Wrong say the BrainBuster afficionados. Although only 30 minutes in length and partially structured in Countdown format with clues, "BB" stands up to Showdown question for question on degree of difficulty. While Showdown (especially of late) has veered into territory best left to the lower dollar levels of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", its shorter cousin only rarely departs from challenging subjects, and would never be caught asking about nursery rhymes.
Part of the BrainBuster appeal lies with the unique clue format. While NTN players are used to the Countdown approach where each clue eliminates an answer by using a portion of the that answer (i.e. "No country hicks" would take out "hickory"), each BrainBuster clue goes to the merits of the wrong answer. For example, a player would have to know that "Not Pride and Prejudice author" took out Jane Austen. Because the final clue may be similarly obscure (such as "Branwell's sister", pointing to "Emily Bronte") as opposed to the giveaway in non-negative Countdown formats, many times people will not be able to arrive at the correct answer. Therefore folks who have no problem rustling up 12,000+ Countdown games may struggle to break nine or ten thousand points on BrainBuster.
In addition to learning to handle the different type of clue, those who wish to improve their BrainBuster scores can study the same materials used to prepare for Showdown. Look for questions on operas, scientists, European battles, drama, poetry, mathematical concepts, and lots of geography. Although BB is lighter on entertainment matter than most Countdowns, an occasional film question gets thrown into the mix. Unlike Showdown however, BB tends not to draw on current events.
For years BrainBuster held a prized slot as the lead-in to Showdown and was played as a national game even after the Tuesday regional split occurred. However when "Restore Order" debuted in Fall 2001, BrainBuster was shoved aside. NTN polled players regarding its fate and moved it to Wednesday, where it is played as a regional game at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. CST. For those in the Eastern half, this places it after Sci-Files, with a regular Countdown following it before the national schedule resumes with Passport. (Western players receive BrainBuster, Topix, and Sci-Files after Passport). Unfortunately although it no longer suffers as much from the repeat game syndrome (although repeat questions and whole rounds still occur), it has picked up a huge rankings posting problem so that it is difficult to tell how many locations are playing it.
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