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Yea there were a bunch from the Cav. Open where I was like "NO! I REALLY don't deserve power! It wasn't that hard, I refuse to accept it!" or I felt ashamed for knowing that much, in the case of tu's I got off of trashy clues &c. But unfortunately I can't discuss those till I guess April, when the last tournament using that NAQT set occurs. But in the mean time, here's one from practice a couple years ago when we were reading a Spotswood packet:

Wren Elhai: "This French King..."
*Buzz* "Louis?"
Wren: "...Prompt"
"The fourteenth?"
Wren: "Correct"

Ahh ACT, you're always so predictable....

At NAQT Nationals I powered Fiona Apple off of "Criminal." "Criminal" is not a very obscure song, in fact, it is her most famous. Anyone who has watched VH1 or MTV would have probably known it.

A question on the Mandelbrot set off of Julia set eight words in - where the power mark was another full sentence away.

And now for NAQT questions from this year. If all tournaments using a set are finished, we can talk about questions from that set? Or is there a mystical deadline where nothing can be talked about until, then everything can be talked about after?

Well, all tournaments using the set we used at NAQT State for Illinois (IS-59) are done, so I think I can talk about it. Mods, edit if necessary, but I don't think it is.

I got an Ichiro tossup about seven or eight words in off of Blue Wave, the Japanese team he played for before Seattle.

styxman wrote:I got an Ichiro tossup about seven or eight words in off of Blue Wave, the Japanese team he played for before Seattle.

Personally speaking, I don't think that's necessarily a bad power mark. The particular team he spent time with isn't knowledge that is as spread about as other bits about Ichiro. That's just my two cents, though.

I got one off of, "In his last performance, his team lost the Big XII Championship Game 35-7 to Kansas State."

styxman wrote: I got an Ichiro tossup about seven or eight words in off of Blue Wave, the Japanese team he played for before Seattle.

Same here. I agree with leftsaidfred that it isnt a bad power mark, its far more obscure than the other details about him that are spread around.

I was less ashamed than I should have been, after powering the first tossup at NAQT Nationals...about Snakes on a Plane...the only clues so far were New Line Cinema and caduceus...

^^Yea both Gov A and B had players who powered Snakes on a Plane early in the question. But whoa, I'm amazed, this thread, it's alive! Anyway, I really started it b/c of the Cav Open (IS-56), but I wanted to wait till all tournaments using that set were done to discuss the questions. Anyway, one of the ones I remember I got was "Sirius Satellite Radio" after a clue about how a couple years ago Fox NASCAR commentator Darryl Waltrip nicknamed its mascot on Jimmy Spencer's car "Mongo." Trashy power or what?

There was another one I got off of "It is the coldest body in the solar system" as the first or second clue, and I got it just because Will Butler got a question on it off the same clue like two days before in practice (answer is Triton, by the way). In that tournament, Evan also got "Utopia" off of only "it is crescent shaped..." Yea there were a lot of easy or trashy powers in that set, which is basically why I made this thread.

While I can't remember any more from that set (though there were a bunch), I do remember at RM's tournament I got Jack the Ripper off of "His first letter was addressed 'Dear Boss'," and I swear, all my knowledge of Jack the Ripper comes from a History channel special on him that I watched a few months ago, and they went on about how he might have been an American because of the use of 'boss' in that letter. Ahh television, you can be such a good prep for quizbowl sometimes....

[quote]I was less ashamed than I should have been, after powering the first tossup at NAQT Nationals...about Snakes on a Plane...the only clues so far were New Line Cinema and caduceus...[/quote]

Yep I also got it here. You can here me in the podcast of the first round.

Matt Morrison wrote:In that tournament, Evan also got "Utopia" off of only "it is crescent shaped..." Yea there were a lot of easy or trashy powers in that set, which is basically why I made this thread.

And just think... this could have been in the "Bad Negs" thread:

Wrong: Utopia
Right: What the TD ate for lunch today (prompt on "Pillbury Crescent Rolls")

As Matt sorta brought up, did anybody else think set 56 was quite easy for a level 2 set? I got my most powers ever on that set, and I am not really a power player...I am more of a neg kinda player.

We didn't have the pleasure of playing on 56 this year. We did, however, play on 59 which was insane. I had a 7th grade girl get her first-ever power. The answer was Susan B. Anthony and the tossup had already said something about fighting for women's suffrage.

IS-56 was really strange in my opinion. I seem to remember a tossup on Standard Oil whose first clue stated that Ida Tarbell wrote the history of it. There was also an incredible amount of hockey questions.

Trust me, 56 was much worse. There were times when I got an answer right and asked the moderator if it was power, thinking it was close, and he would reply (in all seriousness), "yea you had oh, two lines left or so." Also, B team came close to grailing one round (18/20, one neg, one time just barely beat), and normally for us the questions are hard enough to where we get 15-16/20 tops, even against a rag team. It should have been an a-level set. But yea, for 59 you'd expect more out of a state championship series than a middle schooler powering.

For more really dumb power fun, at nationals there was a question on Talladega Superspeedway I powered off the distance of the track (and I felt bad b/c we were playing the Canadian team, they have to convert to metric and all, plus CASCAR doesn't even go there! but oh well, they powered a Regina question). Hah, when I was more into NASCAR I had all the tracks memorized to the thousandth of a mile, now it's pretty much only to the hundredth, such an underachiever...

Matt Morrison wrote:Trust me, 56 was much worse. There were times when I got an answer right and asked the moderator if it was power, thinking it was close, and he would reply (in all seriousness), "yea you had oh, two lines left or so." Also, B team came close to grailing one round (18/20, one neg, one time just barely beat), and normally for us the questions are hard enough to where we get 15-16/20 tops, even against a rag team. It should have been an a-level set. But yea, for 59 you'd expect more out of a state championship series than a middle schooler powering.

For more really dumb power fun, at nationals there was a question on Talladega Superspeedway I powered off the distance of the track (and I felt bad b/c we were playing the Canadian team, they have to convert to metric and all, plus CASCAR doesn't even go there! but oh well, they powered a Regina question). Hah, when I was more into NASCAR I had all the tracks memorized to the thousandth of a mile, now it's pretty much only to the hundredth, such an underachiever...

That's sad... I was watching our B-team at the time. One kid is a NASCAR fanatic - FROM ALABAMA - and didn't get Talladega until they said "Alabama" in the question.

tachyonwill wrote:IS-56 was really strange in my opinion. I seem to remember a tossup on Standard Oil whose first clue stated that Ida Tarbell wrote the history of it. There was also an incredible amount of hockey questions.

Fee fi fo fum. I smell the blood of Craig Barker.

tachyonwill wrote:IS-56 was really strange in my opinion. ... There was also an incredible amount of hockey questions.

Do you happen to know what the hockey questions were? There shouldn't be an "incredible" number of them in a recent set ... I'd have to guess they just popped up at memorable times and seemed more numerous as a result.

solonqb wrote:

tachyonwill wrote:IS-56 was really strange in my opinion. I seem to remember a tossup on Standard Oil whose first clue stated that Ida Tarbell wrote the history of it. There was also an incredible amount of hockey questions.

Fee fi fo fum. I smell the blood of Craig Barker.

Thank you for thinking of me when you think hockey questions, but genuinely, I haven't written that many since the lockout, so I am doubtful how many of those were mine. College hockey is more my speed, and I learned very early on that you just can't ask college hockey questions.

cdbarker wrote:Thank you for thinking of me when you think hockey questions, but genuinely, I haven't written that many since the lockout, so I am doubtful how many of those were mine. College hockey is more my speed, and I learned very early on that you just can't ask college hockey questions.

Wow--I'm surprised. But it WAS you who wrote the Oasis question for HSNCT this year, right?

Matt's post about powering Talladega and the Canadian team powering Regina reminded me of a match I played back at the 2000 ICT against Cambridge.

They powered a Philadelphia 76ers tossup, and I powered an Order of the Garter tossup. Let's hear it for cross-cultural literacy!

^^I could use more of that. Always getting beat on the soccer questions...

Anyway, I just remembered another really trashy clue I powered off of. I can't remember if it was in practice or an actual tournament this year, but the beginning was like this:

"In Civilization II, building this wonder improves your reputation with other nations by 25%..."

Buzz: Eiffle Tower

Let's hear it for Windows 95 strategy games!


(lol for ole time's sake I played some of it today)

Tookie was pretty easy at HSNCT. unfortunately, I said Tookie and completely blanked when prompted. I guess last names are pretty important. Even worse: we lost by 10 points and it would have gotten us into top 10. Gah.

Ehh, it happens. Same thing happened to me one time when I buzzed in early and said "deep throat" and completely blanked when prompted (for "Felt"), leaving the other team with an easy one. Thankfully we won by a question or two anyway.

This is one from 2004 NAQT HSNCT:

"His backup band, the Revolution, were a very good pickup basketball team..."

I believe the power mark went further, I got it off of that.

don't remember what set it was from, but all i heard was "simbelmyne"




buzz: Theoden

I remember that tossup, I think it was like 2002 Nationals? Not sure

Yesterday in practice, a question about the United Arab Emirates that mentioned Dubai with another sentence or so still in power.

Today at practice on some old Yale sets:
Q:This trilogy...
A:(On accidental buzz) Lord of the Rings

brownboy79 wrote:Today at practice on some old Yale sets:
Q:This trilogy...
A:(On accidental buzz) Lord of the Rings

Haha that reminds me of this story Eric Nielson (MLW captain when I was freshman) told me about how when he was a freshman he got basically his first power this way:
Q:This cartoon character...
A:(Accidental buzz, pause) Betty Boop

I don't have an example of a bad power, but I do have an amusing anecdote. I was fooling around earlier today, just writing anything that came to mind, and I think I've come up with the absolute worst tossup ever.

Q: The Russian novelist known only to the world as Tolstoy was born to a simple peasant family in 1412. A cruel witch imprisoned him in a tower soon after his birth, and Tolstoy (whose name sounds like Trotsky) lived there for many years, combing his long golden locks and waiting for his handsome prince. Name this animal, which bares its blood-thirsty fangs before attacking.

A: White-tailed deer (prompt on Anna Karenina)

Does anybody know how to join a question writing company like those Aegis guys? I think that this is a pretty good sign that I'm going mad with boredom.

My all-time biggest power shame came at Gov in Spring '04, which was a tournament that didn't use powers, but it was an early buzz nonetheless.

Moderator: This actress turned singer was born on September 21, 1987...
[BUZZ]
Me: Hilary Duff

My teammates, as well as the opposition, gave me some weird looks.

At practice this week, we've been using lightning rounds to shake off the rust. So here's a list:

[Countries and their Events] Cinco (buzz)... "Mexico"
[Same] Calgary (buzz)... "Canada"
[Same] Tivoli Gard (buzz)... "Denmark"
[Same] The Yellowknife (buzz)... "Canada"
[Same] La Paz (buzz)... "Bolivia"
[US Prez Quotations] Fourscore (buzz)... "Lincoln"
[Double Letter B] Baseball pl (buzz)... "Ty Cobb"
[Same] Sinclair Lew (buzz)... "Babbit"
[Same] Lewis Carr (buzz)... "Jabberwocky"
[Double Letter C] Roman (buzz)... "Oops, oh um, Bacchus?"
[Same] Italian anarchist (buzz)... "Sacco"
[Literature] Washington Irv (buzz)... "Oh, didn't mean to buzz there, uh lets see... Legend of Sleepy Hollow?"
[McC Names] Wisconsin (buzz)... "ahaha, new this had to be included - Jospeh McCarthy"
[Double Letter D] Henrik Ib (buzz)... "Darn, a little bit too early... (thinking...) Hedda Gabbler"
[Same] Herman Mel (buzz)... "Billy Budd"
[Black Literature] Lorraine Hans (buzz)... "A Raisin in the Sun"
[Same] Harvard- (buzz)... "WEB DuBois"

Granted, they're lightning rounds, but any first-word buzz is impressive. Additionally, most questions weren't as top-heavy; next week, we'll hit pyramidal questions, though.

Djibouti wrote:...any first-word buzz is impressive.

I vigorously disagree.

Same here. After all, how many other presidents began famous speeches with "four score?"

The Roman buzz was total crap. One word buzzes often involve quite a bit of luck. However, a few of them were decent, and they deserve props.

Djibouti wrote:but any first-word buzz is impressive.

What about 0th word buzzes?

0th word buzzes certainly top impressive. There's a difference between impressive and WOW! 1st-word buzzes are impressive, even if the first word gives the answer away, simply due to the reaction time/quickness needed to nab it before the reader starts on the second word. However, not all first word buzzes are WOW! - they require a certain specialness. Also, I do agree that there aren't that many presidential quotations beginning with "fourscore..."

Matt Morrison wrote:Trust me, 56 was much worse. There were times when I got an answer right and asked the moderator if it was power, thinking it was close, and he would reply (in all seriousness), "yea you had oh, two lines left or so." Also, B team came close to grailing one round (18/20, one neg, one time just barely beat), and normally for us the questions are hard enough to where we get 15-16/20 tops, even against a rag team. It should have been an a-level set. But yea, for 59 you'd expect more out of a state championship series than a middle schooler powering.

For more really dumb power fun, at nationals there was a question on Talladega Superspeedway I powered off the distance of the track (and I felt bad b/c we were playing the Canadian team, they have to convert to metric and all, plus CASCAR doesn't even go there! but oh well, they powered a Regina question). Hah, when I was more into NASCAR I had all the tracks memorized to the thousandth of a mile, now it's pretty much only to the hundredth, such an underachiever...

Ha! I powered the same question at that same place. Now, I have a reputation for being a left-wing whacko among my team, so they absolutely could not understand how I got a NASCAR question. They still don't believe me that I'm a huge NASCAR and CART fan. But the best part of that question was the bonus. If I remember correctly, it had a part about Churchill Downs. Suffice it is to say that my school, duPont Manual, is less than 2 miles from Churchill Downs :) We love those horse racing questions...

I got one at Kentucky's NAQT State tournament it was a two word buzz...Igram Fritzer...buzz Christopher Marlowe. He was the guy that killed Marlowe in a Bar fight in the Depthford Inn.

You guys know this is the bad early buzzes thread, right? Like, you're supposed to post instances of times where you or someone near you got questions early for reasons other than their merits. I may make a "brag about early buzzes" thread later (don't wait around for it, though.)

MaS

ImmaculateDeception wrote:You guys know this is the bad early buzzes thread, right? Like, you're supposed to post instances of times where you or someone near you got questions early for reasons other than their merits. I may make a "brag about early buzzes" thread later (don't wait around for it, though.)

MaS

Yeah he's pretty much right, this is mainly for powers/early buzzes earned off of:
1. Trashy clues

2. Clues that definitely shouldn't have come as early as they did.

3. Accidental buzzes/a lot of guesswork

4. Really random stuff that hardly anyone knows and isn't extremely academic. The Marlowe tossup with Igram Fritzer is just random enough to fall into this category, I'd say.

On the subject of "good" early buzzes though, I remember seeing on the "best powers" thread one or two Illinois tossups where people got questions after just hearing the announced category, so those are 0 word powers I guess. Anyway, maybe a new "best powers" thread should be started as we get into the next year of competition.

When in Ohio format, the answers to the two team questions before the buzzer question are "igneous" and "sedimentary," you can guess what the buzzer answer is. To say the least, usually it's the moderator and the parents who are more impressed than the players or the coaches.

I'm not sure if I've posted this before. Anyways....

Category: Explorers

This Italian *buzz*

Cabot?

*Long pause* I guess I have to give you 10 points.

Since you guys have mentioned the 0th-word buzz...
The question writer was having some fun at a seven-round tournament...

In round 1, about question #6 or 7: "Category, Literature. This ambulance driver..." looking for e. e. cummings.
In round 2, about question #6 or 7: "Category, Literature. This ambulance..." looking for Somerset Maugham.
And so on and so forth, getting the obvious neg in every round.

In round 7, about question #6 or 7: "Category, Literature."
-buzz-
Hemingway! (correct)

cornfused, I remember that tournament really well. The best part was that the tournament took place in Oak Park, IL, so everyone came ready for those Hemingway-ambulance driver questions.
[/quote]

Actually, I played that set of questions in a different tournament, but yeah... I've heard funny stories about them.

And by the way, I've also heard that writer apologize and promise never to do that again...

cornfused wrote:Actually, I played that set of questions in a different tournament, but yeah... I've heard funny stories about them.

And by the way, I've also heard that writer apologize and promise never to do that again...

Ever .... never again ...... ever.

Though perhaps a series of questions on people killed in freak animal attacks ....

Mean!!!