ACRONYM

ACRONYM is an annual, easy-level pop culture set produced by Play Quiz Bowl. It is typically mirrored as a side event at HSNCT, as well as at other events.

History

The original ACRONYMs were tournaments held by Armstrong High School in Minnesota. The set was initially conceived as part of an attempt to keep the quizbowl program alive after the Robbinsdale School District cut all of its funding for the 2008-2009 school year. [1] [2] Initially, the name 'ACRONYM' was itself an acronym, standing for Armstrong's Conceivably Regular or Nearly Yearly Meet. Currently, the name no longer officially stands for anything.

In 2008 and 2009 the tournament was run on NAQT IS questions. Since 2010, the tournament has been a house-written pop culture tournament. Beginning with ACRONYM VII, the set was edited by Erik Nelson, who has been the set's editor ever since. ACRONYM VIII was the first in the series to be mirrored at multiple sites. In the subsequent years, it has become the most played trash set in the world; the Minnesota high school mirror of ACRONYM XI in 2018 attracted 62 teams, a record for any pop culture tournament.

ACRONYM's current writing team includes Erik Nelson, Danny Vopava, Bryanna Shao, Blake Andert, Lalit Maharjan, and Ganon Evans.

The popularity of ACRONYM led to the creation of Super ACRONYM, a more difficult version of the set, beginning in 2017. Super ACRONYM and Chicago Open Trash sets are produced in alternating years, per an informal agreement between the sets' respective creators.