2014 Prognostication Quiz: Question 6, Writing

6. Writing (April 15)

Fourteen of the 21 Pulitzer Prizes are awarded for journalism. Some awards are given to the newspaper as a whole and some are given to individual reporters, but the newspaper is always mentioned. If an award is shared, both newspapers are considered to be named. The number of times each has won in this century is listed in parentheses (ties are possible).

Which newspaper will win the most Pulitzers?
a. The Washington Post (4)
b. The New York Times (5)
c. The Wall Street Journal (3)
d. The Los Angeles Times (5)
e. another news organization will be named the most times (0)

Ties are possible, or even, perhaps, inevitable in this typically low-scoring prognostication question. This year, the Washington Post and the New York Times split the Pulitzer Prize count with two apiece. The Washington Post won the Public Service reporting prize for its coverage of the NSA surveillance scandal and for Explanatory reporting on food stamps in America. The New York Times won both photography prizes, including the one above from the terrorist attack in the shopping mall in Kenya.

This tie means the answer to Question 6 of the 2014 Prognostication Quiz is A or B. These were popular answers, with 13 and 28 people choosing each, respectively. The 11 entrants who did not pick A or B feel pretty foolish right now.

The Washington Post March

Craig W.

Dave S.

Todd C.

Grant M.

Ron D.

Chris C.

Xing Yue

Jason C.

Jenny A.

Jeffrey T.

Marcus S.

New York State of Mind

Larry A.

Nadir Y.

Russell V.

Keila B.

Stacey C.

Janet C.

Valerie M.

Ben S.

Katie M.

Matthew D.

Adam K.

Ryan M.

Gloria T.

Stephanie A.

Adrian C.

Yue Nan

Tori V.

Cameron M.

Michael A.

Collette T.

Dawn K.

Megan T.

Liz K.

Jan M.

Xiaoqi

Miriam S.

Zhiqi Q.

Bao Bin

13-15. Death (All Year)

Our first death of the year has finally arrived! K. Mickey Rooney passed away on April 6. He had a crazy long career over 90 years starting as a child actor in vaudeville and silent films.

Only two people predicted his demise: Ellen Y. and Jenny A. Kudos to those two for sniffing out the first death.

Leaderboard

Larry A. remains ensconced at the top position, and feels a little more secure as the number of people tied for second place one point back was reduced by one. (Sarah M. was pulling for the Los Angeles Times. She would have pulled into a tie for the lead if that had worked out, but instead she drops back to the 17-way tie two points back of the leader.)

Next up is the World Cup, which runs from June 12 to July 13. Here's a current list of the betting odds for the favorites, along with those at the top of the leaderboard (with 3 or more points) who picked them:

A. Brazil (3-to-1): Larry, Nadir, Craig, Russell, Dave, Ellen, Stacey, Chris, Adam, Valerie, Grant, Katie, Sarah
B. Argentina (4.5-to-1): Janet, Jenny, Ron, Ryan
C. Spain (7-to-1): Keila, Xing Yue
D. Germany (5.5-to-1): Ben, Todd, Matthew 

Rank	Score	Name
1	5	Larry A.
2	4	Nadir Y.
3	4	Keila B.
4	4	Craig W.
5	4	Russell V.
6	3	Dave S.
7	3	Ellen Y.
8	3	Stacey C.
9	3	Janet C.
10	3	Ben S.
11	3	Chris C.
12	3	Adam K.
13	3	Xing Yue
14	3	Jenny A.
15	3	Valerie M.
16	3	Grant M.
17	3	Todd C.
18	3	Ron D.
19	3	Katie M.
20	3	Matthew D.
21	3	Sarah M.
22	3	Ryan M.
23	2	Gloria T.
24	2	Stephanie A.
25	2	Adrian C.
26	2	Liz K.
27	2	Xiaoqi
28	2	Jason C.
29	2	Yue Nan
30	2	Tori V.
31	2	Cameron M.
32	2	Michael A.
33	2	Collette T.
34	2	Dawn K.
35	2	Sarah T.
36	2	Megan T.
37	2	Jan M.
38	2	Jeffrey T.
39	2	Marcus S.
40	2	Miriam S.
41	2	Rachel H.
42	2	Hexiang
43	1	Rachel F.
44	1	Zhiqi Q.
45	1	Jeff C.
46	1	Chris M.
47	1	Ryan C.
48	1	Zhangying
49	1	Ekrem S.
50	1	Bao Bin
51	0	Melissa A.
52	0	Ling Chen

After the "gimme" question 6 with two correct answers, we are down to a doleful duo who remain with zero points. How long will it take before Melissa and Ling Chen scores their first point? Stay tuned!