2023 MoMath Masters

How to Play

Before you begin

When you arrive at the 2023 MoMath Masters, you will be issued a tournament iPad, which you will use to answer questions in the first competition round, also known as the Cocktail Round.  (This iPad is not yours to keep; please return the tournament iPad at the end of the Cocktail Round.)

Choose a “handle” that will be used to display your progress on the leaderboard.  From the home screen, tap “Edit My Profile” to input your desired handle.

During the game

Once the tournament begins, you may start answering questions.  From the home screen, tap “Competition.”  From there, you can choose a category — Math Pulse (trivia), Gardner Greats (logic puzzles), or Math Classics (contest math) — and a difficulty level.

If you run out of time, you can make a pledge of an additional contribution to MoMath — that’s real money! — to keep going.  (You will be asked to fulfill your pledge after the competition round ends.)  The game will give you a chance to make a pledge while you are in the middle of a question, in case you need more time to answer.

You will initially have 45 minutes to complete the First Round.  If you are close to running out of time, you can pledge funds while you are in the middle of a question to receive additional time.  However, you will only be able to purchase enough time to play right up until the final deadline for the First Round, at 6:00 pm ET (New York).

Scoring

If you get a question right, you win points.  If you get it wrong, points are deducted from your total.  If you answer a question — incorrectly or correctly — you are locked out of that question and your score is adjusted.

Questions are weighted based on difficulty; points are allocated based on level. More points are given for more difficult questions:

Level Correct Incorrect
Easy +100 points -25 points
Medium +300 points -75 points
Difficult +1,000 points -250 points
Elite +2,500 points -625 points

 

Note that your cumulative point total can drop below zero.

Categories

There are three different categories of questions: Math Pulse (trivia), Gardner Greats (logic puzzles), and Math Classics (contest math).  You may choose to focus on a single category or to answer questions from any mix of categories.  Points from all categories will be added together to generate the final score, which is the primary component used to determine which participants will be invited to compete in the Finals Round.  There are also prizes for the top scorer in each category.  Not all categories have questions at the highest (elite) point level.

Collaboration

You are welcome to collaborate with whomever you like, but we ask that you refrain from using internet search engines or other non-human research sources.  However, if you do work with someone else on a question, we ask that only one of you enter the answer into your contest portal.

Important information

If you have previously participated in the MoMath Masters, please be aware of the following changes to the tournament structure that were implemented in recent years:

  • You can revisit a question if you have not yet submitted an answer to that question.  You cannot revisit questions that you have already answered.
  • It is possible to have a negative cumulative score.
  • You will need to use the email address with which you were registered for the MoMath Masters in order to access the online competition.  Check with your table sponsor or host if you are unsure about your registered email address.

Help

Contact MoMath for assistance: call 212-542-0566 or email mastershelp@momath.org.