Expect BARGES from RAFT

Millburn High School is hosting their second Millburn Invitational on February 8th, which will use the RAFT question set, much of which was written by New Jersey's own Dean Ah Now. For many players, this may be their first exposure to pyramidal or mACF questions, and it may be daunting not knowing what's in store. To help make the things simpler, you should expect BARGES from RAFT.

Expect BONUSES from RAFT. Specifically, expect three part bonuses with a dedicated easy, medium and hard part to differentiate between teams of varying skill levels. Every bonus will be focused on a specific theme, but will stay loyal to a single category throughout (ie, no peanut science in a bonus that starts off about president George Washington). Pay close attention to the bonus lead in for important clues about the theme and content of the bonus!

Expect the ARTS from RAFT. Unlike many other sets such as NAQT or modified Jeopardy formats, RAFT places a much more significant emphasis on fine arts, notably on classical music and visual arts (i.e. painting and sculpture). Whether you are a classical musician yourself or an art historian, expect your knowledge on the fine arts to be tested and rewarded at RAFT.

Expect REGULAR difficulty questions from RAFT. "Regular difficulty" is a phrase you might hear a lot when used to describe various quiz bowl sets. Essentially, it means that the overall difficulty of the set falls in line with what you will play most of the time in non novice pyramidal tournaments (the standard benchmarks are NAQT's IS (invitational series) sets), and focuses on material typically taught in high school or other appropriately significant topics.

Expect GRADUATED tossups from RAFT. RAFT is a pyramidal quiz bowl set. One of the biggest hallmarks of pyramidal quiz bowl are their tossups' graduated difficulty, meaning that clues in a tossup question are written and read in order of decreasing difficulty. Basically this means that since everyone hears the harder clues before the easier clues, those who are more knowledgeable about the tossup's subject are rewarded with an earlier uncontested buzz.

Expect EDITING from RAFT. None of the hypothetical benefits of RAFT would mean much if they weren't executed well. Fortunately, RAFT has an experienced team of editors (many of whom are from the northeast!) who ensure quality control. Expect few if any errors in spelling and syntax, factual information or clue placements, and overall a cohesive set of questions with appropriate question topics and well written content.

Expect SOCIAL SCIENCES from RAFT. In addition to an emphasis on the fine arts, RAFT also places a higher emphasis on the social sciences than most other sets from NAQT or modified jeopardy tournaments. Expect to be exposed to more material on people's cultures, religions, and myth systems, as well as other social sciences like the study of anthropology, psychology, and economics.

Finally, expect a good time from RAFT! Everyone working on the set put in lots of time and effort to ensure that RAFT would not only be a good tool for measuring people's skill at the game, but also a tool for giving tournament competitors a good time while doing so. While you play the set at Millburn on February 8th, please appreciate all of the hard work and thought that went into creating a great quiz bowl experience for competitors all around the country!

By Nick Zhang, Teterboro