Learned League

[ntndeacon]

Congratulations to cuervo for finishing second in A. Now you get to play with the real real big players in the championship.

[cuervo72]

Thanks -- I'd already qualified in LL94 (also 2nd), but this gives me an extra boost of hey, I might do ok here confidence, I think.

edit: The one thing that concerns me a bit is that in regular season play, a good portion of the questions are repeats of past questions -- sometimes over ten years past, but past. I get them now because I've studied them. I don't know that championship questions are going to be similarly recycled -- by and large that is new material, I think. Some of the harder stuff I may have gotten from other sources (OQL, reading, etc.) but no guarantees.

[cuervo72]

Don't forget to submit, SandQ.

[ntndeacon]

Good Luck today, Cuervo

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

Good Luck today, Cuervo

Thanks - likewise!

(will probably look at the Q's in an hour or so)

edit: submitted

[albionmoonlight]

Top 4 in D promote. Today's matchup was between me at 5 and the person in 6. We limped to a tie at 2(2)-2(2), and both of us missed promotion. Had either of us won, we would have promoted.

Stupid Cardi B . . .

[QuikSand]

I had a strong start to the season, but settled into my usual tier... I actually ended up better in W/L/T than my 98 total correct answers would suggest. So, mid-table in A, but I'm more naturally suited to a click lower than that, I think.

I fell back into the habit of leaving points on the table of late... seeing the right answer and realizing I missed a context clue, or just didn't wait long enough to see if a good answer just emerged. I think doing that stage is, for me, my biggest area of improvement short of actually "studying" just for this purpose.

[ntndeacon]

Ended up with 101 correct, but 25th , so I will be bringing my talents back down to B.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I fell back into the habit of leaving points on the table of late... seeing the right answer and realizing I missed a context clue, or just didn't wait long enough to see if a good answer just emerged. I think doing that stage is, for me, my biggest area of improvement short of actually "studying" just for this purpose.

Patience and knowing what the commish is going for (and picking up on his clues) is huge, IMO. The latter I feel I've gotten good at, the former I still battle with (especially questions that have two ins that you can build possible lists on, and the answer lies at the intersection of them).

No need to put quotes around "studying" I don't think -- I, for one, absolutely study. Unless you really mean "obsess" which, ok, that's probably fair too.

That's part of why I got out of the FOF game -- I just was not willing to put in the analysis that MalcPow, RKG, Ben were. I could only get so far on "intuition" and it wasn't going to be far enough. LL is a little different where I think you can largely play against yourself and be content. Of course, I really wanted to beat myself, so I started studying.

At this point I kind of want to see how good I might be able to get. The thing about LL is that a) it is more or less built for middle-aged guys like us, and b) a fair amount of it is going to repeat. It may have been last year, it may have been five years ago, it may have been ten or FIFTEEN years ago, but a lot of questions have been asked before in some form.

That's less true of other trivia outlets, I think, which don't focus on 70s and 80s pop culture quite as much. It's why I am starting to dip my toes into other formats, starting with the OQL Individual "championships." Two hour tests -- not for everybody! But a better gauge of where I might be. The one last weekend I finished two questions and one slot behind J! alum Pam Mueller -- not bad! Of course, my 158 was WAY behind the leader's (and former LL champ's) 195, so still quite a ways to go. Never mind the World Quizzing Championships, where that same guy finished second for North America participants at 152 -- to (chaser) V. Groce's 172 (Pam finished with 107; our I assume that's our A Hint rundle mate Christopher King who totaled 111). Now, "The Queen's" stated goal was to become the best quizzer in the world; I know I won't nearly approach that. But I think there is still room for some improvement.

[Umbrella]

Brutal season for me. I finished dead last, and heading back down to C after a short stay in B.

[ntndeacon]

Good luck to everyone tomorrow for the new season!

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

Congratulations to cuervo for finishing second in A. Now you get to play with the real real big players in the championship.

I made the cut!! It took overcoming a pretty weak Round 1, but did well enough in Round 2 to do it.

(Round 3...didn't go so well. Round 4 I think was solid.)

[QuikSand]

Welp, I'll be heading back down to the more comfy confines of Group B. Can't complain too much, my 102 TCA was fifth worst in my rundle... my bottom-4 finish wasn't a major swing of bad luck or bad defense, just a tiny one. Alas.

The mentality of group A is pretty tough, though... lots of "4/6 yeah I'm fuct" days.

[cuervo72]

Standings show you just out of the demotion range, Quik.

[Umbrella]

Defense wins championships, even in LL. I got my first ever award (Sandra), which let me to winning C. Back to B, where I was murdered last time.

[cuervo72]

Nice. My defense this season was...not great.

So ntndeacon, why you gotta refer folks like WestSCRN who are just gonna end up making my life tougher?

[Butter]

Just missed winning my first One Day!

Finished 2nd in the Gorillaz one day because I picked the wrong brother on question 11.

Damn it!

[albionmoonlight]

Good Luck to All this season!

[ntndeacon]

Good luck to everybody.

Good news to cuervo72, WestSCRN isn't back for season 99.

[cuervo72]

Yeah, any deal there? Just didn't want to re-up? Not that any season is easy, but with no WestSCRN or AtkinsJ37 (3rd in LL98), a couple of possibly tough outs are off the board this season.

[ntndeacon]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Yeah, any deal there? Just didn't want to re-up? Not that any season is easy, but with no WestSCRN or AtkinsJ37 (3rd in LL98), a couple of possibly tough outs are off the board this season.

I'm not sure. I only see him occasionally, so I haven't been able to ask.

[QuikSand]

love starting with a 5/6 and feeling doomed by my bonehead miss

[QuikSand]

0-3 start, hooray, and i am furious i stupidly botched a specific one today (that might have been an edge)... ugh

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

0-3 start, hooray, and i am furious i stupidly botched a specific one today (that might have been an edge)... ugh

I know which one you mean. I botched it, too.

[cuervo72]

ping: QuikSand

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

ping: QuikSand

yes, my liege

cuervo kicking all the asses in Hinterlands A this season, 11-match win streak alive, holy smokes

[cuervo72]

It's been a, uh, good season so far.

(We'll see about today.)

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

It's been a, uh, good season so far.

(We'll see about today.)

Saved by Polish Art Deco.

[albionmoonlight]

Spoiler about one of today's questions:

Spoiler

Had anyone heard of today's explosive-based slang term? I don't always get those right, but as the parent of teeens/tweens, I generally at least recognize the word. I've never heard that term used as slang. Though I looked it up afterwards, and it was the explosive that Walt used against Tuco in Breaking Bad, so maybe that's where it came from?

[QuikSand]

I allowed, and lost to, the rare 9(5) yesterday. Ugh.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I allowed, and lost to, the rare 9(5) yesterday. Ugh.

I don't think I've ever allowed one until this season, and now I've done it twice, including on Friday.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Butter

Just missed winning my first One Day!

Finished 2nd in the Gorillaz one day because I picked the wrong brother on question 11.

Damn it!

After a near miss on this a couple of months ago, I tied for the win on the Spaceballs One Day! Finally!

Also, I seemed to know so many of the questions during LL99, and I finally got a promotion again up to C. Sure I'll be back to D in no time.

[cuervo72]

Nice job! I doubt I'll ever win one - most 1DS seem to be pretty specialized these days, and I have little specialized knowledge; anything that's general I figure others will still do better than I will.

[ntndeacon]

Good luck to everyone tomorrow for day 1 in season 100!!!!!

[albionmoonlight]

every so often

Spoiler

you get a question that you are 100% sure you got right that turns out to be wrong. Perl instead of Ruby was that for me today

[QuikSand]

when i hit submit i thought i might have gotten all six (felt good about multiple guesses and one was a decent dart), instead got two, yikes... and i made the same mistake you did, alb

[cuervo72]

I started my first real job in late '95/early '96, and right out of the gate I was given a (used) book for the wrong answer and told "here, learn this". Helped me go in another direction.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

every so often

Spoiler

you get a question that you are 100% sure you got right that turns out to be wrong. Perl instead of Ruby was that for me today

I did the same thing.

[ntndeacon]

I lucked out on that question. I remembered Ruby before I thought of perl.

[albionmoonlight]

Better to be lucky than good. Here are my last four days:

W 1(2)-0(1)
W 2(2)-0(1)
T 0(1)-0(1)
T 1(2)-1(2)

[QuikSand]

Hah!

L 6(5) 5(4)
L 6(5) 4(4)
L 6(3) 2(2)
T 5(4) 5(4)
T 7(5) 7(4)

... I know the right thing is to want to avoid relegation, but getting 4/6, feeling honestly fairly good about doing that well, and basically resigning myself to a L... it takes a toll. Our guy cuervo, though, he's still way up there. #Boss

[cuervo72]

Yeah, which is funny because that first week was the worst start I've had in a half dozen seasons, TCA-wise -- and somehow I went 4-1. Last season I played well but was also extremely lucky with how matchups went (someone calculates "luck" every season, and I was indeed near the top league-wide).

[QuikSand]

5/6 today, likely a L, le sigh

[cuervo72]

Well naturally, save the gambling question for the match I play Quik.

[QuikSand]

I'm in my usual posture, concerned about relegation (I'm one point clear with one match left, got a 4/6 today and that's typically a L here)... but looking like I might remain in A for another round of brutalization

[albionmoonlight]

Regardless of today's outcome, I'm gonna skate by just above relegation in C.

I used to think of myself as a high D player who could sneak into C for a season or two.

Now I think I've improved into a low C player.

[ntndeacon]

Ended middle of the B pack. I have hopes every season to get back up in A ... maybe next one! Bring on the one days

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'm in my usual posture, concerned about relegation (I'm one point clear with one match left, got a 4/6 today and that's typically a L here)... but looking like I might remain in A for another round of brutalization

Congrats (I think) on surviving, Quik. Looks to me like you just had a little bit of bad luck (T2 CAA) and defense was off (which could again be bad luck) but otherwise had a pretty darned good campaign. New high TCA in what I thought was a pretty rough season of questions.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Congrats (I think) on surviving, Quik. Looks to me like you just had a little bit of bad luck (T2 CAA) and defense was off (which could again be bad luck) but otherwise had a pretty darned good campaign. New high TCA in what I thought was a pretty rough season of questions.

Thanks, I'm the last guy in... you're the first guy out (missing the shot at the big championship thingie).

[cuervo72]

Oh snap! Our branch is getting broken up. Guess some of us are going to be traveling to different leagues, perhaps.

(Or maybe not; looking at one instance from last year, new branch members are still in their old leagues. Still, feels weird.)