Difference between revisions of "EFT"
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− | + | '''EFT''' ('''Early Fall Tournament''') is the name of two distinct series of easier-than-regular, non-[[packet submission]] college quizbowl tournaments. | |
+ | The original series ran five times between 2006 and 2010 and was written largely by the [[Brown]] club. | ||
+ | The second series began in 2016 and ran until 2019. | ||
− | == | + | The intent of EFT is to serve as an accessible "introduction to college quizbowl" for newer or less experienced teams, while still being appropriate for players of all skill levels. |
− | The EFT name was | + | However, EFT is not a [[novice]] tournament; |
+ | the easier difficulty, high quality, and non-packet-submission model of EFT gives it a wide appeal, but it is still quite challenging for new players. | ||
+ | EFT's idea of an "introduction to college quizbowl" is to be understood as also including giving new players the opportunity to play against all of their local circuit's "regulars," and thus get acquainted with the (small but close-knit) college [[quizbowl community]], early in the fall season. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Modern revival== | ||
+ | The "EFT" name was revived in fall 2016 by [[Will Alston]], who head-edited the 2016, 2017, and 2019 iterations of EFT. (In 2018, Will edited [[SGI]].) | ||
+ | |||
+ | The modern iterations of EFT were highly successful, routinely drawing the largest fields and most mirrors of any collegiate tournament not run by [[ACF]] or [[NAQT]]. | ||
+ | After quickly earning a reputation as an exemplary easier-than-[[regular difficulty#College|regular difficulty]] question set, | ||
+ | the name "EFT" became nearly synonymous with the new [[Collegiate difficulties|"Medium" collegiate difficulty level]] and was an explicit target or reference difficulty for many sets since 2019 ([[2019 Terrapin]], [[MWT]], [[LIT]], [[ACF Winter]]). | ||
===2019=== | ===2019=== | ||
− | + | The [https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=22625 2019] iteration of EFT was played by roughly 210 total teams across 14 mirrors, likely setting a record. | |
===2018=== | ===2018=== | ||
− | The [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20808 2018] iteration was originally intended to be head edited by [[Joey Goldman]] alongside editors [[Alex Damisch]], [[Ewan MacAulay]], [[Dylan Minarik]], [[Tejas Raje]], [[Ramapriya Rangaraju]], and [[Ryan Rosenberg]]. However, | + | The [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20808 2018] iteration was originally intended to be head edited by [[Joey Goldman]] alongside editors [[Alex Damisch]], [[Ewan MacAulay]], [[Dylan Minarik]], [[Tejas Raje]], [[Ramapriya Rangaraju]], and [[Ryan Rosenberg]]. However, management of the tournament broke down, forcing the original editors Tejas, Alex, Dylan, and Ryan to recruit additional editors [[Billy Busse]], [[Ike Jose]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], [[Will Nediger]], [[Jacob Reed]], and [[Kenji Shimizu]] in the final weeks of its production. [[Jordan Brownstein]], [[Rob Carson]], [[Auroni Gupta]], [[Andrew Hart]], [[Kady Hsu]], [[Ryan Humphrey]], [[Young Fenimore Lee]], [[Benji Nguyen]], [[Andrew Wang]], and [[Jason Zhou]] were writers. Joey and Ewan were unable to complete their roles as head editor and science editor respectively and were ultimately credited as writers; the set's subtitle was made '''I guess Brexit really does mean Brexit''' as a result. Ramapriya did not appear in the final credits. Alex managed logistics. |
− | + | ====Discussion==== | |
+ | The final product was thought to have overshot its intended difficulty, and its unfortunate editing situation meant that it was much rougher around the edges than previous iterations of EFT. | ||
− | === | + | In the general discussion thread, [[Justine French]] criticized putting hard clues in easy parts since it would dishearten players by rendering their knowledge useless.<ref>https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=352325#p352325</ref> Justine also claimed that [[detailed stats]] are a "significant burden on hosts" (forcing them to recruit double the staffers<ref>https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=353437#p353437</ref>), "only exist so that elite players can flex" (by "remembering clues from Chicago Open four years ago"), and are "actively harmful to the community" unless editors use them to actively fix questions.<ref>https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=353399#p353399</ref> |
− | + | French's hyperbolic arguments were widely criticized, with [[Billy Busse]] comparing them to "throwing a temper tantrum at McDonalds because they put pickles on your burger after you asked for no pickles."<ref>https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=353414#p353414</ref> | |
− | [[ | + | The set also featured Andrew Wang's memorable tossup on "carbon and carbon," which [[Graham Reid]] described as "pathological."<ref>https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=350010#p350010</ref> The question was changed to ask for "these bonds" in later mirrors, but the mere existence of this question inspired several players to neg future tossups that used the [[pronoun]] "these two elements" with the answer "carbon and carbon." |
− | + | <blockquote style="font-family: serif; max-width: 69.420em;"> | |
− | + | <b>A bond between these two elements is reversibly formed and broken in a Wanzlick equilibrium. Some schemes for forming bonds between these two elements use catalytic cycles consisting of oxidative addition, transmetalation, and reductive elimination. A bond forms between these two elements in the first step of a reaction that has a four-membered oxaphosphetane ring intermediate. A bond between these two elements forms in palladium-catalyzed (*)</b> coupling reactions. Organometallic reagents are often used to produce bonds between these two elements by giving one of them an atypical nucleophilic character. Bonds between these two elements are simply drawn as lines with no labels in skeletal structures of molecules. For 10 points, the backbone of organic chemistry consists of bonds between what two elements, which both have an atomic mass of 12? | |
− | |||
− | + | ANSWER: <u>'''carbon'''</u> AND <u>'''carbon'''</u> [or <u>'''C'''</u> AND <u>'''C'''</u>; or <u>'''two carbons'''</u>; accept <u>'''carbon–carbon bonds'''</u>] | |
+ | </blockquote> | ||
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{| class="wikitable sortable" | {| class="wikitable sortable" | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5228/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5228/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5228/stats/combined/ Combined] |
|- | |- | ||
| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21698 Boise State] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21698 Boise State] | ||
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− | |[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5221/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | |[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5221/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5221/stats/combined/ Overall] |
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|UK (open) | |UK (open) | ||
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|[[Amherst]] A | |[[Amherst]] A | ||
|[[Harvard]] B | |[[Harvard]] B | ||
− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5252/stats/morning/ Morning]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5252/stats/morning/ Morning]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5252/stats/complete/ Complete] |
|- | |- | ||
| [https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21791 UCF] | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21791 UCF] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5254/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5254/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5254/stats/combined/ Combined] |
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|Canada | |Canada | ||
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|[[Toronto]] J | |[[Toronto]] J | ||
|Toronto B | |Toronto B | ||
− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5324/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5324/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5324/stats/all_games/ All Games] |
|- | |- | ||
| [https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21768&p=349390#p349390 Minnesota] | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21768&p=349390#p349390 Minnesota] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5251/stats/prelims/ prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5251/stats/prelims/ prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5251/stats/combined/ combined] |
|- | |- | ||
| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21639 Michigan] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21639 Michigan] | ||
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|[[OSU]] A | |[[OSU]] A | ||
|[[MSU]] A | |[[MSU]] A | ||
− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5217/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5217/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5217/stats/combined/ Combined] |
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| [https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21736 Maryland] | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21736 Maryland] | ||
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|[[Johns Hopkins]] A | |[[Johns Hopkins]] A | ||
|[[Maryland]] A | |[[Maryland]] A | ||
− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5247/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5247/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5247/stats/combined/ Combined] |
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The [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19786 2017] iteration was again edited by Will Alston and Richard Yu, with [[James Lasker]] joining them. Other writers included [[Alex Fregeau]], [[Vasa Clarke]], [[Eric Xu]], and [[Jack Mehr]]. | The [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19786 2017] iteration was again edited by Will Alston and Richard Yu, with [[James Lasker]] joining them. Other writers included [[Alex Fregeau]], [[Vasa Clarke]], [[Eric Xu]], and [[Jack Mehr]]. | ||
− | It followed in the steps of [[TTIAC]] by including a "thought" distribution. | + | It followed in the steps of [[TTIAC]] by including a "[[thought]]" distribution. |
====Discussion==== | ====Discussion==== | ||
− | + | 2017 EFT was one of the first tournaments to collect [[detailed stats]] (and specifically buzzpoints) on a large scale, following trials at [[MYSTERIUM]], [[2016 Terrapin]], [[TTIAC]], and [[Jordaens]] in 2016–2017. | |
− | + | Many moderators had never used the new online scorekeeping system, or any online scoresheet, before. In the thread "[https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20540 PSA - Don't be a Luddite]," Will relayed that he had received complaints from attendees of the WUSTL mirror about several moderators who had misbehaved due to displeasure with the technology. After [[David Dennis]] came forward as one of the disgruntled individuals from the WUSTL mirror, [[Nicholas Conder]] expressed concern that learning a new system on short notice was a daunting task; [[Cody Voight]] (and a chorus of others) responded by asserting that it was easy to learn. Any conversation about how to improve the interface and usability of the technology was quickly drowned out by accusations of stupidity, malice, and incompetence leveled between those who had never used it and those who had. | |
− | |||
− | + | Though many people found the system as easy or easier to use than either online or paper scoresheets, it was clearly harder for some less experienced moderators. | |
− | + | Many improvements were promptly made to the system, its logistics (communicating requirements to hosts with plenty advance notice), and its documentation (instructions and accommodations to help those who may be less tech-savvy), in response to feedback in and out of the thread. | |
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{| class="wikitable sortable" | {| class="wikitable sortable" | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5168/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5168/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5168/stats/combined/ Combined] |
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| UK | | UK | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4624/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4624/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4624/stats/combined/ Combined] |
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| Southern California | | Southern California | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4477/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4477/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4477/stats/overall/ Overall] |
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|[https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20307 WKU] | |[https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20307 WKU] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4499/stats/preliminaries/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4499/stats/preliminaries/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4499/stats/final_standings/ Combined] |
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| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20255 Yale] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20255 Yale] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4486/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4486/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/4486/stats/combined/ Combined] |
|- | |- | ||
| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20289 New College of Florida] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20289 New College of Florida] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3929/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3929/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3929/stats/combined/ Combined] |
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| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18867 Mid-Atlantic] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18867 Mid-Atlantic] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3830/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3830/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3830/stats/combined/ Combined] |
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| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18897 Southeast] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18897 Southeast] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3807/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3807/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3807/stats/combined/ Combined] |
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| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19049 Florida] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19049 Florida] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3862/stats/prelim_stats/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3862/stats/prelim_stats/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3862/stats/complete_stats/ Complete] |
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| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18981 Lower Midwest] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18981 Lower Midwest] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3972/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3972/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3972/stats/playoffs_%28records_carry%29/ Playoffs] |
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| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&p=320588#p320588 Northern California] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&p=320588#p320588 Northern California] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3884/stats/prelims_%28through_round_5%29/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3884/stats/prelims_%28through_round_5%29/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3884/stats/combined_%28fixed%29/ Combined] |
|- | |- | ||
| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19065 Southwest] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19065 Southwest] | ||
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− | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3983/stats/prelims/ Prelims]< | + | | [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3983/stats/prelims/ Prelims]<br>[https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/3983/stats/combined/ Combined] |
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| [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18967 Canada] | | [https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18967 Canada] | ||
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'''EFT 5:''' '''The Prince of Aquitaine whose Tournament is Destroyed''' was a collaboration between [[Brown]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], and [[Illinois]], headed by [[Ike Jose]]. Mirrors occurred at [[Brown]], [[Illinois]], [[VCU]], [[Georgia Tech]], and [[Toronto]], with the main site taking place on October 2, 2010. | '''EFT 5:''' '''The Prince of Aquitaine whose Tournament is Destroyed''' was a collaboration between [[Brown]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], and [[Illinois]], headed by [[Ike Jose]]. Mirrors occurred at [[Brown]], [[Illinois]], [[VCU]], [[Georgia Tech]], and [[Toronto]], with the main site taking place on October 2, 2010. | ||
− | This incarnation of EFT received more criticism than previous years, with common complaints being | + | This incarnation of EFT received more criticism than previous years, with common complaints being poor grammar and lack of copyediting, absurd difficulty outliers, and an unclear baseline difficulty. |
{{-}} | {{-}} | ||
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'''EFT 4: Cattle-Related Vocabulary''' took place on October 3 and 4, 2009 at [[Brown]], [[Virginia]], [[Illinois]], [[Texas]], [[UCLA]], [[Millsaps]], [[Toronto]], [[Gonzaga]], and [[Macalester]]. Substantial portions of the set were written by [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Guy Tabachnick]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], [[Aaron Rosenberg]], [[Daniel Klein]], and [[Ian Eppler]], with contributions from [[Seth Teitler]], [[Ike Jose]], [[Trygve Meade]], and [[Hannah Kirsch]]. | '''EFT 4: Cattle-Related Vocabulary''' took place on October 3 and 4, 2009 at [[Brown]], [[Virginia]], [[Illinois]], [[Texas]], [[UCLA]], [[Millsaps]], [[Toronto]], [[Gonzaga]], and [[Macalester]]. Substantial portions of the set were written by [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Guy Tabachnick]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], [[Aaron Rosenberg]], [[Daniel Klein]], and [[Ian Eppler]], with contributions from [[Seth Teitler]], [[Ike Jose]], [[Trygve Meade]], and [[Hannah Kirsch]]. | ||
− | The tournament was mostly well-received, with most of the complaints centered on uneven bonus difficulty and mediocre | + | The tournament was mostly well-received, with most of the complaints centered on uneven bonus difficulty and mediocre copyediting. The tournament elicited discussion of the nature of [[stock clues]] after [[Andy Watkins]] criticized the use of the Reptile Fund as an early clue for Bismarck. A discussion of the trash distribution in academic tournaments also ensued. |
{{-}} | {{-}} | ||
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<sup>†</sup> Broken stats link | <sup>†</sup> Broken stats link | ||
===2008=== | ===2008=== | ||
− | '''EFT 3: Trapping Bees in a Dyson Sphere''' ran on October 4 and 11, 2008 at various sites around the country, including [[Brown]], [[Wake Forest]], [[Vanderbilt]], [[UCLA]], [[FSU]] and [[Illinois]], with many sites seeing record attendance (the Brown site had to cap registration at 24 teams due to staff shortages). The set was written in equal shares by [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Dennis Jang]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], and [[Aaron Rosenberg]], with contributions from [[Jonathan Magin]], [[Evan Nagler]], [[Lisa Qing]], and [[Eric Johnson]], and as tradition dictates, was assembled at | + | '''EFT 3: Trapping Bees in a Dyson Sphere''' ran on October 4 and 11, 2008, at various sites around the country, including [[Brown]], [[Wake Forest]], [[Vanderbilt]], [[UCLA]], [[FSU]] and [[Illinois]], with many sites seeing record attendance (the Brown site had to cap registration at 24 teams due to staff shortages). The set was written in equal shares by [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Dennis Jang]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], and [[Aaron Rosenberg]], with contributions from [[Jonathan Magin]], [[Evan Nagler]], [[Lisa Qing]], and [[Eric Johnson]], and as tradition dictates, was assembled at 7 a.m. on the day of the tournament. |
− | The tournament was well | + | The tournament was received well overall, with the exception of a tossup on peer-to-peer networks and an excess of questions on comic books in the trash distribution ([[Eric Mukherjee|everyone knows whose fault that is]]). The tournament also set off a large discussion about the writing of music questions, due to a tossup on the Leningrad Symphony containing some technical middle clues that were not [[uniquely identifying]]. |
− | EFT 3 was also notably the subject of Christian Flow's [[2008 Harvard Crimson Article|Mind Games Article]] in the Harvard Crimson, which followed the exploits | + | EFT 3 was also notably the subject of Christian Flow's [[2008 Harvard Crimson Article|Mind Games Article]] in the Harvard Crimson, which followed the exploits of [[Dallas Simons]] and the Harvard B team. |
{{-}} | {{-}} | ||
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'''EFT 2''', subtitled '''Rataplan Ghost Rides the World War I Ambulance''', was written by [[Dennis Jang]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], and [[Jerry Vinokurov]], with the same goal as the previous incarnation. Mirrors were held at [[Brown]], [[UCLA]], [[USF]], [[William and Mary]], [[Chicago]], [[Vanderbilt]], and [[OU]], with the main mirror taking place on September 29, 2007. | '''EFT 2''', subtitled '''Rataplan Ghost Rides the World War I Ambulance''', was written by [[Dennis Jang]], [[Eric Mukherjee]], and [[Jerry Vinokurov]], with the same goal as the previous incarnation. Mirrors were held at [[Brown]], [[UCLA]], [[USF]], [[William and Mary]], [[Chicago]], [[Vanderbilt]], and [[OU]], with the main mirror taking place on September 29, 2007. | ||
− | [[Rutgers]] won the [[Brown]] mirror after defeating [[Harvard]], with [[Jason Keller]] winning the individual scoring award. The tournament was a huge logistical nightmare however, and prizes couldn't be given because stats were not compiled in time. Surprisingly, people did not complain. | + | [[Rutgers]] won the [[Brown]] mirror after defeating [[Harvard]], with [[Jason Keller]] winning the individual scoring award. The tournament was a huge logistical nightmare however, and prizes couldn't be given because stats were not compiled in time. Surprisingly, people did not complain. |
− | The question set itself was praised fairly highly, with some qualms about the length of the questions (which averaged somewhere between 6 and 7 lines), the difficulty of tossups on Tlaloc and Legendre, the representation of the social science canon (some liked it, some didn't) and a factual error about the writer of | + | The question set itself was praised fairly highly, with some qualms about the length of the questions (which averaged somewhere between 6 and 7 lines), the difficulty of tossups on Tlaloc and Legendre, the representation of the social science canon (some liked it, some didn't), and a factual error about the writer of ''Harrison Bergeron''. The two packets written exclusively by Jerry were also seen as much more difficult than the others. Willie Chen returned briefly to complain about problems in the set that didn't exist, but was quickly refuted by Eric and [[Chris Ray]]. |
{{-}} | {{-}} | ||
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<sup>†</sup> Broken stats link | <sup>†</sup> Broken stats link | ||
===2006=== | ===2006=== | ||
− | The first incarnation was written by [[Seth Teitler]], [[Ryan Westbrook]], [[Jerry Vinokurov]], and [[Selene Koo]], with the intent being to have an additional early-season novice tournament that, unlike [[ACF Fall]], did not require teams to submit a packet to play. EFT was held at several regional sites over the weekends of October | + | The first incarnation was written by [[Seth Teitler]], [[Ryan Westbrook]], [[Jerry Vinokurov]], and [[Selene Koo]], with the intent being to have an additional early-season novice tournament that, unlike [[ACF Fall]], did not require teams to submit a packet to play. EFT was held at several regional sites over the weekends of October 7–8 and October 14–15, 2006. Host schools included [[Chicago]], [[Brown]], [[Maryland]], [[Texas]], [[Georgia Tech]], [[USF]], and [[UCLA]]. |
Feedback can be found in [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3265 this thread]. Overall, this tournament was received with praise. Much of the commentary revolved around the difficulty of "hard" bonus parts as well as niche subjects like world literature and social science. | Feedback can be found in [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3265 this thread]. Overall, this tournament was received with praise. Much of the commentary revolved around the difficulty of "hard" bonus parts as well as niche subjects like world literature and social science. |
Revision as of 05:59, 8 April 2021
EFT (Early Fall Tournament) is the name of two distinct series of easier-than-regular, non-packet submission college quizbowl tournaments. The original series ran five times between 2006 and 2010 and was written largely by the Brown club. The second series began in 2016 and ran until 2019.
The intent of EFT is to serve as an accessible "introduction to college quizbowl" for newer or less experienced teams, while still being appropriate for players of all skill levels. However, EFT is not a novice tournament; the easier difficulty, high quality, and non-packet-submission model of EFT gives it a wide appeal, but it is still quite challenging for new players. EFT's idea of an "introduction to college quizbowl" is to be understood as also including giving new players the opportunity to play against all of their local circuit's "regulars," and thus get acquainted with the (small but close-knit) college quizbowl community, early in the fall season.
Modern revival
The "EFT" name was revived in fall 2016 by Will Alston, who head-edited the 2016, 2017, and 2019 iterations of EFT. (In 2018, Will edited SGI.)
The modern iterations of EFT were highly successful, routinely drawing the largest fields and most mirrors of any collegiate tournament not run by ACF or NAQT. After quickly earning a reputation as an exemplary easier-than-regular difficulty question set, the name "EFT" became nearly synonymous with the new "Medium" collegiate difficulty level and was an explicit target or reference difficulty for many sets since 2019 (2019 Terrapin, MWT, LIT, ACF Winter).
2019
The 2019 iteration of EFT was played by roughly 210 total teams across 14 mirrors, likely setting a record.
2018
The 2018 iteration was originally intended to be head edited by Joey Goldman alongside editors Alex Damisch, Ewan MacAulay, Dylan Minarik, Tejas Raje, Ramapriya Rangaraju, and Ryan Rosenberg. However, management of the tournament broke down, forcing the original editors Tejas, Alex, Dylan, and Ryan to recruit additional editors Billy Busse, Ike Jose, Eric Mukherjee, Will Nediger, Jacob Reed, and Kenji Shimizu in the final weeks of its production. Jordan Brownstein, Rob Carson, Auroni Gupta, Andrew Hart, Kady Hsu, Ryan Humphrey, Young Fenimore Lee, Benji Nguyen, Andrew Wang, and Jason Zhou were writers. Joey and Ewan were unable to complete their roles as head editor and science editor respectively and were ultimately credited as writers; the set's subtitle was made I guess Brexit really does mean Brexit as a result. Ramapriya did not appear in the final credits. Alex managed logistics.
Discussion
The final product was thought to have overshot its intended difficulty, and its unfortunate editing situation meant that it was much rougher around the edges than previous iterations of EFT.
In the general discussion thread, Justine French criticized putting hard clues in easy parts since it would dishearten players by rendering their knowledge useless.[1] Justine also claimed that detailed stats are a "significant burden on hosts" (forcing them to recruit double the staffers[2]), "only exist so that elite players can flex" (by "remembering clues from Chicago Open four years ago"), and are "actively harmful to the community" unless editors use them to actively fix questions.[3] French's hyperbolic arguments were widely criticized, with Billy Busse comparing them to "throwing a temper tantrum at McDonalds because they put pickles on your burger after you asked for no pickles."[4]
The set also featured Andrew Wang's memorable tossup on "carbon and carbon," which Graham Reid described as "pathological."[5] The question was changed to ask for "these bonds" in later mirrors, but the mere existence of this question inspired several players to neg future tossups that used the pronoun "these two elements" with the answer "carbon and carbon."
A bond between these two elements is reversibly formed and broken in a Wanzlick equilibrium. Some schemes for forming bonds between these two elements use catalytic cycles consisting of oxidative addition, transmetalation, and reductive elimination. A bond forms between these two elements in the first step of a reaction that has a four-membered oxaphosphetane ring intermediate. A bond between these two elements forms in palladium-catalyzed (*) coupling reactions. Organometallic reagents are often used to produce bonds between these two elements by giving one of them an atypical nucleophilic character. Bonds between these two elements are simply drawn as lines with no labels in skeletal structures of molecules. For 10 points, the backbone of organic chemistry consists of bonds between what two elements, which both have an atomic mass of 12?
ANSWER: carbon AND carbon [or C AND C; or two carbons; accept carbon–carbon bonds]
Region | Host | Date | Champion | Second | Stats | Packets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Discord | the editing team | 9/22/2018 | Stats | Packets | ||
SoCal | UCLA | 12/1/2018 | Stats | |||
NorCal | Stanford | 11/10/2018 | Stats | |||
Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech | 11/10/2018 | Stats | |||
SoCal | UCSD | 10/27/2018 | cancelled | |||
UK (closed) | Oxford | 10/20/2018 | Prelims Combined | |||
Boise State | Boise State | 10/13/2018 | BYU | Oregon | Stats | |
Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech | 10/13/2018 | Prelims Overall | |||
UK (open) | Oxford | 10/13/2018 | Stats | |||
Yale | Yale | 10/13/2018 | Amherst A | Harvard B | Morning Complete | |
UCF | University of Central Florida | 10/13/2018 | Prelims Combined | |||
Canada | Carleton University | 10/13/2018 | Toronto J | Toronto B | Prelims All Games | |
Minnesota | Minnesota | 10/6/2018 | "Drangonball Z" (sic) | Minnesota D | Stats | |
WUSTL | WUSTL | 10/6/2018 | prelims combined | |||
Michigan | Michigan | 9/29/2018 | OSU A | MSU A | Prelims Combined | |
Maryland | Maryland | 9/29/2018 | Johns Hopkins A | Maryland A | Prelims Combined |
2017
The 2017 iteration was again edited by Will Alston and Richard Yu, with James Lasker joining them. Other writers included Alex Fregeau, Vasa Clarke, Eric Xu, and Jack Mehr.
It followed in the steps of TTIAC by including a "thought" distribution.
Discussion
2017 EFT was one of the first tournaments to collect detailed stats (and specifically buzzpoints) on a large scale, following trials at MYSTERIUM, 2016 Terrapin, TTIAC, and Jordaens in 2016–2017. Many moderators had never used the new online scorekeeping system, or any online scoresheet, before. In the thread "PSA - Don't be a Luddite," Will relayed that he had received complaints from attendees of the WUSTL mirror about several moderators who had misbehaved due to displeasure with the technology. After David Dennis came forward as one of the disgruntled individuals from the WUSTL mirror, Nicholas Conder expressed concern that learning a new system on short notice was a daunting task; Cody Voight (and a chorus of others) responded by asserting that it was easy to learn. Any conversation about how to improve the interface and usability of the technology was quickly drowned out by accusations of stupidity, malice, and incompetence leveled between those who had never used it and those who had.
Though many people found the system as easy or easier to use than either online or paper scoresheets, it was clearly harder for some less experienced moderators. Many improvements were promptly made to the system, its logistics (communicating requirements to hosts with plenty advance notice), and its documentation (instructions and accommodations to help those who may be less tech-savvy), in response to feedback in and out of the thread.
Region | Host | Date | Champion | Second | Stats | Packets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Skype | the editing team | 12/26/2017 | Stats | Packets | ||
Michigan | Michigan | 10/21/2017 | Prelims Combined | |||
UK | 10/21/2017 | Stats (incomplete) | ||||
Northern California | Stanford | 10/15/2017 | Stats | |||
Louisville | Louisville | 10/14/2017 | Prelims Combined | |||
Southern California | UCSD | 10/14/2017 | Stats | |||
Canada | University of Toronto | 10/14/2017 | Stats | |||
Virginia | Virginia | 10/14/2017 | Prelims Overall | |||
WKU | WKU | 10/14/2017 | (cancelled) | |||
Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech | 10/14/2017 | Stats | |||
Minnesota | University of Minnesota | 10/14/2017 | Stats | |||
Boise State | Boise State | 10/14/2017 | Oregon | Colorado | Stats | |
WUSTL | WUSTL | 10/7/2017 | Prelims Combined | |||
Yale | Yale | 9/30/2017 | Prelims Combined | |||
New College of Florida | New College of Florida | 9/30/2017 | Stats | |||
Second Skype | the editing team | 12/26/2017 | Stats |
2016
The 2016 iteration of EFT was edited by Will Alston, Richard Yu, and Andrew Wang, with writing contributions from Eddie Kim, Jason Cheng, Parikshit Chauhan, Jason Zhou, and Ryan Humphrey. Auroni Gupta, Ike Jose, and Billy Busse assisted with tournament production.
This tournament was the first to explicitly include a playtest mirror by holding an open Skype mirror of the tournament a week before any closed mirrors.
Region | Host | Date | Champion | Second | Stats | Packets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Skype | the editing team | 9/17/2016 | Stats | Packets | ||
Northeast | New York University | 10/1/2016 | Prelims Combined | |||
Mid-Atlantic | University of Maryland | 10/8/2016 | Prelims Combined | |||
Southeast | Duke University | 10/8/2016 | Prelims Combined | |||
Florida | University of Florida | 10/1/2016 | Stats | |||
Kentucky | Western Kentucky University | 10/15/2016 | Stats | |||
Texas | Texas A&M | 10/29/2016 | Stats | |||
North | University of Minnesota | 9/24/2016 | Stats | |||
Upper Midwest | University of Chicago | 10/22/2016 | Prelims Complete | |||
Lower Midwest | Washington University in St. Louis | 10/1/2016 | Stats | |||
Great Lakes | Youngstown State University | 10/8/2016 | Prelims Playoffs | |||
Northern California | Stanford University | 10/15/2016 | Prelims Combined | |||
Southwest | University of California, San Diego | 10/8/2016 | Prelims Combined | |||
Canada | University of Ottawa | 10/15/2016 | Stats | |||
UK | Oxford | 11/26/2016 | Stats |
Original Brown tournament
2010
EFT 5: The Prince of Aquitaine whose Tournament is Destroyed was a collaboration between Brown, Eric Mukherjee, and Illinois, headed by Ike Jose. Mirrors occurred at Brown, Illinois, VCU, Georgia Tech, and Toronto, with the main site taking place on October 2, 2010.
This incarnation of EFT received more criticism than previous years, with common complaints being poor grammar and lack of copyediting, absurd difficulty outliers, and an unclear baseline difficulty.
Set | Region | Host | Date | Champion | Second | Stats | Packets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EFT 5 | New England (main site) |
Brown | October 2, 2010 | Harvard A | Yale A | Prelims, Playoffs | Packets |
Midwest | Illinois | October 2, 2010 | Minnesota A | Minnesota B | Stats† | ||
California | Claremont | October 3, 2010 | Irvine | UCSD A | Prelims, Playoffs | ||
Mid-Atlantic | VCU | October 3, 2010 | Maryland A | Carnegie Mellon | Stats | ||
Minnesota | Minnesota | October 16, 2010 | Gautam Kandlikar | St. Thomas A | Stats | ||
Southeast | Georgia Tech | October 23, 2010 | South Carolina A | Chipola & Georgia (tie) | Prelims, Playoffs | ||
Canada | Toronto | October 31, 2010 | Western Ontario | Toronto A | Stats |
† Broken stats link
2009
EFT 4: Cattle-Related Vocabulary took place on October 3 and 4, 2009 at Brown, Virginia, Illinois, Texas, UCLA, Millsaps, Toronto, Gonzaga, and Macalester. Substantial portions of the set were written by Jerry Vinokurov, Guy Tabachnick, Eric Mukherjee, Aaron Rosenberg, Daniel Klein, and Ian Eppler, with contributions from Seth Teitler, Ike Jose, Trygve Meade, and Hannah Kirsch.
The tournament was mostly well-received, with most of the complaints centered on uneven bonus difficulty and mediocre copyediting. The tournament elicited discussion of the nature of stock clues after Andy Watkins criticized the use of the Reptile Fund as an early clue for Bismarck. A discussion of the trash distribution in academic tournaments also ensued.
Set | Region | Host | Date | Champion | Second | Stats | Packets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EFT 4 | New England (main site) |
Brown | October 3, 2009 | Harvard B | Harvard A | Prelims, Playoffs | Packets |
Canada | Toronto | October 3, 2009 | Toronto A | Michigan A | Prelims, Playoffs† | ||
Mid-Atlantic | Virginia | October 3, 2009 | Maggie Walker | State College | Stats† | ||
Midwest | Illinois | October 3, 2009 | Chicago D | Chicago B | Stats† | ||
Minnesota | Macalester | October 3, 2009 | Minnesota Red | Carleton | Stats | ||
Northwest | Gonzaga | October 3, 2009 | Washington A | Washington B | Stats† | ||
Southeast | South Carolina | October 3, 2009 | Clemson | Southside | Stats | ||
Texas | UT-Austin | October 3, 2009 | Rice | LASA A | Stats† | ||
California | UCLA | October 4, 2009 | UCSD | Steve Katz | Stats | ||
South | Millsaps | October 4, 2009 | Alabama A? | Alabama B? | Stats |
† Broken stats link
2008
EFT 3: Trapping Bees in a Dyson Sphere ran on October 4 and 11, 2008, at various sites around the country, including Brown, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, UCLA, FSU and Illinois, with many sites seeing record attendance (the Brown site had to cap registration at 24 teams due to staff shortages). The set was written in equal shares by Jerry Vinokurov, Dennis Jang, Eric Mukherjee, and Aaron Rosenberg, with contributions from Jonathan Magin, Evan Nagler, Lisa Qing, and Eric Johnson, and as tradition dictates, was assembled at 7 a.m. on the day of the tournament.
The tournament was received well overall, with the exception of a tossup on peer-to-peer networks and an excess of questions on comic books in the trash distribution (everyone knows whose fault that is). The tournament also set off a large discussion about the writing of music questions, due to a tossup on the Leningrad Symphony containing some technical middle clues that were not uniquely identifying.
EFT 3 was also notably the subject of Christian Flow's Mind Games Article in the Harvard Crimson, which followed the exploits of Dallas Simons and the Harvard B team.
Set | Region | Host | Date | Champion | Second | Stats | Packets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EFT 3 | New England (main site) |
Brown | October 4, 2008 | Harvard A | Dartmouth A | Stats† | Packets |
California | UCLA | October 4, 2008 | UCLA 2 | UCSD A & Stanford (tie) | Stats | ||
Mid-Atlantic | Wake Forest | October 11, 2008 | Maryland B | Virginia | Stats | ||
Florida | FSU | Stats† | |||||
Midwest | Illinois | Stats† | |||||
Southeast | Vanderbilt | Stats† |
† Broken stats link
2007
EFT 2, subtitled Rataplan Ghost Rides the World War I Ambulance, was written by Dennis Jang, Eric Mukherjee, and Jerry Vinokurov, with the same goal as the previous incarnation. Mirrors were held at Brown, UCLA, USF, William and Mary, Chicago, Vanderbilt, and OU, with the main mirror taking place on September 29, 2007.
Rutgers won the Brown mirror after defeating Harvard, with Jason Keller winning the individual scoring award. The tournament was a huge logistical nightmare however, and prizes couldn't be given because stats were not compiled in time. Surprisingly, people did not complain.
The question set itself was praised fairly highly, with some qualms about the length of the questions (which averaged somewhere between 6 and 7 lines), the difficulty of tossups on Tlaloc and Legendre, the representation of the social science canon (some liked it, some didn't), and a factual error about the writer of Harrison Bergeron. The two packets written exclusively by Jerry were also seen as much more difficult than the others. Willie Chen returned briefly to complain about problems in the set that didn't exist, but was quickly refuted by Eric and Chris Ray.
Set | Region | Host | Date | Champion | Second | Stats | Packets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EFT 2 | New England (main site) |
Brown | September 29, 2007 | Rutgers | Harvard | Stats | Packets |
Texas/Oklahoma | Oklahoma | September 29, 2007 | UT-Austin | Harding | Stats | ||
California | UCLA | October 6, 2007 | Irvine A | UCLA B | Prelims, Playoffs | ||
Florida | USF | October 6, 2007 | Not available | ||||
Mid-Atlantic | William and Mary | October 6, 2007 | Maryland A | Penn | Stats† | ||
Midwest | Chicago | October 6, 2007 | Minnesota B | Illinois A & UIC (tie) | Prelims, Playoffs | ||
Southeast | Vanderbilt | October 6, 2007 | Alabama A | WUSTL A | Stats† |
† Broken stats link
2006
The first incarnation was written by Seth Teitler, Ryan Westbrook, Jerry Vinokurov, and Selene Koo, with the intent being to have an additional early-season novice tournament that, unlike ACF Fall, did not require teams to submit a packet to play. EFT was held at several regional sites over the weekends of October 7–8 and October 14–15, 2006. Host schools included Chicago, Brown, Maryland, Texas, Georgia Tech, USF, and UCLA.
Feedback can be found in this thread. Overall, this tournament was received with praise. Much of the commentary revolved around the difficulty of "hard" bonus parts as well as niche subjects like world literature and social science.
Set | Region | Host | Date | Champion | Second | Stats | Packets |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EFT 1 | New England (main site) |
Brown | October 7, 2006 | Yale A | Rutgers | Stats† | Packets |
California | UCLA | October 7, 2006 | Stanford A | UCLA A | Stats | ||
Florida | USF | October 7, 2006 | Not available | ||||
Texas | UT-Austin | October 7, 2006 | Not available | ||||
Southeast | Georgia Tech | October 8, 2006 | Vanderbilt | Kentucky | Stats† | ||
Midwest | Chicago | October 14, 2006 | Chicago A | Michigan A | Prelims, Playoffs |
† Broken stats link
- ↑ https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=352325#p352325
- ↑ https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=353437#p353437
- ↑ https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=353399#p353399
- ↑ https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=353414#p353414
- ↑ https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=350010#p350010