Specific Question Discussion

[AGoodMan]

Please discuss specific questions here. Requests for the text of questions, and compliments/complaints/comments about specific questions should go here.

[Romanos I Lekapenos]

May I please see the Aeneid tossup and the Sisyphus tossup?

[AGoodMan]

May I please see the Aeneid tossup and the Sisyphus tossup?

16. This man discovered the body of a boy under a pine tree after that boy and his mother jumped into the sea to escape the crazed Athamas. Some accounts say Medea gave the kingdom of Ephyra to this man. Tyro killed her own sons to protect her father from this brother of Salmoneus. This man exposed (*) Autolycus as a cattle thief and may have been the father of Odysseus through Anticleia. This man caused no one to die by chaining up Thanatos, and he later tricked Persephone into allowing him to briefly return from Hades. For 10 points, name this king of Corinth who was punished to endlessly roll a boulder up a hill.
ANSWER: Sisyphus <Suh>

7. In this work, when a nymph’s brother drops his sword in an important duel, she takes the shape of a charioteer and returns it to him. The main character of this work leaves the underworld through a “polish’d ivory” gate of false dreams. This work abruptly ends after the protagonist recognizes his friend (*) Pallas’s belt and viciously slaughters Turnus. In this work, Venus entraps a Carthaginian queen into falling in love with the title character. The title character’s encounter with Dido appears in this poem that describes how a Trojan ventured to Italy, ultimately leading to the founding of Rome. For 10 points, name this epic poem by Virgil.
ANSWER: The Aeneid <Cohen>

[Romanos I Lekapenos]

May I please see the Cather tossup as well?

[AGoodMan]

May I please see the Cather tossup as well?

This author described a year in the life of Euclide and Cécile Auclair in Shadows on the Rock. In a novel by this author, “Outland vacuum” caused by World War I affects the daughter of Godfrey St. Peter. This author of The Professor’s House included the section “The White Mulberry Tree” in a novel in which Frank shoots Emil. This author wrote novels about (*) Alexandra Bergson and singer Thea Kronborg, and Lena Lingard tells one of this author’s narrators to visit a woman with the last name Shimerda who had previously moved to Nebraska. For 10 points, name this author whose Prairie Trilogy includes O Pioneers! and My Ántonia.
ANSWER: Willa Cather <Levine>

[Romanos I Lekapenos]

Can I see both opera tossups (Madame Butterfly and Marriage of Figaro)?

[AGoodMan]

Can I see both opera tossups (Madame Butterfly and Marriage of Figaro)?

The main character of this opera criticizes a servant for praying to fat and lazy gods. A character asks his wife not to cry in this opera’s love duet that closes its first act, and its third act begins with sailors singing “heave-ho!” as the sun rises. The title character of this opera imagines seeing a puff of (*) smoke on the horizon in the aria “Un bel dì vedremo.” A character introduced with “The Star-Spangled Banner” returns with his new wife Kate in this opera, prompting the main character to blindfold her infant son and give him an American flag before commiting suicide. For 10 points, name this Giacomo Puccini opera about the Japanese geisha Cio-Cio San.
ANSWER: Madama Butterfly (or Madame Butterfly) <Suh>

Figaro is edited, and therefore different from the version from 11/10:

In an aria from this opera, a character tells some women to “see if I have [love] in my heart.” A lawyer in this opera plans to force a character to marry his client in the aria “La vendetta,” but finds out in a sextet that he and his client Marcellina are the title character’s parents. Two characters in this opera measure the dimensions of a bed, and another hides in a closet before breaking (*) flowerpots owned by Antonio. That character, Cherubino, is the cousin of the soon-to-be-married Susanna. For 10 points, name this Mozart opera about Count Almaviva’s advances toward the fiancé of the title Sevillian barber before their wedding.
ANSWER: The Marriage of Figaro (or Le Nozze di Figaro; accept Nozze) <Minton>

[A_Failure]

Could I please see the tossups on glycolysis, Moscow, the Election of 2000, Harlem, and the Korean War, as well as the bonuses on Fanon and Pierce?

[Romanos I Lekapenos]

The tossup on glycolysis seemed to almost directly quote a previous question from HFT.

[A_Failure]

Can I see both opera tossups (Madame Butterfly and Marriage of Figaro)?

The main character of this opera criticizes a servant for praying to fat and lazy gods. A character asks his wife not to cry in this opera’s love duet that closes its first act, and its third act begins with sailors singing “heave-ho!” as the sun rises. The title character of this opera imagines seeing a puff of (*) smoke on the horizon in the aria “Un bel dì vedremo.” A character introduced with “The Star-Spangled Banner” returns with his new wife Kate in this opera, prompting the main character to blindfold her infant son and give him an American flag before commiting suicide. For 10 points, name this Giacomo Puccini opera about the Japanese geisha Cio-Cio San.
ANSWER: Madama Butterfly (or Madame Butterfly) <Suh>

Also, out of curiousity, what aria does the first line of tossup reference?

[Romanos I Lekapenos]

It appears that it is from one of the more obscure arias from the opera, "E Izaghi ed Izanami." "Pigri ed obesi son gli Dei giapponesi." --- the part referenced by the tossup.

[AGoodMan]

Could I please see the tossups on glycolysis, Moscow, the Election of 2000, Harlem, and the Korean War, as well as the bonuses on Fanon and Pierce?

A disease called MODY2 [“mo-dee-two”] involves mutations in an enzyme that catalyzes the first step of this process only in the pancreas and liver called GCK. A diffusion-limited enzyme in this chemical pathway named triosephosphate isomerase catalyzes the conversion of DHAP [“D-H-A-P”] to G3P. Intermediates in the citric acid cycle inhibit enzymes in this pathway under (*) aerobic conditions. This pathway is divided into an investment phase where ATP is used to form high energy intermediates, and a pay-off phase after which there is a net production of ATP. For 10 points, name this first step in cellular respiration that splits glucose.
ANSWER: glycolysis (accept Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway; accept EMP pathway) <K. Li>

Attached here for comparison is a glycolysis TU from 2012 HFT:

In an aldolase catalyzed step in this process, the kinetically perfect enzyme triosephosphate isomerase is responsible for converting one of two products. Another enzyme involved in this process is hexokinase, which has especially high activity in the Warburg Effect because it is organelle-bound. Phosphofructokinase is a key regulator which converts the F6P intermediate, and other intermediates include PGAL, G3P, and PEP. It provides energy for NADH and ATP production through the production of pyruvate from its namesake breakdown of glucose. For 10 points, name this process usually followed by the Krebs Cycle, the first step of respiration.
ANSWER: glycolysis

A butcher in this city became a national hero during a tumultuous period partially caused by the 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina. During the mid-17th century, this city faced the “salt” and “copper” riots over unrest caused by taxation. A 1682 uprising in this city was caused by a group of “shooter” infantry known as the (*) streltsy. Wars between Sigismund III of Poland and this city with the nickname “Third Rome” occurred during the Time of Troubles, which ended with the ascension of Michael I Romanov. In 1712, Peter the Great moved his government from this city to St. Petersburg. For 10 points, name this city that houses the Kremlin.
ANSWER: Moscow [Writer’s note: The butcher’s name is Kuzma Minin.] <Suh>

The Moscow TU's clues are all pulled from 1600-1800 Russian history.

A Republican primary in this election featured a smear campaign insinuating that one candidate’s adopted Bangladeshi daughter was actually illegitimate and black. A third party candidate called the two main candidates in this election “Tweedledee and Tweedledum.” Katherine Harris’ certification of this election’s (*) result may have given extra votes to Pat Buchanan due to the poor design of the “butterfly” ballot. A candidate in this election claimed that he “took initiative in creating the Internet” and lost after a recount in Florida. For 10 points, name this election whose outcome was determined by the Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore.
ANSWER: United States presidential election of 2000 <Chu>

In this place, the narrator of a novel recognizes a man selling dancing dolls in the street, and earlier an employer in this place shows the narrator Dr. Bledsoe’s letters. This setting of Nella Larsen’s Passing is also the setting of a novel depicting Brother Elisha and other characters on John Grimes’s fourteen birthday. The (*) Brotherhood and Ras the Destroyer live here in a novel, and one of its former residents set his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain here, where author James Baldwin had met Countee Cullen. For 10 points, name this location home to Claude McKay that titles a poem about “a dream deferred” by Langston Hughes, a member of its “Renaissance.”
ANSWER: Harlem (prompt on New York City or equivalents) <Yue>

Task Force Smith lost an early battle at Osan in this war. After this war, an army division gained the nickname “White Horse” after engaging enemy forces for ten days over the namesake hill. American forces committed the No Gun Ri massacre during this conflict, in which one of Mao Zedong’s (*) sons died. The tide of this conflict turned when General Douglas MacArthur launched a surprise attack on Incheon, after United Nations forces were pushed to the brink of defeat at the Pusan Perimeter. For 10 points, name this conflict that cemented the division of an East Asian peninsula into the communist North and democratic South.
ANSWER: Korean War (or 6/25 War; accept Fatherland Liberation War; accept Hanguk Jeonjaeng; accept Choguk haebang Jeonjaeng) <Suh>

This man argued that “philosophers have only interpreted the world, the point is to change it.” For 10 points each:
[10] Name this man who developed the ideas of dialectical materialism. Along with Friedrich Engels, he wrote The Communist Manifesto.
ANSWER: Karl Marx
[10] Marx’s writings had a great effect on this Martinican philosopher. He discussed the dehumanization of indigenous peoples in Black Skins, White Masks.
ANSWER: Frantz Fanon
[10] Fanon’s book Wretched of the Earth discusses violence as a means of ending this process. This process, central to much of Fanon’s work, refers to when a country acquires political control over another country and exploits it economically.
ANSWER: colonialism (accept colonization and word forms; prompt on imperialism) <Huang>

Franklin Pierce unsuccessfully tried to annex this island through the Ostend Manifesto. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this largest Caribbean island that was often the target of filibusters. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee declined offers to lead expeditions to this island.
ANSWER: Cuba
[10] This Venezuela-born adventurer was executed in Havana after an unsuccessful 1851 filibustering expedition. He designed the modern flag of Cuba.
ANSWER: Narciso López
[10] Another filibuster was this American mercenary who briefly took over Nicaragua, Although his government was recognized by Franklin Pierce, he was soon ousted and executed by Honduran authorities.
ANSWER: William Walker <Suh>

[The Hands Resist Him]

Could I please see the questions on 20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Transcription, and Thornton Wilder (this was a tiebreaker)? Thanks

[AGoodMan]

Could I please see the questions on 20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Transcription, and Thornton Wilder (this was a tiebreaker)? Thanks

A poem in this collection describes a “blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at [the speaker’s] feet”; that speaker remembers the addressee “with [his] soul clenched.” A poem in this collection compares the sky to “a net crammed with shadowy fish”; that poem in this collection, “Every Day You Play,” ends by declaring (*) “I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.” The penultimate poem in this collection laments that “love is so short, forgetting is so long” and takes its title from its opening line: “tonight I can write the saddest lines.” For 10 points, name this collection of 21 (mostly) romantic poems by Pablo Neruda.
ANSWER: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair <R. Li>

Lipid hormones regulate this process by complexing with a receptor and binding to the hormone response element. The Hox genes produce products that determine the identity of each segment in an animal by regulating this process. NF-κB [“N-F-kappa-B”] is translocated into the (*) nucleus to regulate this process. Upregulation of this process can be caused by acetylation of histones or recruitment of RNA polymerase. In eukaryotes, this process can be followed by splicing which removes introns from pre-mRNA. For 10 points, name this process in which mRNA is produced based on a DNA template.
ANSWER: transcription <K. Li>

In a play by this author, the tension between a father and his oldest son builds until the play’s third act, when the son unsuccessfully attempts to assault the father. A maid in that play attempts to seduce the father, who becomes the president of the Fraternal Order of Mammals. In another play by this man, the “troubles” of an alcoholic (*) choir director go unnoticed until he hangs himself in his attic. Simon Stimson is a resident of this author’s fictional town of Grover’s Corners in a play that asks, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?” For 10 points, name this American playwright of The Skin of Our Teeth and Our Town.
ANSWER: Thornton Wilder <Suh>

[AGoodMan]

This is the MLK tossup with the new lead-in (as a result of this discussion):

In 1991, Boston University found that this man plagiarized portions of his doctoral dissertation. This man criticized a group of clergy for trying to “set the parameters of another man’s freedom” in an essay signed as “Yours for the cause of peace and brotherhood.” Robert Kennedy’s impromptu speech in Indianapolis following this man’s (*) death probably kept the city from rioting. Standing on the footsteps of the Lincoln Memorial, this man gave a speech envisioning his children being judged not by their color, but by “the content of their character.” For 10 points, name this civil rights leader most known for his “I Have a Dream” speech.
ANSWER: Martin Luther King Jr. <Suh>

[Not John John]

Could I please see the tossup on "scientists," as well as, the bonuses on "toruses" and "Pamuk?" Also, round 5 had a Jesus resurrection bonus followed shortly by resurrection in mythology tossup. Both were well written but should probably be in different rounds.

[karstenontheshore]

Also, round 5 had a Jesus resurrection bonus followed shortly by resurrection in mythology tossup. Both were well written but should probably be in different rounds.

It was rather comical in my room at HFT because we got the tossup and then received the resurrection bonus. I concur with William that this should be changed.

[AGoodMan]

Also, round 5 had a Jesus resurrection bonus followed shortly by resurrection in mythology tossup. Both were well written but should probably be in different rounds.

It was rather comical in my room at HFT because we got the tossup and then received the resurrection bonus. I concur with William that this should be changed.

This will be changed; packetizing feng shui is a hard thing. Those two questions were not in the same packet originally but I think I shuffled one around to avoid a conflict with another round. Thanks for noting it!

[scorrevole]

Could I please see the tossup on "scientists," as well as, the bonuses on "toruses" and "Pamuk?" Also, round 5 had a Jesus resurrection bonus followed shortly by resurrection in mythology tossup. Both were well written but should probably be in different rounds.

It’s not a writer, but one character with this profession makes flints at Auschwitz, and another works under Max Gottlieb at the Caribbean island St. Hubert. Septimus Hodge wonders “what becomes of free will” when considering the work of a man with this profession. A character talks to Dr. Asa Breed about a man in his (*) karass with this profession before visiting San Lorenzo with that man’s children. A character with this profession describes his time studying at Ingolstadt to Robert Walpole; that character’s creation frightens and kills his fiancée Elizabeth. For 10 points, identify this profession of Felix Hoenikker and Victor Frankenstein.
ANSWER: scientist (accept mad scientist; anti-prompt [ask for less specific] on designations like mathematician, chemist, or physicist; prompt on researcher; prompt on doctor with “That’s their degrees, but what do they do?”) <Yue>

For 10 points, answer the following about topological surfaces.
[10] Name this nonorientable surface which has only one boundary and one side. It is frequently modeled by twisting one end of a strip of paper and connecting it to the other.
ANSWER: Möbius strip
[10] This surface can be defined as the Cartesian product of two circles. An oft-quoted joke claims that a mathematician cannot tell the difference between a coffee cup and this surface, as they are topologically homotopic.
ANSWER: torus
[10] This surface’s namesake “eversion” consists of turning this surface inside out in three-dimensional space. The volume element in this surface’s namesake coordinate system is given by “r-squared sine theta d-r d-theta d-phi.”
ANSWER: sphere <R. Li>

In a novel partially titled for this color, a narrator is owned by Master Stork and told, “you’re nothing but a counterfeit.” For 10 points each:
[10] Give this color. An Orhan Pamuk novel titled My Name is [this color] is initially narrated by the murdered calligrapher Elegant Effendi, and features a section in which this color acts as a narrator.
ANSWER: red (accept My Name is Red)
[10] Orhan Pamuk is a Nobel-Prize-winning author from this country. He set his novel Snow in this country’s city of Kars, and he set My Name is Red in Istanbul, during the Ottoman Empire.
ANSWER: Republic of Turkey
[10] In Snow, Kadife leads a group of girls named for these items. Kadife plans a symbolic action involving one of these items during a production of The Spanish Tragedy.
ANSWER: head-scarf (do NOT accept or prompt on just “scarf”) <Yue>

[Not John John]

HFT XIII Round 4 wrote:
It’s not a writer, but one character with this profession makes flints at Auschwitz, and another works under Max Gottlieb at the Caribbean island St. Hubert. Septimus Hodge wonders “what becomes of free will” when considering the work of a man with this profession. A character talks to Dr. Asa Breed about a man in his (*) karass with this profession before visiting San Lorenzo with that man’s children. A character with this profession describes his time studying at Ingolstadt to Robert Walpole; that character’s creation frightens and kills his fiancée Elizabeth. For 10 points, identify this profession of Felix Hoenikker and Victor Frankenstein.
ANSWER: scientist (accept mad scientist; anti-prompt [ask for less specific] on designations like mathematician, chemist, or physicist; prompt on researcher; prompt on doctor with “That’s their degrees, but what do they do?”) <Yue>

For the tossup on scientists, I personally thought that the prompts and anti-prompts made it super confusing. After answering the doctor and being told, “That’s their degrees, but what do they do?” I tried answering with healing people. Just out of curiosity, what was the reasoning for not accepting more specific answers?

[10] This surface can be defined as the Cartesian product of two circles. An oft-quoted joke claims that a mathematician cannot tell the difference between a coffee cup and this surface, as they are topologically homotopic.
ANSWER: torus

Given that the joke is about a coffee cup and donut, maybe this should accept, or at least prompt on "donut."

[10] In Snow, Kadife leads a group of girls named for these items. Kadife plans a symbolic action involving one of these items during a production of The Spanish Tragedy.
ANSWER: head-scarf (do NOT accept or prompt on just “scarf”) <Yue>

I haven't personally read Snow, but is there a reason that this bonus part doesn't accept hijabs?

[karstenontheshore]

[10] In Snow, Kadife leads a group of girls named for these items. Kadife plans a symbolic action involving one of these items during a production of The Spanish Tragedy.
ANSWER: head-scarf (do NOT accept or prompt on just “scarf”) <Yue>

I haven't personally read Snow, but is there a reason that this bonus part doesn't accept hijabs?

I don't know about other rooms, but my moderator accepted hijab when we answered with that.

[mrmotag]

Given that the joke is about a coffee cup and donut, maybe this should accept, or at least prompt on "donut."

Hi William, my name's Ricky -- I wrote this bonus. You're absolutely right, "donut" should be promptable and I've edited the bonus accordingly. Sorry for that oversight and thanks so much for your feedback on the set, I really appreciate it!

[scorrevole]

HFT XIII Round 4 wrote:
It’s not a writer, but one character with this profession makes flints at Auschwitz, and another works under Max Gottlieb at the Caribbean island St. Hubert. Septimus Hodge wonders “what becomes of free will” when considering the work of a man with this profession. A character talks to Dr. Asa Breed about a man in his (*) karass with this profession before visiting San Lorenzo with that man’s children. A character with this profession describes his time studying at Ingolstadt to Robert Walpole; that character’s creation frightens and kills his fiancée Elizabeth. For 10 points, identify this profession of Felix Hoenikker and Victor Frankenstein.
ANSWER: scientist (accept mad scientist; anti-prompt [ask for less specific] on designations like mathematician, chemist, or physicist; prompt on researcher; prompt on doctor with “That’s their degrees, but what do they do?”) <Yue>

For the tossup on scientists, I personally thought that the prompts and anti-prompts made it super confusing. After answering the doctor and being told, “That’s their degrees, but what do they do?” I tried answering with healing people. Just out of curiosity, what was the reasoning for not accepting more specific answers?

[10] This surface can be defined as the Cartesian product of two circles. An oft-quoted joke claims that a mathematician cannot tell the difference between a coffee cup and this surface, as they are topologically homotopic.
ANSWER: torus

Given that the joke is about a coffee cup and donut, maybe this should accept, or at least prompt on "donut."

[10] In Snow, Kadife leads a group of girls named for these items. Kadife plans a symbolic action involving one of these items during a production of The Spanish Tragedy.
ANSWER: head-scarf (do NOT accept or prompt on just “scarf”) <Yue>

I haven't personally read Snow, but is there a reason that this bonus part doesn't accept hijabs?

I've changed the Snow bonus to accept hijab - thanks for pointing it out. For the scientist tossup, the only character mentioned that is ever a physician in the novels they appear in is Martin Arrowsmith, and he is not a physician for the majority of the novel including the part of the novel that the second clue refers to. The "doctor" prompt was added because people at the main site name-associated "Frankenstein" with "doctor," but I don't think that "doctor" would be acceptable as an answer alone given that none of the characters practice medicine. I will change the answerline to accept "chemist" or "physicist," though. Thanks for letting me know!

[Not John John]

Thanks, Michael and Ricky for fixing these. Other than these small things, I really enjoyed playing the set!

[RicardoDA]

Can I see the Sherlock Holmes bonus? For the third part (of which I believe the answer was "gemstones"), I answered "carbuncle" because the question clued "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", but this was taken as a wrong answer. I'm curious as to why this was not at least promptable.

[Romanos I Lekapenos]

I actually answered with "diamond" for this (in hindsight, probably not that great of a guess), and it wasn't taken. Apparently the answer read: gemstone (accept obvious equivalents).

[scorrevole]

Can I see the Sherlock Holmes bonus? For the third part (of which I believe the answer was "gemstones"), I answered "carbuncle" because the question clued "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", but this was taken as a wrong answer. I'm curious as to why this was not at least promptable.

Scottish surgeon Joseph Bell is frequently cited as a real-life inspiration for this character. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this detective who lives at 221B Baker Street and who, despite popular belief, never actually says the phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson!”
ANSWER: Sherlock Holmes (accept either)
[10] In “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons,” Holmes deduces that an Italian worker named Beppo hid one of these objects in the title plaster busts. A goose belonging to Henry Baker is found to contain one of these objects in another Holmes story titled for a “blue” one of them.
ANSWER: gemstones (accept obvious equivalents; prompt on pearl or diamond)
[10] In this author’s The Moonstone, Colonel Herncastle wills the title Indian diamond to his niece Rachel, but it is stolen on the night of her birthday. That work by this author is widely regarded as the first detective novel.
ANSWER: Wilkie Collins <R. Li>

"Carbuncle" should be promptable in my opinion, and I will change the answerline accordingly. Thanks!

[AGoodMan]

"Carbuncle" should be promptable in my opinion, and I will change the answerline accordingly. Thanks!

As it now stands:

Scottish surgeon Joseph Bell is frequently cited as a real-life inspiration for this character. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this detective who lives at 221B Baker Street and who, despite popular belief, never actually says the phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson!”
ANSWER: Sherlock Holmes (accept either)
[10] In “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons,” Holmes deduces that an Italian worker named Beppo hid one of these objects in the title plaster busts. A goose belonging to Henry Baker is found to contain one of these objects in another Holmes story titled for a “blue” one of them.
ANSWER: gemstones (accept obvious equivalents; prompt on the Blue Carbuncle with “What kind of object is that?”; prompt on pearl or diamond)
[10] In this author’s The Moonstone, Colonel Herncastle wills the title Indian diamond to his niece Rachel, but it is stolen on the night of her birthday. That work by this author is widely regarded as the first detective novel.
ANSWER: Wilkie Collins <R. Li>

[Quinctilius Varus]

The tossup on Haiti has a misleading clue about "necklacing," a torture technique used in many parts of the world, most famously in South Africa.

[karstenontheshore]

The tossup on Haiti has a misleading clue about "necklacing," a torture technique used in many parts of the world, most famously in South Africa.

Yeah, this caused me to neg because I associate necklacing with Winnie Mandela and South Africa. William is right.

[EulerAlert]

Could someone post the Gabriel Garcia Marquez tossup? I'm almost certain I heard Esteban Trueba in the question (which I'm pretty sure would be Allende, and negged with Allende), although that was most likely me mishearing/a possible misread.

[AGoodMan]

Could someone post the Gabriel Garcia Marquez tossup? I'm almost certain I heard Esteban Trueba in the question (which I'm pretty sure would be Allende, and negged with Allende), although that was most likely me mishearing/a possible misread.

In a story by this author, a fourteen-year-old girl is promised by Ulises that they’ll live off diamonds smuggled inside oranges, and in another story by this author, a person initially covered in jellyfish tentacles and seaweed is given the name Esteban. This author of “Innocent Eréndira” and a story about the (*) “handsomest man” wrote a book in which Remedios the Beauty ascends to heaven and a child with a pig’s tail is devoured by ants. This author’s most famous novel opens with Colonel Aureliano Buendia reminiscing about ice and facing a firing squad in the town of Macondo. For 10 points, name this author of One Hundred Years of Solitude.
ANSWER: Gabriel García Márquez (gently prompt on Márquez and tell the player that the surname involves two names) <Cohen>

[AGoodMan]

The tossup on Haiti has a misleading clue about "necklacing," a torture technique used in many parts of the world, most famously in South Africa.

Yeah, this caused me to neg because I associate necklacing with Winnie Mandela and South Africa. William is right.

I wrote the Haiti tossup, and this will be fixed sometime soon after I fly back home for Thanksgiving. Thanks for the catch!

[AGoodMan]

The tossup on Haiti has a misleading clue about "necklacing," a torture technique used in many parts of the world, most famously in South Africa.

Yeah, this caused me to neg because I associate necklacing with Winnie Mandela and South Africa. William is right.

I wrote the Haiti tossup, and this will be fixed sometime soon after I fly back home for Thanksgiving. Thanks for the catch!

Here's the edited tossup:

19. A president of this country had to raise a white flag from his palace as a token of surrender to Germany during the Lüders affair. The death of that president’s cousin led the United States to occupy this country from 1915 to 1934. An organization in this country named after the mythological bogeyman Uncle Gunnysack was created by a (*) physician-turned-dictator. That leader of this nation styled himself after Baron Samedi and employed the Tonton Macoutes. That man’s son, “Baby Doc,” was exiled from this nation in 1986. For 10 points, name this Caribbean nation once ruled by the Duvaliers that suffered a serious earthquake in 2010.
ANSWER: Haiti <Suh>

[Romanos I Lekapenos]

Could I see the Etruscans tossup?

[AGoodMan]

Could I see the Etruscans tossup?

These people created the Tabula Cortonensis, a bronze tablet whose bottom-right corner is missing. The longest surviving written text by these people is the Liber [“LEE-bear”] Linteus. The Sarcophagus of the Spouses is a terracotta artwork by these people. The Tyrrhenica was a history of these people by the emperor (*) Claudius, who was the last person to speak these people’s language. These people, who called themselves the Rasenna, allied with Carthage to defeat a unified Greek force at the Battle of Alalia. These people organized into a 12-city league centered around the city of Veii. For 10 points, name this pre-Roman civilization in Italy.
ANSWER: Etruscans (accept Rasenna until mention) <Suh>

[karstenontheshore]

Could I see the Helen of Troy tossup, the Japan tossup, the Rilke tossup, the Frost tossup, and the X-Ray Crystallography tossup?

[celsius273]

Could I see the Helen of Troy tossup

In a poem, this figure is a housemaid to Major Plunkett, and the island that the poem is set on is also referred to as this figure. In a play, one character asks this figure to “make me immortal with a kiss,” and this figure is compared to “those Nicéan barks of yore” in an Edgar Allan Poe poem extolling “the glory that was Greece.” This figure is transported by Phorkyas during the (*) Classical Walpurgisnacht after the death of Gretchen in one play. That play’s title character woos this figure after she leaves Menelaus’s palace. For 10 points, name this owner of a “face that launch’d a thousand ships” in Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.
ANSWER: Helen of Troy <Yue>

the Japan tossup

At the end of a film from this country, a man with six children tells a priest that “one more wouldn’t make it any more difficult,” restoring that priest’s faith in humanity. A director from this country often employed low-angle framing and “pillow” shots, and another adapted Macbeth in his film (*) Throne of Blood. In a film from this country, a man later revealed to be the orphaned son of a farmer rings alarm bells to force fearful villagers to welcome the title group of people. In that film, farmers fend off a bandit raid by hiring the titular group of people. For 10 points, name this country, the setting of Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon and Seven Samurai.
ANSWER: Japan <Yue>

the Rilke tossup

This author’s only novel uses 71 journal-like excerpts to recount the Danish nobleman Malte Laurids Brigge’s childhood. A poem by this author describes “a ritual dance around a center in which a mighty will stands paralyzed,” and describes the title animal’s vision as “so weary that it cannot hold anything else.” This poet asked if the addressee has “remembered (*) Gaspara Stampa sufficiently yet” in a collection of ten poems dedicated to Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis, which opens by asking “who, if I cried out, would hear me among the Angelic Orders?” For 10 points, name this German poet of “The Panther” and the Duino Elegies.
ANSWER: Rainer Maria Rilke <R. Li>

the Frost tossup

In a poem by this author, the speaker addresses the title heavenly body and begs it to “say something” before it responds, “I burn.” Besides “Choose Something Like a Star,” this author wrote another poem in which he recounts how “one luminary clock against the sky / Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.” In another poem (*) by this author of “Acquainted With the Night,” the speaker announces that he has “promises to keep” before noting that he has “miles to go before I sleep.” For 10 points, name this American poet of “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”
ANSWER: Robert Lee Frost <Cohen>

the X-Ray Crystallography tossup?

To obtain a lower bound on particle size in this technique, one can use the Scherrer equation which includes a term for the FWHM of the data. Margaret Thatcher used this technique to elucidate the structure of gramicidin [“grah-mih-SYE-din”] S while studying under Nobel Laureate Dorothy (*) Hodgkin. In this technique the sample is slowly rotated in a beam of radiation and the resulting diffraction pattern is recorded. This technique uses Bragg’s law to determine the structure of a sample based on its X-ray diffraction pattern. For 10 points, give this technique whose X-ray variant Rosalind Franklin used to help determine the structure of DNA.
ANSWER: crystallography (accept specific types) <K. Li>

[bluqiu]

The question that had scientists as a second part should probably have a do not reveal alternative answerlines directive in the beginning, as the moderator in my room inadvertently revealed the prompt for the first part, which I believe was "scientific revolution". That was suboptimal.

[scorrevole]

The question that had scientists as a second part should probably have a do not reveal alternative answerlines directive in the beginning, as the moderator in my room inadvertently revealed the prompt for the first part, which I believe was "scientific revolution". That was suboptimal.

These events occur in between periods of “puzzle-solving” and “normalcy” and will change a set of “exemplars” according to one work. For 10 points each:
[10] Name these events that cause the titular revolutions in Thomas Kuhn’s magnum opus, which are exemplified by the Copernican Revolution and the discovery of atomic theory.
ANSWER: paradigm shifts (prompt on but do NOT reveal scientific revolutions)
[10] Kuhn’s analysis of paradigm shifts is a prominent theory in the philosophy of this generic field of knowledge with subjects like physics and chemistry, defined by falsifiable experiments according to Karl Popper.
ANSWER: science
[10] This early pioneer of the scientific method described four idols that impede proper inductive reasoning in Novum Organum, and described a logical system that tried to replace Aristotle’s Organon.
ANSWER: Sir Francis Bacon <Yue>

Fixed! Thanks for letting us know.

[Cody]

The tossup on third symphonies needs some serious rework.

The answerline itself is on the upper end of difficulty for a high school set, even HFT. But, if you're going to have it as a difficulty outlier, do that. (Instead of what was done, below.)

I was actually flabbergasted when I read the lead-in, nearly a full line dedicated to a score clue from Witold Lutosławski's 3rd symphony. I'd be quite surprised if even 1% of HFT's audience has heard of Lutosławski, and more surprised if a single person knew that clue.

The giveaway was insulting (and the question still went dead in a room despite the artificial attempt to boost conversion). The entire question asks for genre and number of work until the very last clause where you're told that Beethoven's Eroica was two works before his Fifth Symphony -- giving teams both the fact that its a symphony and telling them the answer is 5-2. You don't have to demonstrate any knowledge to answer this question, and that's bad.

[scorrevole]

The tossup on third symphonies needs some serious rework.

The answerline itself is on the upper end of difficulty for a high school set, even HFT. But, if you're going to have it as a difficulty outlier, do that. (Instead of what was done, below.)

I was actually flabbergasted when I read the lead-in, nearly a full line dedicated to a score clue from Witold Lutosławski's 3rd symphony. I'd be quite surprised if even 1% of HFT's audience has heard of Lutosławski, and more surprised if a single person knew that clue.

The giveaway was insulting (and the question still went dead in a room despite the artificial attempt to boost conversion). The entire question asks for genre and number of work until the very last clause where you're told that Beethoven's Eroica was two works before his Fifth Symphony -- giving teams both the fact that its a symphony and telling them the answer is 5-2. You don't have to demonstrate any knowledge to answer this question, and that's bad.

I claim all responsibility on that tossup - it was meant to be a difficulty outlier (hence the Lutoslawski lead-in), and I did somewhat carelessly add that giveaway after the initial site/early mirrors. Thanks for your detailed feedback! Here's the reworked tossup which will go out to future mirrors - call it a music specialist's reply to just criticism :

The finale of a Copland symphony of this number takes its theme from “Fanfare for the Common Man,” and another symphony of this number is titled for “Sorrowful Songs.” A symphony of this number uses music from Creatures of Prometheus in its finale and has a solo (*) horn restate the first movement’s main theme prematurely. One symphony of this number is nicknamed “Organ,” while another contains a C-minor funeral march and begins with two sforzando E-flat-major chords. That symphony was finally dedicated “to the memory of a great man” instead of Napoléon Bonaparte. For 10 points, give the number of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony.
ANSWER: Symphony No. 3 (accept third or other word forms) <Yue>

[Cody]

Michael, that's much better than previously. I would also suggest dropping some of the composers with their works to give players more to latch onto (which also serves as a useful filtering mechanism for possible numbers by the best music players). If I recall correctly this is not possible for the Organ symphony because it is mentioned in the Saint-Saens bonus.

[bkmcavoybickford]

Thank you for writing this set; I truly enjoyed playing it.
Could I please see the Idaho tossup, the magazine cover tossup, and the Norwegian literature bonus?
Thank you.

[AGoodMan]

Thank you for writing this set; I truly enjoyed playing it.
Could I please see the Idaho tossup, the magazine cover tossup, and the Norwegian literature bonus?
Thank you.

Hey Benjamin,

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the set! Here are the questions:

11. Three Hawaiians who died while exploring this present-day state are the namesake of this state’s Owyhee County. This state’s capital has the highest concentration of Basques in America. George M. Willing falsely claimed a Native American origin for this state’s name, which he actually just made up. This state contains the ski town of Coeur d’Alene [“kor duh-LANE”] and otherworldly lava fields at the (*) Craters of the Moon. This state is the westernmost to contain a portion of Yellowstone National Park. The city of Pocatello is in, for 10 points, what “Gem State” known for its potatoes with capital at Boise?
ANSWER: Idaho <Chu/Myers>

7. An artwork first appearing in this form shows white text on a black background that reads “Oh my God–we hit a little girl.” Françoise [“fran-SWAZ”] Mouly helped curate several artworks in this manner, such as a nearly all-black one with two bars, and one depicting the “View of the World from 9th Avenue.” Annie Leibovitz photographed a naked (*) John Lennon kissing Yoko Ono in a photo used in this manner one month later. Sharbat Gula was discovered as a girl in a Pakistani refugee camp with striking green eyes in a photo appearing in this manner and framed by a yellow border. For 10 points, name this type of work on the front of publications like National Geographic.
ANSWER: magazine covers (accept answers about being the artwork on the front page of a magazine; accept any of the following specific magazines in place of the word magazine: Esquire; The New Yorker; Rolling Stone; or National Geographic before mention; prompt on partial answer, even if full question is read; prompt on photographs or cartoons with “We want the manner in which they were first publicly presented.”) <Chu>

8. An author from this country wrote the trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter, a series of books about a woman living here in the Middle Ages. For 10 points each:
[10] Give this country. Another novelist from this country wrote a novel in which the protagonist gets paid for writing an article for the paper, but is unable to stomach the title Hunger.
ANSWER: Norway
[10] This German author wrote a similar story called “A Hunger Artist” about a professional faster. He also wrote about Gregor Samsa waking up as a “monstrous vermin” in The Metamorphosis.
ANSWER: Franz Kafka
[10] In this other Kafka story, a man sets up The Machine to inscribe the words “Be Just” on him, but is instead brutally executed when The Machine malfunctions.
ANSWER: “In the Penal Colony” (or “In der Strafkolonie”) <Yue>

[bkmcavoybickford]

About the Idaho question: The Basque clue appears to be inaccurate. http://nabasque.eus/us_basque_population.html, a website about the Basque diaspora, says that Winnemuca, Nevada claims that honor. Wikipedia seconds that claim (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_Am ... Population), but points out that Boise has the most Basques in the United States as an urban area. Wikipedia's source is a website called epodunk (http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Basque.html), which says the same thing. Both the North American Basque website and epodunk cite Census data for that claim. This didn't affect game play in any way in our room, and I had actually asked to see the question because I was wondering about something else. Was that question geography or history, or does your distribution not distinguish between them?

I feel that the magazine cover question has a problem in that it asks specifically for the placement of the photo in the magazine. Obviously, the fact that the photos are on the cover is important, but it is a hard answerline to come up with. When playing this set, one person negged with an answer about photographs. The other team then buzzed in at the end, but I can't remember if they said the correct answer or something that could not have been accepted.

Otherwise, I had no major problems with the quality of these questions.

[A Dim-Witted Saboteur]

About the Idaho question: The Basque clue appears to be inaccurate. http://nabasque.eus/us_basque_population.html, a website about the Basque diaspora, says that Winnemuca, Nevada claims that honor. Wikipedia seconds that claim (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_Am ... Population), but points out that Boise has the most Basques in the United States as an urban area. Wikipedia's source is a website called epodunk (http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Basque.html), which says the same thing. Both the North American Basque website and epodunk cite Census data for that claim. This didn't affect game play in any way in our room, and I had actually asked to see the question because I was wondering about something else. Was that question geography or history, or does your distribution not distinguish between them?

I feel that the magazine cover question has a problem in that it asks specifically for the placement of the photo in the magazine. Obviously, the fact that the photos are on the cover is important, but it is a hard answerline to come up with. When playing this set, one person negged with an answer about photographs. The other team then buzzed in at the end, but I can't remember if they said the correct answer or something that could not have been accepted.

Otherwise, I had no major problems with the quality of these questions.

It was classified as geography, and you're right that that is something of an ambiguous wording. My apologies.

[whatamidoinghere]

I felt that the first bonus from Packet 1 was very nice aside from the third part, which felt disparate from the other two parts.

[The Blind Prophet]

Could I see the "Holy Spirit" tossup?

[AGoodMan]

Could I see the "Holy Spirit" tossup?

11. A man who promised to send this figure assured his followers that it was better for him to depart and for this figure to arrive. This figure is described with the Greek word paraklētos, meaning “Helper.” Blasphemy against this figure is the only explicitly unforgivable sin in the Bible. The Book of Galatians lists love, joy, and peace as part of eight (*) “fruits” of this figure. This figure took the form of a dove at the baptism of Jesus, and later appeared as a wind and “tongues of fire” upon the apostles on the day of the Pentecost. For 10 points, name this third person of the Trinity along with God the Father and God the Son.
ANSWER: Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost; prompt on partial answer; prompt on God; do NOT accept or prompt on “Jesus” or “Christ”) <Suh>