Chicago Open 2008: The End Comes…Beyond the Omega Point
Packet by Eric Mukherjee is Haraam
(Trevor Davis, Charlie Dees, Shantanu Jha, and Trygve Meade)
Tossups
After this organization’s dissolution, one of its former leaders lost a reelection bid to John Young and refused the
vice presidential nomination. Some of this group’s later members included John Adams Dix and Benjamin Knower
in addition to its founding leaders Silas Wright and Azariah Flagg. Sometimes dubbed the “Holy Alliance,” its
foremost leader was the Secretary of State who handled the Black Warrior Affair and gave the order that led to the
Ostend Manifesto – that man, who coined the term “spoils system” to refer to this organization, was William Marcy.
It was opposed by Thurlow Weed and William Seward, who would succeed in ending its power in 1838. During the
elections of 1848, the issue of slavery led its members to split into the Barnburner and Hunker factions. FTP, name
this political group led by Martin Van Buren that controlled early 19th century politics in New York.
ANSWER: Albany Regency
This poem has been translated at various times by Brian Stone, Margaret Williams, and Marie Borroff. The second
section of this poem recounts the “splendor of those bright hills there,” of “the water deep”, and “those downland
sides.” The last stanza begs for guidance in pity of the title object, “which ran to God.” One stanza of this poem
recounts a story of a man who “sold all his goods and cloths akin” to buy a title object “without a spot”. That object
in this poem is “shadowed with plants both bright and clean” after it “rolled into the ground” in August. In the first
stanza, the object “delights a prince’s day, flawlessly set in gold so fair”. FTP, identify this poem, whose name is
given to an anonymous poet who also wrote Gawain and the Green Knight.
ANSWER: “Pearl”
Alberto Moravia claimed that this film’s protagonist was the Leopold Bloom of his nation. The main character has
liver trouble, and in one scene he and his friends go near the ocean to watch the prostitute Saraghina dance before he
is punished by the priests in his school. Both the protagonist’s mistress, played by Sandra Milo, and his wife are in
the spa town where he is staying, and he has plans to film a sci-fi epic. In one scene, the protagonist imagines a
harem of all the women he has desired, and it opens with a scene where Guido Anselmi asphyxiates in a car, and is
then hanging in the sky on a rope. FTP, name this Federico Fellini film, named after the number of films he had
made before.
ANSWER: 8 1/2 [“Eight and a half” or “Otto e mezzo”]
The Salem-Tang-Karplus approximation is used to obtain a value for a coefficient associated with this interaction.
The Becke-Lee-Yang-Parr exchange-correlation functionals fail to describe this phenomenon fully, and this
interaction is the focus of the Unsöld approximation. Also described by the Barker-Fisher-Watts and Axilrod-Teller
potentials, the Tabor-Winterton approximation is used to determine the Hamaker constants that scale with the term
for this force. A multi-pole Taylor expansion of the Coulomb potential was used to describe it by its namesake, and
they are exhibited because of probabilistic movement of energy density and induced dipoles in nonpolar molecules.
FTP, name this weak intermolecular force, generally considered one component of van der Waals forces.
ANSWER: London dispersion forces [prompt on "Van der Waals" forces until read]
According to Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, this man evangelized in Khorasan, and when his leader was threatened
with stoning if he returned to Judea, this man said “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” He is called Judas the
twin by the Syrians, and his relics were supposedly enshrined in Ortona, Italy. One apocryphal story claims he was
in charge of building the Parthian King Gondophernes’s palace, and his martyrdom came from the king of Mylapore
in Madras. This carpenter’s most famous experience led him to become the first disciple to openly recognize Jesus’s
divinity, after he touched Christ’s wounds. FTP, name this disciple, who is famous for doubting that Jesus really was
resurrected.
ANSWER: Saint Thomas
An article on what this man “can explain” was written by Robert Jervis. His recent work includes some “Reflections
on Imre Lakatos” on “Assaying Theories” His second book discussed the “American and British Experience” and
was entitled Foreign Policy and Democratic Politics. He co-authored with Robert Art a book on the use of force,
and has won recognition for his article “Nuclear Mythos and Political Reality.,” while a similar work co-authored
with Scott Sagan is entitled The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed. A major work of his categorizes
its subject into three “images,” based on the genesis of political action in individuals, states, or systems, while
another work introduces the idea of “bandwagoning.” FTP, name this author of Man, the State, and War and Theory
of International Politics, an International Relations theorist known for founding neo-realism.
ANSWER: Kenneth Waltz
A part of this novel is made up of its author’s rejected short story “Bibi.” One episode shows a friend of Dr. Keene
secretly treat a patient who has stabbed a wealthy landowner, and the apothecary’s assistant Raoul Innerarity is left
in charge of the shop and wishes to place his painting in the window. The landowner had collected the entire estate
of the de Grapions through exploitation of gambling debts, and Joseph Frowenfeld attempts to make his living as a
druggist. One character makes another unable to sleep through witchcraft and must escape to France, while another
has his ears cut off and his tendons slashed, and is an ex-African prince. Those characters, Palmyre and Bras Coupé,
are peripheral to the central family, which includes Agricola, Honoré, and his “dark” half-brother who commits
suicide. FTP, name this important regionalist work, a novel by George Washington Cable.
ANSWER: The Grandissimes
A vassal of this kingdom, Raymond-Roger de Trencavel, died when one of its rulers failed to protect Carcassonne;
that ruler was later killed at the Battle of Muret. Another of its rulers signed the Treaty of Corbeil with Louis IX. In
1238, that man, James the Conqueror, captured Valencia from the Almohads. Another ruler of this kingdom took
advantage of unrest fermented by Giovanni da Procida to overthrow Charles of Anjou in the wake of the Sicilian
Vespers. A queen of this kingdom, Yolande, married Louis II of Anjou while the aforementioned ruler was Peter III.
It later gained full control of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. FTP, name this kingdom of Spain, which was united
by Ferdinand II with its longtime partner Castile.
ANSWER: Aragon
This natural formation is home to the Arjin Shan Nature Reserve, and the dried Lop Nor Lake was the site of nuclear
testing here, which is also home to significant yardang salt ridges. Its north is dominated by steppes with saxaul and
salt-tolerant shrubs, and that same environment can be found around the Tarim river. It is located in the Tarim basin,
and part of its south is bounded by the Kunlun Mountain range. To its north is the Kakshaal range, part of the Tien
Shan. Home to its country’s only population of wild Bactrian camels, it has almost no vegetation, as it is the world’s
largest shifting-sand desert. FTP, name this desert passed through on the Silk Road, found in the Uygur Autonomous
region of Xinjiang, the largest desert in China.
ANSWER: Taklimakan Desert or Taklimakan Shamo or T’a-k’o-la-ma-kan Sha-mo (accept Tarim basin until
"Tarim" is said)
CRISPR systems might be prokaryotic analogues to this mechanism, which was recently used to successfully treat
many wet macular degeneration patients. The efficiency of this process can be decreased by disrupting GW or P
bodies, and it involves the creation of a complex consisting of the enzyme Drosha and the protein Pasha. In this
process, the conserved basic surface pocket in crystallized Piwi domains provides a binding site for the guide strand
in the argonaute protein. That binding to the RISC occurs after hairpins or double stranded nucleotides are cloven
into short sequences by the enzyme dicer. FTP, name this mechanism elucidated by Mello and Fire in which
siRNAs bind to their matching mRNA sequences, thus preventing specific gene expression.
ANSWER: RNA interference [accept siRNA until it's read – close enough real knowledge...]
In a collaboration with Shawnna, he sings about how he has a fantasy to have sex in a car in “Backseat Action,” and
he first got attention from Akon by reworking the single “Lock’d Up” in a song entitled “Fucked Up.” He begins
one single pretending to be a DJ on Nappy Boy Radio, before his collaborator sings about how he got paper, girl and
is parking lot pimpin. He sings about how he’s living better then when he thought he was gonna go crazy, but now
his grandma-ma ain’t the only one callin him baby, in the Kanye West song “The Good Life,” and sings about how
“shawty had dem apple bottom jeans, the boots with the fur” before she turns around and he gives that big booty a
slap. FTP, name this “Rappa Ternt Sanga” who has been a featured artist in songs like Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss,”
and Flo Rida’s “Low,” who also sang “I’m In Love Wit a Stripper” and “Buy U A Drank.”
ANSWER: T-Pain or Faheem Najm [accept Teddy Pain or Teddy Penderazdoun or Teddy Verseti]
The narrator of this novel has a significant change of heart after watching a staging of Othello, which makes him
decide that he should not kill himself with poisoned coffee. Although he would prefer to give his son leprosy, he
instead finanaces his trip to Jerusalem, after refusing to visit his wife in Europe. After his best friend dies in the
ocean, the narrator becomes convinced that his wife was adulterous. That narrator has a son named Ezekiel, who is
named after his best friend, who is married to Sancha, and is named Escobar. The title character decides to pursue
law instead of the seminary, and marries Capitú. FTP, identify this novel which is titled after a pseudonym of Bento
Santiago, a novel written by Joaqim Machado de Assis.
ANSWER: Dom Casmurro
This battle was preceded by a letter from Robert Orme to its winning commander, giving him the green light to take
necessary action. The losing side failed to cover guns during a heavy rainfall, rendering them useless and allowing
Major Kilpatrick to take the elevated water ponds from which French-commanded artillery were firing. The winning
commander enlisted the help of an Armenian merchant and William Watts, a chief at a nearby factory. An early
turning point came when a cannonball killed artillery commander Mir Madan, prior to the defection of Mir Jafar.
Three thousand British troops defeated 50,000 in the force of Siraj-ud-dauluh in this engagement, which followed
the Black Hole of Calcutta. FTP, name this victory for the British East India Company, led by Robert Clive.
ANSWER: Battle of Plassey (or Palashi or Plessey)
Mario Castelnuova-Tedesco wrote Opus 99 Guitar Concerto in this note’s major key. Despite its name, the “Domine
Deus” movement of Mozart’s “Great Mass” is actually in this minor key, which Mozart also used for the opening
chord of the overture to Don Giovanni and as the main key for his 20th piano concerto. This note is the subdominant
of A, and in C major, the dorian mode would begin on this note. The violin concerto of Brahms is in the major key
named for this note, as is Beethoven’s violin concerto. The relative minor key for this note’s major scale is B, and
Beethoven’s 9th symphony is in this note’s minor key. FTP, name this note of the standard musical scale, which is a
perfect fourth above A and is next to C.
ANSWER: D
Certain quasi-periodic oscillations are not destroyed by small perturbations according to a theorem named for
Arnold, Moser, and this man. One of his early mathematical successes was the construction of a function with a
Fourier series that diverges almost everywhere. The smallest scales for turbulent flows are named for him, but he is
better known for his work on stochastic processes and Markov chains, the transition densities of which are governed
by an equation named for him and Chapman. The namesake of a goodness-of-fit test along with Smirnov, this is, for
ten points, which Soviet mathematician, also the namesake of a type of complexity and some axioms in probability
theory?
ANSWER: Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov
In the first part of this piece, a man suffering from gout shows a chart detailing his descent from William the
Conqueror. In another part, a sword is on the ground after a man dies in a duel, and in the background is an image of
a prostitute holding a squirrel. Its creator was assisted by Louis Scotin and Bernard Baron, and the fourth picture
shows a fat castrato singing while a black servant playing with a statue hints that the character has been cuckolded.
At the end, the countess kills herself, and her jewelry is taken to be sold by a merchant. The second plate depicts a
dog grabbing a woman’s hat out of Squanderfield’s pocket, as his new wife stretches. FTP, identify this series of
cautionary engravings satirizing arranged weddings, created by William Hogarth.
ANSWER: Marriage a la Mode
One character in this novel is spotted in an office during a meeting about the Eubaw Mine, while another is said to
always go to bed after an hour of whist with his daughter. Indiana Frusk, the freckled daughter of a plumber, is an
early playmate of the protagonist, who is disgusted at the end of this work by the sight of Jim Driscoll. Earlier, she
tries to sell tapestries, and meets someone she had known back in Apex City. One character is jealous of Peter Van
Degen, and his wife is forced to agree to a meeting in Central Park where she compromises his business dealings.
After hearing that his wife had once been married to Elmer Moffatt, one character commits suicide. That man was
once in love with his cousin Claire, is named Ralph Marvell, and is the protagonist’s first husband. FTP, identify this
novel about Undine Spragg, a beloved work written by Edith Wharton.
ANSWER: The Custom of the Country
During this ruler’s minority, power was controlled by a man who supposedly personally killed the rebel Zhang
Xianzhong, who declared the Daxi Dynasty before leading a massacre of Sichuan. This man came into power at the
age of fourteen when he had that uncle thrown into jail, thus ending the Oboi Regency. He fixed his northern border
at the Argun River by the Treaty of Nerchinsk and defeated the Zheng family to take control of Taiwan. Earlier, he
put down a revolt which sought to proclaim a new Zhou Dynasty, the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories, led by Wu
Sangui, who had earlier helped this man’s father come to power at Shanhai Pass by allowing him through the Great
Wall. The successor to the Shunzhi emperor, FTP, name this man who ruled for a record 61 years from 1661 to 1722
as the second official emperor of the Ching Dynasty.
ANSWER: The Kangxi Emperor or Qing Shengzu or Aixin-Jueluo Xuanye
A 2007 study by Iwaniec and Baghossian suggested that treating mice with this protein corrected skeletal
abnormalities, and it was found to be upregulated in fetal lung fibroblasts by parathyroid hormone related protein. It
stimulates synthesis of UCP and activates cells expressing melanocyte stimulating hormone, but it down regulates
the endo-cannabinoids. It may play a role in fertility, and it binds in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus,
where it inhibits cells containing agouti-related protein and neuropeptide Y. Counteracted by ghrelin, it is produced
by the OB gene in adipocytes, or fat cells, and may be insufficient in some very obese people. FTP, name this
hormone that signals satiety, or fullness.
ANSWER: leptin
This figure killed Chalcodon, the leader of the Euboeans, but was himself killed in battle during the Minyan War. In
order to gain support of the king of Thebes, he attempted to get rid of an uncatchable vixen plaguing his city – thus,
he gave great treasure to Cephalus in order to borrow his hound Laelaps, but Zeus spoiled the fun by turning both
the vixen and Laelaps to stone. This man was absolved by the Theban king Creon, his maternal uncle, after he had
accidentally killed his other uncle Electryon. He defeated King Pterelaus, who had his immortal golden hair cut off
by his daughter Comaetho. That victory allowed this man to marry his eventual wife, who wanted the death of her
brothers avenged. This son of Alcaeus would later see that wife of his seduced by Zeus, who took this man’s guise
and extended the length of the night to bed her. FTP, name this husband of Alcmena and father of Hercules.
ANSWER: Amphitryon
Extra Tossups
This book contains an entertaining anecdote about an Arab peddling Holy Earth imported from Jerusalem in the
Battery. It notes that “Germans learn English as a matter of duty, Poles as an investment, and the Italians slowly, if
at all.” In a chapter devoted to the Chinese, the subject of an interview relates amazement that the author does not
beat his wife, and the epilogue to the book cites statistics and advocates legislative change. This book contains a
proposed map of colors dividing a city into its various ethnicities, and notes that the “law defines its subject as
“occupied by three or more families, living independently and doing their cooking on the premises.” FTP, identify
this important early sociological work about immigrants and tenements in New York, a work by Jacob Riis.
ANSWER: How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements in New York
This man started a tradition of rulers washing their spears in the sea, and a contemporary depiction of this man’s
grandson shows him wearing a horned helmet, a symbol of divinity, while defeating the Lullubi. He defeated Luhishan of Awan, who later rebelled during the rule of this man’s son Rimush in order to gain the independence of
Elam. He appointed his daughter Enheduanna high priestess, and his empire reached its greatest expanse under his
grandson Naram-sin. This man came to power by overthrowing Ur-Zababa, and early in his reign he defeated and
captured Lugalzagesi before dismantling the walls of Uruk. FTP, name this ruler who spread the worship of Inanna
and became the first to unite Northern and Southern Mesopotamia after building his capitol at Akkad.
ANSWER: Sargon the Great (or Sargon of Akkad)
Bonuses
His collection Our Ancestors includes the novellas The Baron in the Trees, The Cloven Viscount, and The NonExistent Night. FTPE:
[10] Identify this novelist, who asked Why Read the Classics? and may be better known for works like Invisible
Cities.
ANSWER: Italo Calvino
[10] In this novel by Calvino, the orphan Pim pimps out his sister and gets drawn into the Resistance, where he
meets his comrade Cousin.
ANSWER: The Path to the Nest of Spiders
[10] This short story collection is the prequel to T-Zero. The first story, The distance to the moon, posits that people
used to jump onto the moon when it was closer, and all but two stories are narrated by Qfwfq [pronounced “Good
fucking luck” – so you can just say the letters].
ANSWER: Cosmicomics
Early in life he created surinomo, such as greeting cards. FTPE:
[10] Name this painter, who is more famous for a painting showing 3 fishing boats, The Great Wave of Kanagawa,
part of his 36 Views Of Mt. Fuji.
ANSWER: Hokusai Katsushika, Shunro, Sori, Kako, Taito, Gakyojin, Iitsu, or Manji
[10] Hokusai’s works in the 36 view of Mt. Fuji were highlights of this Japanese genre of art. They were often silk
screen or wood block paintings, and initially focused on courtesans and kabuki actors.
ANSWER: ukiyo-e or pictures of the floating world
[10] The transition from one to two-color ukiyo-e prints was made by this founder of habahiro hashira-e who
painted The Sound of the Kobo.
ANSWER: Genpachi or Masanobu Okumura or Shinmyo Okumura
Name these places and things in France, FTPE.
[10] This plateau in the middle of France has its highest points at Soncy Hill and the Plomb de Cantal. It is bordered
by the Aquitaine lowlands, Languedoc, and the Rhone river valley.
ANSWER: Massif Central
[10] This river’s major tributary is the Allier, and it rises in the southern Massif Central. It is home to lots of
chateaus and is France’s longest river.
ANSWER: Loire
[10] This harbor is found on the right bank of the Loire estuary in the Atlantic, and became a harbor for ships that
couldn’t make it up the river to Nantes. It was home to big shipbuilding docks in World War II before the British
blew them up.
ANSWER: Saint-Nazaire
The vicinal type can be produced by oxidizing alkenes with osmium tetroxide. FTPE:
[10] Name these compounds, which can be created through the Sharpless method very much like asymmetric ethers,
and are characterized by the presence of two hydroxyl groups.
ANSWER: Diols [or glycols]
[10] This word describes diols that have two hydroxyl groups bonded to the same atom, which dehydrate easily.
ANSWER: Geminal
[10] 1,3-diols can be formed in this reaction named for its Dutch developer, in which an aldehyde or ketone adds to
an alkene or alkyne, with subsequent nucleophilic attack. When water is the nucleophile, a diol is formed, while
using acetic acid would instead form an ester.
ANSWER: Prins reaction
It begins “The memory of you emerges from the night around me./The river mingles its stubborn lament with the
sea.” FTPE:
[10] Identify this poem, the last in its collection, which recounts its narrator’s sadness at losing his lover.
ANSWER: “A Song of Despair”
[10] Identify the author of “A Song of Despair”, who partnered it with Twenty Love Songs in a collection. He’s also
known for his Elemental Odes.
ANSWER: Pablo Neruda
[10] Pablo Neruda also wrote this collection, which contains many Whitman-esque catalogues of feelings. Notable
poems contained in this collection are “Dead Gallop”, “Ordinance on a Vine”, “Apogee of Celery”, and “Entrance to
a Wood”.
ANSWER: Residence on Earth
The losing side in this battle was enticed to march on the enemy camp before being trapped against the titular
geographic feature by forces hidden in the fog-covered hills on their flank. FTPE:
[10] Name this battle, in which the forces of the new consul Gaius Flaminius were completely annihilated.
ANSWER: Lake Trasemine (accept Lake Trasemino)
[10] The Battle of Lake Trasemine followed Trebia as a major early defeat of the Romans in this war, which began
with the Siege of Saguntum.
ANSWER: Second Punic War
[10] Following the defeat at Lake Trasemine, the senate appointed this man as dictator. His cautionary policies were
originally unpopular, but after the defeat of his successors at Cannae, his epithet of Cunctator, or the delayer,
became honorific.
ANSWER: Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus (prompt Fabius)
In its aftermath, George Jeffreys killed a bunch of people by way of the Bloody Assizes. FTPE:
[10] Name this revolt against the rule of James II, led by a bastard son of Charles II.
ANSWER: Monmouth Rebellion or Pitchfork Rebellion
[10] Monmouth was defeated at this battle, which is often referred to as the last battle on English soil, when a
nighttime surprise attack was ruined by an accidental pistol shot.
ANSWER: Battle of Sedgemoor
[10] This man commanded the king's infantry at Sedgemoor, though he would go on to be instrumental in the
success of the Glorious Revolution. More notably, he was the victor at Blenheim and Ramillies in the War of the
Spanish Succession.
ANSWER: John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough (accept either)
Identify these works of literature related in the best possible way, loosely, F10PE:
[10] This Samuel Beckett poem is exactly 100 lines, concerning Rene Descartes’ feelings about eggs that he’s
served at a restaurant.
ANSWER: Whoroscope
[10] Leo Dugovka is a friend of David Schearl in Call It Sleep, a novel by this Jewish-American author of Mercy of
a Rude Stream.
ANSWER: Henry Roth
[10] The Countess Gemini is a character in a novel by this author, who also wrote Watch and Ward and The Death
of a Lion.
ANSWER: Henry James
He discussed morality and proper household management in his Della famiglia, and he also wrote the comedies
Philodoxeos and Momus. FTPE:
[10] Name this stereotypical Renaissance man, who wrote "On Painting" and his most famous work from a desire to
restore the work of Vetruvius.
ANSWER: Leon Battista Alberti
[10] Alberti also wrote this work published by Cosimo Bartoli, which outlines materials to use in its first two parts.
It then discusses building sacred buildings, ornamentation, and proportions, before concluding with a book about
restoration, minor adjuncts, and water supply.
ANSWER: Ten Books on Architecture or De re aedificatori
[10] Alberti designed this church, which was funded by the family of Francesca da Rimini’s lover and is the burial
site of Sigismondo Pandolfo. Agostino di Duccio and Bernardo Ciuffani created the interior sculpting, and there's a
fresco of Sigismundo praying to St. Sigismund.
ANSWER: Tempio Malatestiano or Malatesta chapel
Name these Neoplatonists, FTPE.
[10] This guy wrote a letter to his wife Marcella and a plea for vegetarianism called On Abstinence, but he’s better
known for systematizing the thought of his teacher Plotinus in the Enneads.
ANSWER: Porphyry
[10] Born in Byzantine Lycia, this last major Greek philosopher moved to Athens in 430 CE to study under Plutarch
of Athens and Syrianus. A life of him was written by his student Marinus of Samaria, and his most important works
were Elements of Theology and Platonic Theology.
ANSWER: Proclus
[10] This Italian humanist philosopher of the Renaissance revived Neoplatonism with works like his Three Books on
Life and his eighteen-book piece The Platonic Theology or The Immortality of Souls.
ANSWER: Marsilio Ficino
It predicts the angular distribution for x-rays and gamma rays incident upon a single electron. FTPE:
[10] Name this formula which gives a differential cross section with respect to the solid angle of scattering, while
accounting for relativistic effects.
ANSWER: Klein-Nishina formula
[10] The Klein-Nishina formula is used to describe this phenomenon, the increase in wavelength of an x-ray or
gamma ray when incident on matter.
ANSWER: Compton scattering
[10] Inverse Compton scattering is observed when photons from the CMB move through hot gas and are scattered to
higher energies, a phenomenon known as this effect.
ANSWER: Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect
Known to all the right people for his classic essay “Concerning Specific Forms of Masturbation,” this psychoanalyst
went nuts later in life and posited that a certain form of energy could cure cancer. FTPE:
[10] Identify this Austrian author of Character Analysis, who got into trouble with the government after making
fraudulent claims that his boxes could, indeed, cure cancer.
ANSWER: Wilhelm Reich
[10] Those boxes were named after this energy proposed by Reich; he believed that it energized the nervous system
and decided the healthiness of individuals, and that it was generated by sexual release.
ANSWER: Orgone energy
[10] Sigmund Freud, another psychologist who spent lots of time thinking about orgasms, believed that in females,
the orgasm transferred from the clitoris to the vagina in this last stage of psychosexual development.
ANSWER: the genital stage
This conflict was preceded by the immigration of hundreds of thousands of peasants from one of the involved
nations to the other, which caused concern among wealthy landowners, especially the United Fruit Company. FTPE:
[10] Name this very brief conflict that broke out in 1969 between Honduras and El Salvador.
ANSWER: Soccer War or Football War or 100-Hours War
[10] Honduras was aided in the conflict with supplies from this neighboring dictator, nicknamed “Tachito.” He was
assassinated in Paraguay in 1980, a year after being deposed and forced into exile.
ANSWER: Anastasio Somoza Debayle
[10] The Soccer War put a halt to this United States-sponsored trade organization until it was reinstated in 1981. It
remains the main trade block of Central America today.
ANSWER: Central American Common Market (or Mercado Comun Centroamericano)
This economic graph was notably used by Arthur Lyon Bowley and is constructed by plotting the origin of the
resources of two consumers and drawing indifference curves respective to those goods. FTPE:
[10] Identify this graph which finds competitive equilibriums and is named for an Irish economist.
ANSWER: Edgeworth Box
[10] If one traces the points of tangency of the indifference curves in an Edgeworth Box, one obtains a curve of
resource distribution with this characteristic, meaning that neither consumer can gain more resources except at the
expense of the other.
ANSWER: Pareto optimality (or Pareto efficiency)
[10] The Edgeworth Box debuted in this book, which Edgeworth called “an essay on the application of mathematics
to the moral sciences.” This work also contains his concept of the “range of final sentiments.”
ANSWER: Mathematical Psychics
He is the next door neighbor of the Matthews family, and he moves up the ranks of school administration, becoming
the principal of John Adams High School. FTPE:
[10] Name this character who is Corey Matthews’ and Topanga Lawrence’s gardening teacher on the sitcom Boy
Meets World.
ANSWER: Mr. George Feeney
[10] Mr. Feeney is played by this man, who also played Benjamin Braddock’s father in The Graduate, as well as
being the voice of K.I.T.T. in Knight Rider and playing Dr. Craig on the show St. Elsewhere.
ANSWER: William Daniels
[10] William Daniels played John Adams in this musical about the writing of the Declaration of Independence,
which also features a great song about Thomas Jefferson playing the violin in an extended sexual metaphor.
ANSWER: 1776
It is often diagnosed via the dexa-methasone suppression test. FTPE:
[10] Name this syndrome caused by high levels of cortisol, which when caused by a particular tumor is then called
this disease rather than syndrome.
ANSWER: Cushing’s syndrome or disease
[10] In Cushing’s disease, levels of this hormone are no longer mediated by a negative feedback system. As its name
suggests, this hormone stimulates the outer layers of the adrenal gland to make cortisol.
ANSWER: ACTH [or adrenocorticotropic hormone]
[10] ACTH is derived from this precursor peptide, as is beta endorphin.
ANSWER: POMC [or pro-opiomelanocortin]
He died after his piano-playing sister Fanny died, and he dedicated his 3rd piano Quartet to Goethe. FTPE:
[10] Name this composer, who wrote a famous overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream when he was 17, as well as
the Hebrides Overture.
ANSWER: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
[10] Mendelssohn premiered this oratorio in Burmingham, and it begins with the title character prophesying a
drought, and includes other scenes like the challenge of Baal’s priests on Mt. Carmel.
ANSWER: Elijah
[10] This symphony uses imitative counterpoint based off of the theme to the final movement of Mozart's Jupiter
symphony along with the Dresden Amen to represent Catholicism, while an opposing aspect is found in the use of
Ein Feste Burgh in the symphony's end.
ANSWER: Symphony number 5 or The Reformation symphony in D major
This novel is divided into the sections “Easy Rider,” “Any Day Now,” and “Toward Bethlehem,” and the
protagonist has an agonizing affair with white schoolteacher Leona. FTPE:
[10] Identify this novel about jazz musician Rufus King.
ANSWER: Another Country
[10] This novel tells about the religious experiences of John Grimes, whose father is the preacher Gabriel Grimes.
ANSWER: Go Tell it On the Mountain
[10] Identify the author of Another Country and Go Tell it on the Mountain, who also wrote The Devil Finds Work
and A Rap on Race.
ANSWER: James Baldwin
The title heroine is kept at Lavarcham by King Conchubor, and is the lover of Naisi. FTPE:
[10] Identify this unfinished play by John Millington Synge.
ANSWER: Dierdre of the Sorrows
[10] John Millington Synge is probably best known for this play about Christy Mahon, who thinks he kills his
father.
ANSWER: Playboy of the Western World
[10] At the start of this Synge play, the table is set “as if for a wake”, and it sits next to a white sheet covered body.
In the play, a tramp appears at the door to Nora and Dan Burke’s house.
ANSWER: In the Shadow of the Glen
Answer some questions about the most ineffectual of foreign policies, Dollar Diplomacy, FTPE.
[10] Much of the formulation of the policy was done by this Secretary of State under Taft. He also notably
prosecuted some trusts as Attorney General under Teddy Roosevelt.
ANSWER: Philander Chase Knox
[10] Dollar Diplomacy was used to assist in the overthrow of this Nicaraguan reformer in favor of the Chamorro
family, probably due to his opposition to the United States building a canal in his country.
ANSWER: Jose Santos Zelaya
[10] In Asia, Knox supported a failed attempt to buy this railroad, inadvertently uniting Russia and Japan. It would
go on to become Japan's most profitable corporation in the years leading up to WWII, and a bombing on it was used
as pretext in the establishment of Manchukuo.
ANSWER: South Manchurian Railway or Mantetsu
This deity’s daughter was married to Okuninushi after he tied his hair to the pillars of his home. FTPE:
[10] Name this god who moved to Izumo after being kicked out of Amaterasu’s court for doing things like throwing
a flayed horse into her hall. He was born from Izanagi’s nose.
ANSWER: Susanowo No Mikoto
[10] In Izumo, Susanowo saved his future bride by killing the Orochi, which also allowed him to retrieve this kickass sword.
ANSWER: Kusanagi or Grasscutter
[10] This princess was the aforementioned bride of Susanowo. Her parents, the “Foot Stroking Elder” and “Hand
Stroking Elder,” consented to her marriage and Susanowo turned her into a comb to hide in his hair.
ANSWER: Kushinada-hime
Identify these Buddhist texts, FTPE.
[10] This is the total writing of the Southern Hinayana Buddhism. Its name comes from either the language it was
written in or from the baskets it was collected in, like the Basket of Discipline and the Basket of Discourse.
ANSWER: Tripitaka or the Pali Canon
[10] This collection of 48 koans such as “Joshu’s Dog” and “Tozan’s three Pounds” was compiled by the Chinese
priest Hui-k’ai, and is one of the 2 major collections of koans.
ANSWER: The Gateless Gate or The Gateless Barrier or Wumenguan or Mumonkan
[10] This brief entry in the “Wisdom texts” makes up part of the Prajnaparamita and is considered the most Zenlike work in Sanskrit. It begins with the Buddha staying in the jeta grove of Anathapindika’s estate.
ANSWER: Diamond Sutra or Diamond Cutter Sutra or Vajracchedika-sutra
Calabi-Yau manifolds have trivial canonical bundles because they are characterized by a nonvanishing harmonic
version of this object. Piet Hein designed the game of Tangloids to illustrate the calculus of these objects. In even
dimensions their representations can be decomposed into the left-handed and right-handed Weyl types. The most
famous type of this object is an element of the fundamental representation of a Clifford algebra, and more broadly
they can be considered projective representations of the rotation group. For ten points, name these objects, a four
component one of which is used in expressing solutions to the Dirac equation.
ANSWER: Spinors
Green or blue aventurine quartz has chrome-bearing inclusions of this mineral. FTPE:
[10] Name this mineral, also called isinglass, the green chromium bearing type of which is called fuchsite.
ANSWER: Muscovite
[10] Muscovite, like phlogotite and biotite, is an example of this type of mineral with highly perfect basal cleavage
and good dielectric properties.
ANSWER: Mica
[10] Large crystals of Muscovite can be found in this type of coarse-grained igneous rock, often found in irregular
dikes and veins, and characterized by a grain size greater than 20 mm.
ANSWER: Pegmatite