Search found 335 matches

by Corry
Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:19 am
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 32962

Re: Writing Good History Questions

But nationality wasn't required! Look, all of those clues are pretty obvious - I guess the leadin refers to Chinese maddhabs, so you might buzz with "Islamic scholars" or something, but it seems pretty darn clear after that - the Gansu Braves were Muslim troops recruited to put down other...
by Corry
Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:19 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 20154

Re: Writing Good History Questions

But nationality wasn't required! Look, all of those clues are pretty obvious - I guess the leadin refers to Chinese maddhabs, so you might buzz with "Islamic scholars" or something, but it seems pretty darn clear after that - the Gansu Braves were Muslim troops recruited to put down other...
by Corry
Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:55 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 32962

Re: Writing Good History Questions

As for the Chinese Muslims thing: I think an answerline is fine when each of the clues, taken individually in context with the rest of the tossup's information, can only possibly point to one answer. This does seem to be the case for the Chinese Muslims question - I don't see how you could really a...
by Corry
Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 20154

Re: Writing Good History Questions

As for the Chinese Muslims thing: I think an answerline is fine when each of the clues, taken individually in context with the rest of the tossup's information, can only possibly point to one answer. This does seem to be the case for the Chinese Muslims question - I don't see how you could really a...
by Corry
Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:45 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 32962

Re: Writing Good History Questions

To clarify further, I got the question on "Chinese Muslims" due to a combination of two separate bodies of knowledge: my "everyday" knowledge, and my "meta" knowledge. In terms of everyday knowledge, I knew about the Gansu Braves because I took HIST-172-01 "Modern ...
by Corry
Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:45 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 20154

Re: Writing Good History Questions

To clarify further, I got the question on "Chinese Muslims" due to a combination of two separate bodies of knowledge: my "everyday" knowledge, and my "meta" knowledge. In terms of everyday knowledge, I knew about the Gansu Braves because I took HIST-172-01 "Modern ...
by Corry
Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:40 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 32962

Re: Writing Good History Questions

I am also a person who has gone with the wackier-answer route many a time, and I am also down with the general advice to keep your answer line as simple as possible whenever possible. My suspicion, though, is that ability to answer questions with "wacky" answers follows something of a U-s...
by Corry
Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:40 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 20154

Re: Writing Good History Questions

I am also a person who has gone with the wackier-answer route many a time, and I am also down with the general advice to keep your answer line as simple as possible whenever possible. My suspicion, though, is that ability to answer questions with "wacky" answers follows something of a U-s...
by Corry
Mon Jul 18, 2016 8:48 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 32962

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 Corry
Mon Jul 18, 2016 8:48 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Writing Good History Questions
Replies: 35
Views: 20154

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 Corry
Wed Jul 06, 2016 8:55 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT
Replies: 58
Views: 24984

Re: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT

Can we also see the conversion data for Decline and Fall, the San Francisco Bay Area, Devon, and Charles Curtis?
by Corry
Tue Jul 05, 2016 9:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT
Replies: 58
Views: 24984

Re: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT

1793: This might just be a personal preference of mine, but I really don't like tossups on years. When you study history in an academic context, specific years don't really matter. Chronology? Sure, that's important- so write a question on the origins of the Committee of Public Safety. Specific dec...
by Corry
Sat Jul 02, 2016 6:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2016 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 76872

Re: 2016 HSNCT discussion

I just noticed this while listening to the HSNCT podcasts (great stuff, by the way), but a tossup on Coriolanus? That had a 27% conversion at the 2014 HSNCT, come on guys!
by Corry
Fri Jul 01, 2016 1:48 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: EFT Skype Tournament - 9/17/16
Replies: 34
Views: 15419

Re: EFT Skype Tournament - 9/17/16

I just want to say, I like this idea. Hopefully it works out, and other tournaments can make a habit of doing the same thing.
by Corry
Wed Jun 22, 2016 9:52 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Becoming and Being a Great Science Player
Replies: 8
Views: 31836

Re: Becoming and Being a Great Science Player

I really like this post. But:
To give you an example of someone transcending their classes, a graduating high school player this year once contacted me as a sophomore, asking me for
The thread cuts off here! Don't leaving me hanging bro
by Corry
Mon Jun 06, 2016 4:42 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: Studying Geography
Replies: 8
Views: 13842

Re: Studying Geography

One more thing: now that Duncan's mentioned it, I will admit that I do sometimes get geography clues from Atlas Obscura. Oftentimes, the geography on that website is literally too obscure, but either way, you can always find some really cool stuff there!
by Corry
Mon Jun 06, 2016 4:17 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: Studying Geography
Replies: 8
Views: 13842

Re: Studying Geography

I currently edit all geography questions for NAQT's regular high school and high school national sets, so I suppose you might like to get some advice straight from the source. To be honest, it's kind of hard to study for geography. There isn't really a set "canon," aka a preexisting body o...
by Corry
Sun Jun 05, 2016 7:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2016 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 76872

Re: 2016 HSNCT discussion

Most of these have nothing to do with description acceptable -- if a thing doesn't have a name (such as the JFK rifle), that warning is stupid. There's no name for it so a warning that you can give a description instead of a name makes no sense. I disagree. While "Description acceptable" ...
by Corry
Fri Jun 03, 2016 2:32 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2016 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 76872

Re: 2016 HSNCT discussion

A dialect of English specific to this city uses the multipurpose noun "jawn." This clue is incredible, it made my day when I heard it Happy to hear you liked it! Although credit really goes to the writer of this question, whom I suppose I can't name- this question was one of the few geo t...
by Corry
Wed Jun 01, 2016 3:27 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2016 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 76872

Re: 2016 HSNCT discussion

cwest123 wrote: 2) Who wrote the "Alabama" tossup in round 20? My team thoroughly enjoyed it in our consolation match!
Well, I'm willing to admit I edited it. Glad you enjoyed it!
by Corry
Tue May 31, 2016 4:57 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2016 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 76872

Re: 2016 HSNCT discussion

I'm afraid I don't understand the complaint. The clue clearly states it is talking about labels for loops. If a player doesn't know what labels are or how they work, they probably shouldn't buzz on a clue about labels. I don't believe NAQT or quiz bowl in general has adopted a standard that second ...
by Corry
Tue May 31, 2016 5:05 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2016 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 76872

Re: 2016 HSNCT discussion

I want to jump in here, and say that I welcome any and all feedback on the geography in this year's HSNCT. In this set, I probably wrote/edited around 90% of the geography, a slightly higher number than in 2015. My writing philosophy has stayed relatively constant: I don't really care about all of t...
by Corry
Fri May 27, 2016 3:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Geography Monstrosity VIII — May 27, Dallas
Replies: 19
Views: 11226

Re: Geography Monstrosity VIII — May 27, Dallas

Joined the Hoppes squad. He had the other three slots blacked out but I couldn't in good conscience invade a high school team who doesn't even know me and play on their team. Jeff -- if you want to just play by yourself I'll start a fifth team. Also, where will the rounds themselves be held? I must...
by Corry
Sun May 08, 2016 4:50 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: What Makes a Good Regular-Difficulty Set (comparatively)
Replies: 40
Views: 17774

Re: What Makes a Good Regular-Difficulty Set (comparatively)

Whenever this topic is discussed, it always goes off into left field with discussions about creativity. Creativity is important, no doubt, but I think "care" (to use Mike's word) is a much more important thing - making sure your clues are unique, your sentences grammatical and clear, your...
by Corry
Sun May 08, 2016 4:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: What Makes a Good Regular-Difficulty Set (comparatively)
Replies: 40
Views: 17774

Re: What Makes a Good Regular-Difficulty Set (comparatively)

If we're going to fixate on that particular question on the British Empire, then I'll throw in one more thought: the question would've worked better (aka been less confusing) if it had said "this European empire" at some point.
by Corry
Sun May 08, 2016 4:22 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: What Makes a Good Regular-Difficulty Set (comparatively)
Replies: 40
Views: 17774

Re: What Makes a Good Regular-Difficulty Set (comparatively)

Will's tossup on the British Empire was great (even though both Amherst and Penn totally bailed on that question when we played it at MO). In my opinion, it's actually emblematic of a "themed tossup on a standard line"; I personally think of it as a creatively themed tossup with a common a...
by Corry
Sun May 08, 2016 1:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: What Makes a Good Regular-Difficulty Set (comparatively)
Replies: 40
Views: 17774

Re: What Makes a Good Regular-Difficulty Set (comparatively)

I wholly support writing themed tossups on standard answer lines. In fact, I personally have a bit of a distaste for most tossups on "creative" answer lines, e.g. tossing up random aspects of the Great Gatsby. Although these tossups can occasionally work well, more often than not, they ten...
by Corry
Tue Apr 26, 2016 1:52 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Studying specifically for HSNCT
Replies: 7
Views: 5274

Re: Studying specifically for HSNCT

Would the 2011 HSNCT set be a valid question set to study from or is it too old? That's probably fine. This is my own opinion (I don't represent NAQT in any capacity), but I think 2011 should actually be the cutoff- all of the HSNCTs before 2011 tend to be more esoteric and wacky than they are now,...
by Corry
Mon Apr 25, 2016 12:58 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Studying specifically for HSNCT
Replies: 7
Views: 5274

Re: Studying specifically for HSNCT

I've personally written several hundred questions for the HSNCT in the last few years, including this current year. When I write questions for NAQT, I use the same standards for clues as when I write for my ACF submissions, or for PACE. So yeah, if something comes up in ACF Fall 2015, it can easily ...
by Corry
Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:46 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 ICT: "Comment on my questions" thread
Replies: 17
Views: 6366

Re: "Comment on my questions" thread

Corry- liked the mention of Mick Taussig in Amazon (though the linking is kind of weird, he didn't do much work with people on the Amazon proper) Glad you liked it. FYI, Seth edited the tossup so that it'd accept the Putumayo River if you buzzed only on that first clue. Corry, the DII versions of t...
by Corry
Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:23 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 ICT: "Comment on my questions" thread
Replies: 17
Views: 6366

2016 ICT: "Comment on my questions" thread

I wrote a lot of tossups for this set, and as usual, I'd really appreciate any feedback. I rarely write at this difficulty level, so it's always a challenging new experience. My questions: Skanderbeg Constantine the Great Gallipoli Jozef Pilsudski Levellers Czechoslovak Legion/Nicholas II/Mad Baron ...
by Corry
Mon Apr 04, 2016 1:33 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 MYSTERIUM Errata
Replies: 13
Views: 4095

Re: 2016 MYSTERIUM Errata

The tossup on "slave narratives" should prompt on "autobiographies," shouldn't it? Amherst B got negged for this.
by Corry
Tue Mar 01, 2016 1:18 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2015-2016 CALI Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 20
Views: 1112

Re: 2015-2016 CALI Specific Question Discussion

Maybe you could add "Holy Roman Emperor" in front of Maximilian? Done. It was a well written set, but in one tossup about DNA. I think it is quite rare that DNA is often referred to as a "compound", in most resources I have seen it referred to as a molecule. Fair enough. Also ch...
by Corry
Mon Feb 29, 2016 8:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2015-2016 CALI Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 20
Views: 1112

Re: 2015-2016 CALI Specific Question Discussion

Could i see the Durer tossup in round 13? I reflex buzzed with Manet as soon as the question mentioned Maximilian. 16. This artist, who depicted Maximilian I holding a pomegranate, sketched a pair of Praying Hands on blue colored paper. A skull rests on a window ledge and a lion lies on the ground ...
by Corry
Wed Feb 10, 2016 5:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 SCT general discussion
Replies: 18
Views: 5140

Re: 2016 SCT general discussion

EDIT: I don't know crap about law but I suspect that the law questions in this set were far, far too hard for the field other than for the law students. I don't know if anyone else shares this feeling. Oh yeah, this reminds me: I definitely also felt that the law in this set was way too difficult. ...
by Corry
Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:06 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT
Replies: 58
Views: 24984

Re: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT

1793: This might just be a personal preference of mine, but I really don't like tossups on years. When you study history in an academic context, specific years don't really matter. Chronology? Sure, that's important- so write a question on the origins of the Committee of Public Safety. Specific dec...
by Corry
Sun Feb 07, 2016 5:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT
Replies: 58
Views: 24984

Re: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT

As I mentioned in the general discussion thread, I liked this set a lot. However, here are a few particular tossups that I didn't think worked very well: Decline and Fall: I'm not a lit player, but this answer line seemed unusually difficult. 1793: This might just be a personal preference of mine, b...
by Corry
Sun Feb 07, 2016 4:29 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT
Replies: 58
Views: 24984

Re: Question-specific discussion: 2016 Division I SCT

The Stately Rhododendron wrote:The question on George Zimmerman's paintings was a terrible, terrible idea.
Oh yeah, this. Probably not a super great idea.
by Corry
Sun Feb 07, 2016 4:23 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 SCT general discussion
Replies: 18
Views: 5140

Re: 2016 SCT general discussion

I had fun playing this set. Overall, the difficulty seemed appropriate. In addition, the common links within this set's "miscellaneous"-category questions largely seemed organic rather than contrived, and the geography questions generally had interesting clues, as opposed to random place n...
by Corry
Wed Nov 25, 2015 3:28 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2015-2016 CALI Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 20
Views: 1112

Re: 2015-2016 CALI Specific Question Discussion

Can I see the infinite question? It was in rounds eight or nine I think. 13. Two objects with this property are the subject of the continuum hypothesis, which equates aleph one and the power set of aleph one. Georg Cantor proved that one set had this property by taking the complement of the n-th di...
by Corry
Thu Nov 12, 2015 5:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Missouri Open at Brown 11/14/15
Replies: 21
Views: 13082

Re: Missouri Open at Brown 11/14/15

With Columbia dropping their third team we're down to 18, so we're going to close the field barring any unforeseeable changes. We're looking into running SHAWARMA at lunch. We'll be ordering pizza so people who want to play won't have to get lunch and come back. There'll be a slight fee if you want...
by Corry
Mon Nov 09, 2015 6:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2015 ACF Fall general discussion
Replies: 55
Views: 24829

Re: 2015 ACF Fall general discussion

In our game against MIT B, there was a tiebreaker question on "oscillations" that was variously described by observers as "dumb" and "the worst thing ever." I do not actually know anything about science, but I felt this was worth noting. Overall, I thought the set was o...
by Corry
Fri Oct 23, 2015 10:48 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: CALI Available for 2015-2016 Mirrors [Regular Difficulty]
Replies: 14
Views: 19063

Re: CALI Available for 2015-2016 Mirrors [Regular Difficulty

Just as a quick update, we've been at 100% writing completion for quite some time now!

Image
by Corry
Tue Oct 13, 2015 5:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: How far back are NAQT Questions truly useful?
Replies: 8
Views: 4152

Re: How far back are NAQT Questions truly useful?

Personally, my arbitrary cutoff is around IS-80 (which was written at the beginning of the 2008-2009 season). Anything before that is generally pretty sketch, based on my own experience.
by Corry
Sat Aug 01, 2015 12:37 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2014-15 NAQT IS sets: question-specific discussion
Replies: 24
Views: 10215

Re: 2014-15 NAQT IS sets: question-specific discussion

If I were editing these particular questions, I'd probably prompt on "divine wind" and "lightning war". Even if the literal translations aren't technically correct, NAQT questions are read faaaast in real-life tournaments, I never want to neg high school players for 90% knowing t...
by Corry
Wed Jul 29, 2015 3:16 pm
Forum: New Collegiate Teams
Topic: Mid Michigan Community College?
Replies: 5
Views: 11324

Re: Mid Michigan Community College?

If you want to improve at quiz bowl by attending harder tournaments, many college quiz bowl tournaments are actually open to high school teams (except official ACF and NAQT events). So you don't have to start a team at your community college to play-- you could drag your high school team to college ...
by Corry
Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:48 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2015 HSNCT conversion stats discussion
Replies: 53
Views: 22713

Re: 2015 HSNCT conversion stats discussion

cwest123 wrote:Love the Roger Taney tossup, nice work. Would that be something you would consider "too hard" for a regular IS set?
I don't speak officially on behalf of NAQT, but I personally think that'd be too hard.
by Corry
Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:44 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: CALI Available for 2015-2016 Mirrors [Regular Difficulty]
Replies: 14
Views: 19063

Re: CALI Available for 2015-2016 Mirrors [Regular Difficulty

We are at 90% writing completion. Full-time editing is now underway!
by Corry
Wed Jul 22, 2015 5:07 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Quizbowl on social media
Replies: 21
Views: 9098

Re: Quizbowl on social media

For those wondering about the point of regional quiz bowl Facebook groups, let me just say that the SoCal Facebook group is really great. For SoCal, the Facebook group has effectively supplanted the regional forum here on hsquizbowl because there are lower barriers to entry. Most quiz bowl players (...
by Corry
Fri Jul 17, 2015 10:57 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2015 HSNCT conversion stats discussion
Replies: 53
Views: 22713

Re: 2015 HSNCT conversion stats discussion

I think some of the posts in this thread are a classic case of misusing metrics (in this case, conversion data) in quizbowl. I write tossups on things - though not for this tournament - that are meant to have less than perfect conversion. That doesn't mean the question is bad. For example, I think ...