Morraine Man wrote:I playtested a small portion of the history and found it egregiously difficult, but apparently the field disagreed as I have only heard good things about questions.
every time i refresh i have a new name wrote:
- The splitting of difficulty into prelim/playoff/superplayoff/final was a mistake. It's simply infeasible to calibrate difficulty that finely, and it would have put a significantly less strain on the editing crew to make everything uniform in the first place rather than to change the difficulty of individual packets constantly as the format was in flux. Regardless of what the plan was, I noticed several easier questions in the superplayoff rounds and some harder questions in the prelims.
Wurzel-Flummery wrote:every time i refresh i have a new name wrote:
- The splitting of difficulty into prelim/playoff/superplayoff/final was a mistake. It's simply infeasible to calibrate difficulty that finely, and it would have put a significantly less strain on the editing crew to make everything uniform in the first place rather than to change the difficulty of individual packets constantly as the format was in flux. Regardless of what the plan was, I noticed several easier questions in the superplayoff rounds and some harder questions in the prelims.
Wait, this happened? Since all teams are playing in the playoff and superplayoff, why should they be harder than the prelims? I can understand the finals being harder, but it's kinda pointless to make playoffs harder.
every time i refresh i have a new name wrote:- The splitting of difficulty into prelim/playoff/superplayoff/final was a mistake. It's simply infeasible to calibrate difficulty that finely, and it would have put a significantly less strain on the editing crew to make everything uniform in the first place rather than to change the difficulty of individual packets constantly as the format was in flux. Regardless of what the plan was, I noticed several easier questions in the superplayoff rounds and some harder questions in the prelims.
Bentley Like Beckham wrote:Wurzel-Flummery wrote:every time i refresh i have a new name wrote:
- The splitting of difficulty into prelim/playoff/superplayoff/final was a mistake. It's simply infeasible to calibrate difficulty that finely, and it would have put a significantly less strain on the editing crew to make everything uniform in the first place rather than to change the difficulty of individual packets constantly as the format was in flux. Regardless of what the plan was, I noticed several easier questions in the superplayoff rounds and some harder questions in the prelims.
Wait, this happened? Since all teams are playing in the playoff and superplayoff, why should they be harder than the prelims? I can understand the finals being harder, but it's kinda pointless to make playoffs harder.
The instructions I received was to group the difficulty into 3 levels: prelims, playoffs and super-playoffs (which were to be at the same difficulty), finals (and I guess All-Star for a fourth level).
Papa's in the House wrote:The World History seemed to be 50% middle east and 50% everything else.
Jeremy Gibbs Freesy Does It wrote:Bentley Like Beckham wrote:The instructions I received was to group the difficulty into 3 levels: prelims, playoffs and super-playoffs (which were to be at the same difficulty), finals (and I guess All-Star for a fourth level).
Raynell is absolutely right, and it's unacceptable that Andy Watkins did not think through the obvious implication of having the superplayoffs be harder than the playoffs, which is that it arbitrarily makes some of your superplayoff games on disproportionately easy packets and then tests a somewhat different set of skills for the rest of the games. Incredibly incompetent idea.
Kyle wrote:Papa's in the House wrote:The World History seemed to be 50% middle east and 50% everything else.
There was in fact 5/5 Middle Eastern history in the first 20 questions over the course of 25 rounds (plus 1/1 in the post-20 range), for a total percentage of 20% Middle East and 80% everything else. I laid out the world history distribution back when Auroni was signed on as the history editor. I tried to do so in such a way that the world history would be balanced among all regions. The distribution was (post-20 in parentheses):
5/5 (1/2) Latin America
5/5 (1/1) Middle East
5/5 (1/2) Africa
5/5 (2/1) East Asia
2/2 Southeast Asia
2/2 South Asia
1/1 Australia/Pacific
Papa's in the House wrote:I guess it was just sample bias and bad memory that made me think that. Thanks for clarifying.
Jeremy Gibbs Freesy Does It wrote:Sorry, I stupidly wasn't reading that carefully at all. Never mind. Although this 7 rounds thing is a laugh if true.
Crazy Andy Watkins wrote:Papa's in the House wrote:I guess it was just sample bias and bad memory that made me think that. Thanks for clarifying.
Also possibly the influence of some ME/North African geography and current events.
Jeremy Gibbs Freesy Does It wrote:Sorry, I stupidly wasn't reading that carefully at all. Never mind. Although this 7 rounds thing is a laugh if true.
jonah wrote:and a bonus whose intro quoted some poetry that the first part claimed was by Leon Czolgosz (via asking for Czolgosz) but was actually by Charles Guiteau.
Not as I understand it; in fact, the appearance of three stars is intentionally to signify something later than sundown: in order that we be sure it's been a full day since Shabbat began, we actually make sure it's been slightly more than a full day.Matt Weiner wrote:Isn't "the appearance of three stars" the definition of "sundown" for Jewish religious purposes?
Matt Weiner wrote:Isn't "the appearance of three stars" the definition of "sundown" for Jewish religious purposes?
Joe N wrote:That being said, I'd just like to point out that the governor of California hasn't been a Republican for over a year and Tommy Thompson hasn't been secretary of Health and Human Services since around January 20, 2009. The former was an annoyance in a bonus along the lines of "Name one of the two states with Republican governors who got most of the money Wisconsin and Ohio turned down for high speed rail." Florida does have a Republican governor, California does not. The Tommy Thompson one did end up costing us our wild-card game: in a history tossup on politicians from Wisconsin, there was a clue along the lines of "The current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from this state..." Buzz "...Tommy" My answer was along the lines of "What? That doesn't make any sense, but the current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from Kansas." My protest was denied because "All the previous clues pointed to Wisconsin and the moderator already said Tommy." I think according to the rules it should have been thrown out and replayed, which would have altered the outcome of the match.
Joe N wrote:That being said, I'd just like to point out that the governor of California hasn't been a Republican for over a year
Kyle wrote:Joe N wrote:That being said, I'd just like to point out that the governor of California hasn't been a Republican for over a year
You're right. I'm really sorry about that.
Kyle wrote:Joe N wrote:That being said, I'd just like to point out that the governor of California hasn't been a Republican for over a year
You're right. I'm really sorry about that.
Westwon wrote:Florida has turned down the high speed rail money.
Kyle wrote:Let this be a lesson to all: write your current events questions soon before the tournament happens.
You probably misheard, or perhaps the moderator misspoke. Here is the bonus part I believe you're talking about (as I originally wrote it; it may have been changed, but I don't think so):Westwon wrote:Unless I misheard, I believe a bonus part gave Enoch as Noah's grandfather, though Enoch is generally regarded as Noah's great grandfather.
Westwon wrote:Unless I misheard, I believe a bonus part gave Enoch as Noah's grandfather, though Enoch is generally regarded as Noah's great grandfather.
In general, the religion seemed skewed towards Judaism and away from Christianity, though this perception may be due to some of the non-religious questions being related to Judaism.
Kyle wrote:Westwon wrote:Florida has turned down the high speed rail money.
Oh no, you're right. I completely screwed up that entire bonus part. The governor of California thing was just stupid all the way around; the Florida aspect was an instance of me not following the news after I had written the bonus in January. Let this be a lesson to all: write your questions soon before the tournament happens.
Wurzel-Flummery wrote:Kyle wrote:Westwon wrote:Florida has turned down the high speed rail money.
Oh no, you're right. I completely screwed up that entire bonus part. The governor of California thing was just stupid all the way around; the Florida aspect was an instance of me not following the news after I had written the bonus in January. Let this be a lesson to all: write your questions soon before the tournament happens.
Yeah that bonus part confused me to no end. Current events questions should be written as close to tournament date as feasible.
Joe N wrote:The Tommy Thompson one did end up costing us our wild-card game: in a history tossup on politicians from Wisconsin, there was a clue along the lines of "The current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from this state..." Buzz "...Tommy" My answer was along the lines of "What? That doesn't make any sense, but the current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from Kansas." My protest was denied because "All the previous clues pointed to Wisconsin and the moderator already said Tommy." I think according to the rules it should have been thrown out and replayed, which would have altered the outcome of the match.
Joe N wrote:The Tommy Thompson one did end up costing us our wild-card game: in a history tossup on politicians from Wisconsin, there was a clue along the lines of "The current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from this state..." Buzz "...Tommy" My answer was along the lines of "What? That doesn't make any sense, but the current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from Kansas." My protest was denied because "All the previous clues pointed to Wisconsin and the moderator already said Tommy." I think according to the rules it should have been thrown out and replayed, which would have altered the outcome of the match.
In this state’s largest city, Victor Berger led the so-called Sewer Socialism movement. In the late 19th century, it was the site of the deadliest fire in American history, the Peshtigo Fire. One politician from this state joined George Norris in filibustering the Armed Ship Bill, much to the chagrin of Woodrow Wilson, and later ran for president with Burton K. Wheeler as his running mate. The current US Secretary of Health and Human Services, (*) Tommy Thompson, was once its governor. Another governor worked with university professors to push for legislation like primary elections and the country’s first state income tax, a policy which became known as this state’s namesake “idea”. For 10 points, name this Midwestern state home to Progressive leader Robert LaFollette, Sr.
ANSWER: Wisconsin
Two or more clues within the question uniquely describe different
answers or one clue definitely does not refer to the same answer as the
other clues—hence, there is no correct answer to the question. This
protest may be lodged by either team at the end of a question
converted by neither team or by the team that did not get the question
after a question is converted by one team. However, if this situation
arises on a tossup that the other team converted before the first clue
creating a contradiction was read, there may be no protest because the
team that missed the question was necessarily not misled.
jonpin wrote:Hey look, it's another team eliminated from championship contention on a protest resolution in direct contradiction to the rules!
theMoMA wrote:Joe N wrote:The Tommy Thompson one did end up costing us our wild-card game: in a history tossup on politicians from Wisconsin, there was a clue along the lines of "The current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from this state..." Buzz "...Tommy" My answer was along the lines of "What? That doesn't make any sense, but the current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from Kansas." My protest was denied because "All the previous clues pointed to Wisconsin and the moderator already said Tommy." I think according to the rules it should have been thrown out and replayed, which would have altered the outcome of the match.
The text of the tossup read:In this state’s largest city, Victor Berger led the so-called Sewer Socialism movement. In the late 19th century, it was the site of the deadliest fire in American history, the Peshtigo Fire. One politician from this state joined George Norris in filibustering the Armed Ship Bill, much to the chagrin of Woodrow Wilson, and later ran for president with Burton K. Wheeler as his running mate. The current US Secretary of Health and Human Services, (*) Tommy Thompson, was once its governor. Another governor worked with university professors to push for legislation like primary elections and the country’s first state income tax, a policy which became known as this state’s namesake “idea”. For 10 points, name this Midwestern state home to Progressive leader Robert LaFollette, Sr.
ANSWER: Wisconsin
The relevant rules states:Two or more clues within the question uniquely describe different
answers or one clue definitely does not refer to the same answer as the
other clues—hence, there is no correct answer to the question. This
protest may be lodged by either team at the end of a question
converted by neither team or by the team that did not get the question
after a question is converted by one team. However, if this situation
arises on a tossup that the other team converted before the first clue
creating a contradiction was read, there may be no protest because the
team that missed the question was necessarily not misled.
We determined that the clue, though factually incorrect, did not "uniquely describe different answers" and the clue buzzed on could not be said to "definitely...not refer to the same answer as the other clues." This is for two reasons: the player (as we understood it) had heard the word "Tommy," but more importantly, the phrase that led to the buzz did not refer back to the answer. If the question had said "The current secretary of HHS, Kate Sebelius, once lived in this state before moving to Kansas," with the player buzzing after "Kate" with "Kansas," the issue would be essentially the same, and the protest would also be denied (assuming for this example that Sebelius actually did live in Wisconsin at one point). The rule in question confines its application to two very narrow circumstances, neither of which is present here. Both the actual question and the hypothetical above are misleading questions, but there is no recourse in any of the protest rules for this situation.
I hope this all makes sense. If the full logic of the protest resolution did not get back to the teams in question, I apologize.
theMoMA wrote:Joe N wrote:The Tommy Thompson one did end up costing us our wild-card game: in a history tossup on politicians from Wisconsin, there was a clue along the lines of "The current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from this state..." Buzz "...Tommy" My answer was along the lines of "What? That doesn't make any sense, but the current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from Kansas." My protest was denied because "All the previous clues pointed to Wisconsin and the moderator already said Tommy." I think according to the rules it should have been thrown out and replayed, which would have altered the outcome of the match.
The text of the tossup read:In this state’s largest city, Victor Berger led the so-called Sewer Socialism movement. In the late 19th century, it was the site of the deadliest fire in American history, the Peshtigo Fire. One politician from this state joined George Norris in filibustering the Armed Ship Bill, much to the chagrin of Woodrow Wilson, and later ran for president with Burton K. Wheeler as his running mate. The current US Secretary of Health and Human Services, (*) Tommy Thompson, was once its governor. Another governor worked with university professors to push for legislation like primary elections and the country’s first state income tax, a policy which became known as this state’s namesake “idea”. For 10 points, name this Midwestern state home to Progressive leader Robert LaFollette, Sr.
ANSWER: Wisconsin
The relevant rules states:Two or more clues within the question uniquely describe different
answers or one clue definitely does not refer to the same answer as the
other clues—hence, there is no correct answer to the question. This
protest may be lodged by either team at the end of a question
converted by neither team or by the team that did not get the question
after a question is converted by one team. However, if this situation
arises on a tossup that the other team converted before the first clue
creating a contradiction was read, there may be no protest because the
team that missed the question was necessarily not misled.
We determined that the clue, though factually incorrect, did not "uniquely describe different answers" and the clue buzzed on could not be said to "definitely...not refer to the same answer as the other clues." This is for two reasons: the player (as we understood it) had heard the word "Tommy," but more importantly, the phrase that led to the buzz did not refer back to the answer. If the question had said "The current secretary of HHS, Kate Sebelius, once lived in this state before moving to Kansas," with the player buzzing after "Kate" with "Kansas," the issue would be essentially the same, and the protest would also be denied (assuming for this example that Sebelius actually did live in Wisconsin at one point). The rule in question confines its application to two very narrow circumstances, neither of which is present here. Both the actual question and the hypothetical above are misleading questions, but there is no recourse in any of the protest rules for this situation.
I hope this all makes sense. If the full logic of the protest resolution did not get back to the teams in question, I apologize.
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