First off, indeed lack of knowledge is what led me to neg on the Epstein question. I had no idea that Martin was a producer, and not a manager -- even at this late stage, that's part of the learning process I guess :) However, I have to take issue with this comment by Raj: "Up-and-down difficulty (to a degree) is not necessarily a bad thing - - even at an ICT, I don't think there's anything wrong with (say) a well-written tossup on Napoleon. If we as players don't buzz because of some expectation that it "has to be" a more difficult topic (just as I did on the Peloponnesian War, or however that's spelled), then that's our own fault." That's assuming that the toss-ups are structured pyramidally. Up-and-down difficulty within the entire tournament is acceptable, but within packets is pretty darn frustrating, given how some of the TUs were structured. That Peloponnesian War question was pretty ass (had the ending date of 404 BCE well before the end of the question), as was the "Appalachian Spring" toss-up (mentioning "Spring" in line one was quite Khon Hoc-esque). Early obvious answers are at least OK, if the packet is consistent... but then you throw in curveballs like the Larsen Ice Shelf, and given the answers above, why wouldn't anyone buzz in with "Ross Ice Shelf"? Also, with bonuses, one thing I have to wonder about was the occasional "overprevalance" of 2x15s. I understand that they work well to cut down on time in a timed format, but often you either get a bonus with one part that's too easy (for an easy 15 points) or both parts that are extremely tough (leading to zero). I believe we drew three 2x15s in Round 7, and scored zero, while our opponents got a 3x10 on "Given the geologic time epoch/period/era, name the next one" (inappropriately easy for ICT). In a game we lost by 35, that was annoying. In these cases, I would like to have seen three parts, with one gettable part, instead of the 2x15s. Since I have not said so, btw, I do want to thank NAQT for providing excellent moderators. All the ones that we had were clear, fair, to the point, and relatively fast, which is all one can ask. Contrary to the impression I may have given from my messages, I had a very good time, and Los Angeles was a beautiful site to have a national championship. Plus many of the questions were quite fine; these criticisms were for questions that were more of the exception than the rule. And I always welcome toss-ups on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" :) -Adam
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