>>>>>Questions were used in both divisions; however, duplicated questions were not always used in the same round in both divisions, and this led to some problems during the weekend. I cannot see any logical reason why, if questions are to be used in both divisions, they should not be used in the same round. [If Div. I and Div. II run in equal numbers of rounds, then, by definition, the number of Div. I questions not used in Div. II and vice versa must be equal.]<<<<< Absolutely - I'm surprised there wasn't a bigger controversy over this and what it could lead. That was the only unnecessary bad part of the whole event, except for the flimsy spoons that splintered readily when faced with high-quality frozen custard. There were several questions that even appeared on different days for Div I and Div II, so the results of some Saturday matches (none of ours, I'm pretty sure) could have hinged on what one school's teams happened to be discussing the previous night. Example: During the usual campfire-story exchange in the van Friday night, we mentioned how Wes from Occidental (a very underrated team) got Adrianople after hearing nothing but 2 rivers and "Named after an emperor". Saturday our Div I team had an advantage on that question, and used it (reflexively buzzing in upon recognizing what the answer was...but what they recognized was the wording of the question). Also, about half the questions in our championship round against Emory were used before for Div I. They heard the Veronica one on Friday. None of the ones that ended up in the final had come up in prior discussions, but if one had, and it decided the game, you know, Emory wouldn't be happy about it, considering they didn't have a Div I team there. And it's just natural to discuss what happened with your teammates, after you meet up with them again Friday night. I know the non-disclosure rule was an improvisation, but it couldn't work. After writing all of that, I just saw Hentzel's post saying that questions will only be duplicated within the same round next year. Thanks, NAQT. If anyone thought it might affect the outcome of this year's tournament...we didn't know anything ahead of time in Div II, and Tiger Woods doesn't need the new solid-core balls. But it could have affected it. Anyway, the questions themselves were great, the weather was perfect for people who'd been in Pennsylvania all winter, the pasta and custard and carbon dioxide were all good, there were as many questions about economics as there were about Maeve Binchey (still too many), and I surpassed all previous achievements of my life by scoring 24 ppg on a team with Matt W. Good job, WUStL. (does anyone else refer to Wash U. with a 2-syllable word that the British would spell "Worcestel"? I know I was looking at "wustl.edu" in email addresses a full three years before I understood that there was a Washington University in St. Louis.) Michael davies sphericalwindow_at_...
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