It was a test of wills, knowledge and a perverse obsession with banned literature in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union on Monday night.

Professors from Iowa State’s English department and the editor and reviewer of the Ames Tribune matched wits for a game of Banned Book Jeopardy.

Representing team one was Dave Kraemer, Ames Tribune editor, Katherine Perkins, Iowa Public Radio’s producer and host of Talk of Iowa, and Susan Carlson, associate provost.

Team two consisted of Steven Sullivan, Ames Tribune reviewer and Meredith editor, Dale Ross, professor emeritus of English and Fern Kupfer, associate professor of English. Barbara Mack, associate professor of journalism and communication, emceed the event.

The mood was light as the game began, as there was some debate about whether to use a plastic lobster and chicken to ring in but, at the last minute, Parks Library provided bells.

The first round’s questions drew from categories such as “Not suitable for children,” “Communists and heretics,” “I’m too sexy,” “War,” “What is it good for?” and “The white and black of censorship.”

Team two took an early lead, with Kupfer rapid-fire answering questions whose answers included authors J.D. Salinger and Alex Haley, “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and Henry Miller’s “The Tropic of Cancer” and “The Tropic of Capricorn.”

Although many of the answers were drawn from classically banned books, some of the most recent was “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson, which was banned for alleged support of homosexuality and anti-family traditions, and Naguib Mahfouz’s treatise on Judaism, Christianity and Islam called “Children of the Alley.”

By the end of the first round, team one had $3,200 and team two had $3,700. This led to the speed round, in which the contestants could ring in at will without the question first being read. Answers included books such as “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” which was banned in China, and Jon Stewart’s “America (The Book),” which was banned from Wal-Mart shelves because of depictions of Supreme Court justices in the nude.

Again, team two pulled into first with $5,100 and team one had just $3,400. The Final Jeopardy question, “Forever Censored,” had team two wagering $5,000 and team one wagering $3,400. The answer was Judy Bloom, which team two correctly guessed, making them the winner of gift cards to the University Book Store.

“There were a lot of answers we didn’t know, but it was about the team,” Perkins said.

Team two eagerly congratulated team one, but there really were no winners and losers.

“It was fun to play, but, frankly, it’s fun to win,” Kupfer said.

Members of the audience took part in the festive mood, as they were allowed to answer questions and decide who rung in first. One student came to the competition to learn about the different books that have been banned.

“I was interested to learn about books our society bans,” said Ian Ringgenberg, senior in anthropology.