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for every music nerd who's like "i'm surprised hardly anyone got this question about dababy" there's a math dork who's like "i'm surprised hardly anyone got this question about fundamental calculus concepts" etc. also "why did everyone else get this question wrong that i got right" inevitably comes off as bragging

na (NA), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 15:20 (four years ago) link

on defense, i think 'age of opponent' is probably a more important factor than any particular subject percentage

mookieproof, Wednesday, 26 February 2020 15:21 (four years ago) link

lol, i seem to keep hitting the "most common wrong answer;" would not have thought a third of the missing group would've also gone with cornet!

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 15:24 (four years ago) link

also, i learned something on the "massif" question but holy shit are some of these questions ever posed in the most convoluted way possible

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 15:25 (four years ago) link

i don't worry too much about defense, i mostly focus on which questions seem hard/easy to me, factored through a glance at their strongest/weakest categories.

i went with cornet too. i overthought the "related to" aspect and the most trumpet-adjacent instruments i could think of were bugle and cornet.

na (NA), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 15:29 (four years ago) link

Early in my LL career, I tried to figure out defense by researching my opponent, which is not against the rules (though some people think it should be). These days, I don't have time for that, so I mostly just glance at the info on their profile and occasionally look into their question history to see if their strengths lie more in Games or Sports.

jaymc, Wednesday, 26 February 2020 15:40 (four years ago) link

also, i learned something on the "massif" question but holy shit are some of these questions ever posed in the most convoluted way possible

― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, February 26, 2020 9:25 AM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

This one didn't seem particularly convoluted? I think sometimes he just tries to provide a lot of information, to give players multiple ways to get to the right answer. ("Vinson" triggered "Vinson Massif" for me, so I didn't even read the second sentence.)

jaymc, Wednesday, 26 February 2020 15:45 (four years ago) link

hey now's a good a time to ask as any. so cornet, 32%. does that mean 32% of people wrote that? or 32% of the 74% who got it wrong? either way i also wrote it lol and that's a remarkable mcwa

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 16:05 (four years ago) link

I also answered "cornet"!

For a MCWA, the percentage is of *all* players. In other words, more people answered "cornet" (32%) than "tuba" (26%).

jaymc, Wednesday, 26 February 2020 16:08 (four years ago) link

A MCWA that's more common than the actual correct answer is not totally uncommon; it usually happens a few times a season. AFAIK, the most extreme example is still this question, in which the MCWA had 71% and the correct answer had 11%.

jaymc, Wednesday, 26 February 2020 16:11 (four years ago) link

ok that is straight up a cruel question hahahaha

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 16:15 (four years ago) link

I think this was before MCWAs but I remember this question being very tricky - https://www.learnedleague.com/ll52/questions/md15/md15q2.php

Piven After Midnight (The Yellow Kid), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 16:45 (four years ago) link

I don’t want to do too much research against my opponent but if I have a history of any kind with them and remember to click on the appropriate button I find that useful.

Something Super Stupid Cupid (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 16:46 (four years ago) link

Damn right I put "cornet," cornu is the one 5th declension noun I remember from high-school Latin! I was like "it's a horn, cornu, I GOT this."

I'm also in the "Pavlovian response to Vinson = Massif" crowd.

Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 17:20 (four years ago) link

I'll give mine to you, Leee, since we've actually met IRL!

Thanks! My time in Chicago finally paying off!

Charlotte Brontesaurus (Leee), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 18:51 (four years ago) link

“Age of opponent” is indeed useful info, but never noticed it in the profile.

for every music nerd who's like "i'm surprised hardly anyone got this question about dababy" there's a math dork who's like "i'm surprised hardly anyone got this question about fundamental calculus concepts" etc. also "why did everyone else get this question wrong that i got right" inevitably comes off as bragging

Yeah, does often seem like bragging especially on the LL message board, which is why I don’t say such things there, may say such things here more often where hopefully it might seem less like (humble)bragging.

As far as math goes, one weekend I participated in a 1DS called Pencil and Paper Math, spent a few hours on it, ended up making maybe one silly mistake, misread something else, couldn’t get some complicated calculation to converge, thought I did pretty well but then saw dozens of people coming in with clean sheets. There is just no way to compete with the Joon Pahk’s of the Xword/Trivia World.

Something Super Stupid Cupid (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 19:03 (four years ago) link

i had a clean sheet on a one-day once -- i don't even remember what -- and still finished like 23rd due to subpar moneyball choices

mookieproof, Wednesday, 26 February 2020 19:13 (four years ago) link

i've had a couple of clean sheets on one days! and i had a mini league where i was perfect through 7 or 8 days.

i have a niche.

I...
have...
a...
niche.

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 19:21 (four years ago) link

I've done 12/12 on a 1DS three times: Poetic Women, New Jack Swing, and Mystery Theme 22. But the first one is the only one where I actually finished on top (and it was a tie).

jaymc, Wednesday, 26 February 2020 19:23 (four years ago) link

xp Ha, I always get the regular-season questions about video games wrong.

jaymc, Wednesday, 26 February 2020 19:24 (four years ago) link

the regular season video games questions are usually pretty damn hard!! i think it's because they're written by someone who's like "uhhh i need a video game question" and asks about, like, the most popular free app in the apple store in 2018 or something lol

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 19:47 (four years ago) link

wow, i remembered that pretty precisely

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 19:48 (four years ago) link

i feel like there is/was a way to check what your wrong answer was on questions you blew. is that still hidden somewhere on the site?

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 19:49 (four years ago) link

https://learnedleague.com/thorsten/pastanswers.php

jaymc, Wednesday, 26 February 2020 20:01 (four years ago) link

Yes, that’s always good for the current/past season. Keep meaning to train myself to review it but don’t quite care enough.

Something Super Stupid Cupid (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 20:15 (four years ago) link

best i've done in a one-day was a clean sheet and 6th place overall in "rock 'n roll oddities"
best i've done in a minileage was 11 wins 0 losses, 1st place in my division, and 23rd place in the championship for "rock 'n roll." though i lost one day of the "indie rock" minileague but ended up in 7th place in the championship, so maybe that's better.
i also have a niche

na (NA), Wednesday, 26 February 2020 20:33 (four years ago) link

at least when i get 9-6'd i don't have to worry about my defense

mookieproof, Thursday, 27 February 2020 15:13 (four years ago) link

I got 9-6'd yesterday. :( Could've been a tie, but I second-guessed myself on "tomato" and went with "eggplant."

jaymc, Thursday, 27 February 2020 15:19 (four years ago) link

haha! i went with tomato in a total "there's no way it's right but whatever" kinda guess. haven't they been eating tomatoes in like italy for hundreds of years?

also was stunned to see vaudeville with a higher average defense/lower get rate than lyme. i for sure was guessing when i wrote lyme, but what other than vaudeville could q3 have been?!

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Thursday, 27 February 2020 15:33 (four years ago) link

i guessed "burlesque" :( i was so sure i had gotten it right and then i saw the answer and felt pretty dumb

na (NA), Thursday, 27 February 2020 15:34 (four years ago) link

on the other hand i was sure about lyme disease because it's crazy to me that it's only been around basically in my lifetime

na (NA), Thursday, 27 February 2020 15:35 (four years ago) link

"Vaudeville" was an almost perfect LL question in that once you think of it you say "aha, "ville," that's why they told us it was named after his hometown, I know I'm right" -- (or for that matter "massif," where the strange phrase "mountain MASS demarcated by FISSIONS and FRACTURES" was right there in the question.

Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 27 February 2020 15:39 (four years ago) link

I've noticed that a lot of LL questions are variations on "How did this thing get its name?" (often backwards: "This is the origin story for what thing?") They are satisfying because even if you don't know the answer, you feel like you've learned something. And they can often be puzzled out.

jaymc, Thursday, 27 February 2020 15:43 (four years ago) link

ohhhhhh i didn't even think of burlesque, if i had, that would've fucked me up!

and yes as someone who does a lot of trivia things (badly) and writes his own quiz weekly (not too badly) i am always VVVVV impressed by thorsten's writing. real good questions, multiple points of entry, feels like learning. top tier stuff

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Thursday, 27 February 2020 15:57 (four years ago) link

Also went with burlesque. I was pleased I remembered that Kwanzaa was a recent invention. 6-0! Though I think my reign of terror is about to end.

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 27 February 2020 17:00 (four years ago) link

jaymc, did you send the invite? I don't see it yet. Might have to email me directly at leeeee at gmail.

Charlotte Brontesaurus (Leee), Thursday, 27 February 2020 18:16 (four years ago) link

i don't think the emails are actually sent out until april, although you can enter them now

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Thursday, 27 February 2020 18:21 (four years ago) link

Yeah, I sent you a message via ILX mail, but the message was just to confirm that that was still your email address! I'll go ahead and submit the referral, and then you should receive an official invite "no sooner than April 28." (The next season doesn't start until May 20.)

jaymc, Thursday, 27 February 2020 18:22 (four years ago) link

per the referral page

First rookie invitations sent:April 28, 2020
LL85 registration deadline:May 13, 2020
LL85 Opening Day:May 20, 2020

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Thursday, 27 February 2020 18:25 (four years ago) link

oops xp lol

Campaign to move el0n mu5k thread to ILM (Will M.), Thursday, 27 February 2020 18:25 (four years ago) link

jeez yesterday was TOUGH

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 28 February 2020 17:17 (four years ago) link

Welcome to my world

Something Super Stupid Cupid (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 28 February 2020 17:28 (four years ago) link

1 of 6, only the gimme "lemon" question right... but i tied 1(0)!

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 28 February 2020 17:34 (four years ago) link

IIRC, Thorsten has said that he aims for an average 50% correct rate across all questions on any given day. I'm consistently impressed that he actually achieves it most of the time. Looking at last season, the toughest day had 35% correct and the easiest had 59% correct, working out to 48% for the whole season.

When I have a particularly bad LL day, it makes me feel better to remember that it's actively designed to be difficult.

jaymc, Friday, 28 February 2020 17:35 (four years ago) link

fucking musicals

mookieproof, Friday, 28 February 2020 19:59 (four years ago) link

yeah. and i feel like i knew that one somewhere!

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 28 February 2020 20:07 (four years ago) link

I'm not participating this season, since we had to unexpectedly replace our furnace for more than $5,000, but a friend is fronting my registration for next season.

Bougy! Bougie! Bougé! (Eliza D.), Friday, 28 February 2020 20:09 (four years ago) link

I had never even heard of that musical. Luckily, I have a weirdly high Theatre score, so my opponent assigned me a 0.

jaymc, Friday, 28 February 2020 20:36 (four years ago) link

get morrisp in here stat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFSoSZTPIO4

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 28 February 2020 20:44 (four years ago) link

oh hey, didn't notice this thread

having my usual run of good results and terrible luck = middle of the pack in my A rundle so far, but i've already qualified for the championship next summer, so it's kinda playing out the string. i like the format change to top three qualify in terms of discouraging blatant cheating (somebody i won't name in my rundle got kicked out for having a bad habit of leading the entire season and mysteriously forfeiting MD24/MD25), but it removes a little bit of the drama of the last couple days of the season if you're usually in contention

anybody going to chicago for geek bowl next weekend? i'm not gonna be at the thursday night thing but i'll be at the friday trivia triathlon/j! alum mixer/geek bowl proper

the portentous pepper (govern yourself accordingly), Saturday, 29 February 2020 09:39 (four years ago) link


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