Difference between revisions of "Stock clue"
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| − | '''Stock clues''' are clues that have been used since approximately the days of the GE College Bowl radio show, or at least the 1990s. For whatever reason, these clues are | + | '''Stock clues''' are clues that have been used since approximately the days of the GE College Bowl radio show, or at least the 1990s. For whatever reason, these clues are sometimes recycled today as [[lead-in]] clues by inexperienced teams who don't know any better, and passed through the final editing stage by editors who should know better. |
| − | Stock clues are often | + | Stock clues are often [[biographical clues]]. They can also result from excessive name-dropping of a term of actual importance for continuous years. |
| − | This list of stock clues is provided in the hope that people stop using them as lead-ins, or perhaps ever. | + | In an ironic twist, the term "stock clue" has experienced something of a backlash in recent years, as questions get better-written and some players misuse the term to refer to any clue as "stock" that they remember from previous questions, regardless of how important the clue is, how infrequently it has appeared before, and where the clue is placed in the question. Due to the frequency and annoyance of its misuse, the phrase "stock clue" is therefore falling into disuse among older players. |
| + | |||
| + | This list of stock clues is provided in the hope that people stop using them as lead-ins, or perhaps ever. | ||
==List of Stock Clues and Their Immediately Buzzable Answers== | ==List of Stock Clues and Their Immediately Buzzable Answers== | ||
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*"apprenticed to a bookbinder": Michael Faraday | *"apprenticed to a bookbinder": Michael Faraday | ||
*"Advocated high doses of Vitamin C": Linus Pauling | *"Advocated high doses of Vitamin C": Linus Pauling | ||
| − | |||
*"Goldman-Hodgkins-Katz Equation": Nernst equation (still a good middle clue) | *"Goldman-Hodgkins-Katz Equation": Nernst equation (still a good middle clue) | ||
*"1% of the world's energy": Haber-Bosch Process | *"1% of the world's energy": Haber-Bosch Process | ||
| − | |||
*"Offered presidency of Israel": Albert Einstein | *"Offered presidency of Israel": Albert Einstein | ||
===Fine Arts=== | ===Fine Arts=== | ||
*"research on aldehydes": Aleksandr Borodin | *"research on aldehydes": Aleksandr Borodin | ||
| − | |||
*"Taught at an all girls school": Gustav Holst | *"Taught at an all girls school": Gustav Holst | ||
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*"written on a napkin": Laffer Curve | *"written on a napkin": Laffer Curve | ||
*"thesis on Indo-European languages": Ferdinand de Saussure | *"thesis on Indo-European languages": Ferdinand de Saussure | ||
| − | |||
*"worked in a machine shop": Otto Rank | *"worked in a machine shop": Otto Rank | ||
[[Category: Quizbowl lingo]] [[Category: Bad quizbowl]] | [[Category: Quizbowl lingo]] [[Category: Bad quizbowl]] | ||
[[Category:Original QBWiki Page]] | [[Category:Original QBWiki Page]] | ||
Revision as of 15:56, 28 January 2013
Stock clues are clues that have been used since approximately the days of the GE College Bowl radio show, or at least the 1990s. For whatever reason, these clues are sometimes recycled today as lead-in clues by inexperienced teams who don't know any better, and passed through the final editing stage by editors who should know better.
Stock clues are often biographical clues. They can also result from excessive name-dropping of a term of actual importance for continuous years.
In an ironic twist, the term "stock clue" has experienced something of a backlash in recent years, as questions get better-written and some players misuse the term to refer to any clue as "stock" that they remember from previous questions, regardless of how important the clue is, how infrequently it has appeared before, and where the clue is placed in the question. Due to the frequency and annoyance of its misuse, the phrase "stock clue" is therefore falling into disuse among older players.
This list of stock clues is provided in the hope that people stop using them as lead-ins, or perhaps ever.
List of Stock Clues and Their Immediately Buzzable Answers
Literature
- "Her childhood friend Truman Capote": Harper Lee (also, anything involving Dill being based on Capote).
- "Planned to attend Juilliard, but lost her tuition money on a New York subway train": Carson McCullers
- "wounded at the Battle of Lepanto": Miguel de Cervantes
- "refused the 1926 Pulitzer Prize": Sinclair Lewis
History
- "tutored by Bairam Khan": Akbar
- "exiled in Mongolia": Molotov
- "cup-bearer to the king of Kish": Sargon the Great
- "wrote The Army of the Future" Charles de Gaulle
Science
- "son of a sailmaker": Victor Grignard
- "Ideal Percent Alcohol Content of Vodka": Dmitri Mendeleev
- "apprenticed to a bookbinder": Michael Faraday
- "Advocated high doses of Vitamin C": Linus Pauling
- "Goldman-Hodgkins-Katz Equation": Nernst equation (still a good middle clue)
- "1% of the world's energy": Haber-Bosch Process
- "Offered presidency of Israel": Albert Einstein
Fine Arts
- "research on aldehydes": Aleksandr Borodin
- "Taught at an all girls school": Gustav Holst
Religion/Mythology/Philosophy
- "Originally studied mechanical engineering": Ludwig Wittgenstein
- "Collections of these include the Blue Cliff Record and Gateless Gate": koans
Social Science
- "written on a napkin": Laffer Curve
- "thesis on Indo-European languages": Ferdinand de Saussure
- "worked in a machine shop": Otto Rank