Ambiguity can be difficult for even the most experienced question writers to foresee. This has led to the emergence of two important game mechanics: prompts and protests.

A prompt is a reader instruction designed to anticipate an answer that is technically correct but not the answer the writer is looking for. Consider a question on the classical piece The Four Seasons. The Four Seasons is part of a larger work called The Contest Between Harmony and Invention. So even though The Contest Between Harmony and Invention is not the answer, it would be correct to attribute most clues for The Four Seasons to The Contest Between Harmony and Invention. For this reason, a good question on The Four Seasons would include an instruction to "prompt" on The Contest Between Harmony and Invention; in other words, the reader says "prompt" in order to encourage the player to be more specific. Prompts are often unavoidable, especially in scenarios where an answer is part of a larger whole.

There are two other types of prompts: the anti-prompt and the directed prompt. Anti-prompts are simply the reverse of regular prompts: the reader says "anti-prompt" to encourage the player to be less specific. This could come into play if a player answers a question on The Contest Between Harmony and Invention with "The Four Seasons" before any clues referring to the other components of the piece are read. Directed prompts are a more recent innovation: specific instructions are included to direct the player towards the correct answer. These come up when the answer is more obliquely related to the player's response. For example, a question on "beheading" could include a directed prompt on the answer "killing" by giving the instruction "Through what method?". Although directed prompts are relatively new, some writers hope that they replace the often-confusing regular prompt entirely.

A protest is a game mechanic designed for question ambiguity that the writer did not anticipate. If a player suspects that their answer was wrongly ruled incorrect, then they can file a protest immediately after the question. If the margin of victory is smaller than the points being contested by the protest, then the protest will be forwarded to some kind of protest committee, which will rule on the player's claim. If the protest is ruled valid, then that portion of the match will be replayed in some fashion to determine the true winner. Although there is usually no limit on the number of protests that can be lodged, excessive protesting is considered poor sportsmanship.