Search found 180 matches

by Amizda Calyx
Tue Apr 05, 2022 12:24 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2022 ICT general discussion
Replies: 11
Views: 1850

Re: 2022 ICT general discussion

I'm happy I finally got to reap real-world prestige from my brief, obnoxious 1400-word deep-dive into 1960s St Kilda footballer notability in a Wikipedia article deletion discussion... Other notes: I thought the bio in this set was very strong, with a lot of interesting but accessible answerlines. T...
by Amizda Calyx
Thu Feb 04, 2021 11:21 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2021 ACF Regionals - Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 39
Views: 15744

Re: 2021 ACF Regionals - Specific Question Discussion

I enjoyed the bio in this set, and was especially pleased with helicase and mucus (which sadly turned up in our bye round, although I did get to witness WVU tragically neg pretty early with "mucin"). I loved the DRP-1 clue in the binary fission tossup, but it was also a bit confusing--I wa...
by Amizda Calyx
Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:57 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
Replies: 179
Views: 146954

Re: This Time, A Stern Warning

A minimally intrusive* way to prevent cheating is simply to have everyone participating in a tournament have their camera on and pointed at their hands. You would need all participants to have a webcam of some kind, and be able to have it pointed at their hands. However, I would think nearly everyo...
by Amizda Calyx
Thu Mar 05, 2020 2:45 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 50
Views: 8399

Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Specific Question Discussion

Going through the 2/29 questions: Mutans in power for caries seems a bit more generous than other questions There were only two powers on this tossup across 16 rooms; looking through the database now I see it has been clued a few times recently, but I think I'm okay with it being towards the end of...
by Amizda Calyx
Wed Mar 04, 2020 1:07 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Errata
Replies: 12
Views: 1709

Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Errata

I might also say that this clue from Packet 5 is an error: The A, B, and D subgenomes of its common species, ​Triticum aestivum, are a hybridization of wild (*) goatgrass and its emmer species. I powered this—despite never having previously gotten a live science tossup at any tournament—because I k...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Feb 24, 2020 9:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 50
Views: 8399

Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Specific Question Discussion

Can I see the question on _ribose_? Wang and I protested after giving the answer "the 2' hydroxyl", and I'm not sure that was incorrect given what I heard. Versions of this moiety with a 2-prime O-methoxyethyl, or M-O-E, modification are used as ASO (“A-S-O”) compounds. For 10 points each...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Feb 24, 2020 7:39 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 50
Views: 8399

Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Specific Question Discussion

Can I see the question on _ribose_? Wang and I protested after giving the answer "the 2' hydroxyl", and I'm not sure that was incorrect given what I heard. Versions of this moiety with a 2-prime O-methoxyethyl, or M-O-E, modification are used as ASO (“A-S-O”) compounds. For 10 points each...
by Amizda Calyx
Thu Oct 10, 2019 12:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 EFT - Specific Question Discussion and Errata
Replies: 56
Views: 7460

Re: Specific Question Discussion and Errata

I thought the bio was (unsurprisingly) very good, especially the bonuses, which seemed well-controlled. I especially liked the helicase/progeria/mismatch repair and predator-prey/diff eq/bifurcation bonuses. I don't understand why the tossup on "purple" remains. Many of the clues rely on s...
by Amizda Calyx
Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:33 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: Climate change and quizbowl
Replies: 29
Views: 26526

Re: Climate change and quizbowl

I brought this up years ago on the irc, but there are several companies that rent out laptops for business conferences. We could even pre-load digital scoresheets and packets onto them before distributing to moderators. I don't know how much this would cost, or how much more we're willing to pay in ...
by Amizda Calyx
Sun May 26, 2019 3:42 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Player Poll 2019
Replies: 92
Views: 63834

Re: Player Poll 2019

Something I've been wondering about the last few years is whether the lack of anonymity in ballot submission turns off many potential voters. I realize having the organizer looking at each person's ballot can basically eliminate troll/insincere submissions, but I feel like it can also make sincere p...
by Amizda Calyx
Thu May 16, 2019 5:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Side Event Summer Wrangling
Replies: 14
Views: 10750

Re: Side Event Summer Wrangling

Are there any plans to run CANONEXPANSION at NSC? I won't be able to make it to HSNCT.
by Amizda Calyx
Tue May 07, 2019 1:11 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 ILLIAC - Specific Question Discussion & Errata
Replies: 8
Views: 761

Re: Specific Question Discussion & Errata

Thanks for the responses! • Peroxisomes: Looks like I just immediately forgot the mention of urate oxidase crystals, my bad. • Porins: This has only shown up as an answerline as the hard parts at CO 2000 and 2006 ACF regionals (where it incorrectly states that there is an "aqua" version of...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon May 06, 2019 2:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 ILLIAC - Specific Question Discussion & Errata
Replies: 8
Views: 761

Re: Specific Question Discussion & Errata

I played the open mirror, which meant I basically only answered biology questions (so I can't say much about other categories). Overall I think it was really good, with reasonable difficulty in answerlines and clueing. There were a few things that stuck out to me enough to remember two days later: •...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:28 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: Stats on women's participation at ICTs (open for discussion)
Replies: 14
Views: 16844

Re: Stats on women's participation at ICTs (open for discussion)

I've updated the NSC and some ICT stats (the graphs in earlier posts). Additionally, I'm going through and calculating retention rates for NSC. New graph in progress here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQsMjPIi8kN1Bs44e_zSPPVVYq9NbJ4TXTfCvYYQ2F9Wk2j6vLfd79XFVBLBqdCHourfpFpVl_7My9A/...
by Amizda Calyx
Wed Apr 17, 2019 1:07 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Lederberg 3: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 13
Views: 1360

Re: Lederberg 3: Specific Question Discussion

I really liked the bio here, even if I had a million stupid negs. Mechanosensation was particularly rewarding. Couple things I've already mentioned to editors but might as well bring up here: • Hypusine is found in eIF5A, which is now considered to be an elongation factor , not an initiation factor....
by Amizda Calyx
Fri Apr 05, 2019 5:41 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 Terrapin speciifc question discussion and requests
Replies: 39
Views: 5012

Re: 2019 Terrapin speciifc question discussion and requests

For example, in this bonus from VCUO '15, "crystal" does not apply to any of the clues. [10] The Brillouin zone is the Wigner-Seitz primitive cell in the reciprocal one of these structures. In three dimensions, there are fourteen Bravais examples of these structures, which consist of infi...
by Amizda Calyx
Wed Apr 03, 2019 8:36 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: How We Treat Each Other: 2019
Replies: 32
Views: 26375

Re: How We Treat Each Other: 2019

Why is it like pulling teeth for me to show up to ICT and convince people to leave the tournament at the end of the day and go eat a good dinner and then go out to enjoy a little nightlife in one of the largest cities in America? Isn't that what friends do? A contributing factor to this is almost c...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Apr 01, 2019 2:22 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 PIANO/MO Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 110
Views: 292280

Re: 2019 PIANO/MO Specific Question Discussion

The original designs for a highway in this city involved the destruction of its namesake Life Insurance Company, its largest black-owned business. Bill Dedman won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for the series “The Color of Money” about redlining in this city. Its redlining was also described in Kevin Krus...
by Amizda Calyx
Sun Mar 31, 2019 3:24 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 PIANO/MO Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 110
Views: 292280

Re: 2019 PIANO/MO Specific Question Discussion

I liked this tournament, or at least my categor[ies] (in general). Maybe this is colored by my having heard commentary about how hard/unfair it was before playing, but it certainly wasn't the travesty I was expecting. Power did seem stingy though (on the other hand, sucrose gradient centrifugation i...
by Amizda Calyx
Sun Mar 31, 2019 2:02 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 PIANO/MO Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 110
Views: 292280

Re: 2019 PIANO/MO Specific Question Discussion

The science seemed to overshoot the difficulty of Nats minus (even Nats in some places). I didn't get this impression. 20s at this tournament were pretty accessible (at least in the categories I was more familiar with); also there didn't seem to be as many crazy or hard answerlines as other categor...
by Amizda Calyx
Tue Mar 05, 2019 4:56 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 Terrapin Science
Replies: 3
Views: 648

Re: 2019 Terrapin Science

I've heard from a few people that the math and physics were really good, and I enjoyed a lot of the bio and chem. Something I did notice was the bio TUs were sometimes really easy, and there were occasional pockets of apyramidality. • stomach TU: CCK and MALT are way more well-known than watermelon ...
by Amizda Calyx
Sun Mar 03, 2019 10:43 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 Terrapin speciifc question discussion and requests
Replies: 39
Views: 5012

Re: 2019 Terrapin speciifc question discussion and requests

In the question on "women (in Islam)", I think the name "Hafsa" is mentioned pretty early. This is a relatively common extant female name, which gave me the impression the question was asking for a more specific subset of women. I think these kinds of answerlines can be really to...
by Amizda Calyx
Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:46 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Spartan Housewrite: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 65
Views: 8130

Re: Spartan Housewrite: Specific Question Discussion

CPiGuy wrote: Thu Dec 27, 2018 11:21 pm
red underbelly is maybe too easy a hard part?
hmm, most of the comments on that question were that it was way too hard.
For the record, I also thought this was a rather easy hard part. It comes up late in basically every question involving sticklebacks (including as the easy part at CO).
by Amizda Calyx
Sun Jul 22, 2018 12:30 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Rutgers Summer Practices (Open to all)
Replies: 22
Views: 9435

Re: Rutgers Summer Practices (Open to all)

If people would like a more consistent summer practice location, I can offer my lab's meeting room in Nelson A237 on Busch. It's very close to both the ARC and library bus stops and has a parking lot immediately next to it. Practice would need to start before 9 since the doors lock then, but I or (p...
by Amizda Calyx
Wed Jun 06, 2018 12:47 am
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: How to be Better at Being an Ally
Replies: 11
Views: 15089

Re: How to be Better at Being an Ally

Something I'd like to point out is that people shouldn't conflate respect and conscientiousness around women with being patronizing or handling us with kid-gloves. And I also think it's unhelpful to assume everything critical (even many things *unfairly* critical) of a woman's comments or actions is...
by Amizda Calyx
Fri Apr 27, 2018 8:20 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals discussion
Replies: 121
Views: 62518

Re: ACF Nationals discussion

I actually quite enjoy science history questions (and even helped write a small tournament on the history of science and technology); I just prefer that they appear as part of a distinct subdistribution rather than in the 4/4 science. I think this is partly influenced by my being a specialist player...
by Amizda Calyx
Fri Apr 27, 2018 2:45 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals discussion
Replies: 121
Views: 62518

Re: ACF Nationals discussion

Basically my only complaint is the Haldane tossup," ... "I personally feel that books written for laypeople should NOT appear in science questions, and especially not *multiple* books Do you mind if I ask if 1) This is just for Nats difficulty, and not across the board? Or is this somethi...
by Amizda Calyx
Thu Apr 26, 2018 11:41 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals discussion
Replies: 121
Views: 62518

Re: ACF Nationals discussion

I was similarly surprised to see Oparin-Haldane showing up in so many high school sets when I started editing VHSL, but then I TAed gen bio at Rutgers and they went over it so I guess it's a legitimate thing that is taught now. I don't like the clue either, though. I would also suggest people use as...
by Amizda Calyx
Wed Apr 25, 2018 7:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals discussion
Replies: 121
Views: 62518

Re: ACF Nationals discussion

I really liked the bio answerlines in this set! Basically my only complaint is the Haldane tossup, which was solidly science history (and included several non-bio history clues at that). I personally feel that books written for laypeople should NOT appear in science questions, and especially not *mu...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Mar 05, 2018 2:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CMST: Specific question discussion
Replies: 74
Views: 19858

Re: CMST: Specific question discussion

I really liked the first three bio bonuses in this set, although the dynamin one didn't seem to have an actual pronoun? It was clear what it intended to ask about anyway though. Can I see the tossup on Ras? I can't remember if there was something in the first line that distinguished the Ras pathway ...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Feb 12, 2018 4:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: We Need an Alternative to the Women in Quizbowl Forum
Replies: 35
Views: 18527

Re: We Need an Alternative to the Women in Quizbowl Forum

The "onus of responsibility" that has been touched on by others in this thread is something that really resonates with me. I'm not a very social person. Directly talking one-on-one to most people, especially people I don't know, is exhausting and makes me anxious, and I'm pretty sure I com...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Feb 05, 2018 3:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2018 Division I SCT: specific question discussion
Replies: 35
Views: 2305

Re: 2018 Division I SCT: specific question discussion

The products of this process are used as natural {ligands} [LIG-undz] to activate PPARs ["P-P-A-Rs"]. Intermediates in this process link to the {thiol} ["THIGH-all"] group of {phosphopantetheine} ["phospho"-PAN-tuh-THEE-een], which binds to ACP ["A-C-P"]. Thi...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:07 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2018 Division I SCT: specific question discussion
Replies: 35
Views: 2305

Re: 2018 Division I SCT: specific question discussion

I wonder if literally any bio player got the tossup on "invasive species". Why would anyone think to give any answer besides mosquitoes to a clue about "gene drive using CRISPR to sterilize "these organisms""? This wasn't even prompted!!! Tossups on invasive species (or...
by Amizda Calyx
Sun Jan 28, 2018 6:32 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: General Discussion GSAC XXV
Replies: 21
Views: 1496

Re: General Discussion GSAC XXV

I moderated at the Scarlet Knight mirror on 1/27 and had a few notes. General observations: *The most consistent problem was the *very* sparse answerlines/alternate answers, especially in science. *A lot of bonus leadins had two sentences or otherwise-awkward construction. *While experienced moderat...
by Amizda Calyx
Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: WAO II Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 88
Views: 22081

Re: WAO II Specific Question Discussion

I am curious to see the tossup on the mitochondrial inner membrane, since I don't think my submitted evo-bio tossup on mitochondria contained explicit membrane stuff. I really liked the DSCAM clue for Down syndrome and the Jablonski clue for PS2. Overall I thought the bio was quite good, although th...
by Amizda Calyx
Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:37 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NASAT Player Eligibility
Replies: 2
Views: 4272

Re: NASAT Player Eligibility

Sam Braunfeld did initial editing/feedback on all of the math as well.
by Amizda Calyx
Sun Jun 18, 2017 5:30 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Subject-specific player polls
Replies: 29
Views: 16546

Re: Subject-specific player polls

The Ununtiable Twine wrote:math player poll:

1. Harrison Brown

math team poll:

1. Alabama 2012-13
I'd also like to point to Sam Braunfeld and Samir Khan as great math players, as they scored 48 and 46 powers respectively at Math Monstrosity while playing on the same team.
by Amizda Calyx
Tue May 02, 2017 2:33 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: Clearinghouse for Random Packet Announcements
Replies: 577
Views: 455172

Re: Clearinghouse for Random Packet Announcements

I can read the unused portions of the Rutgers Nats packet (half of the finals tiebreaker packet) plus the used questions too if people are interested. I'd be doing this around 9PM Saturday. Whoops, I was a dufus and forgot that the next Saturday after my post was actually the very next day; I meant...
by Amizda Calyx
Fri Apr 28, 2017 1:24 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: Clearinghouse for Random Packet Announcements
Replies: 577
Views: 455172

Re: Clearinghouse for Random Packet Announcements

I can read the unused portions of the Rutgers Nats packet (half of the finals tiebreaker packet) plus the used questions too if people are interested. I'd be doing this around 9PM Saturday.
by Amizda Calyx
Tue Apr 25, 2017 3:49 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 70
Views: 42353

Re: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion

I understand that, but it seemed like this "caution" applied only to the physiology/cell bio. Biochem had stuff like an easy part on tryptophan where the easiest clue was that it has an indole group...and then you have a neuro bonus with the easy part on axons after axons had already been ...
by Amizda Calyx
Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:24 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 70
Views: 42353

Re: ACF Nationals Thanks and Discussion

I liked the bio tossups in this set quite a bit. The A. tumefaciens , CYP450, and poly-A tails ones were fresh and pretty interesting. I wasn't a fan of the ketogenesis tossup, though. I spent quite a bit of time wondering if it wanted a specific fatty acid metabolism process like β oxidation, but r...
by Amizda Calyx
Thu Mar 30, 2017 2:45 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Oxford Open 2017: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 17
Views: 4378

Re: Specific Question Discussion

The science, or at least biology, was...not good, although somewhat consistent with regards to its high school-level difficulty. Seriously guys. Check packet archives or aseemsdb for clue placement at least! Chromaffin cells do not belong anywhere close to power, even at NSC or Prison Bowl . The ans...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:42 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Specific question discussion
Replies: 32
Views: 1401

Re: Specific question discussion

I'll note here that I agree with "cell-counting" being way, way too hard for high school. It is pretty much impossible for teams to have come across this before in basically any reasonable context, and even if they work in college labs it's unlikely they would be familiar with it. A descri...
by Amizda Calyx
Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:32 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: General discussion
Replies: 21
Views: 1118

Re: General discussion

Some comments after seven rounds: I'd suggest if you want more successful mirrors of this tournament, you should include at least some pronunciation guides. Even experienced readers are going to be tripped up on Polish names! And I don't think I saw any PGs for science terms either. The leadins and...
by Amizda Calyx
Sat Jan 28, 2017 3:47 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Harvard Fall Tournament (HFT) XI Is Available For Mirrors
Replies: 27
Views: 18549

Re: Harvard Fall Tournament (HFT) XI Is Available For Mirror

Some comments after seven rounds: I'd suggest if you want more successful mirrors of this tournament, you should include at least some pronunciation guides. Even experienced readers are going to be tripped up on Polish names! And I don't think I saw any PGs for science terms either. The leadins and ...
by Amizda Calyx
Fri Dec 23, 2016 2:36 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: IRC Festivus 2016: Still Not Dead Yet
Replies: 120
Views: 67367

Re: IRC Festivus 2016: Still Not Dead Yet

Oops, I have to go into lab today so I don't think I'll be able to read my dozens of awful questions. :(
by Amizda Calyx
Tue Dec 20, 2016 5:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Continuing to rethink the distribution
Replies: 54
Views: 37109

Re: Continuing to rethink the distribution

GRRR they tossed up an 18th century scientist and you lost a game because of it. Get over yourself. Know more things. Just to quickly clarify what I think most science players' objections would be to a history of science question replacing a pure science question: most science classes, at least in ...
by Amizda Calyx
Fri Dec 09, 2016 5:45 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: On Exactitude in Science Writing
Replies: 45
Views: 27447

Re: On Exactitude in Science Writing

And speaking of Andrew Wang, Joelle claimed upthread that one of her posts was better in tone than Andrew Wang. That is categorically false, Andrew Wang is probably the most articulate, concise, and well-toned poster I know (how can you be all three at the same time?!?!). who's the :capybara: ing i...
by Amizda Calyx
Fri Dec 09, 2016 2:00 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: On Exactitude in Science Writing
Replies: 45
Views: 27447

Re: On Exactitude in Science Writing

I have to take Billy and Ike's side on the utility of this thread - if I were a new writer, I wouldn't worry too much about what's going on in this thread, focus more on writing questions from your textbooks and class notes, and let the editors, with their experience, fix up your questions. Further...
by Amizda Calyx
Wed Dec 07, 2016 6:15 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: On Exactitude in Science Writing
Replies: 45
Views: 27447

Re: On Exactitude in Science Writing

Ok, I'm getting pretty frustrated that people seem to be latching onto this idea that my entire post is about "clue fragment ambiguity" and that I'm forcing nitpickiness down the throats of "new writers". Maybe I should have changed the title to "On Exactitude in Science Edi...