There has been a debate on the pair-list interpretation of questions with universals. One approach is quantification into question acts (Krifka, 2001), where the universal quantifier scopes over a covert question-embedding predicate QUEST. This paper presents a new argument that quantification into speech acts, if available at all, cannot be the only
path to pair-list readings. The argument builds on new data from specificational pseudoclefts (SPCs). We (i) show that SPCs behave like question-answer pairs (QAPs) in allowing pair-list readings with universals in the subject position; and (ii) argue that the approach of quantifying into speech acts cannot be adjusted to analyze pair-list SPCs. That pair-list questions and SPCs are subject to similar constraints suggests that the
analysis of pair-list in SPCs could carry over to questions, voiding the need for quantifying into speech acts.