The Quizbowl Resource Center

Let me preface this post by saying this set was great. I want to try to point out as many positive examples as problems I had. I’m just going to go by the packets we played at the Invitational mirror: Round 1 (Packet L): -Matisse/Ernst/Ed Ruscha bonus was strong and well-themed -Yom Kippur TU was we...

I am pleased to announce RAGAS (Reasonable Answers on Global Arts and Song), a side event focusing on world art and music, planned for Summer or Fall of 2021. This event will be open, but accessible to the majority of college players. The scope of this tournament includes the art and music of Asia, ...

Someone in the General Discussion thread brought up an example of “bait,” which was disappointingly more widespread than one question. Off the top of my head, the E minor question had a sentence along the lines of, if I recall correctly, “Victor Herbert’s second cello concerto in this key inspired ...

This tossup was definitely my most frustrating neg of the day, as it was incredibly annoying to buzz on a description of The Ecstasy of St. Theresa in a tossup on "this profession," say "saint," and not get points. I probably should have been able to get to nun with the prompt, ...

Also not a gameplay issue, but I don't think it's really true that the ontological argument is more popular than the cosmological or teleological arguments. Given the rise of the Kalam cosmological argument, this seems a bit doubtful, but also: What does this even mean? Given Kalam is popular now, ...

The only problem I did notice though was a problem that I think many sets at this difficulty suffer from, which is the tendency for some of the non big 3 categories (most notably fine arts and social science) to become probably a bit hard for this level. With a limited array of askable topics in th...

I seem to recall the sonata giveaway being exceptionally confusing, though perhaps I just didn't parse it correctly. For 10 points, identify this genre of instrumental music for a solo instrument without orchestral backing, contrasted with the sung cantata. ANSWER: sonatas Believe this was trying t...

There are a few individual questions I'd like to take another look at before referencing them, which also may change how I comment on the set generally. How soon should the packets be on the archive?

The private discussion forum for FACTS is now open. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

The private discussion forum for FACTS is now open. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

[10] The dualist Marcion of Sinope taught that the God described in this religious text was not the God taught by Jesus. The protocanonical books, but not the deuterocanonical ones, derived from this text. ANSWER: Tanakh [accept Hebrew Bible or Hebrew Scriptures or Mikra; prompt on the Old Testamen...

I'll write up a larger commentary on the set later, but overall I enjoyed it very much. One question I was curious about, however, was the bonus asking for "The Hebrew Bible," which prompted but did not outright accept "the Old Testament," when asking about some philosopher who d...