Quiz pro quo

People have heard of quizzes. Some have been to one. And then, there are some that have set one. This post is dedicated to those that attempted the third and ended a few shades short of flying colors. Or failed miserably. Even if you aren't a quizzer, you just might find this interesting.

What is it that people look for in a quiz? A good question? Some great info? A new question that wasn't ripped from wiki? Or, as quizzers like me put it, crowd rating?
To be truthful, none of these matter (Well, maybe the last one, a bit...). You could give the most convoluted funda this side of QFI but will only meet with disapproval if it makes little sense. You could also try cheap tricks like including for every two questions, one on savita bhabhi. This, although effective on the short run, will fizzle out. What is really important is that the audience is interested - and remains that way. What I'm putting down here is a list of Dos, Don'ts and Don't even think abouts for quizzes.

Do put in interesting questions. Sea urchins, no matter how many legs they have, are just not that interesting.
Do give clues. Make the questions workable. Drop hints. Be subtle. Hide your clues in a flurry of text if you have to. Just don't give half a line of obscure data and expect people to crack it (or give a damn).
Do include questions that the entire crowd is bound to crack. Maintain some class, though. Questions on Swami Nityananda are ok. Doctor Prakash is best left in the recycle bin.

Don't have too many questions on a topic. Even if its your specialty, it becomes a grind. Not everyone shares one's obsession with LOLcats.
Don't leave trails. Consecutive questions on Da Vinci, Santi and Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni aren't such a good idea.

Don't be a wikish*g. Go beyond removing the [citation needed] tags and research a bit. Don't just copy from wiki. You're only helping the chronic Googlers if you leave pieces of text untouched.

Don't even think of copying from another quiz. Even if you're from someplace remote, chances are, someone has seen the QFI quiz you're ripping.
Don't, for the love of god, set a question just because wiki has a list about it. The list of all the different breeds of sub-Saharan camels, although an interesting list, does not appeal to most audiences.

Most of these are based on my own experiences as a quiz-master and a participant. Some of these are corrections for mistakes I've made. Although this list gives the general frame, what's important is that the quiz set is interesting and fun.

Whatever you do, just make sure you don't end up with a lame quiz. If I'm there, I will boo you down.