Question feedback request
Question feedback request
Here are the questions I wrote or edited. Asterisks denote editing only.
DI
TUs: hammers in pop culture, Toby Keith, Allman Brothers, eating people in myth, Alice Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook, New England Patriots, Adventure Time, Raidohead*, Kanye West*
Bonuses: Jack London, Boucher, men associated with Helen of Troy, Despicable Me 2, Fragonard, artists associated with Rauschenberg, NCIS, authors who wrote about Antigone, Asher Durand, Bon Iver*, James Brown*, Nirvana*, Danger Mouse/Jack White/The Good, The Bad, The Ugly*, CCR*
DII
TUs: hammers in PC, Tantalus, Never Gonna Give You Up, New England Patriots, Adventure Time, Radiohead*, The 20/20 Experience*, Kanye West*
Bonuses: Jack London, discredited biological theories, NCIS, Dali, Nicki Minaj*, Florida Georgia Line*, Sublime*, Johnny Cash*, Beastie Boys*
DI
TUs: hammers in pop culture, Toby Keith, Allman Brothers, eating people in myth, Alice Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook, New England Patriots, Adventure Time, Raidohead*, Kanye West*
Bonuses: Jack London, Boucher, men associated with Helen of Troy, Despicable Me 2, Fragonard, artists associated with Rauschenberg, NCIS, authors who wrote about Antigone, Asher Durand, Bon Iver*, James Brown*, Nirvana*, Danger Mouse/Jack White/The Good, The Bad, The Ugly*, CCR*
DII
TUs: hammers in PC, Tantalus, Never Gonna Give You Up, New England Patriots, Adventure Time, Radiohead*, The 20/20 Experience*, Kanye West*
Bonuses: Jack London, discredited biological theories, NCIS, Dali, Nicki Minaj*, Florida Georgia Line*, Sublime*, Johnny Cash*, Beastie Boys*
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
Re: Question feedback request
(DI)
The Radiohead question seemed to have a serious cliff at "Nigel Godrich."
I wish the NCIS question had stuck to the main series, or dropped some other clues about LL Cool J, but I don't know how other people felt about that.
Also, the CCR and Danger Mouse bonuses had pretty hard middle parts, at least to me.
The Radiohead question seemed to have a serious cliff at "Nigel Godrich."
I wish the NCIS question had stuck to the main series, or dropped some other clues about LL Cool J, but I don't know how other people felt about that.
Also, the CCR and Danger Mouse bonuses had pretty hard middle parts, at least to me.
Jacob R., ex-Chicago
- Gonzagapuma1
- Tidus
- Posts: 543
- Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 5:02 pm
- Location: Chicago, IL
Re: Question feedback request
I thought the Allman Brothers and Alice Cooper tossups were good, but both were gotten at the end in the rooms I played in. I think that many current college students don't really know much about either of those topics, but I could be wrong; I wonder how those played in other rooms.Grams's Go-Go Boots wrote:Here are the questions I wrote or edited. Asterisks denote editing only.
DI
TUs: hammers in pop culture, Toby Keith, Allman Brothers, eating people in myth, Alice Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook, New England Patriots, Adventure Time, Raidohead*, Kanye West*
Bonuses: Jack London, Boucher, men associated with Helen of Troy, Despicable Me 2, Fragonard, artists associated with Rauschenberg, NCIS, authors who wrote about Antigone, Asher Durand, Bon Iver*, James Brown*, Nirvana*, Danger Mouse/Jack White/The Good, The Bad, The Ugly*, CCR*
The Silver Linings Playbook tossup was really good. This isn't necessarily your fault, but it felt weird having two Rococo bonuses. Could you post the Bon Iver bonus? I can't seem to remember what the hard part in that was. I thought the Danger Mouse bonus was good and the Nirvana bonus was good as well.
Dan Puma
Alum: Gonzaga, Montgomery College, University of Maryland
Currently Unaffiliated
MAQT President-ish, 2014-2015
Champion of the Modern World, 2014
Former Member, PACE
Alum: Gonzaga, Montgomery College, University of Maryland
Currently Unaffiliated
MAQT President-ish, 2014-2015
Champion of the Modern World, 2014
Former Member, PACE
- Important Bird Area
- Forums Staff: Administrator
- Posts: 6136
- Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 3:33 pm
- Location: San Francisco Bay Area
- Contact:
Re: Question feedback request
DI SCT round 3 wrote:In 2011 this band released a doubly self-titled album that included the songs "Calgary" and "Perth." For 10 points each--
A. What band fronted by Justin Vernon performed the song "Holocene" and released the album ~For Emma, Forever Ago~?
answer: _Bon Iver_
B. Bon Iver recorded tracks for ~And I'll Scratch Yours~, an album of covers of this former Genesis frontman whose "Sledgehammer" is MTV's most-played video.
answer: Peter (Brian) _Gabriel_
C. Bon Iver's "Holocene" landed at number two on Pitchfork's top 100 songs of 2011, two spots ahead of this artist's "Super Bass."
answer: Nicki _Minaj_ (or Onika Tanya _Maraj_)
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
Re: Question feedback request
Yea, probably. I'm not sure how well known Godrich is among non-Radiohead-stans out there, but the reason I didn't buzz earlier on him was I was wondering if he did any work for any other bands (which he has, but is most well known for Radiohead).vinteuil wrote:(DI)
The Radiohead question seemed to have a serious cliff at "Nigel Godrich."
Speaking of which, can I see the full Radiohead tossup?
Ron Enson, University of Virginia '15
- Important Bird Area
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Re: Question feedback request
DI SCT round 2 wrote:Piano covers of songs by this band are featured in multiple albums by Christopher O'Riley. This band's early work with engineer Nigel Godrich includes the songs "Talk Show Host" and "Black Star." A CGI mountain range appears on the cover of their 2000 album (*) ~Kid A~, which marked a sharp departure from their three-guitar lineup of such previous hit singles as "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Karma Police." ~In Rainbows~ and ~OK Computer~ are albums of--for 10 points--what Thom Yorke-fronted band?
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
- Auks Ran Ova
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Re: Question feedback request
Yeah, I'm thinking the actual cliff for most people there is at Kid A.
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
Member emeritus, PACE
Writer and Editor, NAQT
- Gonzagapuma1
- Tidus
- Posts: 543
- Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 5:02 pm
- Location: Chicago, IL
Re: Question feedback request
Especially because that description of the album cover is pretty much unbuzzable even for people who know that cover.Ukonvasara wrote:Yeah, I'm thinking the actual cliff for most people there is at Kid A.
I would also add that it seems the Bon Iver bonus lacks a hard part.
Dan Puma
Alum: Gonzaga, Montgomery College, University of Maryland
Currently Unaffiliated
MAQT President-ish, 2014-2015
Champion of the Modern World, 2014
Former Member, PACE
Alum: Gonzaga, Montgomery College, University of Maryland
Currently Unaffiliated
MAQT President-ish, 2014-2015
Champion of the Modern World, 2014
Former Member, PACE
Re: Question feedback request
I'll preface this by disclaiming that I didn't write or substantively edit the Radiohead question, but I looked it over several times during editing and thought that the clues were in the right order.
Godrich and Kid A are both definitely clues that people are likely to buzz on if they know things about Radiohead, but in my (admittedly inexpert) opinion, they're not out of place in this tossup relative to the later clues, so this discussion seems to boil down to "this was too easy a tossup on Radiohead." That's a totally fair criticism if it led the question to distinguish knowledge poorly, but I'm seeing no such claims in this thread. I'd generally ask people who are thinking about posting "Clue X was too early in the tossup on Y" to consider whether this actually led to problems before posting, because otherwise you're really just telling us that "I know a thing about Y," and that's not very helpful or interesting.
People should also keep in mind that the typical SCT tossup is around five lines long. If we're writing a tossup so that someone with a solid appreciation and understanding of Radiohead can't buzz until past the halfway point of the question, we're writing a bad question for the SCT field.
I also think that Bon Iver is a fine hard part for an SCT bonus, and based on my empirical observation of a very good trash player not getting that part, I believe I am correct. And I did substantively change this bonus so that Bon Iver was the hard part.
Godrich and Kid A are both definitely clues that people are likely to buzz on if they know things about Radiohead, but in my (admittedly inexpert) opinion, they're not out of place in this tossup relative to the later clues, so this discussion seems to boil down to "this was too easy a tossup on Radiohead." That's a totally fair criticism if it led the question to distinguish knowledge poorly, but I'm seeing no such claims in this thread. I'd generally ask people who are thinking about posting "Clue X was too early in the tossup on Y" to consider whether this actually led to problems before posting, because otherwise you're really just telling us that "I know a thing about Y," and that's not very helpful or interesting.
People should also keep in mind that the typical SCT tossup is around five lines long. If we're writing a tossup so that someone with a solid appreciation and understanding of Radiohead can't buzz until past the halfway point of the question, we're writing a bad question for the SCT field.
I also think that Bon Iver is a fine hard part for an SCT bonus, and based on my empirical observation of a very good trash player not getting that part, I believe I am correct. And I did substantively change this bonus so that Bon Iver was the hard part.
Andrew Hart
Minnesota alum
Minnesota alum
Re: Question feedback request
Nigel Godrich and Bon Iver would be easy to someone who reads music blogs. "Talk Show Host" and "Black Star" might be easy to someone who listens to alt-rock stations or something. Music-blog-readers ("indie snobs") are probably a significant segment of all quizbowl players. I don't know how much it's worth worrying about particular slices of the trash audience, but I think the numbers always show that NAQT's trash questions get powered more than their other questions.
I liked all of Fred's academic stuff, for what that's worth.
I liked all of Fred's academic stuff, for what that's worth.
Last edited by bmcke on Tue Feb 11, 2014 1:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Brendan McKendy
University of Ottawa 2011
University of Ottawa 2011
- hydrocephalitic listlessness
- Forums Staff: Moderator
- Posts: 167
- Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 1:26 pm
Re: Question feedback request
Kid A is out of place - I think that 99% of the people who are going to buzz on "Fake Plastic Trees" or In Rainbows are going to know about it.theMoMA wrote:
Godrich and Kid A are both definitely clues that people are likely to buzz on if they know things about Radiohead, but in my (admittedly inexpert) opinion, they're not out of place in this tossup relative to the later clues
I liked the execution of the Kanye tossup, but was there a reason it was all clues from Late Registration? It might have been more interesting to hear some stuff from Yeezus.
Will H-M
Harvard '16
Princeton ~'26
ACF
Harvard '16
Princeton ~'26
ACF
Re: Question feedback request
I don't mean this to be snarky, but it's because the tossup was written/edited that way, and not another way, and what you find interesting is not necessarily what the people who write and edit questions find interesting.hydrocephalitic listlessness wrote:I liked the execution of the Kanye tossup, but was there a reason it was all clues from Late Registration? It might have been more interesting to hear some stuff from Yeezus.
Andrew Hart
Minnesota alum
Minnesota alum
Re: Question feedback request
I disagree with this to some extent; last year's Alt-J TU seemed to have got feedback on it that amounted to "too obscure for a TU."bmcke wrote:Nigel Godrich and Bon Iver would be easy to someone who reads music blogs. "Talk Show Host" and "Black Star" might be easy to someone who listens to alt-rock stations or something. Music-blog-readers ("indie snobs") are probably a significant segment of all quizbowl players. I don't know how much it's worth worrying about particular slices of the trash audience, but I think the numbers always show that NAQT's trash questions get powered more than their other questions.
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
Re: Question feedback request
If you "read music blogs," I'm comfortable saying that you should be getting the hard parts of music bonuses and first-line buzzes on music tossups. At SCT, we're hoping to create the proper distribution of buzzes and ensure that the most knowledgeable person has the best shot at getting the tossup, not to provide an intense test of indie music knowledge for the most knowledgeable few in that already-small segment of the quizbowl populace.bmcke wrote:Nigel Godrich and Bon Iver would be easy to someone who reads music blogs. "Talk Show Host" and "Black Star" might be easy to someone who listens to alt-rock stations or something. Music-blog-readers ("indie snobs") are probably a significant segment of all quizbowl players. I don't know how much it's worth worrying about particular slices of the trash audience, but I think the numbers always show that NAQT's trash questions get powered more than their other questions.
Fred's empirical observation is also correct, I will sadly note as the author and champion of said Alt-J tossup.
Andrew Hart
Minnesota alum
Minnesota alum
Re: Question feedback request
It's not a matter of interest, but a matter of timeliness; College Dropout just turned 10 years old while Yeezus was released last summer. I think Will's criticism is reasonably valid. If you're going to write a Radiohead tossup that touches upon several of their albums (Pablo Honey, The Bends, Kid A) then why not do the same for Kanye?theMoMA wrote:I don't mean this to be snarky, but it's because the tossup was written/edited that way, and not another way, and what you find interesting is not necessarily what the people who write and edit questions find interesting.hydrocephalitic listlessness wrote:I liked the execution of the Kanye tossup, but was there a reason it was all clues from Late Registration? It might have been more interesting to hear some stuff from Yeezus.
Ron Enson, University of Virginia '15
Re: Question feedback request
Because there's multiple ways to write a tossup on a musician, and doing it the same way every time isn't the best way, much like following a set formula for historical figures isn't always the best way.madviking wrote:It's not a matter of interest, but a matter of timeliness; College Dropout just turned 10 years old while Yeezus was released last summer. I think Will's criticism is reasonably valid. If you're going to write a Radiohead tossup that touches upon several of their albums (Pablo Honey, The Bends, Kid A) then why not do the same for Kanye?theMoMA wrote:I don't mean this to be snarky, but it's because the tossup was written/edited that way, and not another way, and what you find interesting is not necessarily what the people who write and edit questions find interesting.hydrocephalitic listlessness wrote:I liked the execution of the Kanye tossup, but was there a reason it was all clues from Late Registration? It might have been more interesting to hear some stuff from Yeezus.
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
Re: Question feedback request
My criterion of "reading music blogs" was silly, but I think my point should hold about trash, if not also about indie music. NAQT's numbers have consistently showed more powers on trash questions than academic. Particularly at low levels of play, way more people will be experts on Radiohead than will be experts on kings of Hawaii or Mrs. Warren's Profession. The counter-example of Alt-J is an outlier that could have been caught by just counting Google hits.theMoMA wrote:If you "read music blogs," I'm comfortable saying that you should be getting the hard parts of music bonuses and first-line buzzes on music tossups. At SCT, we're hoping to create the proper distribution of buzzes and ensure that the most knowledgeable person has the best shot at getting the tossup, not to provide an intense test of indie music knowledge for the most knowledgeable few in that already-small segment of the quizbowl populace.
Fred's empirical observation is also correct, I will sadly note as the author and champion of said Alt-J tossup.
I am perfectly happy with trash questions being easy, and I understand that NAQT might also have reasons to want easy trash questions. How much does "proper distribution of buzzes" include keeping the distributions uneven across different categories?
Brendan McKendy
University of Ottawa 2011
University of Ottawa 2011
Re: Question feedback request
I guess I am in the 1% then. I buzzed in on "Fake Plastic Trees", and have never heard of "Kid A". This was because the an assignment I once had in a computer science class was to manipulate the lyrics in "Fake Plastic Trees" in various different ways.hydrocephalitic listlessness wrote:Kid A is out of place - I think that 99% of the people who are going to buzz on "Fake Plastic Trees" or In Rainbows are going to know about it.theMoMA wrote:
Godrich and Kid A are both definitely clues that people are likely to buzz on if they know things about Radiohead, but in my (admittedly inexpert) opinion, they're not out of place in this tossup relative to the later clues
I liked the execution of the Kanye tossup, but was there a reason it was all clues from Late Registration? It might have been more interesting to hear some stuff from Yeezus.
Jonathan Graham
Beavercreek HS 1999-2003, Ohio State 2003-2007, Wright State (possibly playing)2012-2015
moderator/scorekeeper at some tournaments in Ohio, and sometimes elsewhere
"Ohio has a somewhat fractured quizbowl circuit, with a few small pockets of intense competition (like in Mahoning County) and with the rest scattered around the state."-Chris Chiego
Beavercreek HS 1999-2003, Ohio State 2003-2007, Wright State (possibly playing)2012-2015
moderator/scorekeeper at some tournaments in Ohio, and sometimes elsewhere
"Ohio has a somewhat fractured quizbowl circuit, with a few small pockets of intense competition (like in Mahoning County) and with the rest scattered around the state."-Chris Chiego