Search found 652 matches

by Kyle
Thu Oct 28, 2021 7:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Fictional streets used multiple times
Replies: 3
Views: 625

Re: Fictional streets used multiple times

Sure, I suppose that does count. I guess it's all a judgment call just because, any time an author puts effort into building a world of some kind, people will inevitably say that one book is a sequel of the other or somesuch. In this case, while the street is fictional, the city of Tunis is very muc...
by Kyle
Thu Oct 28, 2021 4:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Fictional streets used multiple times
Replies: 3
Views: 625

Fictional streets used multiple times

I found myself wondering something, and it occurred to me that the quiz bowl enthusiasts of the world could, collectively, think up an answer. Specifically, this is the situation. I am about to teach a class in which my students will be discussing three chapters from Albert Memmi's The Pillar of Sal...
by Kyle
Sat May 05, 2018 11:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: British Student Quiz Championships 2018 (London, May 5th)
Replies: 2
Views: 2919

Re: British Student Quiz Championships 2018 (London, May 5th

There's an extremely sad photo on Twitter suggesting that this tournament had a dispiriting result.
by Kyle
Sun Apr 08, 2018 2:50 am
Forum: Middle school area archives
Topic: 2018 Washington Middle School Classic
Replies: 0
Views: 2444

2018 Washington Middle School Classic

Thanks to the organizational efforts of Jefferson and the UW quiz bowl team, today marked the debut of middle school quiz bowl in the state of Washington. Seven teams from five schools came to the University of Washington to play a tournament on NAQT's MS-25. We did a single-elimination playoff with...
by Kyle
Tue Mar 21, 2017 11:35 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

Re: New scheme and game about maps

Thanks. I'm still working on my cartography. You're right that both these things are frustrating, but in the case of the cartograms, I'm not quite sure how to fix it. The algorithm I use actually computes the amount of error in the map -- that is, the amount of deviation from what the areas should b...
by Kyle
Mon Mar 13, 2017 2:32 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

Re: New scheme and game about maps

Disregarding any notion of message board propriety, I am going to bump my five-month-old thread to let you know that I just posted map #30 and that you're all still welcome to play.
by Kyle
Mon Nov 14, 2016 8:11 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

Re: New scheme and game about maps

AKKOLADE wrote:Is it safe to assume that the chloropleths represent different statistics for each map?
Yes.
by Kyle
Mon Nov 14, 2016 5:44 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

Re: New scheme and game about maps

There is a huge Geography Awareness Week-inspired blowout extravaganza this week: three maps instead of the usual one.
by Kyle
Mon Oct 31, 2016 2:52 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

Re: New scheme and game about maps

I have to remember this exists :( Here's your weekly reminder that this exists! If you check the results, you'll see that Bruce was among the 23 people who got five points this week (as, indeed, are several other quiz bowlers). This week's map is a proportional symbol map, and I think it's a fun on...
by Kyle
Fri Oct 14, 2016 5:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

Re: New scheme and game about maps

For anyone interested, this is still being updated. Indeed, I'm still at it. I'm heartened to see that the interest from the over-18 crowd has been enthusiastic (and rapidly increasing this week), with more than forty solutions submitted for the current map. Alas, interest from the under-18 set has...
by Kyle
Mon Sep 19, 2016 2:24 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

Re: New scheme and game about maps

Thanks to the very many of you who submitted answers last week. I'm glad to see so much excitement! Unfortunately, only four people were correct. Here's the answer: http://weeklymap.org/005_answer.html As I mentioned in my first post, my main goal is for middle school and high school students to enj...
by Kyle
Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:44 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

Re: New scheme and game about maps

Thanks, Chris and Nolan -- very glad to know people are enjoying it. There are now two hints for Tuesday for those of you who need them!
by Kyle
Mon Sep 12, 2016 11:17 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

Re: New scheme and game about maps

AKKOLADE wrote:Legit question: the description says the cartograph is of the counties of the U.S., but it obviously is a world map. What's going on here?
I copied and pasted from last week without changing the text to match this week's map. Oops.
by Kyle
Mon Sep 12, 2016 3:21 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New scheme and game about maps
Replies: 20
Views: 2689

New scheme and game about maps

I have a new scheme about maps. It comes in the form of a game aimed at high school and middle school students, as well as their teachers. I thought some of you might enjoy it. The idea is that, each week, there is a new map to puzzle over. All the maps are thematic maps, and it's your job to figure...
by Kyle
Thu Jun 02, 2016 1:17 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: UK Player Poll 2016: We the East!
Replies: 26
Views: 14335

Re: UK Player Poll 2016: We the East!

Hmm, a second Oxford Varsity loss that Joey can blame on Ewan...
by Kyle
Mon May 30, 2016 2:18 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2016 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 133
Views: 76872

Re: 2016 HSNCT discussion

The inertia question happened to be in one of the packets that I was helping to edit. I'm not especially up on my physics, so I didn't attempt to make any definitive determination about the question as a whole, but I did spend some time reading about the first sentence. Here is that sentence: "...
by Kyle
Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:36 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Where Are You Going Next Year? (Collegiate 2016)
Replies: 46
Views: 31010

Re: Where Are You Going Next Year? (Collegiate 2016)

Not sure how pertinent this is either, but I'll be at Oxford in the autumn. Hey, me too! British people: I wouldn't mind attending a few practices or staffing a tournament, if Americans are allowed to do such things in your country. The Cantabs are literally freaking out at the news in this thread ...
by Kyle
Fri Nov 20, 2015 2:30 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: MATT JACKSON WAS ON JEOPARDY AND WAS PRETTY GOOD AND COOL
Replies: 96
Views: 13184

Re: MATT JACKSON: JEOPARDY FINALS, THU & FRI hi matt b

I did think it was appropriate for "hi matt b" to get some mention in a game involving the top-ranked quizbowl player from the Mid-Atlantic region from 2012.
by Kyle
Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:44 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The State of Good Quizbowl, State-by-State
Replies: 61
Views: 51500

Re: The State of Good Quizbowl, State-by-State

I really enjoyed Chris's post. I don't want to seem unappreciative of his hard work by immediately asking for more, but I'd be very curious to see something similar written up about middle school quizbowl (a game whose state I don't understand at all and which I have never seen in person). In parti...
by Kyle
Thu Jul 09, 2015 8:06 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The State of Good Quizbowl, State-by-State
Replies: 61
Views: 51500

Re: The State of Good Quizbowl, State-by-State

I really enjoyed Chris's post. I don't want to seem unappreciative of his hard work by immediately asking for more, but I'd be very curious to see something similar written up about middle school quizbowl (a game whose state I don't understand at all and which I have never seen in person). In partic...
by Kyle
Sun Jun 28, 2015 2:19 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: San Diego Academic League
Replies: 19
Views: 12438

Re: San Diego Academic League

For what it's worth, I successfully enlisted Edmund's help to prove to Joey that British quizbowl vocabulary was different before I adulterated it. Here's the evidence: It is beloved of University Challenge question setters, but even more so of Quiz About Quiz question setters, as an example even ca...
by Kyle
Fri Jun 26, 2015 6:43 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: San Diego Academic League
Replies: 19
Views: 12438

Re: San Diego Academic League

While Academic League tossups are necessarily easier relative to pyramidal ones due to their one-line nature, there is a tendency towards "swerving" in questions which does not reward blitzing For the record, these are called "hoses." A hose is a question in which the earlier pa...
by Kyle
Thu Jun 11, 2015 7:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: writing a charity trivia quiz
Replies: 6
Views: 753

Re: writing a charity trivia quiz

Several years ago, I co-wrote the biweekly Magdalen College Bar Charity Pub Quiz, which with a buy-in of £1/person run on eleven occasions during the year managed to raise fully $1,000 to be split between two charities. I mention this in order to point out that it is actually possible to raise some ...
by Kyle
Thu Jun 04, 2015 5:07 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2015 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 102
Views: 77047

Re: 2015 HSNCT discussion

In last year's HSNCT, there was a bonus (which I edited) whose hard part was to say the phrase "Chinese dream." The prompt happened to mention, in addition to some more relevant information, that Xi Jinping's appropriation of this phrase was apparently inspired by a Thomas Friedman editori...
by Kyle
Wed Jun 03, 2015 2:47 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2015 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 102
Views: 77047

Re: 2015 HSNCT discussion

El Cool Rectangle wrote:The questions for this set on the whole were very good. There was certainly some history on the easier side, as well as some CE (dropping artificial islands first line for South China Sea notably sticks out).
Not that it matters, but South China Sea was geography rather than CE.
by Kyle
Wed Jun 03, 2015 1:57 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2015 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 102
Views: 77047

Re: 2015 HSNCT discussion

Under this {dynasty}, the Black Stone was hidden by the Qarmatians ["car"-MAY-shunz], who {sacked} Mecca soon after the suppression of a {slave revolt} called the {Zanj Rebellion}. This dynasty rose to power after the defeat of Marwan II [mar-wahn "the second"] at the {Battle of...
by Kyle
Tue Jun 02, 2015 2:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Discussion of press coverage of HSNCT/quizbowl events
Replies: 19
Views: 9914

Re: 2015 NAQT HSNCT: Congratulations Arcadia!

Granny Soberer wrote:Is it possible that that journalist could be a quizbowl player? I don't know of any journalism majors or freelance writers among the community, but they have to be out there somewhere, right?
It's going to have to be somebody who has no future ambition to be paid money by NAQT.
by Kyle
Tue Jun 02, 2015 1:58 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Discussion of press coverage of HSNCT/quizbowl events
Replies: 19
Views: 9914

Re: 2015 NAQT HSNCT: Congratulations Arcadia!

I'd love for someone from a national media outlet to prove me wrong since quizbowl has tons of amazing stories that just a little bit of reporting effort could turn into solid features, but unless we get some reporter who has some connection to quizbowl I doubt there's going to be anyone eager to c...
by Kyle
Wed May 20, 2015 7:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Wacky Practice Formats
Replies: 21
Views: 15404

Re: Wacky Practice Formats

Harvard for a time in the mid to late 2000's played "Speed Rounds", which would be where tossup 1 is worth 1 point, tossup 2 is worth 2 points, etc. Negs are worth as much as the tossup value. This would traditionally be played on an NAQT IS set. This is a pure gimmick format, generally p...
by Kyle
Wed May 20, 2015 7:33 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Wacky Practice Formats
Replies: 21
Views: 24751

Re: Wacky Practice Formats

Harvard for a time in the mid to late 2000's played "Speed Rounds", which would be where tossup 1 is worth 1 point, tossup 2 is worth 2 points, etc. Negs are worth as much as the tossup value. This would traditionally be played on an NAQT IS set. This is a pure gimmick format, generally p...
by Kyle
Fri Apr 24, 2015 10:54 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: NAQT state championships 2015
Replies: 8
Views: 8030

Re: NAQT state championships 2015

The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi wrote:
Kyle wrote: Missouri:
Hallsville won the NAQT Qualifier, and is likely to win their class of MSHSAA State.
The state of Missouri confuses me. Which of these is the "state championship"? I hope it is whichever one required me to edit 150-character questions about driver's ed for three years.
by Kyle
Thu Apr 23, 2015 3:17 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: NAQT state championships 2015
Replies: 8
Views: 8030

Re: NAQT state championships 2015

I thought it would be nice to highlight the teams that won state championships, so I tried to put this together. I may well have misinterpreted some of the results, especially for states with multiple divisions -- sorry in advance! 2015 State Champions: Alabama: Hoover Arizona: Desert Vista Californ...
by Kyle
Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:22 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Favorite Quizbowl Experiences
Replies: 77
Views: 68619

Re: Favorite Quizbowl Experiences

That might be the worst bonus part I've ever heard. I love it. You're right -- this could definitely be an entire bonus, and the people who write Knowledge Bowl questions should learn to recognize the merits of a format with thirty-point bonuses: For 10 points each, complete these sayings about bac...
by Kyle
Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:20 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: I wrote an article about kids who really like geography
Replies: 2
Views: 684

I wrote an article about kids who really like geography

I played journalist for one day. I went to the Washington state level of the National Geographic Bee and wrote an article for a local non-profit online newspaper about kids who really like geography . I figure it's worth posting here because I'm sure there are others who read these forums who feel t...
by Kyle
Thu Mar 19, 2015 2:09 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Quizbowl in Foreign Languages?
Replies: 15
Views: 9532

Re: Quizbowl in Foreign Languages?

The game that approximates quizbowl in Morocco is in French. There's a fairly competitive group of universities that compete. I never actually watched a real game -- I just attended the tail end of some sort of team selection event. I was in touch briefly with the people who ran it about the possibi...
by Kyle
Thu Oct 23, 2014 4:27 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Suzhou, China
Replies: 10
Views: 1140

Re: Suzhou, China

My traveling bear went to Suzhou in December. He enjoyed visiting the gardens. To be honest, they really are the main attraction in Suzhou, but the nice part is that the different gardens were constructed in dramatically different styles.
by Kyle
Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:58 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Quiz Bowl Skill and Income
Replies: 18
Views: 9204

Re: Quiz Bowl Skill and Income

I don't know a single member of my team that lives within 15 km (10 miles) of the school. What if you used income data by county rather than by ZIP code? Only a very few schools draw from multiple counties. I mentioned on the original post wanting to do it by school district. But some are from priv...
by Kyle
Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:40 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Quiz Bowl Skill and Income
Replies: 18
Views: 9204

Re: Quiz Bowl Skill and Income

Theodore wrote:I don't know a single member of my team that lives within 15 km (10 miles) of the school.
What if you used income data by county rather than by ZIP code? Only a very few schools draw from multiple counties.
by Kyle
Tue Jul 08, 2014 4:08 pm
Forum: Middle school area archives
Topic: 2014 MSNCT survey results
Replies: 4
Views: 4084

Re: 2014 MSNCT survey results

How is it that Minneapolis is the city where the highest percentage of survey takers would not attend the MSNCT?
by Kyle
Thu Jun 12, 2014 5:39 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Where the Chip Teams Are
Replies: 13
Views: 6769

Re: Where the Chip Teams Are

I made a chloropleth.
by Kyle
Wed Jun 04, 2014 8:41 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2014 HSNCT Consolation Rounds Discussion
Replies: 13
Views: 8366

Re: 2014 HSNCT Consolation Rounds Discussion

What would happen if you awarded a trophy to the winner of the consolation tournament?
by Kyle
Wed Jun 04, 2014 12:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2014 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 135
Views: 75166

Re: 2014 HSNCT discussion

I have split off the discussion of the consolation rounds; you can find it here.
by Kyle
Tue Jun 03, 2014 5:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2014 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 135
Views: 75166

Re: 2014 HSNCT discussion

Corry wrote:[*] Italy: Isn't "bonga bonga" is a well-known thing about Italy now?[/list]
Perhaps this did not play as I had hoped, but do remember that there is a distinction between "bonga bonga" and "bunga bunga."
by Kyle
Tue Jun 03, 2014 2:19 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2014 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 135
Views: 75166

Re: 2014 HSNCT discussion

I have never been a fan of Ginseng's automatically generated pronunciation guides, and I felt vindicated while reading Packet 18. Ginseng's PG suggestions cannot handle words or names that can be pronounced in different ways. Consequently, packet 18 instructed readers to pronounce the name of the my...
by Kyle
Tue Jun 03, 2014 1:40 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2014 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 135
Views: 75166

Re: 2014 HSNCT discussion

North Carolina There were two NC questions (in the same round, no less). Was this the geography/history one, or the current events/politics one? I realize that this wasn't your fault, but it made some teams hesitant to buzz in with NC on the second question. Corry wrote the geography one; the other...
by Kyle
Tue Jun 03, 2014 12:36 am
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: All-time all-state teams
Replies: 61
Views: 53300

Re: All-time all-state teams

Washington State = Kyle Haddad-Fonda and his former HS teammates reunion tour? Chris Grubb and Mike Bocek (both UW players, although I think Bocek is at Stanford now) would probably join this team with Kyle. Steven Diamond (Stanford) probably the 4th player on that team. I suspect that Ben Bishop i...
by Kyle
Thu May 29, 2014 1:24 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HSNCT 2010 Difficulty - Is my team crazy?
Replies: 5
Views: 3359

Re: HSNCT 2010 Difficulty - Is my team crazy?

Northern Central Railway wrote:You're not crazy.
Well, he still might be crazy if his team is doing better on 2009 than 2010.
by Kyle
Sun May 18, 2014 5:55 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: British Student Quiz Championships 2014 (17th May, Oxford)
Replies: 4
Views: 3269

Re: British Student Quiz Championships 2014 (17th May, Oxfor

This result should silence any complaints about how Oxford A always wins this tournament.
by Kyle
Fri May 02, 2014 2:49 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: community question clinic
Replies: 95
Views: 92676

Re: community question clinic

I find it sad that nobody has come to Jerry's clinic, so I am going to kick things off by posting a tossup. This tossup was part of a packet submitted for Oxford Open by a completely inexperienced writer who asked for feedback on the packet. I did give fairly extensive feedback on the history questi...
by Kyle
Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:30 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Quiz Bowl Survivor: 50 Buzz, 49 Neg
Replies: 169
Views: 139102

Re: Quiz Bowl Survivor: 50 Buzz, 49 Neg

I also remember the 5/10/20/30 where you got points based on the number of parts you got right. These were brutal when they were "A, B, both, or neither" bonuses. This seemed to happen most in science and math. Here's one from the 2005 HSNCT: For 5 points for one, 10 for two, 20 for three...