The Quizbowl Resource Center

I can think of one demographic that would almost certainly be interested if some lower-difficulty college events were held in the summer: high schoolers. The high school season is, for the most part, constrained to the school year due to organizational issues and the like. However, everyone knows th...

DumbJaques wrote:rather than one of our various unfortunate incarnations of the It's Academic format, but hey, if you're feeling some nostalgia for questions that ask "where are you right now," let me know.

no dont

You would be across the street from a Metro station, so you could probably take the Metro there if you're willing to hike from the College Park metro stop to UMD. Hopefully, Chris can clarify whether or not such a hike is a good idea. This walk is under two miles, I believe. Also, buses exist. They...

Vehicle registration plates of Egypt wrote:From HSNCT:

Given: Cabrini Green
Correct: Freakonomics

This is actually not too bad, and it shows relatively deep knowledge of both the book and Chicago itself.

This one from tonight's Jeopardy! is just way too good not to share:

Final Jeopardy!: blah blah blah someone who impaled people lived in this arboreal region of europe blah blah blah

Answer: Transylvania

Given: The Dracula-Tree Forest

So close, yet so very far.

Christianity and alcohol wrote:
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:"Most practical of all the subjects" is actually learning how to make a grocery list.
For ten points, file a tax return. You have 15 seconds.

That question is more impossible than ACF.

Cheynem wrote:That is pretty hard, when one considers all the mathematical options for groceries. Ten choices for pudding alone!

And with this system, you get twice the practicality! It combines food and combinatorics - what more could you want?

The person who was doing that question was obviously very sleepy...i hope. But luckily the problem was minor, since Crater Lake is pretty big in Oregon. I hear Portland is pretty big as well. Portland is really big in Maine as well, so that is why we can't really consider it as the main defining cl...

Math is the most practical of all the subjects, and should be the first thought when writing a question set. I would like to direct you to every single other computational math thread on this forum, where you will see that this is hilariously wrong. Practical application of skills is not required b...

master15625 wrote:The person who was doing that question was obviously very sleepy...i hope. But luckily the problem was minor, since Crater Lake is pretty big in Oregon.

I hear Portland is pretty big as well.

But if quizbowl were only about competition and about the ‘game’, it would probably have much less allure for those truly passionate about it. So what else is crucial to it? I think Aidan Mehigan suggested it as well as anyone---it is a culture unto itself, and Aidan wished to immerse himself in it...

I think the wonkiness of the old NSC format also plays into this. What exactly were the conversion targets for a two-part bonus? No one really ever said. That's why this format was eliminated.

I still have nightmares about the lifeless husk which was all that remained after Jerry eviscerated^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hedited our ACF Winter submission. Please perform the miracles of resurrection by posting your original submission in this thread. Also Jerry, I am most troubled to learn of your ...

I mean, it basically gives you "name these Goths who aren't the Ostrogoths." It doesn't get any easier than that.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but Mahan was a topic that came up in multiple school classes that I took, even a non-AP course. I think Mahan is someone important that is taught in high school who people know about, but for whatever reason, doesn't really come up in high school quizbowl. I'm fine with ...

Anti-Climacus wrote:Since I have no notes on NAQT sets I played, the first issue that comes to mind is the Orwell tossup from IS-80whatever that has Shooting an Elephant in the leadin. Am I the only person who thinks that's not a good leadin?

No.

The Toad to Wigan Pier wrote:I recently read an article which has many parallels with this discussion.

This is so win.

I predict that fully half the field will be from Charters A to I.

Well, I'd assume that, if these are continued, Byko would start from scratch next year and this year would be a hole in the record. Yeah, seeing as this year is completely over, with no more need for the rankings (seeding for all nationals is over, nationals are over with champions declared, and th...

If you stay awake in the modern world, chock full of culture as it is, you're bound to learn about Paz, Goya, Haydn, and Taming of the Shrew. My point, therefore, is that defining the canon as "things you should know if you stay awake" is insufficient for certain regions. Of course. I'm j...

If you stay awake in the modern world, chock full of culture as it is, you're bound to learn about Paz, Goya, Haydn, and Taming of the Shrew.

Speaking as an infidel who enjoys beating dead horses, it seems like "time periods+obviously christian stuff" is going to narrow the answer space down pretty quickly for much of the field. Are there other noteworthly liturgical periods besides the one discussed that I just don't know abou...

It's Laetare Sunday? Is there a particular reason they use the singular for one Sunday and the plural for another? Or would Laetamini just sound stupid? CATHOLICISM FUNFACT The name "Gaudete" Sunday comes from the introit of that day's mass, which begins: Gaudete in Domino semper The name...

19. Jesuit theologian Benterim claimed that a thirteenth-century law decreed that pictures should be covered during this time period, and its beginning is defined by the Sunday closest to the feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle. Methodism holds that “Kingdomtide” precedes this event, and this event...

Yeah, I like lit tossups that either (1) start with some interesting crit point someone notable once had or (2) start out with some "hey, were you paying good attention when you read this?" kind of clue: something relatively minor, yet not too minor, and definitely not vague. It should be ...

ImaPC wrote:
May I join this suckfest? I tentatively have gluten-free cookies.
Tentatively, yes! The prospect of a CR Anselm hybrid team is pretty intriguing, not to mention fairly convenient. This is working out quite well, assuming things don't utterly fall apart...

Yeah, I'm so down for this.

GlitchYC wrote:I'm going to play this, but I'm looking for teammates.

ImaPC wrote:I'm very interested in playing this, and likely not with my team.

Hey, who's interested in a probably very pathetic high school team? I'm not sure, but I'd kinda like to play this too.

Wait, hold on. Is this restricted to just middle school or can high schoolers play it? Because that kid in the first row on the right is Varun Kumar, classmate of mine at Haycock Elementary school and current freshman at TJ. Edit: link There can be up to two 9th graders on a team, as per the offici...

Wait, hold on. Is this restricted to just middle school or can high schoolers play it? Because that kid in the first row on the right is Varun Kumar, classmate of mine at Haycock Elementary school and current freshman at TJ.

Edit: link

BuzzerZen wrote:
cvdwightw wrote: 3. We're waiting for ~~BeES~~ Godot to show up

Yeah, seriously, when is BeES coming out? It sounds really cool, and I'd love to see it in action.

Caesar Rodney HS wrote:Inconceivable!

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

is a common tool.....

Longfellow MS of Falls Church, Virginia wins the 2009 Junior :chip: apalooza. Given their solid performances in the KMO's, it's probably safe to say Longfellow is a legitimate national champion. So congratulations to Coach Huang and his crew. YAY LONGFELLOW!!! :party: Sucks you had to go through th...

The sophomores of State College and the all-non-graduating kids of Gov and Matt Jackson all put up superb performances at this year's NSC, and I would be very surprised if they are not similarly impressive in the future. This, plus, Hunter also has a pretty young core to support them in the coming ...

The sophomores of State College and the all-non-graduating kids of Gov and Matt Jackson all put up superb performances at this year's NSC, and I would be very surprised if they are not similarly impressive in the future. This, plus, Hunter also has a pretty young core to support them in the coming ...

ITT Bad quizbowl is bad.

I think what it means is that a team can go through their schedule before their first match and take a good guess at which games they will win, and likely determine their record before even playing. I guess I disagree with that mindset, then. There are such things as upsets that don't result from p...

why not a week or two earlier (late may)? i would think that most graduations are the first week or june or later , so such a date may lessen the number of graduation conflicts, while still avoiding AP exams and probably IB tests. You're aiming for an impossibly small and shifting window that will ...

Well actually that question was powered by at least one player. That player was me. I think the idea behind question like purring etc is twofold: reward lateral thinking and random knowledge. Whether these are things actually worth rewarding is a whole 'nother discussion. Please tell me this is jus...

Coolio. While I am in a summer basketball league during some weekday evenings, I'll definitely try to make some of these.

Alright, this thread is now obsolete. Mods, feel free to do whatever to it.

theMoMA wrote:PACE will be making an announcement later today that is relevant to this post. Stay tuned.

Dun dun dun.

With the NSC recently occurring, there has, once again, been much talk about the wonkiness of the format and the potential unfairness that results from unclear conversion targets and the like. Thus, in the spirit of fairness, one might presume it would not be a good idea to host any tournament, incl...

And while I'm at it: what can I do to get the number of voters up? Are people not voting because their ballots will be revealed? We had 18 and 22 ballots for the first two of these I did (back in 2007), and since then we've gone down to 10 to 15. I think reducing the number of rankings to maybe 15 ...

If you would like to discuss changes to the format, I would suggest emailing Fr. Meehan. When we were discussing format the other day, running a short tournament with as few staff as possible staying after lunch seemed like a priority to him. I myself would also prefer bracketed playoffs, but that i...

***THIS POST IS NOW LARGELY IRRELEVANT. PLEASE SEE NEW ANNOUNCEMENT HERE *** ***RESCHEDULE INFORMATION IS HERE *** This is a rather preliminary announcement for a tournament to be co-hosted by Gonzaga and St. Anselm's on Saturday, February 6, 2010, lovingly subtitled the ZIGZAG (Zanily Imaginative G...

I was at a tournament in Lexington, Missouri and the girl who buzzed for Goethe pronounced it go-eth. The moderator stared at her for a second then accepted it. I have heard other people refer to him as that as well. I assume they just have never heard it actually said and came across it studying o...

BuzzerZen wrote: 53 - Lewis County/St. Anselm's scabs

I'd say that's pretty good for being stuck with a 0-10 handicap before we even showed up

everyday847 wrote:or these questions are inherently not too great and should be excised from the distribution.

What a novel idea!

Mitchell Szczepanczyk Who is that? A guy with a masters in linguistics from Chicago, actually. :smile: And just what does that have to do with quizbowl? That, if I'm not mistaken, was Chris's entire point. Just because someone knows some stuff doesn't mean he is qualified to edit what are supposed ...

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