Search found 161 matches

by wcheng
Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:09 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Announcing QuizDB: "Knowledge is Power"
Replies: 110
Views: 112492

Re: Announcing QuizDB: "Knowledge is Power"

One minor issue: it looks like some characters with diacritics aren't displaying properly right now. Besides that, though, this looks like an excellent resource and improvement on Quinterest!
by wcheng
Fri Sep 08, 2017 9:29 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2017 Maryland Fall @ U. of Maryland (9/30/17)
Replies: 10
Views: 9821

Re: 2017 Maryland Fall @ U. of Maryland (9/30/17)

Hey guys, not sure if this is possible but could we move the tournament back? I'm representing the Georgetown Day quiz bowl team and we'd love to attend but unfortunately, Yom Kippur is on the same day. Any chance we could move the tournament back a week? Thanks! Unfortunately, we realized that thi...
by wcheng
Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:29 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2017 Maryland Fall @ U. of Maryland (9/30/17)
Replies: 10
Views: 9821

Re: 2017 Maryland Fall @ U. of Maryland (9/30/17)

Just a quick update: our tournament has been awarded platinum certification from PACE, which means that the top 25% of teams from our tournament will qualify for the 2018 PACE NSC!
by wcheng
Wed Aug 23, 2017 4:53 pm
Forum: Scheduling reform
Topic: 2017-18 Tournament Schedule: Planning, Discussion, etc.
Replies: 40
Views: 43194

Re: 2017-18 Tournament Schedule: Planning, Discussion, etc.

To my knowledge, Terrapin Invitational is not happening next winter, either. For the time being, the Maryland team has decided against writing Terrapin for next winter because we have occupied with writing our high school set, and our writing team this year is considerably smaller and less experien...
by wcheng
Sat Aug 05, 2017 6:52 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2017 Maryland Fall @ U. of Maryland (9/30/17)
Replies: 10
Views: 9821

Re: 2017 Maryland Fall @ U. of Maryland (9/30/17)

Field Update as of 9/12/17 [/u] Team Name | # of Teams | Buzzers | Moderators Downingtown STEM | 1 | 0 | 0 Richard Montgomery | 2 | 4 | 0 TJHSST | 6 | 1 | 0 Lehigh Valley | 1 | 1 | 0 Langley | 2 | 2 | 1 Severn School | 1 | 1 | 0 Montgomery Blair | 2 | 1 | 0 Wootton | 1 | 1 | 1 Centennial | 6 | 2 | ...
by wcheng
Wed Jul 12, 2017 9:35 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2017 Maryland Fall @ U. of Maryland (9/30/17)
Replies: 10
Views: 9821

2017 Maryland Fall @ U. of Maryland (9/30/17)

I am happy to announce this year's iteration of Maryland Fall , which will be held on Saturday, September 30th, 2017 . This tournament will be run using our 2017 Maryland Fall housewrite, head-edited by Jordan Brownstein, the head editor of the 2016 PACE NSC. For more information regarding our set's...
by wcheng
Sat Jul 01, 2017 8:32 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Cambridge Open mirror in NYC (07/01/2017)
Replies: 35
Views: 18699

Re: Cambridge Open mirror in NYC (07/01/2017)

FYI: The doors except the right door is locked.
by wcheng
Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:26 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: What tournaments are "must-attend" events, and why?
Replies: 16
Views: 11022

Re: What tournaments are "must-attend" events, and why?

Tournaments that have traditionally attracted very strong fields: Texas Invitational, the main site of Harvard Fall, New Trier Varsity Thomas Jefferson and Richard Montgomery both return everyone from top-tier teams at NSC, so a DC-area tournament that features both of them is likely to be very tou...
by wcheng
Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:20 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2017 Maryland Fall available for Mirrors
Replies: 7
Views: 11149

Re: 2017 Maryland Fall available for Mirrors

I'm intrigued by the .5/.5 Misc/Mixed. What subject areas are those questions drawing from? Or are they just wide-ranging common links? I would describe the .5/.5 Misc/Mixed is something of a catch-all for anything that doesn't neatly fit into one of the pre-existing categories. Here's some content...
by wcheng
Thu Jun 22, 2017 6:35 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2017 NSC set discussion
Replies: 85
Views: 53911

Re: 2017 NSC set discussion

I think the Book of Isaiah TU could be better by switching the placement of some of the clues. The clues about Chapter 53 ("man of sorrows", "pierced for our transgression", etc.) may arguably be easier than the clues about Servant Songs and "spears into pruning hooks and t...
by wcheng
Sun Jun 18, 2017 10:45 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Cambridge Open mirror in NYC (07/01/2017)
Replies: 35
Views: 18699

Re: Cambridge Open mirror in NYC (07/01/2017)

Now that the tournament is just two weeks away, are there any updates on the field situation?
by wcheng
Tue Jun 13, 2017 6:03 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2017 NSC set discussion
Replies: 85
Views: 53911

Re: 2017 NSC set discussion

I'll write up a larger commentary on the set later, but overall I enjoyed it very much. One question I was curious about, however, was the bonus asking for "The Hebrew Bible," which prompted but did not outright accept "the Old Testament," when asking about some philosopher who ...
by wcheng
Mon Jun 05, 2017 8:20 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Cambridge Open mirror in NYC (07/01/2017)
Replies: 35
Views: 18699

Re: Cambridge Open mirror in NYC (07/01/2017)

As someone who hasn't found a team yet, I would be very happy if we could open up space for a five person team or two. Considering the field, I don't think that it would make the tournament any less competitive, depending on what the theoretical five person teams are.
by wcheng
Tue Apr 25, 2017 11:15 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Nationalities of Title Winners
Replies: 8
Views: 16237

Nationalities of Title Winners

I was just wondering which nationalities (specifically referring to people with citizenships) are represented among this list of title winners . Obviously, the USA is represented, and I know that Canada is represented on the list through Patrick Liao. I'm a citizen of the PRC, so the PRC is also now...
by wcheng
Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Terrapin XXIX Announcement
Replies: 16
Views: 12243

Re: Terrapin XXIX Announcement

We are working on it. Unfortunately, the entry for Terrapin on the website is currently owned by a non-Maryland person. We need that person to transfer ownership of the entry to me first before we can post the packets. I've already emailed the person, and I'm currently waiting for a response. (Alte...
by wcheng
Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:21 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Terrapin XXIX Announcement
Replies: 16
Views: 12243

Re: Terrapin XXIX Announcement

Given that the Louisiana mirror has been cancelled and no replacement has been publicly announced, could this set be posted? We are working on it. Unfortunately, the entry for Terrapin on the website is currently owned by a non-Maryland person. We need that person to transfer ownership of the entry...
by wcheng
Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:20 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 70
Views: 42444

Re: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion

There were a few questions that I found odd, like the tossup on "names" that used "these objects" as the pronoun, but I don't think that they diminish the editors' achievements. I wrote this tossup and can attest that the pronoun phrase used throughout was "these things,&qu...
by wcheng
Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:27 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 70
Views: 42444

Re: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion

I would like to thank the editors for producing an excellent set, which was challenging yet restrained in difficulty. I thought that the religion questions in this set were, for the most part, excellent, since they avoided the worst tropes of high-difficulty question writing in those categories (for...
by wcheng
Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:20 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Documenting plagiarism
Replies: 20
Views: 11199

Re: Documenting plagiarism

I certainly think that it is possible that the similarity is a coincidence, and don't intend to accuse anyone in particular of plagiarism. However, I find the similar structures of the two bonuses to be somewhat suspicious. I think the fact that they have exactly the same answerlines in the same or...
by wcheng
Tue Apr 18, 2017 5:08 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Documenting plagiarism
Replies: 20
Views: 11199

Re: Documenting plagiarism

I certainly think that it is possible that the similarity is a coincidence, and don't intend to accuse anyone in particular of plagiarism. However, I find the similar structures of the two bonuses to be somewhat suspicious. I think the fact that they have exactly the same answerlines in the same ord...
by wcheng
Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:20 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Documenting plagiarism
Replies: 20
Views: 11199

Re: Documenting plagiarism

I'm pretty sure that this shows an instance of plagiarism, but I can't be certain.
by wcheng
Sun Apr 16, 2017 12:23 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2017 EMT: Alex's Stuff (Fine Arts, some OSci/Religion)
Replies: 21
Views: 9987

Re: Alex's Stuff (Fine Arts, some OSci/Religion)

Some comments on your religion in this set: I enjoyed the increased amount of Eastern Orthodox content in this set, and hope that editors of future sets will consider doing so as well. When my team played the Abraham question, Ophir buzzed in on "Hineni" and said Moses. While I suppose tha...
by wcheng
Sat Apr 15, 2017 11:56 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2017 EMT General Discussion
Replies: 18
Views: 9963

Re: 2017 EMT General Discussion

Overall, I thought that this was a pretty good set, especially considering the fact that this was written in just three months! The difficulty generally seemed about right, and I thought that this set included a fair number of fresh and interesting clues regardless of the difficulty level. Thus, I'd...
by wcheng
Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:26 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The ol' Nationals Cracker Barrel
Replies: 63
Views: 32813

Re: The ol' Nationals Cracker Barrel

vinteuil wrote:michigan wins but jordan gets the snitch
A, B, C, easy as 1, 2, 3...
by wcheng
Sat Mar 04, 2017 10:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: (This) Tournament is a Crime at Maryland (March 4, 2017)
Replies: 5
Views: 4833

Re: (This) Tournament is a Crime at Maryland (March 4, 2017)

Stats for all of the rounds are up. Thank you to everyone who took the time to come to the tournament!
by wcheng
Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:55 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2017 ACF Regionals - specific-question discussion
Replies: 90
Views: 30894

Re: 2017 ACF Regionals - specific-question discussion

Before I make any comments about this set, I would like to thank the editors for putting this set together. In the categories that I was paying the most attention to (history, religion, economics, and CE/geo/"other"), I felt that the vast majority of the answerlines were executed and clued...
by wcheng
Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:58 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2017 WAO: Religion and Other Academic
Replies: 12
Views: 3046

Re: 2017 WAO: Religion and Other Academic

The tossup on the Islamic call to prayer featured a clue mentioning the addition of a phrase by Shia Muslims concerning Ali. That phrase is specifically added to the call to prayer as part of the Shahada, so an anti-prompt on "Shahada" would have been nice. My apologies: this was just a r...
by wcheng
Mon Jan 09, 2017 9:39 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: What keeps you doing quizbowl?
Replies: 25
Views: 15278

Re: Quizbowl?

1. What keeps you doing quizbowl? Rather, what keeps you going, even in the face, say, getting slaughtered in a game? This is something that I've thought about before, and for me, the answer is being part of a team where I feel like I can accomplish something. Back when I was playing high school qu...
by wcheng
Sat Dec 31, 2016 9:47 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Quizbowl Question of 2016
Replies: 27
Views: 2681

Re: Best Quizbowl Question of 2016

I was delighted by this question from the Oklahoma/Brown packet at this year's Regionals: A thinker who is most famously associated with this practice held a widely attended and acclaimed Prayer for Interfaith Peace, which he then followed up with a somewhat less-acclaimed prayer to terminate the J...
by wcheng
Wed Dec 07, 2016 9:53 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 71
Views: 36529

Re: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata

Hey Harris, as the guy who wrote the econ for this set, I'd be happy to comment on your concerns. This is way too easy in my opinion. I learned about everything after the first clue in my more-or-less intermediate micro course. The Edgeworth box is super famous for featuring Pareto efficiency and in...
by wcheng
Sun Nov 20, 2016 11:24 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 71
Views: 36529

Re: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata

Also, Taejong launched the Oei invasion, not Sejong This has been fixed. Sorry about this mistake! I don't know what the wording of the actual tossup is, but my understanding is that the third Oei expedition (1419) was sent out during Year 1 of Sejong's reign. At that point, Taejong was alive (he a...
by wcheng
Sun Nov 20, 2016 3:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 71
Views: 36529

Re: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata

Also, Taejong launched the Oei invasion, not Sejong
This has been fixed. Sorry about this mistake!
by wcheng
Thu Nov 17, 2016 1:22 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 71
Views: 36529

Re: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata

Can I see the tossup on colonial Virginia? The first clue seemed to be on William Byrd's diary, but I was having a hard time differentiating that from Thomas Thistlewood's diary in Jamaica, so I was hoping to see the specific wording on the line. A man from this colony kept a repetitive, coded diar...
by wcheng
Tue Nov 15, 2016 8:36 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 71
Views: 36529

Re: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata

Oh yeah, that tossup on Basques was good stuff. Especially that first line- can I see the full text? A woman of this ethnicity known as “Lieutenant Nun” wrote an autobiography describing how she disguised herself as a man to lead military campaigns against the Mapuche. The region home to this ethni...
by wcheng
Mon Nov 14, 2016 9:21 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 71
Views: 36529

Re: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata

This book states that its author learned what it meant to covet through the commandment “You shall not covet,” because sin deceived him through the commandment. This book describes how after men began worshipping idols, God gave them up to “dishonorable passions,” causing them to perform homosexual...
by wcheng
Mon Nov 14, 2016 10:14 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 71
Views: 36529

Re: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata

As far as I can tell, the Edgeworth box clue also applies for an answer of "equilibrium," which is non-ideal. Good catch, thanks. I've edited the tossup to make it clearer and exclude this answer as a possibility. Also, could somebody post the art tossup on Alexander the Great? There was ...
by wcheng
Sun Nov 13, 2016 10:48 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin General Discussion
Replies: 30
Views: 7531

Re: 2016 Terrapin General Discussion

I may be biased though because I finally got to power a question based on knowing something about zebu farming which made my day. Glad to see that you enjoyed this question, and that someone was able to buzz off this clue! Similarly, social science seemed to be dominated by economics with hardly an...
by wcheng
Sun Nov 13, 2016 9:25 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 71
Views: 36529

Re: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata

This set occasionally had substantial variation in answer line difficulty, e.g. Stroessner. The Madhist War was probably also up there. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd be curious to hear about whether the set had some overarching philosophy regarding answer line selection. As the person...
by wcheng
Sun Nov 13, 2016 5:17 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 71
Views: 36529

Re: 2016 Terrapin Specific Question Discussion and Errata

Could I also see the REST bonus, because I remember that one being fairly bad as well. This architectural style is practiced by companies like Twilio and GitHub. For 10 points each: [10] Identify this design pattern developed by Roy Fielding which has six constraints, including client–server, state...
by wcheng
Sun Nov 13, 2016 1:05 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 Terrapin General Discussion
Replies: 30
Views: 7531

Re: 2016 Terrapin General Discussion

There were a number of subdistributional issues. Could we see a breakdown of the religion by faith? Perhaps this was an artifact of which packets we heard (and my shitty/selective memory), but I think I remember 2 New Testament tossups and no questions at all on "Christian practice"? (Per...
by wcheng
Sat Oct 29, 2016 6:36 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: PB2016: Will's Questions (Painting, Religion, Music, etc.)
Replies: 17
Views: 3333

Re: Will's Questions (Painting, Religion, Music, some others

I enjoyed playing the religion questions at this tournament, especially the common links on blue and lotuses. However, one thing that I noticed is that there weren't many questions on Christianity relative to the number of questions on other topics, although this might just be me. Could you please p...
by wcheng
Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:29 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: PB 2016: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 82
Views: 19456

Re: PB 2016: Specific Question Discussion

AKKOLADE wrote:
wcheng wrote:I agree that the Air America tossup was egregiously difficult. No one on Maryland A knew what the question was referring to at the end, and none of the teams that I informally surveyed were able to convert the tossup.
As in the radio network?
No, the airline/CIA front.
by wcheng
Sun Oct 23, 2016 9:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: PB 2016: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 82
Views: 19456

Re: PB 2016: Specific Question Discussion

I agree that the Air America tossup was egregiously difficult. No one on Maryland A knew what the question was referring to at the end, and none of the teams that I informally surveyed were able to convert the tossup.
by wcheng
Sun Oct 23, 2016 3:57 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: PB 2016: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 82
Views: 19456

Re: PB 2016: Specific Question Discussion

Could someone please post the tossup on exorcisms? I was somewhat confused by the first few clues of the tossup, which seemed like they could have equally described demonic possessions.
by wcheng
Fri Oct 21, 2016 12:57 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Thoughts on Quizbowl Employment
Replies: 9
Views: 4864

Re: Thoughts on Quizbowl Employment

50K would be almost double my old teaching salary. On the other hand, 3,000 questions in a year would be pretty hard to do (maybe? I haven't crunched the numbers). 3000 questions/year seems difficult, but within the realm of possibility. If you're willing to write on each weekday of the year, you w...
by wcheng
Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Trash at Maryland (Sept. 10, 2016)
Replies: 9
Views: 6122

Re: CO Trash at Maryland (Sept. 10, 2016)

Stats for this tournament have been posted.
by wcheng
Fri Sep 02, 2016 11:03 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO 2017 Team Formation
Replies: 23
Views: 15109

Re: CO 2017 Team Formation

I would definitely like to attend CO 2017, which would be my first ever CO. If you're interested in having a history/religion player on your team, feel free to PM me or send me an email at weijia05 at yahoo dot com.
by wcheng
Mon Jul 18, 2016 10:54 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 20201

Re: Writing Good History Questions

I've elaborated upon this before , so I'll be brief: I agree with pretty much everything this thread says. In particular, themed questions are great, and everybody should write them. However, I am still suspicious of "creative" answer lines (creative questions are fine and good, of course...
by wcheng
Mon Jul 18, 2016 10:54 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 33117

Re: Writing Good History Questions

I've elaborated upon this before , so I'll be brief: I agree with pretty much everything this thread says. In particular, themed questions are great, and everybody should write them. However, I am still suspicious of "creative" answer lines (creative questions are fine and good, of course...
by wcheng
Wed Jun 08, 2016 7:57 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: College Player v. World
Replies: 26
Views: 14938

Re: College Player v. World

I'd be interested in trying this out as the college player one of these days - losing to a bunch of high schoolers sounds like fun. (Certainly, I've had more than enough experience with that this year...)