Seanan McGuire set a record this year with five Hugo nominations. Nobody’s ever done that before.

When she received four nominations in 2012 there was a brief stampede to hail it as a new record. That proved to be only a case of short memories — as those already holding the record were quick to point out. Several people have had four nominations in the same year, astonishing as that may seem. Do you know who? Your chance to shine is coming up momentarily.

The first five sets of Hugo winners were decided with a single ballot. The 1959 Detroit Worldcon committee changed things to let members nominate a slate of finalists. Only then did it become possible for anyone to collect multiple Hugo nominations.

I’ve written a series of trivia questions about the topic using the nominee list at Mark Kelly’s invaluable SF Awards Database. However, I have made it a rule that if a person withdrew and did not appear on the final ballot that did not count as a nomination – thus, no 1968 Best Fan Writer nominations for Ellison or Panshin. Within that restriction I hope my counts agree with the database – but if you find any answers need correcting, let me know.

The first three questions inquire about the first people to reach the 2, 3, and 4 nomination levels. (All answers follow the jump.)

(1) Who was the first to get 2 nominations in one year?

(a) Cele Goldsmith
(b) Poul Anderson
(c) Algis Budrys and Fritz Leiber

(2) Who was the first to get 3 nominations in one year?

(a) C.M. Kornbluth
(b) Robert Silverberg
(c) Harlan Ellison

(3) Who was the first to get 4 nominations in one year?

(a) Bob Eggleton
(b) Mike Resnick
(c) Michael Swanwick

(4) People received 3 or more Hugo nominations 27 times between 1959 and 2012. How many times did triple-Hugo-nominees fail to win any Hugos at all?

(a) 8
(b) 11
(c) 15

(5) How many times has a person nominated for 3 or more Hugos in the same year won more than 1 Hugo Award?

(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) 3

(6) Which pair of names includes a woman who has never been nominated for 3 Hugos in the same year?

(a) Lynne M. Thomas and Cheryl Morgan
(b) Connie Willis and Ursula K. Le Guin
(c) Nancy Kress and Catherynne M. Valente

Bonus Question

What author was nominated for 3 Hugos on 3 separate occasions — and struck out all 3 times?

Click on the link to see the answers.

(1) & (2) Answer: (c) and (a). A couple of these records were set the very first year Hugo nominations were taken. In 1959, C.M. Kornbluth got 3 nominations. Algis Budrys and Fritz Leiber had 2 apiece. It helped that the first Hugo shortlist featured 8 novelettes and 10 short stories in addition to 5 novels. Five finalists in a category soon became standard.

Editor Cele Goldsmith was the first woman to get 2 nominations in the same year, 1960, for her work on Amazing and Fantastic.

(3) Answer: (b). In 1995 Mike Resnick was the first person to get 4 nominations in one year (in 3 fiction categories and Best Professional Editor.)

And as said above, in 2013 Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant was the first to reach 5 (in 3 fiction categories and Best Fancast.)

(4) Answer: (c) 15.

(5) Answer: (b) 1. Although people have won a pair of rockets on Hugo night several times, only once was a person nominated at least 3 times when he did it. Harlan Ellison won 2 of the 3 Hugos he was nominated for in 1968. His winners were his short story “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” and his Star Trek episode “The City on the Edge of Forever.” The loser was his novelette “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes.” Ellison may have taken some small consolation from the fact that he himself had published the winning novelette in Dangerous Visions, Fritz Leiber’s “Gonna Roll the Bones.”

(6) Answer: (c). Nancy Kress is a 13-time nominee who has twice been up for a pair of Hugos in the same year, but never more.

Six women have have 3, 4 or 5 nominations in a year: Ursula K. Le Guin (1995), Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant (2012 & 2013), Cheryl Morgan (2005), Lynne M. Thomas (2013), Catherynne M. Valente (2012), Connie Willis (1992).

Bonus Question. Answer: Robert Silverberg (1970, 1973, 1975.)  At one time he held the record for losing the most Hugos but today he’s in fifth place. Some other time I’ll tell you who’s in first.

Here is the full list of triple, quadruple and quintuple Hugo nominees in chronological order:

(5) Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant (2013).

(4) Mike Resnick (1995), Bob Eggleton (1996), Michael Swanwick (2003), James Bacon (2012), Chris Garcia (2012), Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant (2012).

(3) C. M. Kornbluth (1959), Roger Zelazny (1967), Samuel Delany (1968), Harlan Ellison (1968), Robert Silverberg (1970, 1973, 1975), Larry Niven (1976), Orson Scott Card (1990), Bob Eggleton (1992), Connie Willis (1992), Ursula K. Le Guin (1995), Bruce Sterling (1999), Michael Swanwick (1999), Mike Resnick (2001), Cheryl Morgan (2005), Charles Stross (2005), David Langford (1997, 2006), David Hartwell (2007), Catherynne M. Valente (2012), Lynne M. Thomas (2013).