2025 WAO III (Spring Open)

[naan/steak-holding toll]

I'm very pleased to announce WAO (Wang Anshi/Will Alston Open) III: The Ten Thousand Tossup Memorial!

Unlike the previous two WAOs, this tournament will be a more difficult housewrite and is intended to serve as the traditional pre-Nats open. Our target difficulty is "four dot with a solid minus" - equivalent to BHSU, Minnesota Open 2012, and similar easier pre-Nats tournaments - though we won't be unhappy if it ends up easier, closer to 2016 "stanford housewrite." The set will be available for mirrors starting in February 2025.

Eric Mukherjee and myself will serve as co-head editors and subject editors for this tournament; Chandler West, Conor Thompson, and Zach Foster will also serve as subject editors.

We currently have about dozen writers on staff and are set, but if you're interested in contributing a few questions, please contact Eric or myself.

Distribution:

1/1 Long Fiction
1/1 Poetry
1/1 Drama and Short Fiction
1/1 Misc. Lit (including more of the above)

Literature will be balanced by geography as well across packets. Miscellaneous Literature will emphasize nonfiction and additional Long Fiction content.

1/1 US + Canadian History
1/1 European History
1/1 World History
1/1 Ancient and Misc. History

For history, a minimum of 1 question in each packet, and a maximum of 2 tossups and 2 bonuses in each packet, will be on content from the 20th century.

1/1 Biology
1/1 Chemistry + Earth Science (vast majority chem)
1/1 Physics + Astronomy (vast majority physics)
1/1 Math, CS, and Other

1/1 Painting + Sculpture
1/1 Classical Music + Opera
1/1 Other Arts

1/1 Religion
0.5/0.5 Mythology*

1/1 Social Science
1/1 Philosophy + "Soft Thought"

0.5/0.5 Geography
0.5/0.5 Modern World
0.5/0.5 Misc and Other Ac

* Ala CMST II, some content that quizbowl traditionally categorizes as mythology will appear in other categories. For example, epic poetry may show up in Literature, historical legends in History, mythography in SS/OAc, and so on.

The mirror fee for this tournament will be $60 per team. We are open to solicitations in all locations, with a preference for strong central sites; we will have at least one online mirror as well.