what fresh h*ck
For 10 points each—answer these questions about quartic polynomials [KWAR-tik pah-lih-NOH-mee-ulz]: A. What is the degree of any quartic polynomial? B. If a quartic polynomial with real coefficients has a root at the complex number 6 + 4i, what is the maximum possible number of real roots it could have? C. Along with Paolo Ruffini [POW-loh roo-FEE-nee], what Norwegian mathematician proved that polynomials of degree greater than 4 might not be solvable in terms of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and taking roots?
a. answer: 4 (accept fourth‐degree polynomial or fourth‐order polynomial) b. answer: 2 real roots [Since complex roots always come in conjugate pairs, the polynomial must have a second complex root at 6 - 4i; since quartic polynomials have a maximum of 4 roots, at most 4 ‐ 2 = 2 could be real.] c. answer: Niels Henrik Abel [AH-bul] (accept Abelʹs impossibility theorem or Abel‐Ruffini theorem)
A 2008 Guitar Hero game subtitled for this band was the first entry in the series to focus primarily on a single groupʹs music. For 10 points each— A. Name this American rock band fronted by Steven Tyler. Their songs include "Love in an Elevator" and "Dream On." B. Aerosmith experienced a resurgence in the 1980s after collaborating with Run‐DMC on a new version of this song, whose chorus ends by declaring "aw, just give me a kiss." C. Among the artists to join Aerosmith in performing "Walk This Way" at the Super Bowl XXXV ["35"] halftime show was this rapper, whose own songs include "Hot in Herre" and "Just a Dream."
a. answer: Aerosmith b. answer: Walk This Way c. answer: Nelly (or Cornell Iral Haynes Jr.)
For 10 points each—name these companies that perpetrated April Foolʹs pranks in 2017: A. This fast food chainʹs April Foolʹs Day prank was an announcement for new Whopper‐flavored toothpaste. B. This phone company, which announced an "Un‐carrier Next" plan in 2017, claimed it would release a magenta onesie to match its company color. C. The train‐operating company partially owned by this Richard Branson‐founded conglomerate ran an April Foolʹs Day commercial advertising tattoo‐able train tickets.
a. answer: Burger King (prompt on "BK") b. answer: T‐Mobile (International AG) (accept T‐Mobile onesie) c. answer: Virgin Group(, Ltd.) (accept Virgin Trains or Virgin Rail Group)
For 10 points each—answer the following about locales named "Zealand": A. This capital city of Denmark mostly lies on the island of Zealand. B. This explorer named New Zealand after the Dutch province of Zeeland, not the Danish island. Today, this man is the namesake of an Australian island once known as Van Diemenʹs ["demon's"] Land. C. Mount Zealand is a peak in this stateʹs White Mountains, which were once the site of a granite formation resembling a human face called the Old Man of the Mountain.
a. answer: Copenhagen (or København) b. answer: Abel (Janszoon) Tasman (do not accept or prompt on "Tasmania") c. answer: New Hampshire
One memorial site in this town contains the "Unknown Inmate" statue near a building formerly used as a crematorium. For 10 points each— A. Name this German town that names the first Nazi concentration camp, which was established nearby in 1933. B. Dachau is just northwest of this larger German city that serves as the capital of the state of Bavaria. C. Munich serves as the host for this annual beer festival that, despite its name, takes place primarily during September. Over 6 million tourists attend this festival every year.
a. answer: Dachau [da-KOW] b. answer: Munich (or München) c. answer: Oktoberfest
A document known as the Community Rule was one of the first to be discovered in the Qumrun Caves near this body of water. For 10 points each— A. Identify this body of water in the Middle East, near which dozens of namesake ancient Jewish "scrolls" have been discovered since 1947. B. The Dead Sea Scrolls are most commonly attributed to this Jewish sect, which existed alongside the Pharisees ["FAIR"-uh-seez] and Sadducees [SAJ-uh-seez] during the Second Temple period. C. Most of the scrolls are written in Hebrew, but some are written in this other Semitic language. It is generally thought to be the language primarily spoken by Jesus.
a. answer: Dead Sea or Salt Sea (or al‐Bahr al‐Mayyit or Yam ha‐Melakh; accept Dead Sea Scrolls) b. answer: Essene [ES-seen] sect (or Essenes or Essenoi or Essaioi or Ossaioi) c. answer: Aramaic language [air-uh-MAY-ik] (or Aramaya; accept Western Aramaic)
One poem by this author states "whatever a sun will always sing is you." For 10 points each— A. Name this author whose poem "i carry your heart with me" does not use spaces after punctuation marks, and has no capital letters. B. The title figure of this Cummings poem is "a conscientious object‐or" who is "more brave than me: more blond than you." C. Cummings wrote "he was a handsome man" in a poem named after this "defunct" founder of a "Wild West" show.
a. answer: E. E. Cummings (or Edward Estlin Cummings) b. answer: i sing of Olaf glad and big (prompt on "Olaf" or "i sing of Olaf") c. answer: Buffalo Bill Cody (or William Frederick Cody; accept either underlined portion; accept Buffalo Billʹs or Buffalo Billʹs Wild West (show))
For 10 points each—name these women who helped implement the New Deal: A. This First Lady traveled extensively throughout the country to push the program. B. This Secretary of Labor during the New Deal was the first woman appointed to the Cabinet. C. This founder of a school for African‐American girls in Daytona, Florida was a member of Rooseveltʹs informal "Black Cabinet." She was known as the "First Lady of the Struggle."
a. answer: Eleanor Roosevelt (or Anna Eleanor Roosevelt b. answer: Frances Perkins (or Fannie Coralie Perkins) c. answer: Mary McLeod Bethune (or Mary Jane McLeod)
This generalʹs plan for an inverted, lopsided phalanx [FAY-lanks] formation won the 371 BC Battle of Leuctra [LOOK-truh]. For 10 points each— A. Name this leader who suffered a mortal wound while winning the Battle of Mantinea [man-tin-EE-uh]. After his death, Macedon [MASS-uh-dahn] was able to beat his demoralized troops. B. Epaminondas was a leader of this Greek city‐state. Another of its leaders, Pelopidas [puh-LAH-puh-duss], led its Sacred Band of 300 elite warriors at Leuctra. C. The Theban victories at Leuctra and Mantinea were defeats of this city‐state, which had been the major power in Greece since it won the Peloponnesian [pel-uh-puh-NEE-zhun] War.
a. answer: Epaminondas [ih-pam-ih-NAHN-duss] (or Epameinondas) b. answer: Thebes (or Thebai or Thíva; accept Sacred Band of Thebes) c. answer: Sparta (or Lacedaemon)
From 1995 to 2003 this politician served as governor of New Mexico. For 10 points each— A. Name this Libertarian Party candidate who earned over three percent of the vote in the 2016 presidential election. B. In a televised interview Johnson failed to recognize the name of this city, which was the most populous in Syria before the countryʹs civil war. C. Johnsonʹs 2016 running mate was this former governor of Massachusetts, who was the subject of rumors that he had dropped off the Libertarian ticket to campaign for Hillary Clinton.
a. answer: Gary (Earl) Johnson b. answer: Aleppo [uh-LEP-oh] (or Halab; accept What is Aleppo?) c. answer: William (Floyd) Weld (or Bill Weld)
One character in this video game is "green lighted" after destroying a house owned by Martin Madrazo [mah-DRAH-zoh]. For 10 points each— A. Name this game in which the player can switch between Franklin, Michael, and Lester while causing mayhem in San Andreas [an-DRAY-uss]. B. The Galileo Observatory and Vespucci [vess-POO-chee] Beach in San Andreas are analagous to this real‐life cityʹs Griffith Observatory and Venice Beach. C. Franklin has a long conversation with a helpful dog, an homage to this fictional collie created by Eric Knight. This dog never actually helped to rescue Timmy from a well.
a. answer: Grand Theft Auto V ["G-T-A five"] (or GTA V ["G-T-A five"]; prompt on "Grand Theft Auto"; do not accept or prompt on any answer including "San Andreas") b. answer: Los Angeles, California (or L.A.) c. answer: Lassie (accept Lassie Come‐Home)
For 10 points each—answer the following about sulfuric [sul-FYOOR-ihk] acid: A. This is the moleculeʹs chemical formula. B. Within 5%, this is the molecular weight of sulfuric acid in grams per mole. C. Sulfuric acid acts as this kind of substance in the lead‐acid batteries used in cars. Give a one‐word term, not a descriptive answer.
a. answer: H2SO4 ["H two S O four"] b. answer: 98.1 grams per mole (accept answers 93.2 to 103.0 grams per mole) c. answer: electrolyte (or electrolytic substance; do not accept or prompt on "source of ions" or "(electrical) conductor" or "part of the circuit" or similar descriptive answers)
Labor leader Louis Tikas [TEE-kahss] was among those killed during this event. For 10 points each— A. Name this 1914 "massacre" in which the Colorado National Guard attacked a tent camp housing over a thousand miners striking against the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. B. The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company was managed by the son of this founder of Standard Oil. C. This matronly labor organizer, who led a 1903 march of young mill workers to protest child labor, advocated for the strikers. A progressive news magazine now bears her name.
a. answer: Ludlow massacre b. answer: John D(avison) Rockefeller (or John Davison Rockefeller Sr.) c. answer: Mother Jones (or Mary Harris Jones; accept any underlined portion)
For 10 points each—name these pioneering figures in modern dance: A. This woman, often cited as the single most influential person in the history of modern dance, commissioned and choreographed Aaron Coplandʹs ["COPE"-lund'z] Appalachian Spring [ap-uh-LAY-shun "spring"]. B. This early 20th‐century American expatriate rejected classical ballet in favor of pure interpretive dance. She died when one of her long scarves became entangled in a car wheel. C. This choreographer, who founded a namesake New York City dance theater, chronicled the history of black Americans in his work Revelations.
a. answer: Martha Graham b. answer: (Angela) Isadora Duncan c. answer: Alvin Ailey (Jr.) (accept Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
Lee Atwater masterminded a negative advertising campaign against this man that included an ad about a furloughed prisoner named Willie Horton. For 10 points each— A. Name this Democrat who lost the presidential election of 1988. B. This senator was Dukakisʹs running mate. In the vice presidential debate, he told Dan Quayle that the latter was "no Jack Kennedy." C. Bentsen went on to serve as the first holder of this Cabinet position under Bill Clinton. A former CEO of Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson, held this position at the end of George W. Bushʹs presidency.
a. answer: Michael (Stanley) Dukakis b. answer: Lloyd (Millard) Bentsen (Jr.) c. answer: Secretary of the Treasury
For 10 points each—answer the following about continental‐scale communication projects: A. Between April 1860 and October 1861 this service carried messages from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California in 10 days thanks to a chain of 184 horse‐changing stations. B. In 1858 the first transatlantic message sent via this type of communication device took 17 hours to go from Irelandʹs Valentia Island to the Newfoundland ["NEW-fun"-lund] town of Heartʹs Content. C. This authorʹs 2014 book Flash Boys details the laying of a fiber‐optic cable from New Jersey to Chicago for high frequency stock trading. This author also wrote Moneyball.
a. answer: Pony Express b. answer: (transatlantic) telegraphs (accept telegrams or telegraphy; do not accept or prompt on "Morse (code)") c. answer: Michael (Monroe) Lewis
An opium addict in this novel named Molly dies in the snow while traveling to a New Yearʹs party at the Red House. For 10 points each— A. Name this novel in which the title weaver finds and adopts Mollyʹs daughter, who is secretly the child of Godfrey Cass. B. This author of Silas Marner scandalized Victorian society by her decades‐long relationship with the married George Henry Lewes ["lewis"]. C. The title river floods at the end of this George Eliot novel, which depicts Tom Tulliverʹs disapproval of his sister Maggie.
a. answer: Silas Marner(: The Weaver of Raveloe) b. answer: George Eliot (or Mary Ann Evans or Marian Evans or Mary Ann Cross; accept Marian Evans Lewes; prompt on "(Marian) Lewes") c. answer: The Mill on the Floss
The Chinese emperor Li Yuan [lee yoo-ahn] is one of several people known as "Gaozu" [gow-zoo], or "High Founder." For 10 points each— A. Li Yuan established this dynasty after overthrowing Yangdi [yahn-dee], the last emperor of the Sui ["sway"] Dynasty. B. Before becoming emperor, Li Yuan fought the Gök [gahk], or "Celestial" branch of this ethnicity. The Seljuk [SEL-jook] Empire was ruled by people belonging to the Oghuz [OH-gooz] branch of this ethnicity. C. Li Yuan ended patronage of this foreign religion founded by Siddhartha Gautama [sid-HAR-tuh GOH-tuh-muh], though this religionʹs monasteries remained popular.
a. answer: Tang Dynasty (or Tang Cháo) b. answer: Turks (or Turkish people(s) or Turkic people(s); accept Gök Turks or Celestial Turks or Blue Turks or Tujué or Tturka; accept Seljuk Turks or Oghuz Turks or Ghuzz Turks) c. answer: Buddhism (or Buddhist religion; accept Mahayana Buddhism)
After this object is discovered by a barber in a piece of bread, it is thrown into the Neva [NAY-vuh] River. For 10 points each— A. Name this object that dresses up as a state councilor after being separated from the body of Major Kovalyov [kah-vahl-YAWF]. B. "The Nose" was written by this Russian author, who described the theft of an expensive garment in his story "The Overcoat." C. "The Nose" and "The Overcoat" are both set in this city. A street in this city that "deceives at all hours of the day" is depicted in Gogolʹs story "Nevsky Prospekt" [NEV-skee pruh-SPEKT].
a. answer: The Nose (or Nos) b. answer: Nikolai (Vasilievich) Gogol [NIK-uh-lye GOH-gul] c. answer: Saint Petersburg (or Sankt‐Peterburg)
This paintingʹs "blood red" sky was inspired by a real‐life sky the artist observed in 1892. For 10 points each— A. Name this Edvard Munch [ED-vard MOONK] painting of a man holding his hands to his face. B. The Scream, along with Munchʹs The Kiss and Ashes, is part of a series of works named after these decorative architectural carvings. Munch used this term to describe his paintings "of Life." C. Munch depicted the landscape of Åsgårdstrand [AHZ-gard-shtrand] in a painting with this title. Another painting with this name shows an illuminated village as seen from an asylum in Saint‐Rémy [san-ray-MEE].
a. answer: The Scream (or Skrik or The Scream of Nature or Der Schrei der Natur; accept the Cry) b. answer: frieze ["freeze"] (or frisen; accept The Frieze of Life or Livsfrisen) c. answer: Starry Night (accept Stjernenatt or The Starry Night or De Sterrennacht)
During this war, Count Tillyʹs army carried out the brutal sack of Magdeburg [MAG-duh-burg]. For 10 points each— A. Name this long 17th‐century war between Protestants and Catholics that was ended by the Peace of Westphalia ["west-FAIL"-yuh]. B. The Thirty Yearsʹ War began after an Elector Palatine ["PAL-uh-tine"] with this name was elected to the throne of Bohemia; because he was quickly deposed, he became known as the "Winter King." C. Frederickʹs election occurred in the wake of this violent event, during which a mob of Protestants threw two Hapsburg envoys out of a window.
a. answer: Thirty Yearsʹ War b. answer: Frederick (or Friedrich; accept Frederick V ["the fifth"] of the Palatinate or Frederick I of Bohemia or Frederick the Winter King) c. answer: (Second) Defenestration of Prague (accept answers describing someone getting thrown off a building or through a window in Prague or Praha; prompt on "defenestration" and other similar answers that do not mention Prague)
Pencil and paper ready. For 10 points each—answer these questions about the number 28: A. How would 28 be expressed in Roman numerals? B. Since 28 equals the sum of all of its proper divisors, it belongs to what class of numbers? 6 and 496 are also in this class of numbers. C. What is the units digit of 28 factorial, which equals 28 times 27 times 26 and so on down to times 1?
a. answer: XXVIII [X = 10, V = 5, I = 1] b. answer: perfect number(s) [28 = 14 + 7 + 4 + 2 + 1] c. answer: 0 (do not accept or prompt on "none" or similar answers) [5! = 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 20 × 6 = 120; the units digit of every higher factorial is thus 0 × n = 0.]
In Japanese, gairaigo ["guy"-rye-goh] are these types of words. For 10 points each— A. Identify these words that are "borrowed" from another language without undergoing major phonological or semantic changes. A Japanese example is sarariman [sah-rah-ree-mahn], from the English "salary man." B. Japanese transcribes loanwords with this set of characters, which are the counterpart of hiragana [hee-rah-gah-nah]. C. A now‐debunked theory claimed that the word obrigado [oh-bree-GAH-doh], which means "thanks" in this language spoken by European missionaries, was adapted into Japanese as the loanword arigato [ah-ree-gah-toh].
a. answer: loanwords b. answer: katakana [kah-tah-kah-nah] (do not accept or prompt on "kana") c. answer: Portuguese language (or português or língua portuguesa)
For 10 points each—answer the following about detecting lies: A. This device, whose efficacy has not been scientifically demonstrated, measures things like pulse, blood pressure, and galvanic [gal-VAN-ick] skin response while a subject is answering questions. B. The "functional" version of this technique, which measures the amount of blood flow in different regions of the brain, has potential applications as a lie detection technique. C. fMRI scans show increased activity in this area of the brain when people are lying. Along with the frontal, temporal and occipital lobes, it is one of the four major lobes of the brain.
a. answer: polygraph (prompt on "poly") b. answer: MRI (or magnetic resonance imaging; accept fMRI or functional magnetic resonance imaging) c. answer: parietal [puh-RYE-uh-tul] lobe
If two waves overlap at a single point, the total displacement of the combined wave equals the sum of the displacements due to each individual wave. For 10 points each— A. Name this "principle" that governs interference. B. If waves have the same amplitude but are 180 degrees out of phase, this specific form of interference occurs. C. If two coherent waves of wavelength 500 nanometers interfere destructively, this is the shortest possible path difference, in nanometers, in the routes they took to reach the point of interference.
a. answer: principle of superposition (of waves) b. answer: destructive interference c. answer: 250 nanometers
Alison Grimes lost a 2014 Senate midterm election to what man who succeeded Harry Reid as Senate majority leader in 2015, a Kentucky Republican?
answer: (Addison Mitchell) Mitch McConnell (Jr.) (prompt on "Kentucky" before "man")
A mentally ill watchmaker named Robert Hubert claimed to have caused this disaster as an agent of the pope. The inaction of Thomas Bloodworth allowed this disaster to continue beyond the first day. A diary written by Samuel (*) Pepys [peeps] described this disaster, which destroyed St. Paulʹs Cathedral. For 10 points—name this 1666 conflagration that burned through much of a European capital city.
answer: (First) Great Fire of London (accept equivalents mentioning London and the concept of fire; prompt on references to a "fire" that do not mention London before "conflagration")
What South American city is generally called the worldʹs highest capital city, even though it is only a de facto capital?
answer: (Nuestra Señora de) La Paz [11,975 feet above sea level, in Bolivia]
Which Asian countryʹs flag consisting of a blood‐red disc on a green background was proudly flown by Sheikh Mujibur [MOO-jee-bur] Rahman at its 1971 independence?
answer: (Peopleʹs Republic of) Bangladesh (or Gana Prajatantri Bangladesh)
In July 2015, Cecil the lion was killed by a hunter in what country whose capital is Harare [huh-RAR-ay]?
answer: (Republic of) Zimbabwe
The availability of this legal doctrine is guaranteed in the "law of the land" clause of the Magna Carta. Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. constitution—which mentions this doctrine in the context of "cases of rebellion or invasion"—was invoked by Abraham Lincoln to (*) suspend this doctrine. Unlawful detention is reported using—for 10 points—what "Great Writ" known by a two‐word Latin phrase meaning "you may have the body"?
answer: (writ of) habeas corpus
Pencil and paper ready. What is the measure of the fourth internal angle of a quadrilateral [kwahd-ruh-"lateral"] whose other internal angles are 70, 80, and 90 degrees?
answer: 120 degrees (accept 2 pi/3 radians or 2/3 pi radians; do not accept or prompt on "2/3") [The internal angles of a quadrilateral always sum to 360 degrees, so x = 360 ‐ (70 + 80 + 90) = 360 ‐ 240 = 120.]
Pencil and paper ready. What is the maximum whole number of 45‐cent stamps that Joanne can buy if she has 13 dollars available?
answer: 28 stamps [1300/45 = 28r40]
Pencil and paper ready. What is the value of 8 factorial divided by 6 factorial?
answer: 56 [8!/6! = (8 × 7 × 6!)/6! = 7 × 8 = 56]
What man, who illustrated division of labor with the example of a pin factory, created the metaphor of the invisible hand in The Wealth of Nations?
answer: Adam Smith
This hero refuses mercy to a foe who wears a belt taken as a trophy from one of this manʹs companions. His father was struck by a thunderbolt after boasting about an affair with Venus that produced this man. The Cumaean Sibyl ["cue"-MAY-un SIB-il] advised this hero to enter the underworld with a golden bough. This man fled (*) Troy with his father Anchises [an-KYE-seez]. The Carthaginian ["car"-thuh-JIN-ee-un] queen Dido ["DIE"-doh] loved—for 10 points—what hero of an epic poem by Virgil [VUR-jil]?
answer: Aeneas [uh-NEE-us] (or Aineías; do not accept or prompt on "Aeneid")
Which physicist proclaimed "God does not play dice with the universe," [pause] explained Brownian motion, [pause] developed relativity, [pause] and stated "E = mc2" ["E equals M C squared"]?
answer: Albert Einstein [The quote about God and dice was meant to express dismay about the fundamentally random worldview of quantum mechanics.]
Visitors cross the Propylaia [prah-"pie"-LEE-uh] to enter what historic area that houses the ruined Erechtheion [eh-REK-"thigh"-on], the Temple of Athena Nike [NYE-kee], and the Parthenon [PAR-thuh-nahn] in Athens?
answer: Athenian Acropolis [uh-KRAH-puh-liss] (prompt on "Athens" before "landmark")
This countryʹs capital lies below sea level on the Absheron Peninsula and houses UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the Shirvanshahsʹ [shir-VAHN-shahz] Palace. After the Cold War, this oil‐rich country fought a Christian neighbor over the disputed region of (*) Nagorno‐Karabakh. It is a longtime rival of Armenia to the south. For 10 points—name this Caucasus country on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, whose capital is Baku.
answer: Azerbaijan [AH-zur-"by"-ZHAHN] (or Republic of Azerbaijan or Azerbaycan Respublikasi)
Ziad Ahmed was admitted to Stanford after writing a "What matters to you, and why?" essay consisting of this three‐word phrase 100 times. It was coined in a letter stating "I love you. I love us." written by Alicia Garza after the acquittal of George (*) Zimmerman. Opponents of this phrase often replace its first word with "blue" or "all." For 10 points—what phrase names a movement opposing police shootings of African‐Americans?
answer: Black Lives Matter (or #BlackLivesMatter; prompt on "BLM"; do not accept or prompt on "Blue Lives Matter" or "All Lives Matter")
Which university in Indiana made consecutive finals in the NCAA menʹs basketball tournament in 2010 and 2011?
answer: Butler University (prompt on "Bulldogs")
In this body of water, "skipjack" sailboats are used to harvest oysters. This body of water traditionally has the largest blue crab harvest in the world. Rivers that flow into this body of water include the Patapsco [puh-TAP-skoh] and the (*) Susquehanna [suss-kwuh-HAN-uh]. A bridge‐tunnel traversing this largest American estuary [ESS-choo-"air"-ee] connects Hampton Roads to the Delmarva [del-"MAR"-vuh] Peninsula. For 10 points—name this bay that borders Virginia and Maryland.
answer: Chesapeake ["CHESS-uh-peak"] Bay
Which Elizabethan playwright wrote about the scheming Barabas in The Jew of Malta?
answer: Christopher Marlowe
Dillon v. Gloss upheld the constitutionality of what Constitutional amendment that enabled Prohibition?
answer: Eighteenth Amendment (or Amendment 18)
This character solves a riddle by realizing that allusions to the "pomp of kings" and "the monarch of the seas" refer to the words "court" and "ship." On Christmas Eve this character shares an awkward carriage ride with Mr. Elton, a vicar [VIK-er] whose marriage proposal she has just rejected. This woman insists that a farmer is an unsuitable (*) spouse for Harriet Smith. For 10 points—name this title matchmaker of a novel by Jane Austen.
answer: Emma Woodhouse (or Emma Knightley; accept any underlined portion; prompt on "(Mrs.) Knightley")
What monarch, who built the Rococo [roh-KOH-koh] palace of Sanssouci [sahn-soo-SEE], began the War of the Austrian Succession by invading Silesia [sih-LEE-zhee-uh] and was a "great" ruler of Prussia?
answer: Frederick the Great (or Frederick II of Prussia or Friedrich der Grosse or Friedrich II of Prussia; accept Frederick or Friedrich after "great"; prompt on "Frederick" or "Friedrich" before "great")
Human, All Too Human is an aphoristic work by what German philosopher, who also wrote Beyond Good and Evil and theorized about the "Übermensch" [OO-ber-mensh]?
answer: Friedrich (Wilhelm) Nietzsche [NEET-shuh]
What author described Flemish youths who try to kill Death in a story told by a "Pardoner" to other traveling pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales?
answer: Geoffrey Chaucer [CHAW-sur]
"Itʹs raw!" is a catchphrase of what Scottish‐born celebrity who hosts the reality shows Hellʹs Kitchen and MasterChef?
answer: Gordon (James) Ramsay
The 1983 invasion of what Caribbean island was referred to as a "predawn vertical insertion" by the U.S. government?
answer: Grenada [gruh-NAY-duh]
Barry Marshall won a Nobel Prize for his studies on this organism; as a part of those studies, Marshall swallowed a culture of it. For patients allergic to penicillin, metronidazole can be used as part of the "triple therapy" to eliminate this organism. This Gram‐negative bacterium uses urease to generate ammonia, allowing it to live in the (*) acidic stomach. For 10 points—what bacterium causes duodenal and stomach ulcers?
answer: H. pylori or Helicobacter pylori
This modern‐day countryʹs fight for freedom is the topic of C. L. R. Jamesʹs book The Black Jacobins ["JACK-oh-bins"]. After defeating French troops who were weakened by yellow fever, Jean‐Jacques Dessalines [zhawn zhahk dess-uh-LEEN] declared this nationʹs independence. Napoleon sold Louisiana after failing to reclaim this former (*) sugar colony. Toussaint LʹOuverture [too-SAN loo-vair-TOOR] led a slave revolt in—for 10 points—what Caribbean country that borders the Dominican Republic?
answer: Haiti (or Republic of Haiti or Republique dʹHaïti or Repiblik dʹ Ayiti; do not accept or prompt on "Saint‐Domingue")
What explorer, who in 1611 was marooned by the crew of the Discovery, gave his name to a bay in northern Canada and a river running through New York?
answer: Henry Hudson
When applied to a beam, the constant in this law equals the beamʹs cross‐section divided by its length, times Youngʹs modulus. This law is also commonly applied to objects with two relevant diameters and a winding number. This law describes the (*) restoring force that is proportional to the stretch distance. A contemporary of Isaac Newton is the namesake of—for 10 points—what law for the force exerted by a spring?
answer: Hookeʹs law [A spring is described by both the diameter of its coil and the diameter of the wire out of which it is made.]
What speech, which ended with a quote from the "old Negro spiritual" "Free at last," was given by Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington?
answer: I Have a Dream speech (prompt on "Kingʹs March on Washington speech" or similar answers before "March")
Tyroneʹs Rebellion took place on what island that was invaded by Oliver Cromwell in 1649 and devastated by a potato famine in the 1840s?
answer: Ireland (or Éire)
In one story by this author, Lionel kicks Uncle Webbʹs goggles into a lake. Another story by this author describes a beach honeymoon in Florida that ends in the suicide of Seymour Glass. This authorʹs stories "Down at the Dinghy" [DING-ee] and "A (*) Perfect Day for Bananafish" appear in his collection Nine Stories. For 10 points—what author wrote about a Pencey Prep student named Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye?
answer: J. D. Salinger (or Jerome David Salinger)
What Beat Generation figure fictionalized himself as Sal Paradise in his novel On the Road?
answer: Jack Kerouac ["CARE"-uh-wak] (or Jean‐Louis Lebris de Kerouac)
Soldiers of this ethnicity made up most of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which used the slogan "Go for Broke!" during World War II. The first congressman from Hawaii, Daniel Inouye [IH-noo-ay], was a member of this ethnic group. Tule [TOO-lee] Lake and (*) Manzanar [MAN-zuh-nar] were the sites of camps that housed people of this ethnicity. The Korematsu [kor-ah-MAHT-zoo] case of 1944 concerned the rights of—for 10 points—what Asian‐American ethnic group?
answer: Japanese‐Americans (accept Nisei or Nihongi; accept equivalents that refer to people of Japanese descent in the U.S.; prompt on "Asian(‐Americans)" or "(East) Asians" before "Asian‐American")
What British actor, who played the villain Deckard Shaw in the most recent Fast and Furious movie, starred with Melissa McCarthy in 2015ʹs Spy?
answer: Jason Statham [STAY-thum]
What German composer, who paired his Tragic Overture with his Academic Festival Overture and wrote the Hungarian Dances, is best known for a lullaby?
answer: Johannes Brahms
What R&B singer whose albums include Evolver, Get Lifted, and Love in the Future, has had hits with "Used to Love U" and "Green Light"?
answer: John Legend (or John Roger Stephens)
What lake fed by the Chari [SHAH-ree] River has shrunk drastically as the Sahara Desert has expanded and is near NʹDjamena [en-juh-MAY-nah] in its namesake African country?
answer: Lake Chad (or Lac Tchad)
What chemistry principle holds that systems in equilibrium will react to external changes by finding a new equilibrium that counteracts the change?
answer: Le Châtelierʹs [luh shaht-lee-YAY'Z] principle
The protagonist of this film goes with a farmer to fix a broken water pump before the farmerʹs home is attacked by forces from Transigen, a biotech company. One character in this film suffers dangerous seizures due to his advanced age, though he compels the protagonist to aid Laura, a subject of the (*) X‐23 project. A young mutant is taken to Canada in—for 10 points—what final film starring Hugh Jackman as Wolverine?
answer: Logan
What British scientist, who stated a version of the second law of thermodynamics also named for Max Planck [plahnk], is the namesake of an SI ["S-I"] temperature unit?
answer: Lord Kelvin (or William Thomson or 1st Baron Kelvin; accept Kelvin‐Planck statement)
Which Dutch artist, who depicted birds transitioning into fish in Sky and Water I ["one"], also created an impossible staircase in Ascending and Descending?
answer: M(aurits) C(ornelis) Escher [EH-"sure"]
What former Portuguese colony on the Pearl River Delta west of Hong Kong was returned to China in 1999?
answer: Macau (Special Administrative Region) (or Macao or Aomen (Tebie Xingzhengqu) or (Região Administrativa Especial de) Macau)
This person saved 37 children from a hospital during the 1982 Siege of Beirut [bay-ROOT]. In 1952 this person converted a temple into the Kalighat [KAHL-ee-ghat] Home for the Dying. The first (*) miracle attributed to this woman was the healing of Monica Besraʹs [BEZ-ruh's] abdominal tumor. The Missionaries of Charity were founded by—for 10 points—what Albanian‐born nun who was canonized in September 2016 for her work in Calcutta?
answer: Mother Teresa (or Saint Teresa of Calcutta or Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu)
What man, who said "what an artist dies with me" as he expired at the start of the Year of the Four Emperors, allegedly fiddled in AD 64 as Rome burned?
answer: Nero (Claudius Caesar Augustus Drusus Germanicus)
The red supergiant star Betelgeuse ["beetle-juice"] forms a shoulder of what constellation with a three‐star "belt" that is named after a hunter in Greek mythology?
answer: Orion (accept Orionʹs Belt; prompt on "(The) Hunter" before "hunter")
By what colorful nickname is Manfred von Richthofen, a World War I German ace, better known?
answer: Red Baron (do not accept or prompt on "red" or "baron")
A resident of this town forgets to say "thou shalt not commit adultery" when asked to recite the Ten Commandments. Another resident of this town asks for "more weight" while being crushed to death. The slave (*) Tituba [TIH-chuh-buh] is seen leading a ritual in the woods near this town. Abigail Williams accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft in—for 10 points—what New England town that is the setting of Arthur Millerʹs play The Crucible?
answer: Salem (accept Salem Village or Salem Town; prompt on "Danvers")
What woman delays revealing the fate of a condemned merchant as she tells her husband the story of a vengeful genie in the Thousand and One Nights?
answer: Scheherazade [shuh-"hair"-uh-ZAHD] (or Shahrzahd or Sahrzâd or Seherzada)
What 1929 William Faulkner novel about the decline of the Compson family takes its noisy title from Macbeth?
answer: The Sound and the Fury
What novelist wrote about Onaʹs marriage to the immigrant Jurgis Rudkus [YOOR-gis rud-kiss] in a 1906 exposé of the Chicago meatpacking industry titled The Jungle?
answer: Upton (Beall) Sinclair (Jr.)
This school won the first 64‐team menʹs NCAA ["N-C-double-A"] basketball tournament by beating Georgetown as an 8‐seed. Hall‐of‐Famer Paul Arizin ["AIR"-ih-zin] played for this school, as did Torontoʹs Kyle Lowry. During an April 2016 game, this schoolʹs (*) Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer‐beater to defeat UNC ["U-N-C"]. A 2017 tournament loss to Wisconsin in the second round knocked out—for 10 points—what Big East university that was defending its 2016 championship?
answer: Villanova University (prompt on "Wildcats" or "Nova")
What Russian‐born author of the autobiography Speak, Memory wrote about Humbert Humbertʹs obsession with an adolescent girl in the novel Lolita [loh-LEE-tuh]?
answer: Vladimir (Vladimirovich) Nabokov [nah-BAW-kawf]
What New Deal "administration" run by Harry Hopkins employed millions in construction and fine arts projects during the Great Depression?
answer: WPA or Works Progress Administration or Work Projects Administration
What grammar term taken from the Latin for "to add to" is a part of speech that in English usually precedes and modifies a noun, such as "strong" or "old"?
answer: adjective(s)
When preceded by "abstract," this word means a branch of mathematics concerned with rings, fields, and groups. The adjective form of this word refers to numbers that are the roots of polynomials with integer coefficients and are not transcendental. Every nth‐degree polynomial has n (*) complex roots according to the "fundamental theorem" of—for 10 points—what branch of mathematics concerned with equations and variables?
answer: algebra (accept algebraic; accept abstract algebra or algebraic numbers or fundamental theorem of algebra)
Acetylene [uh-SEH-tuh-leen] is the simplest member of which class of hydrocarbons that have four fewer hydrogen atoms than an analogous alkane?
answer: alkynes [al-KYNE] [Acetylene is also known as ethyne.]
In curling, the center circle of the house is known by this term. The initial segment of a rattlesnakeʹs rattle has this name. In the childrenʹs book Corduroy [KOR-duh-roy], the title teddy bear is not bought because his overalls are missing one of these things. A man with this surname (*) ages backwards in an F. Scott Fitzgerald story about a "curious case." For 10 points—what word follows "belly" in a common name for the navel?
answer: button(s) (accept button rattle or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or belly button(s))
The relationship between antiderivatives and definite integrals is given by the second part of the "fundamental theorem of" which branch of mathematics?
answer: calculus (accept fundamental theorem of calculus)
This disease kills the selfless doctor Walter Fane in W. Somerset Maughamʹs ["SUMMER-set" MAWM'Z] novel The Painted Veil. Gustav von Aschenbach [AH-shen-bahk] realizes that an epidemic of this disease is being kept secret in Thomas Mannʹs ["TOE"-mahss MAHN'Z] novella (*) Death in Venice. Fermina Daza ["fair"-MEE-nah DAH-zuh] marries a doctor committed to eradicating this disease in a South American country. For 10 points—what disease defines a "Time" when "Love" occurs in a novel by Gabriel García Márquez [gah-bree-EL gar-SEE-ah "MAR"-kez]?
answer: cholera [KAH-ler-uh] (accept Love in the Time of Cholera or El amor en los tiempos del cólera)
A jazz performer who primarily played this instrument led a series of big bands known as "Herds." Woody Herman played this instrument that, along with a trumpet and a trombone, forms the traditional "frontline" in a Dixieland band. This instrument plays a low trill followed by a two‐and‐a‐half octave upward (*) glissando to open George Gershwinʹs Rhapsody in Blue. For 10 points—name this woodwind played by Benny Goodman.
answer: clarinets
The main product of Russiaʹs Rosneft and Malaysiaʹs Petronas [puh-TROH-nus] firms is what chief export of Venezuela and the good around which OPEC [oh-peck] formed?
answer: crude oil (or petroleum) [The "petro‐" in "Petronas" comes from petroleum.]
What events, which can be classified on the moment magnitude or Modified Mercalli scales, begin below an epicenter and produce seismic waves?
answer: earthquakes (accept temblors; prompt on "tremors" or "seismic events")
What quantity, whose values on the Pauling scale range from 0.7 for francium ["france"-ee-um] to 4.0 for fluorine, measures an atomʹs attraction for bonding electrons?
answer: electronegativity (accept electronegative; do not accept or prompt on "electropositivity")
For many solids, at high temperatures this quantityʹs value per mole is roughly 3 times the universal gas constant R, according to the Dulong‐Petit [doo-"LONG"-puh-tee] law. For a monatomic [MAH-nuh-TAH-mik] ideal gas, the constant‐volume molar value of this quantity is (*) 3/2 ["three-halves"] times R. This quantity can be measured in units of joules [joolz] per kelvin. For 10 points—name this quantity, which is the energy needed to raise a materialʹs temperature by one degree.
answer: heat capacity (accept molar heat capacity or (molar) specific heat capacity before "10 points"; prompt on "specific heat" before "10 points")
The van der Waals [vahlz] equation is an improvement on what law, derived from the kinetic theory of gases, that is usually written as PV ["P-V"] equals nRT ["N-R-T"]?
answer: ideal gas law (or universal gas law or general gas law or perfect gas law; prompt on "combined gas law" before "n"; prompt on "gas law" before "gases")
"Aphanitic" [AF-uh-NIT-ik] and "phaneritic" [FAN-uh-RIT-ik] are two common textures for this class of solid materials. Examples of these materials made of small fragments are known as tuffs, while large crystals occur in ones known as pegmatites [PEG-muh-"tights"]. These rocks are classed by whether they form (*) underground or aboveground, resulting in types known as "intrusive" and "extrusive," or "plutonic" [ploo-TAH-nik] and "volcanic." For 10 points—name these rocks formed from magma or lava.
answer: igneous rocks [IG-nee-us "rocks"] (accept igneous rocks after "rocks"; prompt on "rock(s)" before "rocks")
What Italian music term means to play notes in a connected manner, the opposite of staccato [stuh-KAH-toh]?
answer: legato [luh-GAH-toh]
What medication is a beta‐lactam ["beta"-LAK-tam] that is used to treat syphilis and "strep throat" and was discovered in a moldy Petri [PEE-tree] dish by Alexander Fleming?
answer: penicillin(s)
What term, which derives from the Greek word for "finger," denoted a large formation of hoplites ["HOP-lights"], or Greek infantrymen who fought with spears?
answer: phalanx [FAY-lanks] (accept phalanxes or phalanges)
Cups, swords, wands, and pentacles are the traditional suits of cards one would find in what type of ostensibly prophetic deck?
answer: tarot deck (or tarot cards)
What phenomenon is said to "dilate" at relativistic speeds and has a namesake "arrow" pointing toward higher entropy in thermodynamics?
answer: time (accept time dilation or timeʹs arrow or arrow of time)
What astronomical phenomenon occurs when an object moves across the face of another, as Venus did with respect to the Sun in 2012?
answer: transit (accept transit of Venus; do not accept or prompt on "occultation" or "syzygy")
This substance is called mevushal [meh-voo-SHAHL] if it has been boiled so it canʹt be used in idol worship. In the Jewish circumcision ritual, this substance is used as an anaesthetic. At the end of Shabbat [shah-BAHT], a candle is dipped in this substance to put it out. At the Passover seder [SAY-dur], participants consume (*) four servings of this substance. On Friday night, Jews bless bread and recite kiddush [KID-ush] over—for 10 points—what alcoholic drink?
answer: wine (accept more specific answers such as red wine or white wine; prompt on "alcohol" or similar answers before "alcoholic")