Grab your keyboards and gas up the car — it’s KaleidoQuiz time again.

Every year, KaleidoQuiz, or “KQ” as it is known to savvy participants, rounds up all the trivia junkies on campus and pits them against one another in a 26-hour battle royal so vicious, bitter rivalries between residence houses have become the norm rather than atypical.

Dan Burke, senior in computer engineering and captain of the Barker House team in Lyon Hall, recounts a story where the Barker team hacked through the chat rooms the rival Harwood House squad was using and threw them off their game.

“That’s just a rumor, though,” Burke says. “It was around five years ago, so I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

The rivalries, both real and perceived, are now a part of the KQ tradition, says Carl Adams, KaleidoQuiz director.

“I’d say the biggest rivalry would have to be between Barker and Harwood floors, although Anders and Fairchild also have their own rivalries between the other floors,” he says.

Calvin Truong, junior in computer science and captain of the Fairchild House team in Roberts Hall, also claims rivalry with Harwood. Truong says the rivalry between the two teams dates back at least six years, but is unsure as to how it started.

As for relations between the two floors, Truong says there is a fair share of trash talking and intimidation, but he says it’s all in good fun.

The 26-hour “trivia marathon,” sponsored by ISU radio station KURE 88.5 FM, lets teams compete in a contest that includes everything from hundreds of trivia questions to physical challenges to driving around Iowa to complete a task.

Adams says the questions, asked in rapid-fire style, range from the traditional to the outrageous.

“We give [the participants] a packet of questions which build upon themselves,” Adams says.

Burke says the questions are stranger than they used to be.

“[KURE] will ask really weird questions that you could never answer without the Internet,” he says, referring to the now-standard way teams verify their answers. “The questions have definitely gotten more eccentric throughout the years.”

Indeed, the trivia competition, which has been held every year for almost 40 years, has become an ISU staple.

“KURE has always done a good job of making it fun,” Burke says. “Every year is different because of the different people who participate.”

Patricia Dailey, junior in chemistry and captain of the Harwood team, says KQ provides a way for groups to bond.

“It’s a really good way to get a big group of people together and have a good time,” Dailey says.

When asked about what keeps the teams from coming back year after year, the teams all agree the allure of the event isn’t the fame or fortune.

“It’s definitely not for the prizes,” says Truong, whose third-place team walked away with soap last year.

“They give a lot of condoms away,” Burke says. “A lot.”