Putting the puzzles in a story line is much more creative.
But I prefer the direct questions. I can concentrate better on the individual question and don't have to keep going back into the story because I'm afraid of missing something. And then I was disappointed too often because other guessers solved the pre-requisite question before me, which made the next one easy. But I was still looking...

Speaking of guessing: a handful of quiz fans (including the quizmaster himself...) took part in our replacement event over the weekend. Word 08 is still available - first come, first served!