Beginning with this round, the organizers of the MONTHS TOURNAMENT will be arranging the bracket into sixteen (16) "quadrants" (called quadrants because each represents a quarter of its respective bracket).
Each "quadrant" will be known by the name of the bracket area and the best-ranked seed among the pool. For instance, this is "secular 1," because it involves the "secular" bracket, and the best-ranked seed is the #1 seed. Each quadrant thread will be the site of multiple stages of voting until there are sixteen (16) "quadrant winners," which will be placed into the final bracket to determine the champion.
Here is the bracket:
The post that follows will initiate the first round of voting in this quadrant. Thank you for your patience.
The "secular 1" quadrant contains some of the heaviest-hitting months on any of the world's calendars, let alone just the secular calendars. Naive observers may look at this quadrant and think that the Julio-Gregorian months are favored, but that underestimates the sheer firepower of the "secular" bracket.
After barely surviving the Maya play-in gauntlet, Sip enters this round of voting as a heavy underdog against #1 seed June. Sip is associated with deer hunting and "red conjunctions," and corresponds to January. June is known for Flag Day in the United States and, generally speaking, the year's most pleasant summer weather in the Northern Hemisphere. It seems unlikely that Sip could go from barely surviving a play-in to knocking out a #1 seed, but stranger things have happened.
In the most evenly seeded matchup of this round, at least in the "secular" category, Qiyue takes on Kisaragi. Qiyue is associated with late summer and the "hungry ghost festival," while Kisaragi is a midwinter month. This is truly anyone's matchup to take, although summer months have traditionally fared slightly better, which may hand Qiyue the edge, despite its association with scary ghosts.
December is a month often associated with Christmas, New Year's, and winter merriment. Eryue the second (2nd) month of the Chinese calendar, is also associated with "merriment," specifically the Longtaitou Festival, also known as "2 month 2" because it is celebrated on the second (2nd) day of the second (2nd) month, which occurs in the early spring and celebrates rain. Although Eryue enters this matchup a heavy underdog against December, it remains to be seen if voters will go with the familiar month or branch out in this round.
The next matchup, which may be a little lopsided, pits Kartika against Sotz'. The Indian month of Kartika contains Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, which is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the world. The Maya month of Sotz' is named after bats, the animals that likely served as the reservoir for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the infectious agent that causes COVID-19. Although the organizers of the MONTHS TOURNAMENT take no editorial stance on any vote, this one looks like a fairly straightforward matchup.
An intriguing matchup in the middle of this bracket pits September, the ninth month of the Julio-Gregorian calendar, against Shimotsuki, the eleventh month of the traditional Japanese calendar. September enters this matchup a heavy favorite, its association with harvests, pleasant early autumn weather, return to school, and Labor Day outweighing its tragic connection to 9/11. Shimotsuki, the "month of frosts," is an early winter month that will have its work cut out for it to win this matchup.
Although this round will see same-calendar showdowns much less often than the play-ins, the 24/41 matchup offers a contrast between months on the Indian calendar. In most of India, although not Bengal, Chaitra is considered to be the auspicious first month, associated with creation and rebirth of early spring. Ashwin, by contrast, is a mid-autumn month mostly known as a time of preparation preceding Diwali. Chaitra is the favorite according to the seeding, but this is anyone's contest.
The bottom of this "quadrant" sees two matchups between favored Japanese months and underdog Maya months. The first pits Kannazuki against the little-known Maya month of K'ank'in. Kannazuki is a Japanese month that roughly corresponds to October and, according to a possibly aprocryphal story, is known in most of Japan as the "month of no gods," because the Shinto spirits known as kami were believed to gather at the Izumo shrine, leaving the rest of the country bereft of gods. (In Izumo, it was known as the "month of gods" for the same reason.) K'ank'in is represented by a glyph that scholars believe is associated with a dog's ribcage.
The second of two clashes between Japanese and Maya months pits Minazuki against Mak. Minazuki earns its commanding seed based on its association with pleasant weather and water, as it corresponds roughly with June. Mak is known for its association with the rain god Chaac.
BALLOT: COPY/PASTE TO VOTE
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
Ryan Rosenberg
North Carolina '16
NYU '26 (ideally)
ACF
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: july v february
17/48: December v february
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v November
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin sorry only doing this because jacob is a simp for ashwin (who rocks)
25/40: October v K'ank'in
8/57: June v Mak
was a little weird to see so many duplicates but i'll forgive u this time
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz' - as a Bengali, my family never really celebrated Diwali, so unlike my Hindi-speaking friend I never got Carmen Sandiego computer games as gifts. On the other hand, bats are cute and are only theorized to be the natural reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 (it could also be the pangolin, or another animal entirely, or multiple animals)
9/56: September v Shimotsuki - mainly because of the aesthetically pleasing name
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
Sam Rombro
Arizona '20
Maryland '18
Writer, NAQT (inactive)
1/64: June v Sip - June's gonna be a tough one to take down, especially thanks to, um, Flag Day. Looking forward to coming up with less stupid vote comments for it in future rounds.
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi - gotta set aside my normal preference for summer over winter to vote for the month that is also the name of a Final Fantasy VII character.
17/48: December v Eryue - suggesting that December is "associated" with New Years is a very quizbowl-appropriate use of that word.
16/49: Kartika v Sotz' - kobe
9/56: September v Shimotsuki - no one has ever rudely demanded I remember a particular date in Shimotsuki, and for that I appreciate it.
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin - early spring? love it.
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in - the gods deserve a vacation from us as much as we deserve a vacation from them, though it is good to know where you'd scratch the Mayan calendar while telling it it's a good boy.
8/57: Minazuki v Mak - my desire to vote for basically June again outweighs my desire to just post something inane like "Mak Chaac Jayhaak" or "voting for the month that evolves from Gramar".
Rob Carson
University of Minnesota '11, MCTC '??, BHSU forever
Member, ACF
Member emeritus, PACE
Writer and Editor, NAQT
I've decided to vote, and to avoid the appearance of bias, I will vote early so as not to make any tiebreaking decisions.
1/64: June v Sip. My sense about the Maya months is that the ones with the dumbest-sounding names were the ones that got voted out first (i.e. "Pop"). "Sip" is the dumbest-sounding Maya month left, and I don't think it's close. June is probably the nicest month of the year.
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi. It was hard for me to tell how real the "hungry ghost festival" was when I was looking it up, but it sounds cool, and some dubious sources I found even claimed that Qiyue is "associated with" ghosts.
17/48: December v Eryue. December is just a classic month. It doesn't get any better for winter months than December.
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'. The fact that Kartika has Diwali makes this an easy choice for me. I don't necessarily blame Sotz' for COVID-19, but being associated with bats isn't a good look right now.
9/56: September v Shimotsuki. September is in the running for months that have the most pleasant weather, although June, May, and July also have strong claims, depending on what kind of weather and outdoor activities you most appreciate. Shimotsuki seemed like one of the more boring Japanese months, from what I could tell.
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin. I like that Ashwin is associated with people named Ashwin, but I like that Chaitra is associated with auspicious beginnings even more. If you google "Ashwin month," the infobox shows a picture of a person, which makes it seem like it's a picture of the month, and that's a little weird.
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in. From what I read, either Kannazuki means "no god month" for the reasons below, or "god month," based on how you interpret the linguistic history of the syllable that connects the words for "god" and "month." It appears that the "no god month" story is more popular in the west. In any event, it's an interesting month with an interesting name that brings a bit of controversy to the voting. I can't say the same for K'ank'in.
8/57: Minazuki v Mak. Like Rob, I will basically just vote for Japanese June because it's June. I'm not sure if "Mak" is a month or the addressee of one of Joe Biden's ill-formed thoughts. Listen here Mak, perhaps it's both.
1/64: June v Sip
I know Sip is a 64 seed, but I'm intrigued by the idea of a month for red conjunctions.
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
Midwinter is a nice time of the year, and I don't see why we need a festival for hungry ghosts.
17/48: December v Eryue
The Julio-Gregorian months are somewhat overused, even if December is a nice time of the year.
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
Sure, why not another month known for its festivals.
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
September tends to be the end of summer, weather-wise, while Shimotsuki is the beginning of winter and a much nicer time.
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
Auspicious months are good
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
Being represented by a dog's ribcage in the Mayan script makes this quite an interesting month.
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
Sure, why not vote for pleasant weather?
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
Jakob M. (they/them)
Michigan State '21, Indiana '2? "No one has ever organized a greater effort to get people interested in pretending to play quiz bowl"
-Ankit Aggarwal
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
Hungry ghosts are the worst kind of ghosts.
17/48: December v Eryue
I don't believe in celebrating rain.
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
Diwali is cool.
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
I often get sick during September.
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
Creation and spring are good.
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
I am trying to imagine a kami conference, and it probably would be more interesting than most conferences.
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
Pleasant weather is better than rain.
DavidReinstein
Head Writer and Editor for Scobol Solo, Masonics, and IESA; TD for Scobol Solo and Reinstein Varsity; IHSSBCA Board Member; IHSSBCA Chair (2004-2014); PACE President (2016-2018)
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
1/64: June v Sip
I, for one, appreciate goofy names. Also, June is when all the mosquitoes and stuff come out (at least where I live), and mosquitoes suck.
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
Hungry ghost festival just sounds awesome.
17/48: December v Eryue
December's a good month. I might be biased, because it's the month I was born in, but it's also like the ideal winter month. If we keep only one winter month it should be December.
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
I appreciate having the ' in the name because it will make things slightly more difficult for software developers and it's important to keep those guys on their toes.
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
The idea of a "month of frosts" has a nice aesthetic to it that September doesn't really have for me. September is the beginning of autumn, sure, but it's also in an awkward half-summer-half-fall place that isn't as pure as some of the later months.
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
I'm generally partial to fall over spring, and also I care a lot about how they sound to say, and Ashwin just has a nice sound to it.
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
Same deal as with Sotz'
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
I like the rain.
Nathan Sheffield
Belmont High School (2018-2021)
MIT (2021-present)
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
not sure why an association with scary ghosts is a bad thing
17/48: December v Eryue
never experienced the Longtaitou Festival, but the commercialization of Christmas makes December a no for me
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
bats are lovely creatures, and I will not stand for this slander
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
for the reasons laid out in the OP (although I will note that Labor Day is a fake holiday - celebrate International Workers' Day!)
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
if the only thing you have going for you is that you precede a better month, you deserve to go out in the first round
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
a dog's ribcage alone is not enough to go on
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
lightning axe > some pleasant weather
1/64: June v Sip
red conjunctions sounds interesting, Flag Day does not.
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
bats are no longer in
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
September belongs in the final four
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
rain is awesome
Tora (she/her/hers)
Wayzata '18
Minnesota '22 (President, '20-'22)
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
Taylor Harvey (he/him)
ACF
University of Florida B.S. Nuclear Engineering '17
University of Florida Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering '21
2021 ACF Nationals Champion
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
Kevin Fan
Bell High School '19
McGill University '23
1/64: June v Sip
I was born in June, so this was a somewhat easy choice. I don't really know what flag day is though.
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
Not going to lie, I think calling a winter month "wear more clothes" is kind of funny in a somewhat boring way.
17/48: December v Eryue
December is overrated. Holidays and break are nice I guess, but in college most of the break is during January. Instead, December becomes the month of finals and not enough snow for anything fun.
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
I have nothing against Sotz' and bats--I don't think the bats were trying to cause a global pandemic. Diwali is just way cooler.
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
Looking up Shimotsuki immediately lead me to One Piece. I'd rather be able to look up my months and not have to type "month" to avoid seeing anime, thank you.
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
Early spring is an awesome time when you don't suffer from allergies--flowers, birds, warmth, and Quizbowl tournaments.
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
There k(')an only be one k(')an month, and for me it's Kannazuki.
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
After snow, thunderstorms are probably my favourite weather condition, and that's what Chaac seems to bring so why not thank them by voting for their month.
James Hadley
Chatham High School '18
Rutgers University '22
University of Western Ontario [2022-Present]
1/64: June v Sip
June brings us vacation, sun, Bloomsday, and my wedding anniversary; however it also brought us the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, an event which ended up costing some 40 million lives in the Great War, as well as laying the groundwork for the Spanish Flu pandemic. In comparison, it's nice to "sip" on a nice beverage, like coffee, tea, or a frosty Mug Root Beer.
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
I've never been one for ghosts, so a festival celebrating their unending hunger sounds good to me.
17/48: December v Eryue
I have many fond memories of being home from school in December, eating my mom's Christmas cookies and watching teams like Jordan Palmer's UTEP play meaningless bowl games. I have no such memories of Eryue.
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
It's very hard to vote against the bat month, both because I've always been a Batman reader and because I'd hate to risk angering the great bat spirit Barbatos, who goes by many names, but actions should have consequences and someone needs to answer for COVID-19.
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
afaik Shimotsuki doesn't have a single day honoring retired NBA guard Doug Overton.
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
I know a few Ashwins and they're nice people. I don't know a single Charita. Sorry.
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
I think it's good that the gods all take a month off for a conference. It's important to stay up to date in your field.
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
Mak Chaac Jayhaak
Jarret Greene
South Range '10 / Ohio State '13 / Vermont '17
1/64: June v Sip
sip is a dumb name and june is the best summer month
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
hungry ghosts!
17/48: December v Eryue
rain is bad, snow is good
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
bats are not cool because they forced one of my classes to be moved this semester
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
september is a very nice month
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
auspicious is good
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
ok so both of these months are cool and i'll probably vote for whichever wins for several rounds, but k'ank'in has two ejectives so
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
ooh, i can vote for june twice
Conor Thompson (he/it)
Bangor High School '16
University of Michigan '20
Iowa State University '25 Tournament Format Database
1/64: June v Sip - Memories of June in the mountains...mmmm
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue - December was always stressful in my family because my mom (a minister) absolutely hates christmas.
16/49: Kartika v Sotz' "Dusk! with a creepy, tingling sensation, you hear the fluttering of leather wings! Bats! With glowing red eyes and glistening fangs, these unspeakable giant bugs drop onto..."
9/56: September v Shimotsuki - early frost reminds me of Cross Country States and apple cider donuts..
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
IKD
Yale 18
Oakland Mills 14
"I am the NAQT beast I worship."
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
1/64: June v Sip
32/33: Qiyue v Kisaragi
17/48: December v Eryue
16/49: Kartika v Sotz'
9/56: September v Shimotsuki
24/41: Chaitra v Ashwin
25/40: Kannazuki v K'ank'in
8/57: Minazuki v Mak
As voting closes on the first "quadrant" of the MONTHS TOURNAMENT, it's clear that some of these months were ready for the tournament, and others simply came in unprepared.
For the most part, the better-seeded months simply outclassed their worse-seeded counterparts. Six (6) of the eight (8) favorites scored at least 19.5 votes en route to comfortable victories. It was a bit of a surprise to see #9 seed September stumble out of the gate early against the resolute #56 seed Shimotsuki, but the heavily favored autumn month did just enough and came away with a 17-14 win.
In what will surely send ripples and chatters across the MONTHS TOURNAMENT, the shock of the round was Minazuki failing to hold a commanding early lead against a surging Mak. After winning just one (1) vote from the first ten (10) voters, the heavy-underdog Maya month picked up points from ten (10) of the next twelve (12) voters and stunned the world by winning 16-15. Now that the 8 seed is gone from the bottom of this "quadrant," does that open up space for September, Chaitra, or even Kannazuki to make a run?
Voters may be looking for trends and storylines from this "quadrant," but other than the generally strong performance from better-seeded months, it's hard to see too many patterns emerging so far. The big winner coming out of this "quadrant" is the Julio-Gregorian calendar, which saw all three of its months, all of which were strong favorites, advance. The Indian national calendar will also be happy with its performance, seeing Kartika and Chaitra advance and only one of its months lose out--and that was guaranteed as Chaitra was paired against Ashwin.
The Chinese calendar will probably feel that this was a fair result, racking up a win by a favorite and a loss by an underdog, and with its superstar months still to come in other "quadrants." And despite earning just one win in four tries from this "quadrant," the Maya calendar will have to be thrilled, as all of its months came in as heavy underdogs and one of them (Mak) managed to take out the #8 seed.
That leaves Japan's calendar feeling sore, despite Kannazuki's nice win. Kisaragi got blown out against Qiyue in what observers thought was going to be an even 32/33 matchup, and Shimotsuki was unable to close out what would have been a huge upset against #9 seed September that might have balanced out #8 seed Minazuki's shock loss to Mak. The only silver lining for fans of the Japanese calendar in this "quadrant" is that Minazuki's misfortune may be Kannazuki's big gain, as the former's upset loss may clear a path for the latter, the #25 seed, to go far. Of course, Mak will have something to say about that.
Note that the bracket in the first post has been updated. Stay tuned for more enthralling MONTHS TOURNAMENT action. Voting will not resume in this "quadrant" for a while, so please focus your attention on other voting threads in the meantime, and await instructions before voting here again. (Although discussion of the upcoming second-round matchups is welcome!) Thank you for your patience.
