Twenty Questions
 

Ask me questions to find out what or who I am. The answers can only be "yes," "no," or "maybe," and you only get twenty, so ask carefully!

If you guess the correct answer, you win and you get to be the next participant.

If you don't find out in twenty questions, I win and I get to choose the next participant.

Go.

1. are you a what?

No

2. male?

Yes

3. Are you dead?

Yes.

did you die in the 20th Century?

4. No

5. did you die prior to the nineteenth century?

Yes.

6. nathan hale?

No.

7. european?

Yes

8. british?

9: Are you famous for military exploits?

8. Yes.

9. No.

Are you quoted in contemporary English textbooks often?

10. Maybe

To summarise:

We are thinking about a British man, who was dead by 1799, and was not a soldier, but is possibly quoted in textbooks.

Is it King George III?

11. No

12. was he a religious figure?

13. a writer, poet?

-

12. No
13. No (Edit: Wait, you changed this question from composer to writer/poet after I answered it. I'll let you off this time: the answer to the changed question is yes.)

14. a political figure?

14. Yes, but not primarily.

(Please note the changes to question and answer 13.)

...i apologize Baraka...you all are so fast here (i'm still learning)...i had decided that there weren't as many british composers to choose from (and Handel was german and then became british later which is confusing) and IMMEDIATELY changed it BEFORE seeing an answer (you were quick)....so much for the woman's prerogative to change her mind :)

...Daniel Defoe?

15. No.

16. jonathan swift?

16. No

17. john locke?

17. No.

18. william shakespeare?

18. No.

I have two guesses, but since we're down to the last two attempts, I'll use one and save the other so that I can complain I knew it when the answer is revealed.

19) Adam Smith.

19. No

Last attempt!

Geof Chaucer?

20. Yes!

*Ding*

That was the answer we were looking for!

Leto wins! and is now the next participant of Twenty Questions!

Perhaps I'm simply not versed enough in Chaucer's life and works, but I wasn't aware that he was a political figure in any real sense.

My other guess would've been Robbie Burns, although I was unsure of the dates.