As mentioned before, I wrote a lot of stuff for this set (over 100 questions, plus an addition 40-50 that I edited). Now, having looked through the conversion stats from my questions, a few results particularly stick out to me:
Baffin Island (written and edited by me):
In 1976 a {stuntman} {base-jumped} off this island's Mount Asgard to film the opening scene of ~The Spy Who Loved Me~. This island also contains Mount Thor, which has Earth's greatest vertical drop. In 1616 this island's east coast was (*) mapped by its namesake, who was aboard a {ship} named ~Discovery~ as it sailed through the Davis Strait. Iqaluit [ee-KAH-loo-it], the capital of Nunavut, is on--for 10 points--what largest island of Canada?
Powers/Gets/Negs: 13/50/38 in 85 rooms
I really was not expecting so many people to get this question wrong. Perhaps it prompted negs on Greenland? If somebody who played at the HSNCT could chime in on this matter, I'd really appreciate the feedback.
New Guinea (edited by me):
An inhabitant of this ~island~ asks the question that opens {Jared Diamond}'s book ~Guns, Germs, and Steel~. This island's western and eastern ends are called the {Bird's Head} and {Bird's Tail}. This island's Mundugumor [mun-DOO-guh-mawr], Tchambuli [CHAM-boo-lee], and Arapesh peoples were (*) studied by Margaret Mead in ~Sex and Temperament~. For 10 points--the Torres [TOR-ress] Strait separates Australia from what island partly controlled by Indonesia?
Powers/Gets/Negs: 22/29/61 in 86 rooms
Whoops, it looks like I really screwed up here. This was actually the most negged tossup in the entire HSNCT- it was negged in a whopping 71% of rooms where it was heard.
I'm suspect that the Jared Diamond and Margaret Mead clues are the ones that really threw people off here (again, feedback from actual players at the HSNCT would be great!). In the meantime, I will never toss up New Guinea at the high school level ever again. Promise.
Apple (written by me):
In 1987 this technology company's CEO {John Sculley} introduced the unsuccessful Newton PDA, which featured famously bad {handwriting recognition}. This company hired Ridley Scott to direct its {TV commercial} "1984," which depicted IBM as Big Brother. In 1983 it copied designs from Xerox PARC to launch the (*) Lisa, its first computer with a {graphical user interface}. For 10 points--name this company that introduced the Macintosh.
Powers/Gets/Negs: 84/2/0 in 86 rooms
Heh, I guess this tossup was way too easy-- it was actually the most powered tossup in the entire HSNCT. Do this many high schoolers really know Apple's 1984 Super Bowl commercial? I'm impressed.
Vietnam War (written by me):
One {photo} from this war depicts a street where a general holds his {pistol} to the head of a prisoner in a {plaid} shirt. Another photo from the end of this war depicts a long line of people climbing to a CIA {helicopter} on a rooftop. During this war, Malcolm Browne photographed a (*) Buddhist {monk} {setting himself on fire} to protest {Ngo Dinh Diem}'s [noh din d'yem's] policies. For 10 points--name this war that ended with the fall of Saigon ["sigh-GONE"].
Powers/Gets/Negs: 79/5/1 in 85 rooms
Evidently, this tossup was too easy as well, although I was personally a bit surprised by this. I'd still argue that all of the clues here are in the correct pyramidal order, but I suppose that point is moot.
If memory serves me, I originally rated this question as 4-6 difficulty, meaning it could be used anywhere from a regular IS set, up to the HSNCT (although this difficulty rating seems to have been changed by the subject editor).