If all answers were in the general realm of
knowledge - which isn't exactly very well defined - then
every tossup will result in a buzzer race and there
would be no point to specialization in areas of "the
quiz bowl canon." Certainly the give away clues should
be gettable by players who have been in the circuit
for a few years and pay attention. If you have no
knowledge of organic chemistry other than "benzene ring"
for example then it would be unreasonable to expect
that any quiz bowl player would have sufficient
knowledge. Certainly the inverted pyramid format allows for
those with genuine knowledge to know the questions
early but I still find it impossible to expect that all
questions written will be things that all people have heard
of. It's just impossible. Some people never take a
math class in college - others never take a geology
class. For everything else, perhaps, it can be fastest
finger.
Ross in Berkeley