The Quizbowl Resource Center

As long as we're proposing things, I propose a moratorium on using the word "FUNN"; I think it detracts from otherwise well-reasoned arguments that people make, and I cringe whenever I see purportedly intelligent people using it as a term of derision.

To respond to a couple of points that Jonathan made earlier on: I thought Stockhausen was better known than he apparently is. I also thought that some of the minor Cooper novels were better known than they apparently are (I would have easily 20d that bonus, probably 30d it with some thought). Oakes...

I enjoyed most of the questions, especially the tossups, which seemed like they hit the targeted difficulty level (except for questions on things like the Battle of Eutaw Springs and John Vanbrugh, which probably went unanswered in most rooms). I thought that the bonuses were mostly well-written, al...

For the singles, we read the tossups from three packets. Individual players stopped after reaching 80 points (10 for a correct answer, and 5 for a neg). Here are the results: 1. Matt Weiner 2. Ted (HS) 3. Me 4. Daichi (HS) 5. Dan (HS) 5. Vinod 7. Casey 7. Dan Goff 9. Haris 10. Andrew 11. Mike 12. St...

I also thought that the questions were much better than the ones last year, and I was pleased with the literature questions, which generally rewarded people for reading stuff. To echo Jerry, I liked the math questions too, although the tossup on odd perfect numbers was immediately transparent. I tho...

Tournaments like SNEWT or Illinois Novice which eliminate open competition but still require packet submission and don't go too insultingly easy on difficulty Just to eliminate any confusion, these are the kinds of juniorbirds I would like to see as well. Matt's post expressed it a lot better than ...

Point taken about the tournaments, and about my mischaracterization about mindsets. What I was trying to get at, albeit in a roundabout way, was that there seems to be a problem with teams not submitting packets to things (only two teams who attended TIT submitted anything, it looks like not many te...

I don't think that he was saying that ACF was impossible; I think that he was pointing out that most well-written college tournaments have more lengthy questions and a larger answer space, and thus aren't very accessible to novices (ACF Fall and this year's Penn Bowl being exceptions). And I think t...

Yes on both counts.

first-time (?) editor Jonathan and his crew This was my first time editing a college tournament (I had worked on our high school tournament last spring), although I can't speak for Casey or Chris. I would like to hear people's reactions to the tournament; personally, I thought that some of the ques...

I'd like to thank Ali Daniels, Alec Bradley, Brad Houston, Adil Bukhari, Jeremy Eaton, David Vatz, Curran Muhlberger, Jeff Amoros, Brittany Clark, and Mike Bentley for their help staffing the tournaments and writing questions. I'd also like to thank Gordon Arsenoff, Dan Goff, Dr. Chuck, and Drew (I'...

After entering the finals with a one game advantage, VCU defeated UVA A 280-250 to win the Terrapin Invitational Tournament. Stats and full results will be posted no later than tomorrow. If teams that submitted packets would like feedback, please email me at jsmagin AT yahoo DOT com. Also, if any te...

Here's a more recent field update: Penn (1) UVA (2) VCU (1) William and Mary (1) GW (1) Duke (2) We'd like to have one more team register so that each team only has one bye. Teams interested in registering should contact me at jsmagin AT yahoo DOT com. The tournament will take place in Jimenez Hall,...

I did. To give this post more content, here's a field update: Penn (1) UVA (2) VCU (1) William and Mary (1) There's still plenty of room, so if teams would like to register, please send me an email. Additionally, if any teams would like to write a freelance packet, they should contact me at the abov...

I just realized that the preceding two posts give two different email addresses for me. To clear up any confusion, I check both regularly, but I would prefer if people would email jsmagin AT yahoo DOT com. Thanks again.

This is just a reminder that the no-penalty deadline to submit a packet for TIT is Friday the 22nd. We still have a good amount of room for teams to sign up; if you'd like to register, or aren't sure if you're still registered (due to the moving of the tournament to Jan 27), please email me at jmagi...

As of now, the field for TIT is: GW (2) Princeton UMBC Also, as a reminder, the no penalty deadline for packets is by midnight Nov. 3. I don't think the original announcement mentioned freelance packets, but they are welcome. If people have any questions about the tournament, feel free to email me (...