Re: NAQT SCT Remarks

• From: tgallows <no_reply_at_yahoogroups.com>
• Date: Sun, 08 Feb 2004 23:22:03 -0000
• Message-ID: <c06gar+fscl_at_...>

     Besides the typo on the Pendleton question, two other (more
significant) errors I noticed were (1) a tossup referring to the Grand
Inquisitor section of Brothers Karamazov as a poem, and (2) a bonus
asking about the designer of Seagram Building which did not accept
Philip Johnson as an answer.  I think those were the only two where my
team actually lost the points because of an error in the question.  As
Lenny mentioned, the Turkey and Hinckley questions did lend themselves
to relatively easy powers, but I didn't notice too many mis-structured
questions.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good set of questions.  After some
early glitches due to teams showing up late (USF) or not showing up at
all (FSU, UNF), Georgia's SCT ran pretty well.  Good decision by Robin
to run the double RR in Div I -- that was fun.

--Raj Dhuwalia, UF

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--- In quizbowl_at_yahoogroups.com, kostovz <no_reply_at_y...> wrote:
> Although I am probably 99% done with quiz bowl, I was involved in
> moderating this weekend, and would like to make a few remarks/
> comments about the packets. 
> 
> 1) I noticed in many cases that the packets were remarkably 
> unbalanced. Packet 9, for example, had 3 visual art tossups in 
> the first 20. Packet 2 had 2 comp sci tossups in the first 20. Also, 
> Packet 12 had two art tossups about Renaissance architects. ETC, 
> ETC. I don't think it would be too difficult to ensure that all 
> packets had the same distribution. Otherwise, unbalanced packets 
> allow worse teams with a specific area of specialization to do very 
> well. 
> 
> 2) There were a large number of typos and mistakes that could have 
> thrown teams off track. The Pendleton Act forty years too early. A 
> certain Shakespeare collector retiring a century earlier. Prompt on 
> Narmer? These were problems that I think could have easily been 
> avoided by simply playtesting packets before sending them out. 
> 
> 3) Some of the questions were just badly badly written, and in many 
> cases, were in inverse pyramidal (with the easiest clues first). The 
> Turkish tossup, John Hinckley, and Tobasco come to mind as examples 
> of these. 
> 
> -Lenny