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Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:04 am
by Batsteve
Terrapin Invitational Tournament XXIV
Saturday, January 22, 2011
University of Maryland - College Park

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Maryland Academic Quiz Team is pleased to announcement the 24th incarnation of our annual (okay, so there was no TIT in 2010. deal) Terrapin Invitational Tournament. We plan on making this year's tournament the same difficulty as last year, plus or minus epsilon, somewhere around the mythical "Regular Difficulty."

This is a packet submission event following the normal guidelines - if you were playing tournaments prior to last year, your team should be writing a packet. If your team meets this definition in name but doesn't really have much writing experience, you should email me *right away* to discuss it - I want teams to be able to attend this event, but building writing experience for teams is just as important as this event actually having enough submissions.

This set will be head edited by myself, SteveJon Guth, with assistance from the rest of the Maryland Academic Quiz Team.

MIRRORS

This space reserved for mirror information. We are looking for mirrors in the following locations:

Midwest - Michigan
Canada - Toronto
Northeast - Yale
Pacific Northwest - Washington
South - Texas
Southwest
West Coast - Arizona

We are actively looking for mirrors. If you are interested, email me at [email protected].

RECEIVED PACKETS:

-$50
UNC
VCU
Nediger + Zafar (Mirror)

-$25
OSU A (Mirror)
OSU B (Mirror)
Toronto (Mirror)

+$0
Delaware
RPI (Mirror)
Queens A (Mirror)
Queens B (Mirror)

+$25
McMaster (Mirror)
UVA
Duke

+$50
Columbia A (Mirror)
Columbia B (Mirror)
Chicago A (Mirror)

Obscenely Late -- you should look down your nose at these people
Laferbrook +$110 (Mirror)
Harvard +$110 (Mirror)
Minnesota +$130 (Mirror)
Penn +$200


PRICING:

+$100 - Base Fee
-$50 - Packet submitted by Saturday, November 27th.
-$25 - Packet submitted by Saturday, December 4rd.
+$0 - Packet submitted by Saturday, December 18th.
+$25 - Packet submitted by Saturday, December 25th.
+$50 - Packet submitted by Saturday, January 1st.
+$100 - Packet submitted by Saturday, January 8th.
+$10 - every day after January 8th. Seriously. Why would you wait this long? I reserve the right to boot you from the field if you don't tell me why your packet is so late.
-$5 - Working buzzer discount, unlimited
-$10 - Competent moderator discount
+$10 - Formatting penalty for formatting your questions incorrectly (see formatting section below).

Minimum Fee Per Team: $40.

PACKET GUIDELINES

5/5 Literature [1/1 American, 1/1 British, 1/1 European, 1/1 World, 1/1 Your Choice]
5/5 Science [1/1 Biology, 1/1 Chemistry, 1/1 Physics, 1/1 Other, 1/1 Your Choice]
5/5 History [1/1 American, 2/2 European, 1/1 World, 1/1 Your Choice]
3/3 Fine Arts [1/1 Painting, 1/1 Non-Opera-Music, 1/1 Anything Else]
3/3 RMP [1/1 Philosophy, appropriately vary 2/2 Religion and Mythology]
1/1 SS [two different disciplines]
1/1 Geo/CE/more SS [pick two, and write one of each]
1/1 Your Choice [at most one may be trash, but the other may be borderline]

Difficulty

Your answer selections should range between Fall and Regionals difficulty, inclusive. Last year's Terrapin is probably the best model for likely difficulty of this event, and is definitely the best model for how hard you should make your questions. You are strenuously encouraged to err on the easier side. I'm happy to be excited by accessible tossups on stuff that doesn't get as much coverage as it should, but if you're writing a tossup you honestly don't believe more than 20% of the field will convert - stop.

Every bonus should have a clear easy, medium and hard part. Almost every team in the tournament should be converting the easy part of the bonus, while a little more than half of the teams should be converting the medium part. The hard part of a bonus should be able to be answered by those with in-depth knowledge in the field.

Question Length

All of the following lengths apply to documents written in Word with 1 inch margins (change these from the default), and a 10 point Times New Roman font.

Final tossups will be between 6 and 8 lines long. However, we'd prefer that you submit tossups on the long side (or even over the 8 line limit), since it's always easier for us to get rid of clues that we don't like than to add additional clues by ourselves.

Bonus parts should be kept within reason. Do not write extremely lengthy leadins or bonus parts (try to keep them under 2 lines, generally). Also do not write extremely short bonuses or list bonuses, as these are typically not very interesting. The vast majority of your bonuses should be 10-10-10. Please do not write any 30-20-10 bonuses, as these really throw off the balance of the bonuses in a round. 5-10-15 bonuses are similarly bad and should be shunned, since they arbitrarily weight the hard part when in theory the bonus should have the same relative difficulty to all the others. However, I have an unusual tolerance for 10-5 bonuses and a few other creative point structures, so including one or two of these isn't out of the question, but don't do it more than that.

Formatting

Please format your questions in the following matter:

1/1 Unfunny Meta Example Questions (reused to honor our recent alum):

The person involved in this event is starting a rumor that it was actually a planned occurrence to get himself mentioned in a meta question in Matt Weiner's canceled Chicago Open trash tournament. Immediately after this event occurred, one person was unable to identify Okazaki Fragments. It was preceded by Jeremy Eaton answering a tossup on time dilation. The person responsible for this event blamed not getting enough sleep the night before and the two hour drive to Richmond, but most of all just plain not paying attention. Occurring in a game against South Carolina at the 2007 VCU Open, it is now immortalized in the YTMND page Nude Descending a Gas Chamber. FTP, identify this action wherein Mike Bentley erroneously answered "The Armory Show" for "Auschwitz".
ANSWER: Worst Buzz (also accept Nude Descending a Gas Chamber before mentioned, Mike Bentley's Embarrassing Neg with The Armory Show on the Auschwitz Question at the 2007 Illinois Novice Tournament, and clear knowledge equivalents; do not accept just "Armory Show" or "Auschwitz")

Answer the following about a certain comic strip, FTPE.
[10] Like Chris Ray, the title character of this Dik Browne comic strip has red hair and a big beard, and is also illiterate and bathes only once a year.
ANSWER: Hagar the Horrible
[10] Using Wikipedia might erroneously lead you to believe that Hagar the Horrible was based on this play by Henrik Ibsen in which Sigurd defeats Hjardis by killing her sentinel, a white bear.
ANSWER: The Vikings at Helgeland
[10] If Jonathan Magin had his way, Hagar the Horrible and all other comic strips would be inspired by this Robert Louis Stevenson novel about some Scottish dude and his buried treasure.
ANSWER: The Master of Ballantrae

DO NOT USE ANY AUTOMATIC WORD FORMATTING EXCEPT FOR SMART QUOTES. Specifically, do not use any indentation or automatic numbering in your packets. Submit all packets in .doc or .rtf format please.

If questions are not correctly formatted (at the discretion of the editors), your packet will be returned for you to reformat. If you submit your packet at the deadline and it is rejected for formatting issues, you will be charged a $10 formatting fee (and asked to reformat the packet), but you will not have to pay any additional fees for missing the deadline, unless you are aggravating about resubmitting the format fixes.

Also note that your questions should be organized by category and type, not pre-mixed or divided into tossups and bonuses (thus, you should have the 5 history tossups followed by the 5 history bonuses, followed by the 5 lit tossups and 5 lit bonuses, etc.

As with all packet submission tournaments, questions must be blind to all other teams attending the tournament. Specifically, if a school is sending more than one team to the tournament, members of different teams should not know of each others' questions.

Please do not plagiarize questions. Do not copy direct passages and phrases from the sources you use to write questions. Additionally, do not write questions directly out of Wikipedia. While Wikipedia can be a useful source in finding preliminary information on a question, we encourage you to use more in-depth, scholarly and peer reviewed sources when writing your questions. Please see various question writing guides such as Jerry's guide for more information on where to find good sources for writing questions.

REGISTRATION

To register, email me at [email protected]. Please indicate how many teams you're bringing (or interested in bringing) and what discounts you think you apply for (such as the number of moderators and buzzers you're bringing).

Details on where on campus the event will be held and when specifically registration will be will be announced closer to the date of the tournament.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 3:14 pm
by Sun Devil Student
Any word on a West Coast mirror?

I have two ASU teams working on packets for this, but if there's not going to be a mirror within driving distance of ASU, then we'd probably rather submit our packets to a tournament that we can attend, hopefully in time to get the discount for that.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 7:37 pm
by The Tourist
If we could get an affirmative on a mirror between Fresno and Santa Fe in the next few hours, we can submit that packet before the first deadline, which would be totally awesome for all involved.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 1:49 pm
by minusfive
If still possible, Toronto is interested in mirroring this tournament for Canada. I have sent you an e-mail.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:23 pm
by grapesmoker
Is this tournament open? If it is, I'm looking for teammates to write to meet the no-penalty deadline.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 1:50 pm
by DumbJaques
Our policy with the last few TITs has generally been that open teams are allowed, but for the purpose of letting people who aren't currently students play rather than encouraging superteams or preventing school programs from playing their normal lineups. As long as neither of those things becomes a real issue, Jerry and others in his position are entirely welcome to play.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:30 pm
by Matt Weiner
As many have predicted, I would like to continue to object to people deciding that they can play collegiate tournaments when they are not students anywhere, and to tournament hosts allowing this practice. Will there at least be a return of the old "random hobos who show up to this tournament but are not students can play, but cannot win the tournament" policy?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:30 pm
by Mike Bentley
FYI we're probably going to mirror this at Washington. A full announcement will come later. If anyone's looking to make an exciting trip to Seattle to play some quizbowl, perhaps this is the tournament for you.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:31 pm
by Skepticism and Animal Feed
This particular hobo would like to ride the green line rail to the tournament.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 10:11 pm
by Maxwell Sniffingwell
Any word on a Midwest mirror of this?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 12:35 am
by nurgles_herald
I'm *fairly certain* that Penn State will be attending this, hopefully with two teams. We played our first tournament at ACF Fall 2009, so I don't think we'll be submitting a packet... unless I decide to write one next weekend. Which I might. Who the hell knows.

Also I need to get a new costume.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:30 am
by Red-necked Phalarope
To clarify, if we write a third SS question for the CE/GEO/SS 1/1, does the area have to be different from each of the other two SS questions?

Also: powers?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:56 pm
by Batsteve
Atlee Hammaker wrote:To clarify, if we write a third SS question for the CE/GEO/SS 1/1, does the area have to be different from each of the other two SS questions?

Also: powers?
I would like the questions to be on different sub areas, but I'd accept borderline cases like a question on one those economists who like writing about sociology and a question on something more concrete like demand.

Unless something terrible happens that makes me lose faith in the fifteen, there will be powers.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:44 pm
by mpellegrini
Batsteve wrote:Unless something terrible happens that makes me lose faith in the fifteen, there will be powers.
Are question writers expected to put in power marks, or is that something only the editors are doing?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:09 pm
by Batsteve
mpellegrini wrote:
Are question writers expected to put in power marks, or is that something only the editors are doing?
You may put in power markings if you like, but it's not necessary. I will almost certainly end up moving them around, so don't spend too much time deciding whether the fourth most famous work of your favorite Japanese author is worth power or not.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 1:15 pm
by Skepticism and Animal Feed
So does anyone want to be on my team? Currently it's just me.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 8:42 pm
by mpellegrini
Delaware will be bringing one team (At least one. It's theoretically possible some other club members will decide to come, but I doubt this will happen). We will submit the packet before the end of the week.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:20 pm
by TheHumanPaperweight
Morraine Man wrote:So does anyone want to be on my team? Currently it's just me.

I'm going to guess that since Mason doesn't get back from break until the week immediately after this tournament, we won't be entering as a team. If that proves true, and if you're willing to accept a pretty lousy teammate, I would be be glad to join you.

EDIT: I fail it. I am now informed that not only is GMU likely to make it there, but the school even recognized this as an actual thing well in advance of it happening.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:08 am
by Duncan Idaho
TheHumanPaperweight wrote:
Morraine Man wrote:So does anyone want to be on my team? Currently it's just me.

I'm going to guess that since Mason doesn't get back from break until the week immediately after this tournament, we won't be entering as a team. If that proves true, and if you're willing to accept a pretty lousy teammate, I would be be glad to join you.
Our team will be represented. I registered us for one team and one buzzer.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:47 am
by Charbroil
Do you plan on having a Midwest mirror which is a little further southwest than Michigan?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 3:09 pm
by Sun Devil Student
I have attempted by e-mail and forum post to get a clear yes/no on a proposed California mirror. In the meantime, any word about a modified packet schedule for that region?

In the event that California teams are truly disinterested in this tournament, ASU will put in a bid to host, since ASU teams need to play this for practice and we're happy to play a quintuple round-robin against each other and empty chairs if no other nearby teams want to play that day. However, I suspect California teams are simply hibernating for the winter and that they will in fact want to play this.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 11:28 am
by Skepticism and Animal Feed
So it now appears unlikely that I can assemble enough free agent teammates to write a packet; are any of the current teams looking like they will be short a person and thus might have room for me?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 11:52 am
by TheKingInYellow
I think State College will be coming with a team and a buzzer

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 10:38 pm
by The King's Flight to the Scots
Could we get a field/received packets update?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:48 pm
by Sun Devil Student
Any answer on ASU's offer to host the West Coast mirror?

We are not actually near the coast but none of the teams closer to the coast than we are have materialized, and time is running out for my team from a logistics standpoint. I have information from UCLA that they are not able to host but are interested in playing.

I'd like to have the West Coast location fixed by Friday so that my team can make needed preparations.

Thanks!

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:26 am
by Mike Bentley
Hey I wanted to confirm that you received the 2 UW packets.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:56 pm
by ... and the chaos of Mexican modernity
Is there a field update?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 3:07 am
by Batsteve
Currently, the field stands at:

Penn State (1-2)?
Delaware
George Mason
State College
VCU x2
UNC
Amalgamated High Schoolers
UVA
Duke
Montgomery College
UPenn

If you think you're coming and you're not on this list, you should probably email me.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 11:21 am
by Mike Bentley
Bentley Like Beckham wrote:Hey I wanted to confirm that you received the 2 UW packets.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 4:03 pm
by Batsteve
Bentley Like Beckham wrote:
Bentley Like Beckham wrote:Hey I wanted to confirm that you received the 2 UW packets.
I have received them.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:47 pm
by The Schopenhauer Power Hour
Logistics:

Registration will be in room 0105 of good ol' Jimenez Hall. Please arrive by 8:45; the tournament should start promptly at 9.

At the conclusion of TIT, Paul Marchsteiner and I will be running our visual trash tournament, PERV. Registration for PERV is $5 per person and should be a lot of fun, so please consider staying to participate.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:37 pm
by magin
Hey, do you need another moderator? I can come and staff.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 1:43 pm
by The Schopenhauer Power Hour
magin wrote:Hey, do you need another moderator? I can come and staff.
That would be great, thanks!

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:44 pm
by Angry Babies in Love
Are you guys good with buzzers or should I bring ours? I have RM's sitting on my bedroom floor, all lonely.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:08 pm
by Batsteve
Wurzel-Flummery wrote:Are you guys good with buzzers or should I bring ours? I have RM's sitting on my bedroom floor, all lonely.
Every tournament needs more buzzers, even if you think you see a few stacked in the back of the room. Bring them, and we'll give you a $5 discount even if we do have enough.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:57 pm
by Sun Devil Student
Any word on when the questions themselves will be e-mailed out? Time is getting a little short.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:02 pm
by dtaylor4
Sun Devil Student wrote:Any word on when the questions themselves will be e-mailed out? Time is getting a little short.
Ten bucks says they're not even done with the last packet.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:38 am
by Romero
I was hoping someone might be able to give a hint as to when packets might arrive.

Thanks,

Chris Romero

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:48 am
by Batsteve
Packets have been sent out to my contacts for each mirror site.

If you are expecting packets and have not received them yet, get in touch with me immediately.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:06 pm
by Down and out in Quintana Roo
Any stats for the day so far? How are things going?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 7:21 pm
by Angry Babies in Love
Carangoides ciliarius wrote:Any stats for the day so far? How are things going?
I know that State College and UVA were going into the finals.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:22 pm
by The Schopenhauer Power Hour
State College beat UVA in a one game final. Stats are here:

http://results.scobo.net/SQBS.aspx?org= ... =standings

Thanks to everyone who came out to play the tournament!

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:41 pm
by Skepticism and Animal Feed
Just a minor correction to the stats: one of the Montgomery College players had their name cut off in the stats. He should be marked down as "Thabo Sefolosha", not just "Thabo".

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:58 pm
by Adventure Temple Trail
Morraine Man wrote:Just a minor correction to the stats: one of the Montgomery College players had their name cut off in the stats. He should be marked down as "Thabo Sefolosha", not just "Thabo".
Out of curiosity, would that "Montgomery College" "player" happen to be you?

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:00 pm
by Frater Taciturnus
Morraine Man wrote:Just a minor correction to the stats: one of the Montgomery College players had their name cut off in the stats. He should be marked down as "Thabo Sefolosha", not just "Thabo".
This is probably the oddest use of describing one's self in the third person ever.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:00 pm
by Auroni
Morraine Man wrote:Just a minor correction to the stats: one of the Montgomery College players had their name cut off in the stats. He should be marked down as "Thabo Sefolosha", not just "Thabo".
I personally think he should be marked "Bruce Arthur," and then taken to task for not having written or contributed to a packet.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:05 pm
by Frater Taciturnus
every time i refresh i have a new name wrote:
Morraine Man wrote:Just a minor correction to the stats: one of the Montgomery College players had their name cut off in the stats. He should be marked down as "Thabo Sefolosha", not just "Thabo".
I personally think he should be marked "Bruce Arthur," and then taken to task for not having written or contributed to a packet.
I mean, if you are going to that you might as well just label Serge Ibaka as ted or something and that's just ridiculous.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:06 pm
by DumbJaques
I don't know what the hell any of you are talking about, but this is bound to make Thabo Mbeki feel unwelcome after his first experience with quizbowl.

EDIT:
I personally think he should be marked "Bruce Arthur," and then taken to task for not having written or contributed to a packet.
Yeah, so Bruce and Ted showed up at this tournament to staff/hang out, and because Penn State registered 1-2 teams but then didn't show up, we had them set up as a house team. It ended up being easier schedule-wise to fold them into an existing team (and we had no need to expand our staffing pool to 3 good moderators per room plus bye teams), so that's what we did - there weren't any packet-writing shenanigans on either of their parts or anything like that. I also somewhat doubt that this post reflects your true feelings on what should happen to those who fail to make their required contributions to packets.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:21 pm
by Auroni
DumbJaques wrote:I also somewhat doubt that this post reflects your true feelings on what should happen to those who fail to make their required contributions to packets.
Given that I have contributed to every UCSD packet ever written minus one from before the time I got to UCSD and one other one, and many of these have been freelance submissions, I honestly don't know what you are talking about.

Re: Terrapin Invitational Tournament (1/22/11) at Maryland

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 10:10 pm
by DumbJaques
Given that I have contributed to every UCSD packet ever written minus one from before the time I got to UCSD and one other one, and many of these have been freelance submissions, I honestly don't know what you are talking about.
The Fine Structure Constant.