MOO Discussion
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Re: General Discussion
If someone could forward me the set, I'd be thankful. Giantkiller54 (at) gmail (dot) com.
Jarret Greene
South Range '10 / Ohio State '13 / Vermont '17
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Re: General Discussion
I disagree with this line of thought. I feel like if you need to give the chemical symbol to get sufficient conversion, the answer isn't easy enough. The same would apply for the Tubman part. Chemical symbols are not a very important property of the elements, and the fact that two Tubmans have the same last name was (as far as I know) unimportant to the actions of either. I don't have a problem with it for situations where the question is on, say a less famous family member of someone else, since the actions of those two people impacted each other. Giving a chemical symbol isn't really that different from ending a question with "Name this author of Pride and Prejudice whose last name starts with Au," which is pretty stupid.kdroge wrote: the idea was that Tubman could be made the easy part by linking William Tubman to Harriet Tubman and then asking for the last name. I agree it's a little gimmicky, but I wanted to write a bonus that rewarded knowledge of Taylor and Jenkins-Roberts, and I think that asking for Tubman is an appropriate easy part difficulty wise, even if it's a little bit of a groaner for better teams (it strikes me as equivalent to some chem bonuses that asked for elements from symbols as the easy part; not ideal in how they play out, but those types of parts have to be there to make the bonus accessible to people without knowledge of the discipline).
Michael Hausinger
Coach, Bay City Western High School
formerly of University of Michigan and East Lansing High School
Coach, Bay City Western High School
formerly of University of Michigan and East Lansing High School
Re: General Discussion
The same, to [email protected]Inkana7 wrote:If someone could forward me the set, I'd be thankful. Giantkiller54 (at) gmail (dot) com.
Charles Hang
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Re: General Discussion
Sorry about that, I mistyped the answer when I wrote the bonus and it must not have been caught.MLafer wrote:The 'Huslemann' letter of Daniel Webster should be 'Hulsemann Letter'. Bizarrely, we protested that this answer was indeed Hulsemann, asking the moderator to go to Google for the answer, and the moderator claimed that the first two results said 'Huslemann'!
Daniel Hothem
TJHSST '11 | UVA '15 | Oregon '??
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- Excelsior (smack)
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Re: General Discussion
Can somebody post the rakshasi tossup (from finals 2, I think)? Also the seafloor spreading tossup? (and/or email me the set, [email protected])
I particularly liked the routing tossup. If I'm not mistaken, the rent tossup dropped the definition of rent still in power. The mark/recapture tossup was pretty cool, though I did not know it actually had a name before now.
I particularly liked the routing tossup. If I'm not mistaken, the rent tossup dropped the definition of rent still in power. The mark/recapture tossup was pretty cool, though I did not know it actually had a name before now.
Ashvin Srivatsa
Corporate drone '?? | Yale University '14 | Sycamore High School (OH) '10
Corporate drone '?? | Yale University '14 | Sycamore High School (OH) '10
Re: General Discussion
Me too, ckmanners (at) gmail (dot) com.Inkana7 wrote:If someone could forward me the set, I'd be thankful. Giantkiller54 (at) gmail (dot) com.
Quince Orchard HS '11
Maryland - College Park '15
Well, you built up a world of magic
Because your real life is tragic
Yeah, you built up a world of magic
Re: General Discussion
Here are the requested questions:Excelsior (smack) wrote:Can somebody post the rakshasi tossup (from finals 2, I think)? Also the seafloor spreading tossup? (and/or email me the set, [email protected])
I particularly liked the routing tossup. If I'm not mistaken, the rent tossup dropped the definition of rent still in power. The mark/recapture tossup was pretty cool, though I did not know it actually had a name before now.
Code: Select all
4) One of these beings had her nose and ears cut off after she was spurned by a certain prince and jealously
threatened his wife. Another tried to capture Hanuman by pulling on his shadow. Yet another of these beings,
the son of Hidimbi and Bhima, was killed by a divine weapon that Karna had been saving to use on Arjuna.
These beings, which included Surpanakha and Ghatotkacha, were first created when they emerged from
Brahma’s foot. The largest of them slept through all but two days of the year. Besides (*) the aforementioned
Kumbhakarna and his brother Vibheeshana, they include Maricha, who transformed into a golden deer and tricked
Lakshmana and his brother into leaving their camp. Their ten-headed king then kidnapped Sita. For 10 points, name
these demons led by the king Ravana, who are the antagonists of the Ramayana.
ANSWER: Rakshasas [accept Rakshasis; prompt on “demons”]
<Ben>
Code: Select all
10) This process can lead to the formation of back arcs. Evidence for this process includes low seismic wave
velocities along ridges, as well as anomalously high heat flow values. This process first proposed by Harry
Hess. The existence of this process is further supported by (*) magnetic striping, as well as the fact that the
oldest sediment affected dates only to the Jurassic Period. It is thought to be behind the separation of Africa from
East Asia, and older material involved in this process is gradually recycled through subduction. This process is most
likely caused by convection in the asthenosphere. For 10 points, name this process that explains continental drift and
by which the ocean floor expands at places like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
ANSWER: seafloor spreading
<SEA>
Code: Select all
10) Among Adam Smith’s theories into the origin of this concept were that it arose from bounties of nature,
that it arose from differential advantage, or that it arose from a monopoly. Thomas Malthus wrote “An
Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of” this concept in which he justified changing its levels in response to
currency fluctuations and attacked the notion that it represented “price above the cost of production.” David
Ricardo defined it as equaling the economic advantage obtained from using (*) land for its most productive use
over using land for a marginal use in a law named after this concept. In macroeconomics, the net present value of all
payments of this type must equal the present value of a property. For 10 points, give this term describing the cost of
leasing property whose price is limited in a type of control in some large cities.
ANSWER: rent
<KD>
MLafer wrote: Packet 1 - The 'Ferdinand' tossup seems to be a hose for 'Alfonso', since in the first line it's already apparent that this is a Spanish monarch, and there is an Alfonso the Learned (Alfonso X)
My bad, I should have check for other monarchs nicknamed the Learned. I'll fix it for the next mirror
MLafer wrote: The gluons bonus is kind of silly in that it gives 'glueballs' when asking for gluons and mentions several colors in the part on 'color'.
I was perhaps too kind in this. It might be changed for the next mirrors.
MLafer wrote: pontifex maximus - the lead-in is practically a giveaway, as there's only one title famously used by both popes and in ancient Rome
I didn't feel this was as obvious as you are saying it is as it could have been some derogatory Roman office that Tertullian gave to the Pope. Two pretty good teams (OSU A and Illinois) in my room got it after power.
I'll add thatMLafer wrote: 'Tories' should be acceptable/promptable for the British Conservative Party.
Libo
Washington '14, Michigan '13, Troy High School '09
Washington '14, Michigan '13, Troy High School '09
Re: General Discussion
I feel like Harry Hess is too early in the seafloor spreading tossup (mainly because non-scientist me is powering it), although this strikes me as hard to write on.
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota
"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
Formerly U of Minnesota
"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
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Re: General Discussion
I concur with Mike Cheyne about Hess being dropped a bit early. The rent tossup in fact does define it in power (the "price above the cost of production" definition is the one that was in the first chapter of both intro econ textbooks I've used, in any case).
Maybe I just know things about rakshas(a|i)s, but all of the episodes from the Ramayana/Mahabharata that are mentioned in the tossup seem rather well-known, including the leadin. I do like the tossup idea, though.
Maybe I just know things about rakshas(a|i)s, but all of the episodes from the Ramayana/Mahabharata that are mentioned in the tossup seem rather well-known, including the leadin. I do like the tossup idea, though.
Ashvin Srivatsa
Corporate drone '?? | Yale University '14 | Sycamore High School (OH) '10
Corporate drone '?? | Yale University '14 | Sycamore High School (OH) '10
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Re: General Discussion
It might be easy to guess off of Indian names, but like, I seriously doubt that those clues are well-known to the general population.Excelsior (smack) wrote:I concur with Mike Cheyne about Hess being dropped a bit early. The rent tossup in fact does define it in power (the "price above the cost of production" definition is the one that was in the first chapter of both intro econ textbooks I've used, in any case).
Maybe I just know things about rakshas(a|i)s, but all of the episodes from the Ramayana/Mahabharata that are mentioned in the tossup seem rather well-known, including the leadin. I do like the tossup idea, though.
Matt Bollinger
UVA '14, UVA '15
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Re: General Discussion
Anyone with more experience, feel free to correct me, but from what I've gathered from my intro-level geology class, plate tectonics are no longer thought to be powered by convection, but by ridge push/slab pull, or gravity, essentially.Ringil wrote:Code: Select all
10) This process can lead to the formation of back arcs. Evidence for this process includes low seismic wave velocities along ridges, as well as anomalously high heat flow values. This process first proposed by Harry Hess. The existence of this process is further supported by (*) magnetic striping, as well as the fact that the oldest sediment affected dates only to the Jurassic Period. It is thought to be behind the separation of Africa from East Asia, and older material involved in this process is gradually recycled through subduction. This process is most likely caused by convection in the asthenosphere. For 10 points, name this process that explains continental drift and by which the ocean floor expands at places like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. ANSWER: seafloor spreading <SEA>
Sam Haynes
Jefferson City High 2011
WUSTL 2015
Jefferson City High 2011
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Re: General Discussion
I guess what I'm saying is that anybody who has read the Ramayana and remembers things from it should buzz on the first sentence, and anybody who has read the Mahabharata and remembers things from it should buzz on "son of Hidimbi and Bhima". While I recognize that the Ramayana and Mahabharata aren't as widely read as, say, the Iliad and Odyssey, it seems suboptimal to have a tossup that effectively does not differentiate between two people who have read the Ramayana. There's more than enough minor rakshasas in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and so forth that could be used as leadins that would differentiate better.Cernel Joson wrote:It might be easy to guess off of Indian names, but like, I seriously doubt that those clues are well-known to the general population.
(I'm certainly not arguing that you could easily lateral-think your way to rakshasas off of Indian names - a group of Indian-sounding things could be devas, asuras, avatars of Vishnu, Kauravas, or any number of other things)
Ashvin Srivatsa
Corporate drone '?? | Yale University '14 | Sycamore High School (OH) '10
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Re: General Discussion
So I felt like I should respond to this because it's in my categories, but that caused me to realize that that's not the edited version of that tossup, or my edited version, anyway. This is the version of the tossup I sent to be added to the packets:Excelsior (smack) wrote:I guess what I'm saying is that anybody who has read the Ramayana and remembers things from it should buzz on the first sentence, and anybody who has read the Mahabharata and remembers things from it should buzz on "son of Hidimbi and Bhima". While I recognize that the Ramayana and Mahabharata aren't as widely read as, say, the Iliad and Odyssey, it seems suboptimal to have a tossup that effectively does not differentiate between two people who have read the Ramayana. There's more than enough minor rakshasas in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and so forth that could be used as leadins that would differentiate better.Cernel Joson wrote:It might be easy to guess off of Indian names, but like, I seriously doubt that those clues are well-known to the general population.
(I'm certainly not arguing that you could easily lateral-think your way to rakshasas off of Indian names - a group of Indian-sounding things could be devas, asuras, avatars of Vishnu, Kauravas, or any number of other things)
This one was tricky for me to edit but I'd hoped I'd done an ok job. Sorry that the version of this TU that somehow made it into the set was apparently sub-optimal.An ocean-dwelling one of these beings once tried to eat a flying demigod by pulling on his shadow, but that demigod dove into her mouth and dragged her stomach back out through it. These beings were created when they emerged from Brahma’s foot. The largest of these beings had a powerful trident but slept through all but two days of the year. Besides (*) Kumbhakarna and Vibheeshana, they include Maricha, who transformed into a golden deer and tricked Lakshmana and his brother into leaving their camp. Their ten-headed king then kidnapped Sita. For 10 points, name these demons led by the king Ravana who are the antagonists of the Ramayana.
ANSWER: Rakshasas [accept Rakshasis]
<Ben>
<ed. SEA>
Sam L,
Maggie L. Walker Governor's School 2010 / UVA 2014 / VCU School of Education 2016
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Re: General Discussion
I've read versions of both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and don't know what that lead-in is referring to. For another thing, I really think you're overestimating the number of people who have read those two works. If somebody buzzes on the first clue because of that, I don't think it's an issue.
Matt Bollinger
UVA '14, UVA '15
UVA '14, UVA '15
Re: General Discussion
Can someone post the mobile bay question?
Joey Mannor
DAR High School '11
Auburn '15
DAR High School '11
Auburn '15
Re: General Discussion
19) This body of water is home to periodic “Jubilees,” in which changing levels of oxygen in its waters drivejmannor2 wrote:Can someone post the mobile bay question?
fish, crabs, and other creatures towards the shore and the surface, allowing for massive, easy harvests of
seafood. Linked by Grant’s Pass to a nearby Sound, the Middle Bay Lighthouse stands at its center, arising
from the water on a series of stilts. Lesser rivers that flow into it include the Fish, Deer, and Dog Rivers, while
its boundary is framed by the (*) Fort Morgan Peninsula and Dauphin Island. A battle fought in this body of water
saw the use of the tactic of moving ships quickly through a minefield to bring them inside the range of the other
side’s shore-based guns. That battle saw the crippling of the Tennessee by forces under David Farragut and was
fought during the Civil War. For 10 points, name this Alabama bay, the namesake of a city on its shores.
ANSWER: Mobile Bay [accept just Mobile after “Bay” is read in the final line of the question]
<KD>
Libo
Washington '14, Michigan '13, Troy High School '09
Washington '14, Michigan '13, Troy High School '09
Re: General Discussion
Thanks!Ringil wrote:19) This body of water is home to periodic “Jubilees,” in which changing levels of oxygen in its waters drivejmannor2 wrote:Can someone post the mobile bay question?
fish, crabs, and other creatures towards the shore and the surface, allowing for massive, easy harvests of
seafood. Linked by Grant’s Pass to a nearby Sound, the Middle Bay Lighthouse stands at its center, arising
from the water on a series of stilts. Lesser rivers that flow into it include the Fish, Deer, and Dog Rivers, while
its boundary is framed by the (*) Fort Morgan Peninsula and Dauphin Island. A battle fought in this body of water
saw the use of the tactic of moving ships quickly through a minefield to bring them inside the range of the other
side’s shore-based guns. That battle saw the crippling of the Tennessee by forces under David Farragut and was
fought during the Civil War. For 10 points, name this Alabama bay, the namesake of a city on its shores.
ANSWER: Mobile Bay [accept just Mobile after “Bay” is read in the final line of the question]
<KD>
Joey Mannor
DAR High School '11
Auburn '15
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Re: General Discussion
Yeah, the problem with the unedited version is that it essentially gave you "one of these guys was a big jerk to a non-evil hindu god" really early; the edited version you intended to include was much better.The Laughing Cavalier wrote:So I felt like I should respond to this because it's in my categories, but that caused me to realize that that's not the edited version of that tossup, or my edited version, anyway. This is the version of the tossup I sent to be added to the packets:Excelsior (smack) wrote:I guess what I'm saying is that anybody who has read the Ramayana and remembers things from it should buzz on the first sentence, and anybody who has read the Mahabharata and remembers things from it should buzz on "son of Hidimbi and Bhima". While I recognize that the Ramayana and Mahabharata aren't as widely read as, say, the Iliad and Odyssey, it seems suboptimal to have a tossup that effectively does not differentiate between two people who have read the Ramayana. There's more than enough minor rakshasas in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and so forth that could be used as leadins that would differentiate better.Cernel Joson wrote:It might be easy to guess off of Indian names, but like, I seriously doubt that those clues are well-known to the general population.
(I'm certainly not arguing that you could easily lateral-think your way to rakshasas off of Indian names - a group of Indian-sounding things could be devas, asuras, avatars of Vishnu, Kauravas, or any number of other things)
This one was tricky for me to edit but I'd hoped I'd done an ok job. Sorry that the version of this TU that somehow made it into the set was apparently sub-optimal.An ocean-dwelling one of these beings once tried to eat a flying demigod by pulling on his shadow, but that demigod dove into her mouth and dragged her stomach back out through it. These beings were created when they emerged from Brahma’s foot. The largest of these beings had a powerful trident but slept through all but two days of the year. Besides (*) Kumbhakarna and Vibheeshana, they include Maricha, who transformed into a golden deer and tricked Lakshmana and his brother into leaving their camp. Their ten-headed king then kidnapped Sita. For 10 points, name these demons led by the king Ravana who are the antagonists of the Ramayana.
ANSWER: Rakshasas [accept Rakshasis]
<Ben>
<ed. SEA>
While I'm commenting on the myth: the "spear" question, as mentioned earlier, was pretty easy. The most serious problem I remember was with the Rhiannon tossup: Pwyll is equally correct for at least the first half of the first sentence (through the mention of Cigfa), since the only pronoun the question had used to that point was "this figure", and Pryderi is as much his son as he is hers. I certainly understand why you might not want to be so up-front about the gender; a simple "accept Pwyll until x" in the answer line is all you really need there. Overall, though, I thought the myth was quite good, lots of pleasing and well-chosen early clues and hard parts and such.
More on this set later (it wasn't perfect, but it certainly wasn't terrible, and I had a lot of fun playing it!).
Rob Carson
University of Minnesota '11, MCTC '??, BHSU forever
Member, ACF
Member emeritus, PACE
Writer and Editor, NAQT
University of Minnesota '11, MCTC '??, BHSU forever
Member, ACF
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Writer and Editor, NAQT
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Re: General Discussion
Can someone forward me the set? husbandofsamus at gmail dot com
Jake Sundberg
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Re: General Discussion
CURSE YOU AND YOUR ADMIN POWERS ROB CARSONUkonvasara wrote:Yeah, the problem with the unedited version is that it essentially gave you "one of these guys was a big jerk to a non-evil hindu god" really early; the edited version you intended to include was much better.The Laughing Cavalier wrote:So I felt like I should respond to this because it's in my categories, but that caused me to realize that that's not the edited version of that tossup, or my edited version, anyway. This is the version of the tossup I sent to be added to the packets:Excelsior (smack) wrote:I guess what I'm saying is that anybody who has read the Ramayana and remembers things from it should buzz on the first sentence, and anybody who has read the Mahabharata and remembers things from it should buzz on "son of Hidimbi and Bhima". While I recognize that the Ramayana and Mahabharata aren't as widely read as, say, the Iliad and Odyssey, it seems suboptimal to have a tossup that effectively does not differentiate between two people who have read the Ramayana. There's more than enough minor rakshasas in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and so forth that could be used as leadins that would differentiate better.Cernel Joson wrote:It might be easy to guess off of Indian names, but like, I seriously doubt that those clues are well-known to the general population.
(I'm certainly not arguing that you could easily lateral-think your way to rakshasas off of Indian names - a group of Indian-sounding things could be devas, asuras, avatars of Vishnu, Kauravas, or any number of other things)
This one was tricky for me to edit but I'd hoped I'd done an ok job. Sorry that the version of this TU that somehow made it into the set was apparently sub-optimal.An ocean-dwelling one of these beings once tried to eat a flying demigod by pulling on his shadow, but that demigod dove into her mouth and dragged her stomach back out through it. These beings were created when they emerged from Brahma’s foot. The largest of these beings had a powerful trident but slept through all but two days of the year. Besides (*) Kumbhakarna and Vibheeshana, they include Maricha, who transformed into a golden deer and tricked Lakshmana and his brother into leaving their camp. Their ten-headed king then kidnapped Sita. For 10 points, name these demons led by the king Ravana who are the antagonists of the Ramayana.
ANSWER: Rakshasas [accept Rakshasis]
<Ben>
<ed. SEA>
While I'm commenting on the myth: the "spear" question, as mentioned earlier, was pretty easy. The most serious problem I remember was with the Rhiannon tossup: Pwyll is equally correct for at least the first half of the first sentence (through the mention of Cigfa), since the only pronoun the question had used to that point was "this figure", and Pryderi is as much his son as he is hers. I certainly understand why you might not want to be so up-front about the gender; a simple "accept Pwyll until x" in the answer line is all you really need there. Overall, though, I thought the myth was quite good, lots of pleasing and well-chosen early clues and hard parts and such.
More on this set later (it wasn't perfect, but it certainly wasn't terrible, and I had a lot of fun playing it!).
Matt Bollinger
UVA '14, UVA '15
UVA '14, UVA '15
Re: General Discussion
This set was fine, but not really the kind of regular-difficulty set I hope to see these days. For one, the amount of quizbowlese in the tournament (as others have pointed out) was at times overwhelming. Fewer of the questions would have exceeded eight lines if the authors had made more economical word choices. Another structural problem, the lack of alternate answers and care in answer-lines, was entirely inexcusable. It's not hard to imagine that someone might buzz with "Kiev" on a tossup on the Kievan Rus; you should tell the moderator what to do when it happens. A bunch of answer lines had excessive underlining, just plain wrong answers (mis-typed words, etc.), or missing alternate answers that players are likely to give. This is a lazy practice that must stop.
Secondly, the tournament missed the mark of an early-season regular difficulty tournament. Tossups on Paolo Uccello and Arshile Gorky are fun to play for me (incidentally, I thought that the Gorky tossup did a poor job describing various works that I would have buzzed off of with even a little bit more description, especially the portraits of his mother), but I cringe a little to think of the target-audience teams that have to sit through seven-plus lines on those guys.
More detrimentally, I found a number of questions in this set to be entirely guessable. The "rites of passage" tossup seems pretty illustrative of this trend. From the outset, you're talking about an anthropological event that changes young people. That's not a good tossup; in a room with a couple good teams in it, it's basically an eight-line dare to buzz before the other team gets up the nerve. At times, it felt like I could just take my best shot at a tossup about a third of the way through and get power about 2/3 of the time, and I don't like playing when that's the best strategy.
I also didn't enjoy several of the author tossups (for many of the reasons that Mike mentioned, though it seemed that there were also problems with misplaced clues (Capek/Robinson) in the author tossups as well) but I did notice that there were fewer of them than at many recent tournaments. There were also several tossups that had misplaced clues all over. It's fine if you don't know that Radius shouldn't be where it was in the Capek tossup, but it's fairly inexcusable to have "Italy" all over the lead-in clues to "Harold in Italy." Finally, the science tossups seemed to recapitulate the parade-of-names style of writing that (while it benefits me and my knowledge of all things "associated with") I hoped we had left in the dust a couple years ago.
This is a negative post, but this tournament wasn't bad. On the whole, it was just north of "workmanlike," which is still a fine place to be. In general, it seemed like the set was composed of a majority of good questions (though often rendered in poor English and with sloppy answer lines) and three pretty large clouds of orbiting tossups that were too difficult, too guessable, or frustrating to play because of systematic problems or misplaced clues. All in all, a solid B- effort. But I know that these authors are capable of much better.
Secondly, the tournament missed the mark of an early-season regular difficulty tournament. Tossups on Paolo Uccello and Arshile Gorky are fun to play for me (incidentally, I thought that the Gorky tossup did a poor job describing various works that I would have buzzed off of with even a little bit more description, especially the portraits of his mother), but I cringe a little to think of the target-audience teams that have to sit through seven-plus lines on those guys.
More detrimentally, I found a number of questions in this set to be entirely guessable. The "rites of passage" tossup seems pretty illustrative of this trend. From the outset, you're talking about an anthropological event that changes young people. That's not a good tossup; in a room with a couple good teams in it, it's basically an eight-line dare to buzz before the other team gets up the nerve. At times, it felt like I could just take my best shot at a tossup about a third of the way through and get power about 2/3 of the time, and I don't like playing when that's the best strategy.
I also didn't enjoy several of the author tossups (for many of the reasons that Mike mentioned, though it seemed that there were also problems with misplaced clues (Capek/Robinson) in the author tossups as well) but I did notice that there were fewer of them than at many recent tournaments. There were also several tossups that had misplaced clues all over. It's fine if you don't know that Radius shouldn't be where it was in the Capek tossup, but it's fairly inexcusable to have "Italy" all over the lead-in clues to "Harold in Italy." Finally, the science tossups seemed to recapitulate the parade-of-names style of writing that (while it benefits me and my knowledge of all things "associated with") I hoped we had left in the dust a couple years ago.
This is a negative post, but this tournament wasn't bad. On the whole, it was just north of "workmanlike," which is still a fine place to be. In general, it seemed like the set was composed of a majority of good questions (though often rendered in poor English and with sloppy answer lines) and three pretty large clouds of orbiting tossups that were too difficult, too guessable, or frustrating to play because of systematic problems or misplaced clues. All in all, a solid B- effort. But I know that these authors are capable of much better.
Andrew Hart
Minnesota alum
Minnesota alum
Re: General Discussion
Wait, Paolo Uccello is too hard for a regular difficulty tournament? He's a famous Renaissance painter!
Auroni Gupta (she/her)
Re: General Discussion
I'd love to see the EA Robinson TU please.
Steven Wellstead
Fisher Catholic High School '07
Case Western Reserve University '11
NAQT writer
Fisher Catholic High School '07
Case Western Reserve University '11
NAQT writer
-
- Tidus
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:57 am
- Location: Washington DC
Re: General Discussion
This tournament was fine but it skewed hard for a regular difficulty tournament especially in arts and SS. I'd rate it a 6.5 or 7 out of 10. I enjoyed questions about Bakhtin, Mysteries of Udolpho and Arshile Gorky because they played well to our strengths, but they don’t represent appropriate regular difficulty. The UVA half of the tournament was more consistent than the Michigan questions which I found very uneven. Aside from a few transparent tossups and a few clunkers like the terrible Lolita question, playing this set left me with the impression that the writers didn’t have the right mindset for writing a true regular difficulty tournament, which isn’t just picking easy answer lines like Pinter or an “accessible” theoretical concept like poetry. Picking appropriate clues and including a lot of middle clues are critical.
I felt this issue especially plagued Kurtis’s questions on writers/thinkers that had recurring problems. His questions on Pinter, Osborne, C. Wright Mill exemplify the problem of piling on too many leadins at the cost of middle clues. The criticism of the Pinter question can’t be dismissed simply by chocking it up to different aesthetic preferences. The problem with the tossup is not any individual clue from an obscure Pinter work, but rather the fact it devoted 7 lines to his minor plays and only gave one line to his eight most important plays. There should always be more middle clues than leadin clues for regular difficulty tournaments. I’ve found that writing tossups from the bottom up (i. e. writing easy and middle clues before leadins) helped me avoid top-heavy questions. I’m not trying to slam Kurtis, but suggest thinking about what kind of knowledge the target audience is likely to have and how you can best use a tossup to differentiate levels of knowledge. For example, the C. Wright Mill tossup doesn't need six lines to differentiate who knows more about his lesser known essays (with only one line about The Causes of World War Three and a single clue from “The Sociological Imagination”). Basically, I think Kurtis would be a better writer if he considered the opportunity cost of including each leadin clue.
I have a couple more random thoughts about this tournament that I’ll post later, but I want to re-iterate that there were a lot of good things about this set and I thought the tossup on Paradiso was a particularly good idea since it seems like there should be more Divine Comedy questions not on the Inferno.
I felt this issue especially plagued Kurtis’s questions on writers/thinkers that had recurring problems. His questions on Pinter, Osborne, C. Wright Mill exemplify the problem of piling on too many leadins at the cost of middle clues. The criticism of the Pinter question can’t be dismissed simply by chocking it up to different aesthetic preferences. The problem with the tossup is not any individual clue from an obscure Pinter work, but rather the fact it devoted 7 lines to his minor plays and only gave one line to his eight most important plays. There should always be more middle clues than leadin clues for regular difficulty tournaments. I’ve found that writing tossups from the bottom up (i. e. writing easy and middle clues before leadins) helped me avoid top-heavy questions. I’m not trying to slam Kurtis, but suggest thinking about what kind of knowledge the target audience is likely to have and how you can best use a tossup to differentiate levels of knowledge. For example, the C. Wright Mill tossup doesn't need six lines to differentiate who knows more about his lesser known essays (with only one line about The Causes of World War Three and a single clue from “The Sociological Imagination”). Basically, I think Kurtis would be a better writer if he considered the opportunity cost of including each leadin clue.
I have a couple more random thoughts about this tournament that I’ll post later, but I want to re-iterate that there were a lot of good things about this set and I thought the tossup on Paradiso was a particularly good idea since it seems like there should be more Divine Comedy questions not on the Inferno.
Ted Gioia - Harvard '12
Editor ACF, PACE
Editor ACF, PACE
Re: General Discussion
20) This man noted that “they are all gone away” and “there is nothing more to say” in a villanelleswwFCqb wrote:I'd love to see the EA Robinson TU please.
about “The House on the Hill.” This man compares a lonely old man to “Roland’s ghost winding a silent
horn” while drinking alone above his town in “Mr. Flood’s Party.” This author notes “hell is more than
half of paradise” in one poem and describes a man who (*) “dreamed of Thebes and Camelot, / and Priam’s
neighbors” but “kept on drinking” in another. This author of “Luke Havergal” also described a man “admirably
schooled in every grace” who “went home and put a bullet through his head.” For 10 points, name this poet, who
populated his Tilbury Town with such characters as Miniver Cheevy and Richard Cory.
ANSWER: Edwin Arlington Robinson
<SEA>
Sorry about the Kievan Rus thing, I should have been more vigilant. Are there any specific science tossups that particularly seemed to parade names? I'm interested in knowing so I can improve for the future.theMoMA wrote:This set was fine, but not really the kind of regular-difficulty set I hope to see these days. For one, the amount of quizbowlese in the tournament (as others have pointed out) was at times overwhelming. Fewer of the questions would have exceeded eight lines if the authors had made more economical word choices. Another structural problem, the lack of alternate answers and care in answer-lines, was entirely inexcusable. It's not hard to imagine that someone might buzz with "Kiev" on a tossup on the Kievan Rus; you should tell the moderator what to do when it happens. A bunch of answer lines had excessive underlining, just plain wrong answers (mis-typed words, etc.), or missing alternate answers that players are likely to give. This is a lazy practice that must stop.
Finally, the science tossups seemed to recapitulate the parade-of-names style of writing that (while it benefits me and my knowledge of all things "associated with") I hoped we had left in the dust a couple years ago.
This is a negative post, but this tournament wasn't bad. On the whole, it was just north of "workmanlike," which is still a fine place to be. In general, it seemed like the set was composed of a majority of good questions (though often rendered in poor English and with sloppy answer lines) and three pretty large clouds of orbiting tossups that were too difficult, too guessable, or frustrating to play because of systematic problems or misplaced clues. All in all, a solid B- effort. But I know that these authors are capable of much better.
Libo
Washington '14, Michigan '13, Troy High School '09
Washington '14, Michigan '13, Troy High School '09