Valencia Fall Tournament

Question Guidelines | Rules | Sample Questions | Registration Form

Competing teams are encouraged to submit a packet of questions, which always results in a discount (details change from year to year, so check this site in early Fall for specifics). Question packets should have 23 toss-ups and bonuses; the extra questions allow the Tournament Director to have substitute questions in case of repeats from other packs.

Questions for this tournament should be longer and more developed than state and regional questions. Toss-ups should progress from difficult information, to more familiar information, to a "gettable" clue in the last line. This "gettable" clue should be preceded by the phrase "for ten points," which can be abbreviated "FTP." This indicates to players that they can buzz in without penalty at the end of that sentence.

Packets should be balanced between the academic (and non-academic) disciplines. Questions should be distributed thusly:

These numbers are a little flexible, but sticking within these ranges will ensure an array of questions that forces teams to be diverse in their scope of knowledge. This breakdown applies to both toss-ups and bonuses.

It is crucial that the first pronoun mentioned in the toss-up refer to the answer. It is also helpful if that pronoun (or identifier) occurs early in the toss-up, allowing players to focus on the piece of information asked for. For example, starting with something like "This novel," "S/he," or "This element," or something similar, will clarify the question for readers. Still, creativity in question writing is good, so try to be different, but don't be misleading.

EXAMPLES OF MISLEADING TOSS-UPS (which should be avoided):

"Alea iacta est." FTP, Julius Caesar said this before crossing what river?
(ambiguous intro. encourages players to buzz in with "Caesar")

His first two novels, each about south sea adventures, sold well in the United States. FTP, what Melville novel about a white whale didn't sell as many copies as Typee and Omoo?
(opening pronoun implies that question is going for a person, the author - tempting players into negging)

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 are the first few terms of the Fibonacci Series. FTP, in what country was Fibonacci born?
(evil - tricks good players, leaving free points for the other team)

Paris is the capital of France, but FTP, who killed Paris in the Trojan War?
(cute, but utterly irrelevant, opening information)

Bonus questions can be structured in many different ways, but should always equal 30 points. To see some good toss-ups and some bonuses in various structures, click here to visit a sample round from our 1999 tournament.