Longhorn Invitational Tournament Individual Questions

[Father of the Ragdoll]

Please use this thread to discuss specific tossups or bonuses from Longhorn Invitational Tournament. If you would like to see a particular question, please post here (along with the reason you would like to see it).

[buffaloz1331]

The Tyrean purple dye tossup used "this object" as an indicator, which frustrated me, as it dissuaded me from buzzing in an area where I have a fair amount of knowledge just by virtue of having a misleading indicator, even though I knew the clues that were being read.

[The Sawing-Off of Manhattan Island]

-The earthquakes tossup being after the physics tu in its round narrowed the answerspace of the tu dramatically (assuming it was trying to camoflauge itself somewhat as physics; once it was clear it was osci it got a lot easier). Switching the placement of those two questions would help with that I think. Also, saying "focus" (in the context of deep focus) in power struck me as odd since earthquakes notably have focuses that can be deep, but maybe I was just already keyed in enough for the previous reason and it's harder to figure out without that context

-The Bald Soprano tossup also got narrow really early, since I think the clue about it being on a double bill with The Lesson quickly clues you into Ionesco (that's a pretty qb famous title, I think) and from there you've got relatively good odds to figure out which one (the doorbell clue right after also helped)

-On the Agatha Christie bonus, Styles as the hard part given "complete the title 'Mysterious Affair at'" struck me as too easy; that's a pretty famous and oft-mentioned title. Also Poirot as a medium with full info struck me as a bit soft, but that's more a quibble

-This is a bit subject to debate I guess but I think the Jeff Wall photo in the leadin for Hokusai is probably too easy for where it is - that sparked a pretty big buzzer race in our room and I think that photo has gotten a lot of play in quizbowl recently

-The tossup on monarchy explicitly tells you it is a heriditary system halfway through; that seems pretty transparent given that the answer seemed pretty clearly to be some sort of style of government

-A lot more subjectively, the tarriff tu seemed pretty transparent to me, given the mentions of all the industries they were applied to and the phraasing. I don't have the question in front of me so I can't remember 100% what tipped me off, but that's just my view on the tu - wasn't confident enough to buzz and idk if anyone else had the same thought

-can I see the caffeine tu? I negged somewhere around a clue about its extraction and something about tannin with cellulose and was curious about what was actually going on there

-I guess I should save this for general but after this much negativity I wanted to say there were a ton of fantastic ideas/answerlines throughout; I thought the yeats and lady gregory bonus and the part on my year of rest and relaxation were great and I was happy to see both come up, and I liked the tossup on the Swing cluing Shonibare as well. I didn't note the questions I was happy with with any degree near the questions I found problems with (sorry!), but there were definitely quite a few.

[naan/steak-holding toll]

I relayed most of these to the editors, but wanted to document several minor issues I saw during the tournament in this thread, to help collect them for fixing for future mirrors:

• The aforementioned issue with the placement of the Balkans tossup, which also named several large Balkan cities early in the question.
• The Thomas Sowell clue in the rent control tossup is not unique - the dude has like 50 books and a ton of them discuss urban blight, though the minimum wage is probably the policy he discusses the most in such context (rent control is definitely up there though). I definitely should not have buzzed on this clue, though, that was a serious error on my part.
• The "injury to others" clue in the Thomas Jefferson tossup struck me and others as negbait for Mill, as it is a very near description of the harm principle, which is similar in concept.
• The max clique problem is a fairly notable computational problem related to graph theory; I think that clue could stand to be one later than it currently is.
• The halos bonus should probably accept or at least prompt on aureoles as these are often referred to as "halos" and/or confused with them, and the aureole is a very common Byzantine way of depicting halo-like effects in iconography.
• The bonus on infinite regresses should at least prompt on paradoxes as I believe it was discussing one of Zeno's paradoxes, and a paradox is a "situation" that at least partially fits the clues being presented in the bonus.
• I take it this has been fixed now, but the "Italy" tossup led in with the title Le nuove musiche which, amusingly, is the Italian for "new musics"
• The tossup on Mexico/Day of the Dead said the word calaveras halfway through - this seemed suboptimal, as this is the Spanish word for "skull" or "skeleton" and is the most prominent motif of the Day of the Dead holiday.
• No real constructive feedback here, but the tossups on screws and zeta in physics seemed to be very hard and not particularly thematic / illustrate anything meaningful. In particular, the zeta tossup was a bit annoying because is not exclusively used as the character to indicate the damping ratio - it's probably the most common, but it strikes me as misleading to imply that "zeta is always the damping ratio" when it's not hard to find papers which use other letters to indicate it as such. I might have misheard this. The screw tossup seemed to have the Burgers vector as a middle or mid-late clue - indicating that people were expected to know "screw dislocations" for a mid-late buzz, which seems like a pretty substantial amount of crystal defect knowledge to demand at that point in the question.

I'll reserve more general constructive feedback for a general set discussion thread.

[Bensonfan23]

-can I see the caffeine tu? I negged somewhere around a clue about its extraction and something about tannin with cellulose and was curious about what was actually going on there

(Round4, Tossup1) 1. One modern technique for synthesizing this compound reacts dimethyl sulphate on a bed of alumina impregnated with potassium fluoride. Emil Fischer developed an early base-catalyzed total synthesis of this compound, which utilized iodomethane and sodium hydroxide. Laboratory extractions of this compound commonly make use of methylene chloride and powdered calcium carbonate to separate it from gallic acid and (*) tannin contaminants. Modern syntheses of this compound begin with its theobromine derivative, and this compound is removed industrially using supercritical CO2. This alkaloid compound’s most notable function derives from its ability to block the adenosine receptor. For 10 points, name this natural stimulant found in tea and coffee.
ANSWER: caffeine <RH, Chemistry>

Here is the full text of that tossup. The clues throughout were about important syntheses of caffeine (modern, then pioneering), followed by a lab extraction that I felt people were likely to either recognize or have performed, and then more well known clues about industrial caffeine production, extraction, and its basic biochemical functions.

[king_crimson]

I really enjoyed this set's literature and RM, especially a lot of the hard parts.

The Glass Menagerie/Williams/poker, the Nuwa/Daji/fox and Titus Andronicus bonus with a part on the meat pie were probably my favorite bonuses of the set.

I felt there was kind of a trend on literature bonuses getting harder in the afternoon, though that could have been just me. Some of the bonuses felt like they had two hard parts such as the bonus on New Yorker/The Enormous Radio/The Catbird Seat, though I could just be inexperienced with college-difficulty sets.

Most of the literature tossups were spot-on difficulty wise. I liked the tossups on September 1, 1939, frogs, Istanbul, Coetzee, and Notre Dame.

What were the early clues on Kawabata, Shelley, and the late clues for thief? Thanks.

RM wise, it seemed all really good except the bonus on Philoctetes seemed slightly easy.

[DavidB256]

Hello! I played the Duke Mid-Atlantic mirror of this tournament and had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the literature (thanks for validating my reading of the Prose Edda and taking a class on Julio Cortázar) and science. This may have been because I was playing alongside a math PhD student, but I felt like there was less math content than normal in this tournament. On the other hand, I loved the statistics and theoretical CS content. I thought a lot of the science, like the tossup on dead cells, the tossup on CERN, and the (at least) 3 ocean science tossups (sharks, shells, seabed) were really creative but a tad difficult. I'd love to see the tossups on CERN and on shells.

[buffaloz1331]

I don’t know if the LHC/CERN tossup was too hard. It felt very transparent, on the contrary

[Jack]

I don't have too much to say but I'll note the following:

In accordance with what Will noted above, the tossup on rent control, specifically the Sowell clue, was a bit misleading I thought -- immediately upon hearing the tossup, actually, I think it was pretty transparent that it would have either been either some zoning issue tossup or rent control (that's what I thought, anyway), but upon hearing the Thomas Sowell clue, my mind went to 1) Affirmative Action and 2) minimum wage. Luckily the other team negged at that point, but I think that clue could be modified, perhaps with a quote (or if a direct quote was used, a more unique one).

I also want to echo what people said about the CERN tossup, as it felt extremely transparent. I actually wasn't paying attention when it was begun, but after tuning in and hearing something about "this institution" and the nature of the clues around it, my mind just thought "what else would they ask about other than CERN or some university?" Can't comment on specific clues, but I did think that as it was read.

I also think the monarchy tossup and Gospels tossup were both transparent as well -- I think someone pointed out the word 'harmonize" was used in the Gospel tossup pretty early which kinda gave it away too early, or at least primed you to think "Gospels."

I'll note that perhaps my least favorite tossup ever was at this tournament. The tossup on tariffs (which if you'll oblige me I'd ask for someone to post in-full here) seemed so bad to me: immediately upon hearing the first clue, I immediately said to myself "Given this clue's description there is nearly no way this could be anything other than tariffs." I refused to believe it could be that obvious that I didn't buzz on it (the next clue, mentioning I think the swiss system or something, also seemed to use verbiage that made it impossible for anything other than tariffs to be the answerline, something like "bringing these things in agreement/accordance" or something). To be clear, I'm not saying I recognized the first clue and noticed it was too easy, but that I didn't recognize the specific thing the first clue referenced but noticed how, based on the verbiage used, it couldn't be anything other than tariffs at this difficulty level. Maybe I'm just going crazy. I think my only use of profanity at this tournament was buzzing in on this and, though getting it right, being annoyed at the tossup in general. Regardless, I would appreciate to see it again here.

Otherwise, though, other than the rent control note above, I thought the two econ bonuses (that I remember hearing, anyway) were excellent -- sadly my team never got to answer them (the finance and minimum wage ones), but these were really good clues and I think were arguably perfect for this difficulty level, though I think the description of arbitrage could have been a little clearer since I believe that was supposed to be the easy part. It was also fun to point out to our C team, whom we were playing at the time, that after they didn't know the "Card Krueger" bit, that both were at Princeton when they wrote their paper

I also loved the Back to the Future tossup, and I would love for someone to post it in its entirety just so I can see the rest of it. Excellent choice of a fun answerline and great leadin!

[Father of the Ragdoll]

In accordance with what Will noted above, the tossup on rent control, specifically the Sowell clue, was a bit misleading I thought -- immediately upon hearing the tossup, actually, I think it was pretty transparent that it would have either been either some zoning issue tossup or rent control (that's what I thought, anyway), but upon hearing the Thomas Sowell clue, my mind went to 1) Affirmative Action and 2) minimum wage. Luckily the other team negged at that point, but I think that clue could be modified, perhaps with a quote (or if a direct quote was used, a more unique one).

I'll note that perhaps my least favorite tossup ever was at this tournament. The tossup on tariffs (which if you'll oblige me I'd ask for someone to post in-full here) seemed so bad to me: immediately upon hearing the first clue, I immediately said to myself "Given this clue's description there is nearly no way this could be anything other than tariffs." I refused to believe it could be that obvious that I didn't buzz on it (the next clue, mentioning I think the swiss system or something, also seemed to use verbiage that made it impossible for anything other than tariffs to be the answerline, something like "bringing these things in agreement/accordance" or something). To be clear, I'm not saying I recognized the first clue and noticed it was too easy, but that I didn't recognize the specific thing the first clue referenced but noticed how, based on the verbiage used, it couldn't be anything other than tariffs at this difficulty level. Maybe I'm just going crazy. I think my only use of profanity at this tournament was buzzing in on this and, though getting it right, being annoyed at the tossup in general. Regardless, I would appreciate to see it again here.

I would like to apologize for the way that the two econ tossups that were played turned out. Writing econ is not my strongsuit but these two were simply not up to standard. These tossups will be heavily edited or replaced before the next mirror to bring them in line with the standard expected from our set. Thank you to everyone who has given the much needed criticism needed to improve them.

Here is the tariff tossup as it was played:

In a history of these policies in the United States, Frank William Taussig defended their use in the cotton, wool, and iron industries. The Swiss Formula was designed to reduce and harmonize these policies. An increase in one of these policies would decrease manufacturing profits and increase rent costs according to an essay by (*) David Ricardo. In the Report on Manufacturers, Alexander Hamilton argued for short term usage of these policies to allow U.S. producers to become competitive. Trade wars typically involve two countries increasing the rates of these policies. Protectionist policies usually focus on, for 10 points, what taxes that are levied on imported goods.
ANSWER: tariffs [prompt on taxes before read] <BM, Social Science>

Here is the Back to the Future tossup:

A character in this film series butchers a joke by saying “Why don’t you make like a tree and get out of here.” Jules and Verne are the children of a character in this series who saves his wife from a train crashing into a ravine. Throughout this film series, the protagonist gets angry whenever someone calls him “chicken.” The line (*) “Roads? Where we’re going, we don't need roads” is delivered at the end of the first film in this series, whose climax occurs when lightning strikes the Hill Valley clock tower. In its second installment, a sports almanac makes Biff Tannen wealthy. In the first film in this series, the protagonist tries to ensure his parents get together after traveling in a DeLorean with Doc Brown. For 10 points, name this trilogy starring Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, who travels through time.
ANSWER: Back to the Future [accept Back to the Future II or Back to the Future III] <WG, Popular Culture>

[Father of the Ragdoll]

I'd love to see the tossups on CERN and on shells.

TU on CERN:

ELENA is a ring-shaped device at this facility designed to produce the “extra low energy” type of a certain particle. That particle is the heavier of two constituent molecules whose freefall acceleration researchers at this facility are measuring in the GBAR experiment. Another set of experiments conducted at this facility produced the first evidence of the W and Z bosons. Those were the (*) UA1 and UA2 experiments. Experiments at this facility commonly make use of a device in which an iridium rod is targeted with beams of protons and anti-protons accelerated in a synchrotron. In 2012, researchers at this facility announced the discovery of the Higgs Boson. For 10 points, name this facility near Geneva that houses the world’s largest high-energy particle collider.
ANSWER: CERN [accept Large Hadron Collider or LHC; accept European Organization for Nuclear Research; accept Proton-Antiproton Collider (SppS) or the Super Proton Synchronton (SPS)] <RH, Physics>

TU on shells:

These structures are damaged by excess salt efflorescence in Bynesian decay. The boundaries of these non-fruit fly structures are regulated by selective expression of engrailed. The periostracum is a chitinous membrane on the exterior of these structures, which form within the extrapallial space. Aspein is an unusually acidic matrix protein found in the prismatic layer of these structures. Multiple chambers within these structures are connected by the porous siphuncle as a means of regulating (*) buoyancy. Perlucin and nacrein are major protein components of a layer in these structures. Lower levels of aragonite saturation hinders the formation of these structures as a consequence of ocean acidification. For 10 points, name these calcified mollusk exoskeletons.
ANSWER: sea shells [accept any specific types of animals in front of shell: clam/oyster/snail/nautilus/etc.] <RH, Biology>

[Father of the Ragdoll]

What were the early clues on Kawabata, Shelley, and the late clues for thief? Thanks.

For the Kawabata tossup:
The first two sentences were about Beauty and Sadness
The next two sentences were about Thousand Cranes
The finale clues were from Snow Country

I will let William answer the questions about Shelley and thieves, as he wrote those.

[king_crimson]

What were the early clues on Kawabata, Shelley, and the late clues for thief? Thanks.

For the Kawabata tossup:
The first two sentences were about Beauty and Sadness
The next two sentences were about Thousand Cranes
The finale clues were from Snow Country

I will let William answer the questions about Shelley and thieves, as he wrote those.

Is it possible you could paste that tossup - I didn't remember too much about it. Thanks!

[Father of the Ragdoll]

Is it possible you could paste that tossup - I didn't remember too much about it. Thanks!

In one novel by this author, two characters discuss a skeleton that was found holding a faded portrait, which may have been her lover or husband. That novel by this author centers on the fictional author of A Girl of Sixteen. In another novel by this author, a woman commits suicide with sleeping pills after being rejected by a man 20 years her junior. That man later tried to seduce a woman that he fell in love with after she (*) broke a 16th century Shino bowl. A different novel by this author ends as the protagonist feels "the Milky Way" flow inside him as a silkworm warehouse burns down. For 10 points, name this author of Beauty and Sadness, Thousand Cranes, and Snow Country.
ANSWER: Yasunari Kawabata <BM, World Literature>

Reading this again, this tossup is definitely too hard. I will look into editing this down a notch in the next few days

[Quinctilius Varus]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Glad to hear the literature was well-liked in general.

-The Bald Soprano tossup also got narrow really early, since I think the clue about it being on a double bill with The Lesson quickly clues you into Ionesco (that's a pretty qb famous title, I think) and from there you've got relatively good odds to figure out which one (the doorbell clue right after also helped)

You're not the first person to mention this, so I'll drop The Lesson for future mirrors.

-On the Agatha Christie bonus, Styles as the hard part given "complete the title 'Mysterious Affair at'" struck me as too easy; that's a pretty famous and oft-mentioned title. Also Poirot as a medium with full info struck me as a bit soft, but that's more a quibble

For what it's worth, Hercule Poirot didn't have full info, since I didn't mention Agatha Christie's name in the question. However, I agree that it's on the easy side of middle parts in this set.

What were the early clues on Kawabata, Shelley, and the late clues for thief? Thanks.

Looks like Brad got Kawabata, but here are the other two questions:

This author’s father confiscated the only manuscript of a novella about a woman who tells Woodville about her father confessing his love for her. In a novel by this author, Lord Raymond leads a failed siege of Constantinople. A character created by this author is shaken after lightning obliterates a tree, and later studies at the University of (*) Ingolstadt. Lionel Verney is the only person to survive a plague in the year 2100 in her novel The Last Man. The title character of this author’s most famous novel is found dead floating on an ice floe in the North Pole by the ship captain Robert Walton. Henry Clerval and Elizabeth Lavenza are victims of an unnamed character from that novel by this author who was created by a medical student named Victor. For 10 points, name this author of Frankenstein.
ANSWER: Mary Shelley [or Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; or Mary Godwin; the novella in the first line is Mathilda] <WG, British Literature>

In one novel, a character with this profession is gunned down in a graveyard while thinking of his daughter Sana. That character with this profession falls in love with Nur and seeks revenge on his ex-wife and his old mentor Rauf after his release from prison. In one story, the body of a character killed by members of this profession is sewed back together by a tailor. Said Marwan is the protagonist of a (*) Naguib Mahfouz novel titled for a member of this profession and the Dogs. In one story, some of these people hiding in jars have hot oil poured on them by Morgiana. Members of this profession pursue a woodcutter after he discovers a cave full of riches that opens with the password “Open sesame.” For 10 points, name this profession, forty members of whom pursue Ali Baba in the Arabian Nights.
ANSWER: thieves [or thief; or thievery; accept The Thief and the Dogs; accept “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”; prompt on robbers or robbery] <WG, World/Other Literature>

Looking now, a few of the sentences in the Mary Shelley tossup could be worded more clearly.

[king_crimson]

This author’s father confiscated the only manuscript of a novella about a woman who tells Woodville about her father confessing his love for her. In a novel by this author, Lord Raymond leads a failed siege of Constantinople. A character created by this author is shaken after lightning obliterates a tree, and later studies at the University of (*) Ingolstadt. Lionel Verney is the only person to survive a plague in the year 2100 in her novel The Last Man. The title character of this author’s most famous novel is found dead floating on an ice floe in the North Pole by the ship captain Robert Walton. Henry Clerval and Elizabeth Lavenza are victims of an unnamed character from that novel by this author who was created by a medical student named Victor. For 10 points, name this author of Frankenstein.
ANSWER: Mary Shelley [or Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; or Mary Godwin; the novella in the first line is Mathilda] <WG, British Literature>

I negged this at lightning obliterating a tree with Charlotte Bronte because I think that also happened in Jane Eyre. I don't think that clue was necessarily a problem (it's been clued before) but I think more context would be good. The tossup itself cliffs really quickly at Ingoldstadt so I think another clue on Frankenstein would make this a better tossup.

Also, a quick question - why would you prompt on robbers instead of just accepting it? The Mahfouz work is titled for a thief, but I don't see why you woudn't straight up just accept robbers

[Quinctilius Varus]

I negged this at lightning obliterating a tree with Charlotte Bronte because I think that also happened in Jane Eyre. I don't think that clue was necessarily a problem (it's been clued before) but I think more context would be good. The tossup itself cliffs really quickly at Ingoldstadt so I think another clue on Frankenstein would make this a better tossup.

Also, a quick question - why would you prompt on robbers instead of just accepting it? The Mahfouz work is titled for a thief, but I don't see why you woudn't straight up just accept robbers

Both good points - I'll change these before the next mirror. Thanks for the feedback!

[Votre Kickstarter Est Nul]

Could I see the tossup on ceiling frescoes? I (probably incorrectly but I have looked much) was prompted with "where" or "in what location" (something along those lines) for saying friezes on the Tiepolo clues and said in a Palace, which Wurzburg is, and was negged. My instinct is that its sorta tough to write this sort of tossup without alot of different prompts, cause it's impossible for me to know when I buzz that you want "location on a part of a structure like a wall or ceiling" or "location in the type of building" or even something like a city. Sorry if any of this is incorrect; I'll certainly take stuff back if seeing the tossup contradicts any of this.

I'll also generally second the CERN and tariff comments above (that Jack made). I'll try and have more detailed comments once packets are released.

Thanks!

[naan/steak-holding toll]

Could I see the tossup on ceiling frescoes? I (probably incorrectly but I have looked much) was prompted with "where" or "in what location" (something along those lines) for saying friezes on the Tiepolo clues and said in a Palace, which Wurzburg is, and was negged. My instinct is that its sorta tough to write this sort of tossup without alot of different prompts, cause it's impossible for me to know when I buzz that you want "location on a part of a structure like a wall or ceiling" or "location in the type of building" or even something like a city. Sorry if any of this is incorrect; I'll certainly take stuff back if seeing the tossup contradicts any of this.

I'll also generally second the CERN and tariff comments above (that Jack made). I'll try and have more detailed comments once packets are released.

Thanks!

Yeah - I agree with this and think the prompt "painting of this type" is very likely to lead to these sorts of issues. That said, I was very pleased to be able to buzz on this and answer by pointing upwards on camera. (Discord camera is fun, people!)

[Bensonfan23]

Could I see the tossup on ceiling frescoes? I (probably incorrectly but I have looked much) was prompted with "where" or "in what location" (something along those lines) for saying friezes on the Tiepolo clues and said in a Palace, which Wurzburg is, and was negged. My instinct is that its sorta tough to write this sort of tossup without alot of different prompts, cause it's impossible for me to know when I buzz that you want "location on a part of a structure like a wall or ceiling" or "location in the type of building" or even something like a city. Sorry if any of this is incorrect; I'll certainly take stuff back if seeing the tossup contradicts any of this.

I'll also generally second the CERN and tariff comments above (that Jack made). I'll try and have more detailed comments once packets are released.

Thanks!

Sure, here's the ceiling paintings tossup.

10. In one painting of this type created while its artist was in Padua, a winged Time holds a scythe and an hourglass to accompany Zephyr and Flora to the title Triumph of Aurora. Another painting of this type by the same artist shows Apollo extending a royal scepter while Mercury flies a crown toward an allegorical depiction of the Spanish monarchy. In addition to those works, (*) Tiepolo also created a massive work of this type for the Wurzburg residence. Depictions of Rehoboam and Asa and the separation of land from sea are scenes from a series of paintings of this type by a different artist. For 10 points, name this type of painting, such as The Creation of Adam, which Michelangelo painted using intricate scaffolding to decorate the Sistine Chapel.
ANSWER: ceiling paintings [or ceiling frescoes; prompt on fresco or paintings with “in what type of location”; accept answers mentioning ceiling paintings specifically by Tiepolo or Michelangelo] (all power clues are by Tiepolo) <RH, Painting>

Sorry I didn't see this line of thought coming when I wrote the detailed prompt (and it didn't come up in playtesting), which I realized needed to be specific to make a tossup like this (which I thought was an interesting idea) play well. To clear things up further, I'll add a second directed prompt to the effect of "prompt on answers of (Wurtzburg) palace with "in what location in the building?". Hopefully this helps this question play even better.

[jsingh]

The Tyrean purple dye tossup used "this object" as an indicator, which frustrated me, as it dissuaded me from buzzing in an area where I have a fair amount of knowledge just by virtue of having a misleading indicator, even though I knew the clues that were being read.

9. According to Suetonius, Ptolemy of Mauretania was killed by Caligula for showing off his ownership of this good. Julius Pollux claimed that this good was discovered when Hercules’ dog was sniffing around on the beach. It’s not glass, but Sidon was a production center for this good. Pliny the Elder described how this good was created through salting and boiling in large lead vats that resulted in a terrible odor. The dibapha variety of this good featured prominently on the (*) togas of Roman senators. The production of one pound of this good required the deaths of 10,000 animals of the genus Murex. For 10 points, name this Phoenician good produced from the fluid of crushed snails.
ANSWER: Tyrian purple [accept purple dye and other equivalents; prompt on Murex snails with “what comes from the snails?”] <JS, Ancient/Historiography>

I used "good", not "object". I think "good" is a reasonable indicator, but I guess "product" may be a clearer way to write this.

[cwasims]

I quite enjoyed this tournament! Thanks to the writers and editors.

I'll echo what some of the earlier commenters said about some of the bonuses having very easy medium parts - in addition to the Poirot part, Pangloss, drum (from the Korean music bonus), whatever the medium part in the Yuan Shikai bonus was, and Poor Law (with mentioning that the name referred to a characteristic) all also felt pretty soft to me - I don't remember other examples off the top of my head but I recall there being others. Some of the science easy parts seemed quite difficult (linkage, naphtha, alcohol spring to mind). In fairness, I didn't have a science player on my team but I am also a reasonably OK science player at this difficulty and my team probably shouldn't have 0d quite as many bonuses as we did.

I didn't have many issues with the tossups: I think weir was dropped far too early in the fishing tossup and I found the wording of the Two Dogmas of Empiricism tossup confusing because of the referencing of "title concepts" - I guess this is technically correct but also not what QB writers typically mean when using a phrase like that. I enjoyed hearing Beethoven's Triple Concerto clued, but I think it was fairly transparent - there aren't many ensembles of instruments that play as the soloists in a concerto and many of the other options (two pianos, two violins, etc.) are probably too difficult for this level. The doges tossup seemed extremely difficult - are the paintings clued really all that notable? Despite what others have mentioned I thought the Jeff Wall clue in the Hokusai tossup was alright, and I also especially enjoyed the tossups on Tchaikovsky and anti-Catholicism.

Apologies for the rambling format - these criticisms are pretty minor overall and did not detract meaningfully from my enjoyment of the tournament.

[Gene Harrogate]

I don't have the packages, so I'll give my feedback based on what I can remember. I thought this tournament was well done, and that tossup difficulty in particular was very well calibrated. Answerlines were appropriate, varied, and interesting, and the tossups generally unfolded well.

Will said the lit was hard to power--to me that felt less the case than there being occasional inconsistency in the power standards. I would imagine some of the tossups that clued notable plot points early (Silas Marner and Don Quixote come to mind) had higher power rates than, say, the tossup cluing a lot of dialogue for Captain Ahab (incidentally I like the idea of a language-focused Moby Dick tossup).

I know no science, but going off of my teammates and my field in general I would agree that the science seemed to trend harder than other categories.

I agree with those who have noted an easy-easyish-very hard pattern among the bonuses. From the questions I can remember, Requiem for a Nun/Faulkner/the past seems like a fair example: the Faulkner quote on the past is already fairly well-known IMO, even without the added Gatsby part. RfaN not only suffers from the hard-part leadoff effect of increased difficulty, but doesn't even give the player the title of Sanctuary. I'm not sure a player at an EFT+ tournament should be expected to make that many leaps to get to a minor Faulkner novel with a legacy of pretty much one quote, and I have to imagine the distribution for this bonus ended up more centered on 20 than the writers meant. To the writing team's credit, this was not a universal feature and didn't affect my enjoyment of the tournament. I imagine calibrating bonus hard parts is especially difficult at a tweaner tournament like this.

From what I heard, most rooms at my site negged Ravana with Ganesha at the mention of losing a head--there's a probable counterargument of the stories being pretty different, but an out-of-power clue like that at this difficulty without an "it's not" clause seems likely to get some negs.

Thank you everyone who worked on this, it really is impressive how teams can put together quality sets like this outside the normal cycle of ACF and the like.

[king_crimson]

I don't have the packages, so I'll give my feedback based on what I can remember. I thought this tournament was well done, and that tossup difficulty in particular was very well calibrated. Answerlines were appropriate, varied, and interesting, and the tossups generally unfolded well.

Will said the lit was hard to power; to me that felt less the case than there being occasional inconsistency in the power standards. I would imagine some of the tossups that clued notable plot points early (Silas Marner and Don Quixote comes to mind) had higher power rates than, say, the tossup cluing a lot of dialogue for Captain Ahab (incidentally I like the idea of a language-focused Moby Dick tossup).

I know no science, but going off of my teammates and my field in general I would agree that the science seemed to trend harder than other categories.

I agree with those who in this thread and the specific question thread have noted an easy-easyish-very hard pattern among the bonuses. From the questions I can remember, Requiem for a Nun/Faulkner/the past seems like a fair example: the Faulkner quote on the past is already fairly well-known IMO, even without the added Gatsby part. RfaN not only suffers from the hard-part leadoff effect of increased difficulty, but doesn't even give the player the title of Sanctuary. I'm not sure a player at an EFT+ tournament should be expected to make that many leaps to get to a minor Faulkner novel with a legacy of pretty much one quote, and I have to imagine the distribution for this bonus ended up more centered on 20 than the writers meant. To the writing team's credit, this was not a universal feature and didn't affect my enjoyment of the tournament. I imagine calibrating bonus hard parts is especially difficult at a tweaner tournament like this.

From what I heard, most rooms at my site negged Ravana with Ganesha at the mention of losing a head--there's a probable counterargument of the stories being pretty different, but an out-of-power clue like that at this difficulty without an "it's not" clause seems likely to get some negs.

Thank you everyone who worked on this, it really is impressive how teams can put together quality sets like this outside the normal cycle of ACF and the like.

I agree with a lot of these points but I felt like the Faulkner middle part on past was fine (We got it off the Gatsby clue)

[Quinctilius Varus]

I don't have the packages, so I'll give my feedback based on what I can remember. I thought this tournament was well done, and that tossup difficulty in particular was very well calibrated. Answerlines were appropriate, varied, and interesting, and the tossups generally unfolded well.

Will said the lit was hard to power--to me that felt less the case than there being occasional inconsistency in the power standards. I would imagine some of the tossups that clued notable plot points early (Silas Marner and Don Quixote come to mind) had higher power rates than, say, the tossup cluing a lot of dialogue for Captain Ahab (incidentally I like the idea of a language-focused Moby Dick tossup).

I'm glad you liked the set, Henry! Although I know this isn't the main point of your argument, it's worth noting that at the Mid-Atlantic mirror of LIT (which is admittedly a small sample size), the Silas Marner question had 4 powers, 8 tens, and 3 negs and the Captain Ahab tossup had 4 powers, 8 tens, and 2 negs. The overall power rate for literature was somewhere between 23-24%, which I'm quite happy with. Few tossups had abnormally high power rates, but the European and miscellaneous lit skewed noticeably harder than the other subcategories. I tinkered with the Don Quixote tossup to make it easier between the first and second mirrors, but I likely made it too easy in the process. I'll work on it more before the next mirrors.

[Gene Harrogate]

Could I see the Li Bai and Boer War questions please?

edit: mistake moved to errata

[Father of the Ragdoll]

Could I see the Li Bai and Boer War questions please?

edit: mistake moved to errata

Locations created during this conflict were excoriated by Henry Campbell-Bannerman in the question “when is a war not a war?” following a scorched earth campaign against homesteads. During this conflict, Sarah Wilson became one of the first female war correspondents when reporting on a siege involving fake landmines and fake barbed wire. Floris Visser was killed during this conflict by a man who became an Australian national hero, (*) Breaker Morant. Emily Hobhouse reported on the conditions of concentration camps created during this war. Robert Baden-Powell gained fame for his victory at the Siege of Mafeking during this conflict. For 10 points, name this conflict, which saw the complete defeat of Dutch forces in South Africa.
ANSWER: Second Boer War [prompt on Boer Wars; do NOT accept “First Boer War”] <Commonwealth History, JS>

In one poem, Gary Snyder wrote that Philip Whalen had "built a poem" to this man and that the "drunkard [had] taught him how to dance." A poem titled "Thinking of" this poet "at the End of the Sky" asks "what thoughts occupy the gentleman's mind?" and "what time will the wild goose come?" One translation of this poet includes the lines “The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead” and “When my (*) hair was cut straight across my forehead.” That poem was translated as "The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter" by Ezra Pound. This poet wrote "A cup of wine, under the flowering trees" in "Drinking Alone by Moonlight." For 10 points, name this poet, who with Wang Wei and Du Fu, is among the most celebrated poets of the Tang Dynasty.
ANSWER: Li Bai [or Li Po; or Rihaku] <BM, World/Other Literature>

[Gene Harrogate]

Thanks Bradley. I would note that mentioning scorched earth tactics on homesteads and an English name led to a first-line buzzer race on the Boer War in my room.

For the Li Bai question, I get that it's cluing a specific Ezra Pound poem but I think the sorrowful monkey line could just as well be a clue for several Tang poets. Du Fu's "Climbing Higher" and many other poems mention the "mournful cries of the apes overhead" in whatever translation (for instance, check out some of the translations in this link) and it seems difficult to me for a player to connect that specific line to the River Merchant's Wife with any confidence.

[Father of the Ragdoll]

Thanks Bradley. I would note that mentioning scorched earth tactics on homesteads and an English name led to a first-line buzzer race on the Boer War in my room.

For the Li Bai question, I get that it's cluing a specific Ezra Pound poem but I think the sorrowful monkey line could just as well be a clue for several Tang poets. Du Fu's "Climbing Higher" and many other poems mention the "mournful cries of the apes overhead" in whatever translation (for instance, check out some of the poems in this link) and it seems difficult to me for a player to connect that specific line to the River Merchant's Wife with any confidence.

I'll let Jas know about the Boer war leadin. The Li Bai confusion is my bad, sorry about that. It'll be fixed by the next mirror. Thanks for your feedback!

[Gene Harrogate]

Thanks for the prompt reply!

[naan/steak-holding toll]

Thanks Bradley. I would note that mentioning scorched earth tactics on homesteads and an English name led to a first-line buzzer race on the Boer War in my room.

For the Li Bai question, I get that it's cluing a specific Ezra Pound poem but I think the sorrowful monkey line could just as well be a clue for several Tang poets. Du Fu's "Climbing Higher" and many other poems mention the "mournful cries of the apes overhead" in whatever translation (for instance, check out some of the poems in this link) and it seems difficult to me for a player to connect that specific line to the River Merchant's Wife with any confidence.

I'll let Jas know about the Boer war leadin. The Li Bai confusion is my bad, sorry about that. It'll be fixed by the next mirror. Thanks for your feedback!

For what it's worth, I also thought that lead-in was really easy, mainly because it named Campbell-Bannerman, who was a prime minister during the 1900s. That, plus the idea that the war had some sort of really notorious locations (and was implicitly British), made it simple to just make a highly informed guess on the lead-in. I recognize that this requires a decent amount of knowledge to pull of this sort of lateral buzz, but my experience - while qualitatively different - was functionally similar to Henry's.

[Hot Soup]

Can I see the bonus on adherens junctions? I believe there was a specific instruction not to prompt on desmosomes, so I wanted to see why this was.

[Bensonfan23]

Can I see the bonus on adherens junctions? I believe there was a specific instruction not to prompt on desmosomes, so I wanted to see why this was.

Drosophila double-mutants for the genes stardust and bazooka fail to form these cellular junctions, which disrupts basolateral polarity in their epithelia. For 10 points each:
[10] Name these cellular junctions whose function is mediated by complexes of cadherin and catenin. These junctions are characteristically enriched in phospho-tyrosine epitopes.
ANSWER: adherens junctions [accept zonula adherens or spot adherens junctions or intermediate junctions or “belt desmosome”; prompt on ZA; do not accept or prompt on “desmosome” alone]
[10] The adhesive properties of adherens junctions largely result from interactions between this cytoskeletal protein and the complex of bound cadherins. This protein’s beta-form is a common loading control in Western blots.
ANSWER: actin [accept beta-actin]
[10] Epithelium development in Drosophila is unique for beginning at the 14th cleavage cycle, since the first 13 nuclear divisions occur without this process. Normally, this process occurs alongside telophase and divides the cytoplasm among the two daughter cells.
ANSWER: cytokinesis <RH, Biology>

The reason for that prompt is because "belt desmosome" seems to be a synonymous name with adherens junction, so I wanted to make sure to accept that, but desmosomes themselves are distinct and therefore not prompted.

[Mahavishnu]

I negged the Day of the Dead tossup with Christmas. The lead-in described processions of candle-wielding individuals who are allowed entry into various peoples' homes. This is very similar to festivities performed during Las Posadas, a multi-day Christmas-adjacent festival that is celebrated throughout Latin America. Following quote from Wikipedia, because citation game weak:

Two people dress up as Mary and Joseph and certain houses are designated to be "inns"; the head of the procession carries a candle inside a paper shade. The actors travel to one house each night for nine nights. At each house, the resident responds by singing a song and the pair are recognized and allowed to enter;

Perhaps this could be changed to rule out answers similar to mine. Thanks.

[Father of the Ragdoll]

I negged the Day of the Dead tossup with Christmas. The lead-in described processions of candle-wielding individuals who are allowed entry into various peoples' homes. This is very similar to festivities performed during Las Posadas, a multi-day Christmas-adjacent festival that is celebrated throughout Latin America. Following quote from Wikipedia, because citation game weak:

Two people dress up as Mary and Joseph and certain houses are designated to be "inns"; the head of the procession carries a candle inside a paper shade. The actors travel to one house each night for nine nights. At each house, the resident responds by singing a song and the pair are recognized and allowed to enter;

Perhaps this could be changed to rule out answers similar to mine. Thanks.

Thanks for pointing this out, the clue has been changed to emphasize the marigolds as the point of interest to avoid confusion.

[Snom]

there's an error on Steppenwolf from Round 1 where the tossup says "Hermione" instead of Hermine.

10. This character grabs ahold of a man’s hair which then turns into a comet and carries this character through a “rarefied and glacial atmosphere." This character sees a war between cars and humans and re-experiences his relationships with Emma and Rosa. At the end of the novel in which this character appears, he watches as a murdered prostitute is picked up and placed in the pocket of a (*) jazz musician. On his fiftieth birthday, this character learns the foxtrot from Hermione. Near the beginning of the novel he appears in, this character finds a pamphlet labeled "FOR MADMEN ONLY.” For 10 points, name this protagonist of a Herman Hesse novel, nicknamed for his lupine appearance.

The tossup on William James from the same packet reads

This psychologist's four methods include habit, emotion, and will.

The only source I could find for the arbitrary grouping of "habit, emotion and will" as "methods" comes from this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... Psychology that is flagged for original research. One should note that "stream of consciousness, habit, emotion, and will" are not methods at all! The confusion arises from this edit (from an IP address) https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =636348100 which builds on a lot of uncited original research editing by Briekm. The article originally listed four actual "method"s, and this edit changed the list without changing the identifier. I'm not a thought player, but a quick skim through the table of contents of the book makes picking these four ideas seem like a pretty arbitrary original interpretation by Briekm (much of the book concerns the concepts of "self" and "mind"). Needless to say, if there's not a more authoritative source on this, I think this clue is pretty bad.

<post may be edited if I come across other errors.>

[Father of the Ragdoll]

there's an error on Steppenwolf from Round 1 where the tossup says "Hermione" instead of Hermine.

10. This character grabs ahold of a man’s hair which then turns into a comet and carries this character through a “rarefied and glacial atmosphere." This character sees a war between cars and humans and re-experiences his relationships with Emma and Rosa. At the end of the novel in which this character appears, he watches as a murdered prostitute is picked up and placed in the pocket of a (*) jazz musician. On his fiftieth birthday, this character learns the foxtrot from Hermione. Near the beginning of the novel he appears in, this character finds a pamphlet labeled "FOR MADMEN ONLY.” For 10 points, name this protagonist of a Herman Hesse novel, nicknamed for his lupine appearance.

The tossup on William James from the same packet reads

This psychologist's four methods include habit, emotion, and will.

The only source I could find for the arbitrary grouping of "habit, emotion and will" as "methods" comes from this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... Psychology that is flagged for original research. One should note that "stream of consciousness, habit, emotion, and will" are not methods at all! The confusion arises from this edit (from an IP address) https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?ti ... =636348100 which builds on a lot of uncited original research editing by Briekm. The article originally listed four actual "method"s, and this edit changed the list without changing the identifier. I'm not a thought player, but a quick skim through the table of contents of the book makes picking these four ideas seem like a pretty arbitrary original interpretation by Briekm (much of the book concerns the concepts of "self" and "mind"). Needless to say, if there's not a more authoritative source on this, I think this clue is pretty bad.

<post may be edited if I come across other errors.>

The Steppenwolf typo has been fixed.

As for the James tossup, I pulled that clue originally from notes from an undergrad psych course then back checked it with a google search and saw the Wikipedia reference you mentioned, which I took as confirmation of the contents of said notes. Given what you've pointed out tho and my own deeper digging, it seems more likely that I am misreading my old scribbles (or perhaps the TA teaching the class was using wikipedia to source his powerpoints). Thanks for bringing this to my attention, it will be addressed by the mirror next weekend.

[Snom]

A few other nitpicks from packet 1:


From the tossup on black body

“One of these systems is responsible for the glow seen in solids above the Draper point.”

As far as I can tell, the “Draper point” is a somewhat vague and non specific temperature determined by Draper as the point where he could see a strip of platinum glowing (which he thought was indistinguishable to the same point for other solids) i.e. not black bodies. The Wikipedia page even notes “Substituting the Draper point into this equation produces a frequency of 83 THz, or a wavelength of 3.6 μm, which is well into the infrared and completely invisible to the human eye. However, the leading edge of the blackbody radiation curve extends, at a small fraction of peak intensity, to the near-infrared and far-red (approximately the range 0.7–1 μm), which are weakly visible as a dull red.”


From the tossup on Pandora’s box

“Book 24 of the Iliad alludes to this object and its counterpart next to the throne of Zeus, from which he fills “the cup of mortal man.””


This clue seems to only be gettable from reading Wikipedia (or the Consolatio ad Apollonium possibly by Plutarch), and not the Iliad. See commentary on page 197 here. The urn/wine jar isn’t really identified with Pandora’s box anywhere -- only that both are examples of a similar idea. The Pandora’s box myth comes only from Hesiod, not Homer. Admittedly, the Iliad also refers to a pithos, so maybe the equivalence here is not so far-fetched.

The line quoted is also a pretty creative invention by Pope (as is most of Pope’s translation). Lattimore, I think the preferred translation nowadays, at least the one I read two weeks ago for freshman lit class, reads: 

There are two urns that stand on the door-sill of Zeus. They are unlike
for the gifts they bestow: an urn of evils, an urn of blessings.
If Zeus who delights in thunder mingles these and bestows them
on man, he shifts, and moves now in evil, again in good fortune.

“Θρόνου” (thronos) does not appear anywhere in the greek passage.




Sorry for the relatively minor complaints. Most of the editing appears to have been solid. Going through just packet 1 already took me two hours with all the extra research, so I probably won't do such in depth karening for the rest of the set.

[naan/steak-holding toll]

Miscellaneous comments from playing packet 12:

• The tossup on Dutch seems kind of hard - I feel like a description of a Harry Mulisch novel is rather tough for a second line at this level, and only Harry Mulisch clues for power seems kind of rough, particularly for newer players.
• The tossup on South Africa probably shouldn't lead in with a very clearly Dutch/Afrikaans name (Wouter Basson) in the first line. It looks like it mentions Eugene de Kock later, another name of clearly Dutch origin, though I suppose having that later in the tossup isn't as big a deal.
• The description "a poem of this type" seems a bit ambiguous for the sonnets tossup - "type" is a bit vague of a descriptor, and on the second clue it was describing one of Neruda's love poems; obviously that doesn't apply to the first clue, but I don't think you can count on a player understanding that you want "sonnet" instead of "love poem" there? And for the Sonnets of Death clue, I feel like someone could hypothetically think "eulogy" is the answer you want instead.
• It seems extraordinarily misleading to claim that scientific publishing does not ever involve pharmaceuticals in the first clue of the scientific publishing tossup, since most major pharmaceutical corporations put out scientific publications - Merck's website, for example, notes that its employees have 7,000 publications. A lot of the clues aren't unique to scientific journals specifically, either - impact factor is frequently used in economics as well, and I've seen H-index crop up in economics and other areas (even philosophy!). This made it rather unclear what level of academia was being asked for in the question.

[Auger recombination]

I doubt it will make a difference to anyone playing the set, but Packet 9 Bonus 16 says that Eleanor Blake Kirkpatrick was the founder of the OKC Museum of Art, which she isn't, although she was involved in its early history. Additionally, in Packet 12 Tossup 6, in addition to being related to publishing, salami slicing is also an unethical banking/accounting practice involving shaving off fractions of a cent, which was notably featured in Office Space.

Also, a fun comic about salami slicing: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2009-08-31

[Bensonfan23]

[*]It seems extraordinarily misleading to claim that scientific publishing does not ever involve pharmaceuticals in the first clue of the scientific publishing tossup, since most major pharmaceutical corporations put out scientific publications - Merck's website, for example, notes that its employees have 7,000 publications. A lot of the clues aren't unique to scientific journals specifically, either - impact factor is frequently used in economics as well, and I've seen H-index crop up in economics and other areas (even philosophy!). This made it rather unclear what level of academia was being asked for in the question.

Sorry, I thought that modifier to the lead-in would help people and not confuse them, but some much needed changes to this tossup will be made before our next mirrors to clear things up a bit.

Similarly, thanks for pointing that out about the museum clue Finn, I will clear up the working on the OKC bonus part as well.

[elyne road]

i will probably post more about specific questions as i remember clues and reread the packets, but the "piano" tossup from packet 8 should have accepted "keyboard." considering that robert glasper is well-known for performing in tandem with notable hip hop musicians including MF DOOM and mos def (he uses a keyboard on stage for each of these performances), and that chick corea and herbie hancock are perhaps best known for their contributions to jazz fusion, a genre which in the careers of both of these artists is best defined by the use of the keyboard over the piano (plus, "rockit" itself is played on keyboard), this seems like a sensible change.

the tossup on divorce clues "get" far too early in my opinion: given the difficulty of this set, it might be fit as a transition clue out of power.

[king_crimson]

Looking at packet 11, this quote seems to be factually incorrect.

In that novel set in one of these facilities, a half-Native
American character who pretends to be deaf and dumb, Chief Bromden, chokes Nurse Ratched.

I think it was Randle McMurphy who choked Nurse Ratched.

[Quinctilius Varus]

Looking at packet 11, this quote seems to be factually incorrect.

In that novel set in one of these facilities, a half-Native
American character who pretends to be deaf and dumb, Chief Bromden, chokes Nurse Ratched.

I think it was Randle McMurphy who choked Nurse Ratched.

Thanks for the catch! Although I haven't responded to everyone's comments, I've been taking them into account when revising my questions.

[eygotem]

One thing that stuck out to me while playing this set: the tossup on the ocean floor seemed to be unnecessarily confusing due to the indicator "this structure," which I felt made the first several clues largely unbuzzable. (Yes, last year's CALISTO did the same thing, and it was equally problematic there, IMO.) According to Merriam-Webster, "structure" is defined as:

1: the action of building : CONSTRUCTION
2a: something (such as a building) that is constructed
b: something arranged in a definite pattern of organization
a rigid totalitarian structure
— J. L. Hess
leaves and other plant structures
3: manner of construction : MAKEUP
Gothic in structure
4a: the arrangement of particles or parts in a substance or body
soil structure
molecular structure
b: organization of parts as dominated by the general character of the whole
economic structure
personality structure
c: coherent form or organization
tried to give some structure to the children's lives
5: the aggregate of elements of an entity in their relationships to each other
the structure of a language

At least to me, hearing "this structure" as the indicator pointed towards the answer being something like "mid-ocean ridge" or "seamount"--things that have a "coherent form or organization"--rather than "the ocean floor," which has about as much form or organization as "the ground" (which clearly wouldn't be referred to as a "structure"). I feel like it would've been much better to ask about this content under a different answerline that wouldn't have been as confusing for players to pinpoint.

[eygotem]

The ionization-driven transition from He 1+ to He 2+ drives one
process in these stars via the (*) Kappa mechanism.

Also, this clue in the tossup on Cepheid variable stars is very non-unique--I buzzed on it, got prompted on "variable stars," then (luckily) guessed Cepheids over the many other possible answer choices (such as RR Lyrae variables, Mira variables, etc. etc.). Having such an ambiguous clue in the middle of the tossup is not very rewarding (to say the least) for players who happen to recognize that clue but not the more difficult ones preceding it.

[whatamidoinghere]

Assorted things I felt soon after playing them:

Can I see TU 2 of Round 7? The audio for the opponents didn't work for me when they answered and I didn't catch what they said.

I'd also like to see the Mephistopheles tossup (TU 14 of Round 8) because I felt it was pretty transparent relatively early (literary character + series of pieces narrows down the answer space pretty quickly IMO).

What were the in-power clues referring to for the Istanbul question (TU 11 of Round 8)?

I felt like referring to monopoles (TU 16 of Round 8) as "these particles" was pretty weird but I am also not very knowledgeable about that.

Not sure what round this was in, but was modus ponens required for the bonus part that talked about it, or were Implication/Conditional Elimination also acceptable?

EDIT: made questions a little more specific, no need to answer first question.

[vrohan]

I enjoyed playing this set!

One thing: My teammate negged the rising sea level tossup with ice melting and wasn't prompted, so we protested and that protest was ruled in our favor. I think that should get added to the answer line for future mirrors.

Also, in that round, we got a tiebreaker bonus that was on dance (Tiller Girls / Rockettes / Follies) and it seemed overly hard(?) We zeroed it needing 10 to tie, which was funny, but what were the intended difficulties of the parts there?

[dni]

[10] When measuring the impact of bubbles on the flow of an air-water system, it is important to account for this statistic that measures the amount of the system occupied by gas molecules. For two-phase flow, this quantity may be described as either “volumetric” or “cross-sectional”.
ANSWER: mean/local void fraction [accept volumetric or (channel) cross-sectional void fraction]

"Porosity" should be accepted.

This quantity is cubed in the denominator of the dimensionless Bejan number for fluid pressure loss. A term for this quantity appears to the two-thirds power in the Manning formula for open channel flows. The inverse fourth power of this quantity appears in the equation for Hagen-Poiseuille flow. Relative pipe roughness is divided by 3.7 times this quantity in the Colebrook-White equation for finding the (*) Darcy friction factor. The product of this quantity and mean fluid velocity is divided by kinematic viscosity to calculate the Reynolds number. Volumetric flow rate is proportional to the product of fluid velocity, pi, and the square of this quantity. For 10 points, name this quantity whose constriction results in increased fluid speeds, such as in a hose nozzle.
ANSWER: pipe radius [or pipe diameter or hydraulic radius or hydraulic diameter; prompt on descriptive answers involve pipe size with “what specific quantity for the pipe?”; do NOT accept or prompt on (cross-sectional) area]

This question is inherently not uniquely identifying, which could make players hesitant to buzz, as pipe radius and pipe diameter are two different variables.

... It’s not the mean, but the cross product of two values of this quantity is used to normalize the outputs in principle component analysis. ...
ANSWER: z-score [or standard score; or normal score; or z-statistic; or z-value; or standardized variable; accept z; do not accept or prompt on standard deviation or variance]

The use of the term "cross product" seems misleading, as I don't think this is referring to the vector cross product. In my opinion, the phrasing also makes it sound like the procedure in question (which I assume is z-score standardization) is unique to PCA and that it is always done to PCA outputs, which is not the case.

... In that original painting by this artist, two men clutch their hats while a third man watches his trilby blow away. ...
ANSWER: Katsushika Hokusai

I don't think it's accurate to describe the hat being blown away as a "trilby." Also, there are more than two men holding onto their hats in this painting.

[db0wman]

This quantity is cubed in the denominator of the dimensionless Bejan number for fluid pressure loss. A term for this quantity appears to the two-thirds power in the Manning formula for open channel flows. The inverse fourth power of this quantity appears in the equation for Hagen-Poiseuille flow. Relative pipe roughness is divided by 3.7 times this quantity in the Colebrook-White equation for finding the (*) Darcy friction factor. The product of this quantity and mean fluid velocity is divided by kinematic viscosity to calculate the Reynolds number. Volumetric flow rate is proportional to the product of fluid velocity, pi, and the square of this quantity. For 10 points, name this quantity whose constriction results in increased fluid speeds, such as in a hose nozzle.
ANSWER: pipe radius [or pipe diameter or hydraulic radius or hydraulic diameter; prompt on descriptive answers involve pipe size with “what specific quantity for the pipe?”; do NOT accept or prompt on (cross-sectional) area]

This question is inherently not uniquely identifying, which could make players hesitant to buzz, as pipe radius and pipe diameter are two different variables.

Additionally, the giveaway isn't unique to just pipe radius and diameter. In the room I moderated for, a player incorrectly answered with "area" at the giveaway, a perfectly valid answer without the context of the previous clues.