Search found 325 matches
- Sat Apr 13, 2024 10:14 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2024 ICT general discussion
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1462
Re: 2024 ICT general discussion
This tournament was somewhat of a milestone for me--this was the 5th consecutive ICT where I edited the D1 science. Many thanks to our corpus of writers for producing some great material to work with. Those of you who are graduating seniors, I highly encourage you to apply to write for NAQT! We're a...
- Thu Feb 01, 2024 3:26 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
- Replies: 54
- Views: 7614
Re: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
I only played this on qbreader rather than an actual tournament since I'm retired from closed events but I just wanted to say the clue on laminar air flow hoods (which I used at work for years compounding sterile IV medications) made my day.
- Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:28 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: ESPN (Spring 2024, 3.5-4 Dot)
- Replies: 10
- Views: 9017
Re: ESPN (Spring 2024, 3.5-4 Dot)
Any updates on a midwest mirror? I would like to attend but my chances of attending are 0% if a date and location aren't announced with sufficient time beforehand.
- Thu Aug 10, 2023 9:46 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 Chicago Open - Specific Question Discussion
- Replies: 17
- Views: 7972
Re: 2023 Chicago Open - Specific Question Discussion
Two more specific comments: -Please don't use words like "important" or "famous" in questions in lieu of actual, buzzable clues. Specifically, I'm talking about the bonus part on the hydroxyl radical that says "Name this most important oxidant in the Earth's atmosphere"...
- Thu Aug 10, 2023 9:33 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 Chicago Open - General Discussion and Thanks
- Replies: 41
- Views: 19774
Re: 2023 Chicago Open - General Discussion and Thanks
I wanted to thank all the CO editors for producing, overall, a rewarding and enjoyable question set. Around six months ago I was genuinely concerned that Chicago Open wouldn't happen, so it's great to see that so many younger editors came together to produce an event of this quality. This is also m...
- Mon Aug 07, 2023 5:03 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 Chicago Open - Specific Question Discussion
- Replies: 17
- Views: 7972
Re: 2023 Chicago Open - Specific Question Discussion
I'll have more to say about this set later, but for now I wanted to nitpick the bonus part on somatic symptoms, specifically the sentence: "Hypochondriacs are diagnosed with a disorder named for this type of symptom due to their distress over bodily sensations." Hypochondriac/hypochondrias...
- Tue Jul 18, 2023 9:56 pm
- Forum: Trash
- Topic: CULEX [7/23/23, online]
- Replies: 12
- Views: 6157
Re: CULEX [7/23/23, online]
By the way, when is this tournament starting? After considering a few things, it'll probably start around 12PM CST or thereabouts, could be slightly later than that. Speaking entirely selfishly here (as someone who works night shift on Sunday night), given the length of the tournament I would reque...
- Tue Apr 25, 2023 11:47 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 ACF Nationals Specific Question Discussion
- Replies: 53
- Views: 50942
Re: 2023 ACF Nationals Specific Question Discussion
Regarding the vaginal microbiome: to the best of my knowledge, the vaginal microbiome has not been an answerline in quizbowl before, but the gut microbiome has. Those questions used the pronouns "community," "system," and "habitat"; Adam, Jon and I felt that "ecos...
- Wed Apr 12, 2023 11:04 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
- Replies: 59
- Views: 36197
Re: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
Could someone post the "hot" in OFA tossup? 11. This is the second adjective in the name of a Robert Johnson song whose title objects are sold “two for a nickel, four for a dime.” An ensemble with this adjective in its name featured its leader’s second wife Lil Hardin on piano and was rec...
- Tue Apr 04, 2023 1:36 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 Division I ICT: specific question discussion
- Replies: 28
- Views: 4326
Re: 2023 Division I ICT: specific question discussion
Can I see the tossup on alternating permutations? The indicator "these permutations" seems egregiously limited. The only potential answerlines that I can think of are "alternating permutations," "cycles," and "transpositions." There's also "odd," &q...
- Sun Apr 02, 2023 11:51 am
- Forum: Trash
- Topic: Rhythm Heaven at ICT [4/1/23]
- Replies: 14
- Views: 5695
Re: Rhythm Heaven at ICT [4/1/23]
I had a fun time at this tournament, thanks to Jake and Stompy for writing and Jisoo for staffing.
PS: assuming "Get Over the Barrier, er...Potential Well!" is in fact a Kiseki reference, whoever came up with that name has good taste
PS: assuming "Get Over the Barrier, er...Potential Well!" is in fact a Kiseki reference, whoever came up with that name has good taste
- Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:58 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 BHSU: General discussion
- Replies: 35
- Views: 14706
Re: 2023 BHSU: General discussion
Definitely true that there wasn't very much stats/ML type content in the set, and this was further compounded by the questions (1 bonus and 1 individual bonus part in a common link bonus) being packetized in Packet 11 and Finals 1, respectively. I moved the stats bonus into Packet 9 for future mirro...
- Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:14 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
- Replies: 59
- Views: 36197
Re: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
Some notes on specific questions: - I remember being confused by "this type of potential" as a pronoun for the lattices tossup, but it makes total sense in retrospect. I do think that way of framing will be a bit unfamiliar to most, but not sure if there's a way around it (or that there n...
- Mon Feb 27, 2023 5:27 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
- Replies: 59
- Views: 36197
Re: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
I would like to register a minor complaint about the tossup on the d'Alembertian. On the following clue: In classical field theory, applying this operation to some function of the wavenumber, k, is equivalent to multiplying the function by negative k squared. I buzzed in and said "Laplacian.&q...
- Sun Feb 26, 2023 4:12 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
- Replies: 59
- Views: 36197
Re: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
the ecology tossup on "elevation" (you just tossed up climate/temperature in political philosophy so that's been ruled out...what else could have wide variety? salinity? soil pH?). This was categorized in geography, so I didn't edit it, but I thought this was fine because when I playteste...
- Sun Feb 26, 2023 4:00 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2023 BHSU: General discussion
- Replies: 35
- Views: 14706
Re: 2023 BHSU: General discussion
I edited the non-computer Science in the set, and, moreover, wrote roughly 80% of it myself. My goals weren't too different from what I try to do in every set I work on, but since I wrote so much of the set myself, they may have shined through more than they usually do on my projects: -Ask about a w...
- Sun Nov 20, 2022 1:29 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Editors, please TRIM your bonuses
- Replies: 9
- Views: 3920
Editors, please TRIM your bonuses
The last two tournaments I have played were Chicago Open 2022 and CMST. Both of them were great tournaments, and I had a blast playing them. However, both tournaments, at times, greatly annoyed me with their lack of attention or care towards bonus length. It is generally agreed upon by the quizbowl ...
- Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:44 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: BHSU (Available for mirrors starting 2/25/23)
- Replies: 6
- Views: 8766
Re: BHSU (Available for mirrors starting 2/25/23)
The main site (midwest) of this tournament will be on 2/25/23. The set will be available for mirrors starting on that date.
- Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:18 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL
- Replies: 98
- Views: 48649
Re: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL
I do agree with others that the day needed to be shorter. Shortening the schedule certainly would have helped, but I also want to point out that stricter question-length control could have allowed a similarly long schedule to feel less grueling. In packet 11 (chosen at random), the mean tossup leng...
- Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:32 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL
- Replies: 98
- Views: 48649
Re: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL
(Also it seems like, pretty unacceptable to change the masking policy days before the event, after it had been in place for months, when people made travel arrangements based on said policy, etc. Perhaps I missed something, but I can't see anywhere that notes the announced policy would be subject t...
- Wed Jun 01, 2022 5:41 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: 2022 HSNCT discussion
- Replies: 35
- Views: 10637
Re: 2022 HSNCT discussion
Also, there was a chem bonus about thermodynamics, the third part of which asked for the term used to describe a process with negative Gibbs Free Energy. My team said "thermodynamically favorable" but were declared wrong; the given answer was "spontaneous." My AP Chem teacher (a...
- Tue May 31, 2022 6:14 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: 2022 HSNCT discussion
- Replies: 35
- Views: 10637
Re: 2022 HSNCT discussion
As Jason has told you repeatedly, I was the main set editor responsible for the science. As usual, I had a great time putting this set of questions together and I hope everyone enjoyed playing them. I'd like to thank the many writers--too many to list here--who contributed science questions to the s...
- Mon Feb 21, 2022 4:06 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2022 WORKSHOP: Specific Question Discussion
- Replies: 19
- Views: 4693
Re: 2022 WORKSHOP: Specific Question Discussion
Having gone through Packets 1-11, here are some additional comments that I haven't already made in the Discord server. I must mention, before this deluge of nitpicking, that I thought this set was very well done. Packet 1 -Is the Born exponent really "typically approximated as 9"? I was un...
- Mon Jan 31, 2022 3:02 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Your Long Answerlines Might be a Problem
- Replies: 3
- Views: 2560
Re: Your Long Answerlines Might be a Problem
Another example is prompts being used in the service of overly stingy answerlines, instead of just accepting things outright. Two that come to mind are the tossup on Japanese earthquakes that has a directed prompt for tsunamis, or the tossup on "text" using NLP clues which doesn't accept ...
- Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:14 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: BHSU (Available for mirrors starting 2/25/23)
- Replies: 6
- Views: 8766
BHSU (Available for mirrors starting 2/25/23)
We are excited to announce BHSU (Ball So Hard Open), a nationals-minus level open tournament produced by the BHSU team and to be mirrored in the spring of 2023. The tournament will be jointly head-edited by Matthew Bollinger and Rob Carson, and will be subject edited as follows: Matthew Bollinger (E...
- Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:23 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: BHSAT (Spring 2023) [old thread]
- Replies: 11
- Views: 4543
BHSAT (Spring 2023) [old thread]
This tournament has been renamed and reannounced; please see the new thread here . We are excited to announce BHSAT (Ball So Hard Academic Tournament), a nationals-minus level open tournament produced by the BHSU team and to be mirrored in the spring of 2023. The tournament will be jointly head-edi...
- Tue Jun 01, 2021 10:03 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: 2021 HSNCT discussion
- Replies: 57
- Views: 18503
Re: 2021 HSNCT discussion
This was indeed an update we made earlier today. Here's the version as-read on Saturday: Was it realized after the fact that the ruling on the protest had been incorrect, or is there some other reason for the updated answerline not reflecting the protest resolution? The updated answerline should ex...
- Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:07 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: TOEJAM III Online Doubles: January 31, 2021
- Replies: 9
- Views: 3611
Re: TOEJAM III Online Doubles: January 31, 2021
I would selfishly prefer that this tournament remain in its original announced timeslot, as I work weekends and have to arrange tournaments with my schedule in advance.
- Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:59 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread
- Replies: 83
- Views: 28187
- Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:18 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread
- Replies: 83
- Views: 28187
Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread
Look, I don't like online quizbowl either. I think if you guys hate it that much, then cancelling would be a defensible decision. However, it's absolute fantasy to pretend that it will be safe to have in-person events in April. Some basic facts here: -It's not safe to have a gathering with so many p...
- Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:01 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread
- Replies: 83
- Views: 28187
Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread
Look, the way the pandemic has been mishandled in this country is like the Sorites paradox. Is any individual bad decision responsible for the 370,000 Americans and counting that are now dead? No, certainly not, it's the composite sum of thousands of bad decisions that have done it. But that doesn't...
- Wed Dec 09, 2020 8:00 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 IKEA - General Set Discussion
- Replies: 25
- Views: 5405
Re: General Set Discussion
Like Will, I don't think that find-your-ass easy parts meaningfully make a set more accessible. A set of bonuses with conversion 100/50/10 is worse than 90/50/10 both because the former has less ability to resolve teams of similar skill level, and because IMO, it feels really shitty to play question...
- Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:12 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 IKEA - General Set Discussion
- Replies: 25
- Views: 5405
Re: General Set Discussion
I really enjoyed this set! Echoing some previous posts, I was a big fan of the expanded Math/CS/Stats/etc. distribution and would love to see more sets go in that direction. I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff, but the questions on ensemble classifiers, the Dartmouth workshop, web scraping, numerica...
- Fri Dec 04, 2020 3:05 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 FLopen - Specific Question Discussion
- Replies: 55
- Views: 19445
Re: Specific Question Discussion
I'd like to see the tossup on bismuth from round 11? The clue about Dirac points (?) tripped me up. This element is the heaviest of the elements in the mineral kawazulite, which exhibits 2D weak anti-localization, as well as possessing a Dirac cone near the gamma-point. Russia’s SVBR-100 and China’...
- Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:54 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 FLopen - Specific Question Discussion
- Replies: 55
- Views: 19445
Re: Specific Question Discussion
Can I see the question on (presumably nucleophilic?) addition? I got a little confused and I heard in other rooms there was further confusion that led to a neg and I think there might be room to improve the answerline directives. The bond between carbon and the L substituent is anti·peri·planar to ...
- Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:54 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 FLopen - Specific Question Discussion
- Replies: 55
- Views: 19445
Re: Specific Question Discussion
Can I see the question on (presumably nucleophilic?) addition? I got a little confused and I heard in other rooms there was further confusion that led to a neg and I think there might be room to improve the answerline directives.
- Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:47 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 FLopen - Thanks and Set General Discussion
- Replies: 9
- Views: 2928
Re: Thanks and Set General Discussion
There were a couple individual questions that I wasn't a fan of, but I thought overall the science in this set was very successful, especially considering all of the science subcategories were handled by a single editor! I do think it ended up somewhat harder than Fall Open, but I personally enjoyed...
- Fri Nov 13, 2020 2:18 am
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 WORKSHOP: A Retrospective
- Replies: 7
- Views: 4027
Re: 2020 WORKSHOP: A Retrospective
I can easily imagine scenarios where writers or even other editors would be unwilling to step in to comment on questions being edited, or where people would feel intimidated to have their questions edited in a public space I'm not sure what you mean here by "edited in a public space." If ...
- Mon Nov 09, 2020 5:08 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 ACF Winter - General Discussion and Thanks
- Replies: 38
- Views: 11886
Re: 2020 ACF Winter - General Discussion and Thanks
I'm not sure if Olivia would agree with me here, but I think answers like "that time of the month" should just be rejected. To use a significantly more extreme example for rhetorical purposes, a hypothetical bonus part on black people would not accept or prompt on the n-word--all normal q...
- Mon Nov 09, 2020 4:25 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 ACF Winter - General Discussion and Thanks
- Replies: 38
- Views: 11886
Re: 2020 ACF Winter - General Discussion and Thanks
I'm not sure if Olivia would agree with me here, but I think answers like "that time of the month" should just be rejected. To use a significantly more extreme example for rhetorical purposes, a hypothetical bonus part on black people would not accept or prompt on the n-word--all normal qu...
- Tue Oct 27, 2020 12:40 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 IKEA - Specific Questions Discussion
- Replies: 31
- Views: 5602
Re: Sepcific Questions Discussion
The only minor science quibble I had was that the tossup on isothermal should probably have a prompt added for compression or expansion (whichever one matches the description of the work in the tossup, I forget), since "this type of process" is vague for that clue. The phrasing of the clu...
- Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:06 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: Looking for a set - can be "older"
- Replies: 13
- Views: 3984
Re: Looking for a set - can be "older"
Please, don't do this. I get that your employers and co-workers are making bad decisions, but that doesn't mean you should join them and make a bad decision yourself. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health , Cullman County is currently in "High Risk" mode, which means gatheri...
- Tue Oct 13, 2020 12:38 am
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 IKEA - Specific Questions Discussion
- Replies: 31
- Views: 5602
Re: Sepcific Questions Discussion
16. Deficiency of an inhibitor of these proteins causes early-onset panacinar emphysema in PiZZ homozygotes. FBS-containing media is added to cells in suspension during splitting in order to block these proteins, which can also be blocked by a "cocktail" used to prepare lysates from cell ...
- Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:54 am
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: Statement on LIT Cheating Allegation: Princeton A
- Replies: 16
- Views: 10011
Re: Statement on LIT Cheating Allegation: Princeton A
If such an experiment cannot produce negative evidence, it side-steps the point of such an experiment. It can only serve to either kick the can down the road indefinitely or exonerate him. Are you suggesting that evidence is only useful if it can be used to prove Chase's guilt? If so, I find that a...
- Tue Sep 08, 2020 11:23 am
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: Statement on LIT Cheating Allegation: Princeton A
- Replies: 16
- Views: 10011
Re: Statement on LIT Cheating Allegation: Princeton A
Speaking as an outside observer, not any organizations, I find the "family emergency" story to be extremely implausible. If someone truly were having a family emergency that required them to be constantly texting during rounds, you would expect their performance to be at least mildly, if n...
- Mon Aug 03, 2020 4:26 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN QUIZBOWL LEAGUE
- Replies: 23
- Views: 10875
Re: INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN QUIZBOWL LEAGUE
I see that, at least for the first event of the year, AQBL is running a set that was produced by high schoolers and middle schoolers . I don't know who the regular writers will be (though Sadie suggests there is speculation that they will be largely high schoolers). I have concerns with a for-profit...
- Wed Apr 22, 2020 3:41 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)
- Replies: 48
- Views: 32862
Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)
Re: the concerns about the science distribution, the issue here is it's not really a per-packet distribution, it's a per-tournament distribution. Basically, there will be somewhat less than 1/1 chemistry and 1/1 physics, in order to make room for applied science topics. Don't get too concerned about...
- Tue Apr 07, 2020 3:00 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
- Replies: 179
- Views: 147785
Re: This Time, A Stern Warning
Seems worth noting that Will has demonstrably improved a lot over the time span that the data set ranges, whereas other players have had more constant performances. Yeah, I take issue with this dataset. Some of these players (Will and Tejas especially) have had markedly different quizbowl careers t...
- Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:48 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Specific Question Discussion
- Replies: 50
- Views: 8479
Re: 2020 Terrapin Open: Specific Question Discussion
Going through the 2/29 questions: The Gibbs tossup has some typos: "HEavidside" and an erroneous comma after "Clifford". I'm also not sure if the entropy clue is unique (Shannon comes to mind as a possible answer) WIMP s doesn't seem like a medium part when you give "hypoth...
- Mon Feb 24, 2020 7:51 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: 2020 Terrapin Open: Specific Question Discussion
- Replies: 50
- Views: 8479
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...