GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Update)
GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Update)
I am pleased to announce GEODUCK (Geographic Designs of the Unusual and Conventional Kinds), a tossup-only tournament dealing with all things geography. All questions will be written by me, Kenji Shimizu, over an even spread of both natural/physical and human geography. Many of these questions will also cross over into other subject areas of the quizbowl distribution (and yes, that includes science!), so even people traditionally averse to hearing geography questions will find something that they'll enjoy.
This tournament will consist of 10 packets of 24 tossups, with 15-point powers (and no superpowers). Questions will be capped at 8 lines in 10-point Times New Roman font after powermarking. The overall difficulty of both clues and answerlines will be similar to the quizbowl portions of the 2014 and 2015 U.S. Geography Olympiad, and will test knowledge of both specific (e.g. cities, landmarks) and general (e.g. agricultural, demographic trends) answers, with a conscious attempt to increase the amount of questions about the latter. To ensure a balance between conventional and unusual material, this tournament will also follow a difficulty quota a la VCU Open 2015 or Eyes That Do Not See.
The distribution is an extrapolated and slightly modified version of the typical Geo Monstrosity distribution, and is as follows:
3 United States
1.5 Other North/Central America/Caribbean
1.5 South America
4 Europe
4 Asia/Middle East
3 Africa
1 Australia/Oceania/Antarctica
3 miscellaneous/common links
1 geography-minded trash
2 other academic
The “common link” distribution is only for common links that do not neatly fit into any other part of the distribution. For example, the "dolphins" tossup from 2015 USGO, which uses clues from the Caribbean, Brazil, and China, would fit here, but the "Buddha statues" tossup from the same tournament, which uses clues from Japan and southeast Asia, would fit perfectly in the Asia distribution.
Questions in the “other academic” distribution would fit better in a category other than geography at a regular college tournament, but are still geography-related. Social science and space “geography” questions would fit here, although they are definitely not the only possibility.
Fictional geography will still show up in both the Trash and Other Academic distributions.
This tournament is currently 25% complete, and will most likely be ready for mirrors by the second summer open/potential side event weekend (late July/early August 2017). It will likely cost $10 per player.
This tournament will consist of 10 packets of 24 tossups, with 15-point powers (and no superpowers). Questions will be capped at 8 lines in 10-point Times New Roman font after powermarking. The overall difficulty of both clues and answerlines will be similar to the quizbowl portions of the 2014 and 2015 U.S. Geography Olympiad, and will test knowledge of both specific (e.g. cities, landmarks) and general (e.g. agricultural, demographic trends) answers, with a conscious attempt to increase the amount of questions about the latter. To ensure a balance between conventional and unusual material, this tournament will also follow a difficulty quota a la VCU Open 2015 or Eyes That Do Not See.
The distribution is an extrapolated and slightly modified version of the typical Geo Monstrosity distribution, and is as follows:
3 United States
1.5 Other North/Central America/Caribbean
1.5 South America
4 Europe
4 Asia/Middle East
3 Africa
1 Australia/Oceania/Antarctica
3 miscellaneous/common links
1 geography-minded trash
2 other academic
The “common link” distribution is only for common links that do not neatly fit into any other part of the distribution. For example, the "dolphins" tossup from 2015 USGO, which uses clues from the Caribbean, Brazil, and China, would fit here, but the "Buddha statues" tossup from the same tournament, which uses clues from Japan and southeast Asia, would fit perfectly in the Asia distribution.
Questions in the “other academic” distribution would fit better in a category other than geography at a regular college tournament, but are still geography-related. Social science and space “geography” questions would fit here, although they are definitely not the only possibility.
Fictional geography will still show up in both the Trash and Other Academic distributions.
This tournament is currently 25% complete, and will most likely be ready for mirrors by the second summer open/potential side event weekend (late July/early August 2017). It will likely cost $10 per player.
Last edited by Wynaut on Mon Sep 11, 2017 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
Kenji Shimizu
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Yayyyyyyyy!
Great name, by the way. I'll be trying very hard to play this in person.
Great name, by the way. I'll be trying very hard to play this in person.
Conor Thompson (he/it)
Bangor High School '16
University of Michigan '20
Iowa State University '25
Tournament Format Database
Bangor High School '16
University of Michigan '20
Iowa State University '25
Tournament Format Database
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
As the dude who's currently writing this year's iteration of Geography Olympiad, I will most certainly play this.
Last edited by Corry on Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Corry Wang
Arcadia High School 2013
Amherst College 2017
NAQT Writer and Subject Editor
Arcadia High School 2013
Amherst College 2017
NAQT Writer and Subject Editor
- $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy
- Lulu
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- lumosityfan
- Lulu
- Posts: 54
- Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:27 pm
- Location: Houston, TX
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Yes! Hopefully I'll get a chance to play this!
Jeff Xie
John P. Stevens Class of 2015 (Go Hawks!)
Columbia University Class of 2019 (Go Lions!)
John P. Stevens Class of 2015 (Go Hawks!)
Columbia University Class of 2019 (Go Lions!)
- Important Bird Area
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- Contact:
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
I WILL DESTROY YOU
(seriously, this sounds great and I look forward to playing it)
(seriously, this sounds great and I look forward to playing it)
Jeff Hoppes
President, Northern California Quiz Bowl Alliance
former HSQB Chief Admin (2012-13)
VP for Communication and history subject editor, NAQT
Editor emeritus, ACF
"I wish to make some kind of joke about Jeff's love of birds, but I always fear he'll turn them on me Hitchcock-style." -Fred
President, Northern California Quiz Bowl Alliance
former HSQB Chief Admin (2012-13)
VP for Communication and history subject editor, NAQT
Editor emeritus, ACF
"I wish to make some kind of joke about Jeff's love of birds, but I always fear he'll turn them on me Hitchcock-style." -Fred
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- Lulu
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:17 pm
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Geo is what got me hooked on quiz bowl. I'M SO READY.
Ben Anthony
Harrison High School '17, Purdue University '21
I made this as a freshman, I realize my name is stupid. I never even played Bioshock.
Harrison High School '17, Purdue University '21
I made this as a freshman, I realize my name is stupid. I never even played Bioshock.
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Father Comstock wrote:Geo is what got me hooked on quiz bowl. I'M SO READY.
Moses Kitakule
ESA '15
Yale '19
Columbia '28 (???)
ESA '15
Yale '19
Columbia '28 (???)
- A Dim-Witted Saboteur
- Yuna
- Posts: 973
- Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
- Location: Indiana
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Hopefully this will compensate for my middle-school geo bee and IGeO inadequacies!
In all seriousness, I am definitely going to play this.
In all seriousness, I am definitely going to play this.
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Any chance that there'll be a Skype mirror for this? I don't think I'll be able to make it to any of the in-person summer opens but I'd still love to play this.
Moses Kitakule
ESA '15
Yale '19
Columbia '28 (???)
ESA '15
Yale '19
Columbia '28 (???)
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Hey, I just remembered this was happening. Any updates on your progress? I'd be pretty stoked to play this sometime in the next few months.
Corry Wang
Arcadia High School 2013
Amherst College 2017
NAQT Writer and Subject Editor
Arcadia High School 2013
Amherst College 2017
NAQT Writer and Subject Editor
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
I assume this is happening because I talked to Kenji last night, but can we get a confirmation on the number of packets and the completion status?
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota
"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
Formerly U of Minnesota
"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
This is currently 75% done. There will be 10 packets of 24 tossups only.
Kenji Shimizu
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
I would like to thank the fine folks at Berkeley and VCU for mirroring and playing this set. I hope you all enjoyed it!
I'd like to have a private discussion forum for this set up in the next few days, as well as the logistics for an online Skype/Discord mirror (which will most likely happen toward the end of the month).
I'd like to have a private discussion forum for this set up in the next few days, as well as the logistics for an online Skype/Discord mirror (which will most likely happen toward the end of the month).
Kenji Shimizu
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
-
- Wakka
- Posts: 126
- Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2013 2:01 pm
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
As someone who doesn't have much interest in geography and played this set on a whim, this set was a blast! Tons of fun and fresh tossups in each packet, I'd highly recommend anyone who's even slightly interested in geography (or not) to play this.
Aseem Keyal
Berkeley '18
Berkeley '18
- naan/steak-holding toll
- Auron
- Posts: 2517
- Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:53 pm
- Location: New York, NY
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
This tournament was superb. I highly recommend playing.
Will Alston
Dartmouth College '16
Columbia Business School '21
Dartmouth College '16
Columbia Business School '21
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
This was such a good tournament. Kenji is clearly a good writer and a careful editor.
Brendan McKendy
University of Ottawa 2011
University of Ottawa 2011
- Fado Alexandrino
- Yuna
- Posts: 834
- Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 8:46 pm
- Location: Farhaven, Ontario
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
This is a Very True Statement.aseem.keyal wrote:As someone who doesn't have much interest in geography and played this set on a whim, this set was a blast! Tons of fun and fresh tossups in each packet, I'd highly recommend anyone who's even slightly interested in geography (or not) to play this.
Joe Su, OCT
Lisgar 2012, McGill 2015, McGill 2019, Queen's 2020
Lisgar 2012, McGill 2015, McGill 2019, Queen's 2020
- Senator_Jay
- Rikku
- Posts: 257
- Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2008 3:03 pm
- Location: Hamilton, ON
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Very much enjoyed this! Thanks for writing the set :)
Jay Misuk
McMaster University, 2009, 2010, 2016
University of Toronto, 2011, 2017, 2022
MEd. (Educational Linguistics) MSc. (CogSciLing), Hon. BA (Linguistics), BA (History), BEd. (History, Geography, Music, Math, Soc. Sci, Law, Latin)
Tri-national competitor; tri-national neg champion.
To quote the ephemeral Jordan Palmer - "There is no shame, only points"
McMaster University, 2009, 2010, 2016
University of Toronto, 2011, 2017, 2022
MEd. (Educational Linguistics) MSc. (CogSciLing), Hon. BA (Linguistics), BA (History), BEd. (History, Geography, Music, Math, Soc. Sci, Law, Latin)
Tri-national competitor; tri-national neg champion.
To quote the ephemeral Jordan Palmer - "There is no shame, only points"
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
This was a terrific set. Thank you for writing it.
Nikhil Desai
Bellarmine College Prep '12
Stanford '18 (leave of absence 2016-17)
Bellarmine College Prep '12
Stanford '18 (leave of absence 2016-17)
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Well since this is apparently the best geography tournament ever, I'm even more interested in playing an online mirror of this - is that still happening?
Corry Wang
Arcadia High School 2013
Amherst College 2017
NAQT Writer and Subject Editor
Arcadia High School 2013
Amherst College 2017
NAQT Writer and Subject Editor
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
Corry wrote:Well since this is apparently the best geography tournament ever, I'm even more interested in playing an online mirror of this - is that still happening?
Just wanted to bump this for visibility. Is this skype mirror still a thing?
Moses Kitakule
ESA '15
Yale '19
Columbia '28 (???)
ESA '15
Yale '19
Columbia '28 (???)
- A Dim-Witted Saboteur
- Yuna
- Posts: 973
- Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
- Location: Indiana
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
I really, really want this skype mirror to be a thingkitakule wrote:Corry wrote:Well since this is apparently the best geography tournament ever, I'm even more interested in playing an online mirror of this - is that still happening?
Just wanted to bump this for visibility. Is this skype mirror still a thing?
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
I'm going to organize sign-up sheets for the online mirror soon. I'm aiming to hold this on either one of the weekends of the 23rd or the 30th. I will also need other staffers for this -- post here if you're interested in staffing.
Considering that Discord is gaining favor among online mirrors, I'm considering holding it there as well. Feel free to post any feedback concerning dates/platforms.
Considering that Discord is gaining favor among online mirrors, I'm considering holding it there as well. Feel free to post any feedback concerning dates/platforms.
Kenji Shimizu
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)
I will be holding the online mirror of GEODUCK on Sunday, September 24, on Discord, starting at 12:00 noon EDT. Once again, the entry fee will be $10/person. It would be best to hold off your payments until I get an issue concerning people unable to find my Venmo resolved.
Here is the sign-up sheet. I'm tentatively capping off the field at 8 teams. Anyone interested in staffing should also place their names on this sheet -- if you're free on this weekend and have no plans to play/have already played this tournament, it would be greatly appreciated.
Let me know if you have any major objections to the date/time/venue.
Here is the sign-up sheet. I'm tentatively capping off the field at 8 teams. Anyone interested in staffing should also place their names on this sheet -- if you're free on this weekend and have no plans to play/have already played this tournament, it would be greatly appreciated.
Let me know if you have any major objections to the date/time/venue.
Kenji Shimizu
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
Reminder that there's still time to sign up for the online mirror, and if you're free to staff on Sunday, please do so! A full logistics announcement will be coming shortly.
Kenji Shimizu
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
- naan/steak-holding toll
- Auron
- Posts: 2517
- Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:53 pm
- Location: New York, NY
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
I suspect you would be more likely to get staff if you informed them of compensation?Wynaut wrote:Reminder that there's still time to sign up for the online mirror, and if you're free to staff on Sunday, please do so! A full logistics announcement will be coming shortly.
Will Alston
Dartmouth College '16
Columbia Business School '21
Dartmouth College '16
Columbia Business School '21
- A Dim-Witted Saboteur
- Yuna
- Posts: 973
- Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
- Location: Indiana
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
Given that only 12 people have signed up, could we play this as doubles so people can play more than 2 different teams?
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
I forgot to mention that, since I've converted most of the tossups in Packets 9 and 10 for use in different tournaments (including one I have yet to announce), I only have 8 packets to read for this mirror.
As such, I'll be splitting everyone into 4 teams and run it as a double round-robin with a finals game, for a total of 7 rounds. We'll still start at 12:00 noon EDT this coming Sunday.
I've made the Discord server, which anyone playing/staffing can join here. Be in the #lobby channel 30 minutes before the start of the tournament, in case anyone has any last-minute issues.
In addition, I will pay $20 to the first person who volunteers to read rounds on Sunday. You can post in this thread, email me, or PM me on Facebook/Discord if you're interested. This has gone to Richard Yu. Thank you very much!
As such, I'll be splitting everyone into 4 teams and run it as a double round-robin with a finals game, for a total of 7 rounds. We'll still start at 12:00 noon EDT this coming Sunday.
I've made the Discord server, which anyone playing/staffing can join here. Be in the #lobby channel 30 minutes before the start of the tournament, in case anyone has any last-minute issues.
Kenji Shimizu
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
Team "McMurdo on the Orient Express" (Jakob Myers et. al.) defeated Team "Geoduck Amuck" (Alex Schmidt et. al.) to win the online mirror! Stats will be posted soon.
I will also be reading Packets 6, 7, and 8 in the Quizbowl Discord here at 8:00 PM EDT. This will happen at a later date.
If you haven't paid me but have already contacted me about payment, I will resolve these situations over the next week.
If you haven't paid me but have already contacted me about payment, I will resolve these situations over the next week.
Kenji Shimizu
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
University of Michigan '18
Summit Academy North High School '13
- $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy
- Lulu
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:43 pm
- Location: Atlanta, GA
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
Any idea when stats will be posted?
Sam Rombro
Arizona '20
Maryland '18
Writer, NAQT (inactive)
Arizona '20
Maryland '18
Writer, NAQT (inactive)
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
Also interested in seeing this!DuPhos wrote:Any idea when stats will be posted?
Corry Wang
Arcadia High School 2013
Amherst College 2017
NAQT Writer and Subject Editor
Arcadia High School 2013
Amherst College 2017
NAQT Writer and Subject Editor
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- Wakka
- Posts: 175
- Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 9:20 pm
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
Agreed. Stats would be great, but so I'd also like to pay you.
Peter Schmidt
Columbia '84, Yale '88
Coach, Moravian Academy History Bowl 2020-23
Lehigh Valley Academy 2016-18
Pennsylvania NASAT '15, ‘18, ‘22, '23
Owner and Teacher, Prepare Test Preparation
Columbia '84, Yale '88
Coach, Moravian Academy History Bowl 2020-23
Lehigh Valley Academy 2016-18
Pennsylvania NASAT '15, ‘18, ‘22, '23
Owner and Teacher, Prepare Test Preparation
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
Have stats been memory-holed?
- A Dim-Witted Saboteur
- Yuna
- Posts: 973
- Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
- Location: Indiana
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
Stats yes or stats no?
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
There's a stats spreadsheet but it seems like Kenji is busy with other things. I can make a copy of the spreadsheet if someone else wants to spend 10-20 min dumping it into SQBS
Richard
- A Dim-Witted Saboteur
- Yuna
- Posts: 973
- Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:31 pm
- Location: Indiana
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
Online mirror stats are now up: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournament ... standings/ Thanks for writing a great tournament, Kenji!
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2?
"No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
Re: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Updat
When can we expect this set to be posted? Only about half the packets were read in Cambridge, and I'd love to play the rest in practice.
Thomas De Bock - Oxford Brookes University