Colvin v. Obstgarten (ACF)
Tom Waters
didn't catch the exact score, something like 140-65. Someone will
probably post a complete rundown later. Although Mr. Colvin took the ACF
match in Round One, as expected, Mr. Obstgarten came back to sweep the
Trash round and the CBI round. I've included the ACF round below; John
Sheahan et al may have commentary to add. Thirteen tossups were
correctly answered (below my prediction of 14-17), so I've included only
the bonuses that were used.
Tom
ACF tossups written for the Colvin-Obstgarten match/Penn Bowl V
1. Legend records that it was three cubits tall. Its right hand, which
was raised, held a spear, while its left hand held a distaff and spindle.
It was equipped with the breastplate known as the aegis. One tradition
holds that this statue was carved out of the shoulder blade of Pelops.
Despite its name, it contained NOT a trace of element number 46. It WAS
stolen by Odysseus and Diomedes and thus ceased to protect the city of
Troy. For 10 points--identify this statue named for an epithet of the
goddess Athena.
Answer: Palladium
2. In the original one, the head was Salisbury. The neck was Amesbury
and Haverhill. The body was Andover, Middleton, and Danvers. The feet
were Salem and Marblehead and the tail was Chelsea. One created in
Louisiana in 1990 was invalidated by the Supreme Court, and currently the
Eleventh District of Georgia is in the fire. For 10 points--name these
legacies of the fifth vice-president of the U.S.
Answer: Gerrymanders
3. A young detective infiltrates a band of anarchists bent on destroying
the world, only to discover that each member, like him, is also a
detective in disguise assigned to the case. Meanwhile, the group's
leader, a man named Sunday, leads them all on a mad chase before
revealing himself to be a Godlike entity who mocks their efforts. If you
know the title of this work by G.K. Chesterton, then you know the code
name for the protagonist. For 10 points--name this work or the day of
the week in the title.
Answer: The Man Who Was Thursday
4. He died of starvation in 1924, while deer-hunting in the Ungava
interior. Two years earlier, he had been an international film star, the
title character in a movie about his life. Scenes from the movie show
him biting into a Gramaphone record, his son swallowing a spoonful of
castor oil, and his entire family climbing out of a kayak. For 10
points--name this subject of a Robert Flaherty documentary, whose name
means "polar bear" in the Inuit language.
Answer: Nanook of the North
5. First Beginnings, Adults' Day, Bean-Throwing Festival, National
Foundation Day, Flower Festival, Children's Day, Feast of Fortune,
Chrysanthemum Day, Respect for the Aged Day, Labor Thanksgiving Day, and
Grand Last Day are eleven of the fourteen national holidays in one
particular country. For 10 points--name this Asian nation which also
honors Buddha's Birthday and the Emperor's Birthday.
Answer: Japan
6. Class Mammalia consists of nineteen separate orders. Eighteen of
these orders have names which end in the letter "a". For 10 points--name
the only order which doesn't end in "a", whose members include the
galago, the potto, the bushbaby, the gibbon, and the orangutan.
Answer: Primate
7. A rising tide of Irish and German immigration in the 1840s inflamed
the fears of many Americans, faced with competition for jobs from
low-wage immigrants. In 1849 a secret society called the Order of the
Star Spangled Banner was formed in NYC to exploit this anti-alien
sentiment. In 1856 they ran Millard Fillmore for president of the U.S.
For 10 points--identify this nativist party, whose name reminds one of
Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes.
Answer: Know-Nothing Party (prompt on American Party)
8. She published poetry under the pseudonym Anne Singleton. But it was
her more scholarly works that interested American officials who were
involved in the post-war occupation of Japan: works such as The
Chrysanthemum and the Sword and Patterns of Culture. FTP--name this
anthropologist and disciple of Franz Boas.
Answer: Ruth Benedict
9. In 1901 the Dominican Republic defaulted on a $32 million debt owed
to European investors. Germany threatened to intervene militarily if
they were not reimbursed. To keep other powers out, the U.S. declared
that "Chronic wrongdoing. may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately
require intervention by some civilized nation." For 10 points--identify
this doctrine, named for the U.S. president, which justified American
imperialism in the Caribbean.
Answer: Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
10. This book was first published in 1923 and the author's opinion was
that "It is perhaps the best English that I have written." The New York
Times, however, ripped into it: "Of all the limp, mucid, hooey now being
sold without prescription, [this book] is the most blatant and
outrageous." The reading public seemed to agree with the Times, and only
1159 copies were sold the first year. But, by 1960, sales had
skyrocketed, enriching the town of Besharri, Lebanon, which received all
royalties. For 10 points--name this most famous book by Kahlil Gibran.
Answer: The Prophet
11. This religion's major shrine is located in the middle of a lake
called "the pool of immortality." Believers follow the Five-K's: long
hair, comb in hair, steel bracelet on right wrist, soldier's shorts, and
a sword. They were the victims of a famous massacre in 1919, but were
the perpetrators of the assassination of Indira Gandhi. For 10
points--name this militant group headquarted in Amritsar, India.
Answer: Sikhs or Sikhism
12. He was born in Dublin in 1854 to an eccentric Irish mother who had
wanted a girl and, in some ways, must have thought she had one; for years
she attired him in dresses. He attended Oxford University and graduated
with honors, but attracted a great deal of attention by lecturing while
carrying flowers in his hands. In 1882 he made a tour of the U.S. and,
upon his arrival at New York City, announced that he had "nothing to
declare but his genius." For 10 points--name this noted wit who lost a
celebrated suit with the Marquess of Queensbury over whether Lord Douglas
was or was not his lover.
Answer: Oscar Wilde
13. He was born in 1876 and from the age of seven worked as a shepherd
on his family's farm. He took up wood carving at the age of nine and
produced such useful objects as spoons, bedposts, and cheese presses. He
even tried to make a violin out of an orange crate. In 1906 August Rodin
offered to take him on as an assistant. He refused, saying "No other
trees can grow in the shadow of an oak." Like Rodin, he also sculpted a
statue titled "The Kiss." But he is best known for a 1940 polished bronze
work with elliptical, slender lines which put into solid form the very
essence of rapid flight. For 10 points--name this Romanian sculptor of
"Bird in Space."
Answer: Constantin Brancusi
14. Its white plumage symbolized the light of the sun; its black neck
the shadow of the moon. Its body was a heart and its legs a triangle.
It was said to drink only the purest of water and to be so fond of Egypt
that it would pine to death if transported elsewhere. Ironically enough,
it is now extinct in Egypt. For 10 points--name this bird sacred to the
god Thoth, whose nearest relative is the spoonbill.
Answer: Sacred Ibis
15. This animal can range in length from a half-inch to eight inches.
It has no nose and breathes through its skin. It can have from one to
four pairs of eyes and has functional reproductive organs of both sexes.
No matter their size, all have 34 body segments. Belonging to the class
Hirudinea, they were the medieval equivalent of "take two and call me in
the morning." For 10 points--identify this Annelid worm whose name has
been applied to the doctors who no longer use them.
Answer: Leeches
16. The father spent a lifetime trying to prove Euclid's fifth
postulate and warned his mathematician son not to waste time on the
"problem of parallels." The son ignored the advice and proceeded to
disprove the general validity of Euclid's fifth, and thus founded
non-Euclidean geometry. For 10 points--give the last name of this family
of Hungarian mathematicians.
Answer: Bolyai (Farkas and Janos)
17. It was written chiefly in New York City, at 827 East Seventeenth
Street, but was completed in the small town of Spillville, Iowa. It was
commissioned by Jeanette Thurber, who had helped found the National
Conservatory of Music. Scholars still dispute whether it contains
"Indian" themes, but one can hear "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" performed by
a flute in the first movement. For 10 points--give the common name for
this Symphony No. 9 in E Minor by Antonin Dvorak.
Answer: From the New World
18. Hung Hsiu-Chwan repeatedly failed the national civil service exam
and became so frustrated that he suffered a nervous breakdown in 1837.
In 1843 he discovered a Christian pamphlet and realized that he was Jesus
Christ's younger brother. He and his followers proceeded to war on the
rulers of China and captured hundreds of cities before Hung committed
suicide in 1864. For 10 points--by what name was this rebellion, which
killed millions, known?
Answer: Tai P'ing Rebellion
19. If the LEAST reactive chemical element met the MOST reactive
element, a chemical reaction would NOT occur and you would still be left
with two elements. For 10 points--name both of these, whose atomic
numbers add up to eleven.
Answer: Helium and Fluorine
20. It is the unit of measurement in physics used to designate the
neutron absorption cross section of a substance, and at ten to the minus
twenty-four centimenters, must be very difficult to hit, despite being
named for something very easy to hit. For 10 points--name this unit
vital to nuclear fission, which sharp-eyed physicists regularly hit the
broad side of.
Answer: Barn
Bonuses
1. John Hersey wrote a novel about the city of Hiroshima. Identify
these other geographic sites where massacres took place that found
themselves in the titles of literary works.
a. For 5: The site in South Dakota where an 1890 massacre took place,
that figures in the title of a Dee Brown work.
Answer: Wounded Knee, Bury My Heart at
b. For 10: The Ukrainian ravine where Nazis killed 96,000 Jews during
the German occupation, used as the title of a 1962 poem by Yevtushenko.
Answer: Babi Yar
c. For 15: The site of a heroic Armenian struggle against the Turks,
which figures in the title of a novel by Franz Werfel.
Answer: Musa Dagh, The Forty Days of
2. Shakespeare was not the first, but was surely the most famous, to
treat the legend of Romeo and Juliet. The story has been repeatedly put
into music, also. For 5 points each--identify the composers of the
following.
a. Romeo and Juliet, an Overture Fantasy, 1870 Answer: Tchaikovsky
b. Romeo and Juliet Symphony, 1839 Answer: Berlioz
c. A Village Romeo and Juliet, 1901 Answer: Delius
d. the ballet Romeo and Juliet, 1936 Answer: Prokofiev
e. the opera Romeo and Juliet, 1867 Answer: Gounod
3. It was discovered by American land speculator and explorer Dr. Thomas
Walker in 1750.
1. For 10 points--name this important transportation route in early
American history.
Answer: Cumberland Gap
2. For 5 points each--name the three states which meet at the Cumberland
Gap.
Answer: Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee
4. John 3:16 shows up at most sporting events these days. For 10 points
each--identify the historical figures associated with these other famous
Bible verses.
a. Who was healed after a fall from a horse in 1866, after reading
Matthew, 9:1-8?
Answer: Mary Baker Eddy
b. Who decided that salvation could be gained by faith alone after
reading Romans 1:17 sometime before October 31, 1517?
Answer: Martin Luther
c. Which explorer was convinced that Isaiah 11:10-12 prophesied the
discovery of the New World?
Answer: Christopher Columbus
5. Illinois has seen the birth of many influential Americans who are,
nevertheless, associated with other states in people's minds. For 10
points each--identify the following native Illinoisans.
1. Born at Troy Grove, Illinois in 1837, he later became U.S. Marshal at
Ft. Riley, Kansas and inspired many dime novels, before his death in 1876
forever linked him with South Dakota.
Answer: James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok
2. Born in Salem, Illinois in 1860, he died in Tennessee in 1925, but is
forever linked with the state of Nebraska, which he served in the U.S.
House from 1891-95.
Answer: William Jennings Bryan
3. Born near Fairfield, Illinois in 1865, he helped prosecute Big Bill
Haywood for murder, before becoming an Idaho senator from 1907-40.
Answer: William Borah
6. The 16th century was a boom time for executions in Merry Old England.
For 5 points each--given a year and their final words, name the person
on the chopping block.
a. "Pluck up thy spirit, man, and be not afraid to do thy office. My
neck is very short; take heed therefore thou strike not awry." 1535
Answer: Sir Thomas More
b. "O God have pity on my soul. O God have pity on my soul. O God."
1536
Answer: Anne Boleyn
c. "I die a Queen, but I would rather die the wife of Culpepper. God
have mercy on my soul. Good People, I beg you pray for me." 1542
Answer: Catherine Howard
d. "I die in peace with all people. God save the Queen." 1554
Answer: Lany Jane Grey
e. "In te, Domine, confido spiritum meum. Sweet Jesus." 1587
Answer: Mary, Queen of Scots
7. The greatest mass extinction of animal life came at the end of the
Permian Age. How well do you know more recent extinctions? For 5 points
each, supply the century in which the following animals were finally
wiped out.
a. Dodo bird Answer: 17th (1681)
b. Steller's sea cow Answer: 18th (1768)
c. Moa of New Zealand Answer: 17th (1670)
d. Great Auk Answer: 19th (1844)
e. Passenger Pigeon Answer: 20th (1914)
f. Heath Hen Answer: 20th (1932)
8. ACF questions can be baffling to many CBI-type players and vice
versa. For 5 points each, and a 5 points bonus for all, answer the
following baffling questions.
a. What namem was given to the German electrical coding machine which
was duplicated by Polish intelligence and provided to Britain and France
in 1939?
Answer: Enigma
b. Which composer wrote the Enigma Variations?
Answer: Edward Elgar
c. What Greek-Italian artist painted the Enigma paintings?
Answer: Giorgio de Chirico
d. What did Winston Churchill describe as "an enigma wrapped in a riddle
surrounded by a mystery"?
Answer: Soviet Foreign Policy (accept equivalents)
9. George Bernard Shaw wrote the play Arms and the Man. For the stated
number of points, identify the authors of these similarly named works.
a. For 5: Of Mice and Men, 1937 Answer: John Steinbeck
b. For 10: Of Mules and Men, 1935 Answer: Zora Neal Hurston
c. For 15: Of Molecules and Men, 1966 Answer: Francis Crick
10. Even ACF guidelines allow one so-called "trash" question per round.
For 5 points each--identify these classic comic strips from the
descriptions given.
a. The first comic strip, by Richard Outcault, who also created Buster
Brown.
Answer: The Yellow Kid, 1896
b. The first true comic strip, by Rudolf Dirks, it was verboten during
World War I.
Answer: The Katzenjammer Kids, 1897
c. One of the most durable strips, by Bud Fisher, since 1907 it has
featured the exploits of a mismatched duo.
Answer: Mutt and Jeff
d. The satiric comic strip that John Steinbeck recommended for the Nobel
Prize.
Answer: L'il Abner
e. The whimsical fantasy of the absurd that celebrated the unrequited
love of its title character for Ignatz the Mouse, by George Herriman.
Answer: Krazy Kat
11. Hector Berlioz was a titan of 19th century Romanticism. But that
didn't stop him from borrowing ideas wherever he could find them. For 5
points each, which authors inspired Berlioz to write the following?
a. Waverly and Rob Roy Overtures Answer: Sir Walter Scott
b. Beatrice and Benedict opera Answer: William Shakespeare
c. Les troyens Answer: Vergil
d. The Damnation of Faust Answer: Wolfgang Goethe
e. The Corsair Answer: Lord Byron
12. How well do you know relative dating techniques, and we're not
talking incest here? For 10 points each--identify these methods than an
archeologist might employ.
a. As H2O passes over fossilized bones in the ground, the bones absorb a
particular chemical element from the soil. This type of dating is named
for the element absorbed.
Answer: Fluorine Dating
b. Based on the law of superposition, this method is exemplified in the
marker beds that run across Europe and Africa.
Answer: Stratigraphy or Stratigraphic Dating
c. This method is used to date rocks younger than four million years by
counting the reversals of polarity undergone by the rocks.
Answer: Paleomagnetic Dating
13. Sir Mix A Lot climbed to the top of the charts in 1993 with "Baby
Got Back." Identify these somewhat earlier artists who may have inspired
Sir Mix A Lot.
a. For 5: This Flemish painter offerred oodles of flesh in such
canvases as Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus.
Answer: Peter Paul Rubens
b. For 10: This French artist proved, in his painting, Liberty Leading
the People, that "Baby Got Front," also.
Answer: Eugene Delacroix
c. For 15: This French-born American sculptor, who died in 1935, is
known for his massively proportioned female nudes, such as Standing Woman.
Answer: Gaston Lachaise