Search found 324 matches

by touchpack
Thu Feb 01, 2024 3:26 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
Replies: 54
Views: 7061

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.
by touchpack
Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:28 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: ESPN (Spring 2024, 3.5-4 Dot)
Replies: 10
Views: 8248

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.
by touchpack
Thu Aug 10, 2023 9:46 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 Chicago Open - Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 17
Views: 7885

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"...
by touchpack
Thu Aug 10, 2023 9:33 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 Chicago Open - General Discussion and Thanks
Replies: 41
Views: 19530

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...
by touchpack
Mon Aug 07, 2023 5:03 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 Chicago Open - Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 17
Views: 7885

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...
by touchpack
Tue Jul 18, 2023 9:56 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: CULEX [7/23/23, online]
Replies: 12
Views: 6110

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...
by touchpack
Tue Apr 25, 2023 11:47 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 ACF Nationals Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 53
Views: 50702

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...
by touchpack
Wed Apr 12, 2023 11:04 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
Replies: 59
Views: 35956

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...
by touchpack
Tue Apr 04, 2023 1:36 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 Division I ICT: specific question discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 4241

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...
by touchpack
Sun Apr 02, 2023 11:51 am
Forum: Trash
Topic: Rhythm Heaven at ICT [4/1/23]
Replies: 14
Views: 5657

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
by touchpack
Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:58 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 BHSU: General discussion
Replies: 35
Views: 14529

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...
by touchpack
Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:14 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
Replies: 59
Views: 35956

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...
by touchpack
Mon Feb 27, 2023 5:27 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
Replies: 59
Views: 35956

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...
by touchpack
Sun Feb 26, 2023 4:12 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
Replies: 59
Views: 35956

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...
by touchpack
Sun Feb 26, 2023 4:00 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 BHSU: General discussion
Replies: 35
Views: 14529

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...
by touchpack
Sun Nov 20, 2022 1:29 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Editors, please TRIM your bonuses
Replies: 9
Views: 3874

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 ...
by touchpack
Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:44 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: BHSU (Available for mirrors starting 2/25/23)
Replies: 6
Views: 8707

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.
by touchpack
Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL
Replies: 98
Views: 48318

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...
by touchpack
Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:32 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL
Replies: 98
Views: 48318

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...
by touchpack
Wed Jun 01, 2022 5:41 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2022 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 35
Views: 10495

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...
by touchpack
Tue May 31, 2022 6:14 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2022 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 35
Views: 10495

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...
by touchpack
Mon Feb 21, 2022 4:06 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2022 WORKSHOP: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 19
Views: 4635

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...
by touchpack
Mon Jan 31, 2022 3:02 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Your Long Answerlines Might be a Problem
Replies: 3
Views: 2521

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 ...
by touchpack
Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: BHSU (Available for mirrors starting 2/25/23)
Replies: 6
Views: 8707

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...
by touchpack
Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:23 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: BHSAT (Spring 2023) [old thread]
Replies: 11
Views: 4507

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...
by touchpack
Tue Jun 01, 2021 10:03 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2021 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 57
Views: 18290

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...
by touchpack
Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:07 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: TOEJAM III Online Doubles: January 31, 2021
Replies: 9
Views: 3550

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.
by touchpack
Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:59 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread
Replies: 83
Views: 27867

Re: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread

Cjh0024 wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:54 pm That’s assuming the whole country wants to get vaccinated, which I doubt would happen.
Read my post again. I accounted for that.
by touchpack
Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:18 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread
Replies: 83
Views: 27867

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...
by touchpack
Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:01 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Alabama 2020-2021 Discussion Thread
Replies: 83
Views: 27867

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...
by touchpack
Wed Dec 09, 2020 8:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 IKEA - General Set Discussion
Replies: 25
Views: 5333

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...
by touchpack
Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:12 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 IKEA - General Set Discussion
Replies: 25
Views: 5333

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...
by touchpack
Fri Dec 04, 2020 3:05 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 FLopen - Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 55
Views: 19265

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’...
by touchpack
Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 FLopen - Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 55
Views: 19265

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 ...
by touchpack
Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 FLopen - Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 55
Views: 19265

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.
by touchpack
Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 FLopen - Thanks and Set General Discussion
Replies: 9
Views: 2892

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...
by touchpack
Fri Nov 13, 2020 2:18 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 WORKSHOP: A Retrospective
Replies: 7
Views: 3977

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 ...
by touchpack
Mon Nov 09, 2020 5:08 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 ACF Winter - General Discussion and Thanks
Replies: 38
Views: 11717

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...
by touchpack
Mon Nov 09, 2020 4:25 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 ACF Winter - General Discussion and Thanks
Replies: 38
Views: 11717

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...
by touchpack
Tue Oct 27, 2020 12:40 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 IKEA - Specific Questions Discussion
Replies: 31
Views: 5519

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...
by touchpack
Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:06 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Looking for a set - can be "older"
Replies: 13
Views: 3930

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...
by touchpack
Tue Oct 13, 2020 12:38 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 IKEA - Specific Questions Discussion
Replies: 31
Views: 5519

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 ...
by touchpack
Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:54 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Statement on LIT Cheating Allegation: Princeton A
Replies: 16
Views: 9824

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...
by touchpack
Tue Sep 08, 2020 11:23 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Statement on LIT Cheating Allegation: Princeton A
Replies: 16
Views: 9824

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...
by touchpack
Mon Aug 03, 2020 4:26 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN QUIZBOWL LEAGUE
Replies: 23
Views: 10764

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...
by touchpack
Wed Apr 22, 2020 3:41 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)
Replies: 48
Views: 32734

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...
by touchpack
Tue Apr 07, 2020 3:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
Replies: 179
Views: 146926

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...
by touchpack
Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:48 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: 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...
by touchpack
Mon Feb 24, 2020 7:51 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 touchpack
Mon Feb 24, 2020 6:21 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.