game published by 3M back in 1967. It is still a very interesting game in its mechanics and playability.

The essence of the game is to come up with words beginning with certain letters that fall into certain types of things. First, each player randomly draws a card that lists one or more 'classes' and optionally 'categories' on it.
Example cards:

• Choice Card - "Class Only"
  Philosophers, Inventors, Outlaws, Crime Fighters, Dictators, Explorers, Cartoon Characters, Astronauts/Cosmonauts, Mythological Characters, Millionaires, Philanthropists, Comic Strip Characters, Fashion Designers, Famous Couples
• Choice Card - Class/Category:
  • Automobile Models
    American, Foreign, Current, Current American, Past American, Sports Car
  • Tobacco Product Trade Names Cigarette, Cigar, Current Cigarette, Pipe Tobacco
  • Articles of Clothing Men's, Women's, Children
  • Women's Names Less than 5 letters, Between 5 - 8 letters, Over 8 letters
  • Men's Names Less than 5 letters, Between 5 - 8 letters, Over 8 letters
• One Class
  • Religious Leaders/Figures
    Living, Past, Male, Female, American, Living American, Past American, European, Past European, Biblical, Of (fill in) Descent, Pope, Protestant, Orthodox, Catholic, Jewish, Saint, Asian, South American, North American, African, Of (fill in) Nationality

Each player selects a class from the card and if categories are listed may select one category within that class. After all players have selected the classes and categories, five letters are randomly drawn. These class categories and letters are marked on a score card and time starts. Time is measured with a five minute egg timer. Each player has a tablet that is then filled in (this is rotated 90 degrees from the actual ones so that it fits on the page):

Class        | Category  |  Initial Letters            |
             |           |  S     Z     F     A     M  |
-------------+-----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Scientists   |Philosopher|     |     |     |     |     |
Plays        |Shakespearn|     |     |     |     |     |
Mixed Drinks |           |     |     |     |     |     |
Poets        |American   |     |     |     |     |     |
Greek Letters|           |     |     |     |     |     |
-------------+-----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+

For this grid I happen to have:

Socrates | Zarathustra |          |                   |
         |             |          | All's Well...     | Macbeth
Sidecar  |             | Frutopia |                   |
         |             | Frost    |                   |
Sigma    | Zeta        |          | Alpha             | Mu

Unfortunately for me, 'Frutopia' is not a known mixed drink (ref: http://www.webtender.com/), and Zarathustra was not a philosopher but rather a character of Nietzsche. For each colum, the number of correct words are marked down. If there are only three correct words beginning with 'S', the top three boxes are marked. Thus, my score table looks like (remembering that the above is rotated 90 degrees - here I rotate it back):

   phi pla mix pot grk
  +---+---+---+---+---+
  | X | X | X | X | X | -> 25
  +---+---+---+---+---+
  |   | X |   |   | X | ->  4
  +---+---+---+---+---+
  |   |   |   |   | X | ->  1
  +---+---+---+---+---+
  |   |   |   |   | X | ->  1
  +---+---+---+---+---+
  |   |   |   |   |   | ->
  +---+---+---+---+---+
    |   |   |   |   | 
    v   v   v   v   v 
    1   4   1   1   16

The value for each row and colum is the square of the count. Not the best score. The sum of the numbers on the right is known as the 'General Score' (30) which represents the the knowledge across many different areas. The 'Special Score' (23) is the sum of the numbers at the bottom and represents the depth of knowledge in specific areas. The 'Total Score' (53) is the sum of these two.