Specific Question Discussion - 2017 FRENCH

[TylerV]

Please post any comments regarding specific questions, including errata, here.

[Auks Ran Ova]

I believe the question on Panama opened with some clues about the Poyais scheme--as near as I can tell, the supposed location of Poyais (and the locations the unlucky colonists got sent to) was nowhere near Panama. Parts of Honduras and Nicaragua lie within the relevant area, and I think the specific places mentioned in the sources I checked point more towards the former than the latter (the latter being what I decided on after buzzing).

[TylerV]

Here is the tossup in question.

Large statues of overweight men on the shoulders of naked servants have been found at the archaeological site of Barriles in this country. Soldier and conman Gregor McGregor tricked hundreds of people into investing in bonds for the fictional country of Poyais, supposedly in this modern country, a land of which he claimed to be the ruler. A conquistador in this modern country set his dogs on 40 native men in this country for engaging in homosexual acts. This country’s equivalents to the quilombos were the cimarrones who joined with (*) Francis Drake to fight the Spanish and interrupt their transport of silver. The 1707 Act of Union was prompted by the failure of a Scottish colony in this country. For 10 points, name this Central American country once ruled by Manuel Noriega and crossed by Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.
ANSWER: Republic of Panama

[CPiGuy]

Yeah, Poyais is nowhere near Panama and that clue should probably be excised.

[Shorts are comfy and easy to wear]

Oops. I'll replace it.

[CPiGuy]

A few notes from the Skype mirror of this:

There were protests on the tossup on pederasty -- apparently, the reason that no slaves could be named after the two people in question was not because of their prowess at pederasty but rather their performance of the Tyrannicides.

Also, according to Jakob Myers, Unserdeutsch was only spoken in New Britain, not New Guinea.

Another thing:

what's up with that one tossup on Chaikovskiy's 4th that seems to have nothing at all to do with history?

[Shorts are comfy and easy to wear]

I have revised the pederasty and New Guinea questions. The Tchaikovsky 4 question is in the set because I already had it written (it was an unused ACF Nats submission) and I was low on time when I was writing that section.

[naan/steak-holding toll]

I have revised the pederasty and New Guinea questions. The Tchaikovsky 4 question is in the set because I already had it written (it was an unused ACF Nats submission) and I was low on time when I was writing that section.

For what it's worth, it struck me as a well-written music question when I played it. Also, that symphony is awesome, so I have no complaints