I promised myself I would lie low for this dispute...I can never trust myself to keep these promises... For my part, if a student gave me this kind of explanation, I would be inclined to believe him. The core argument - his list stuff - needs to be separated from it's ACF-specific context. Lastyear, I got roomfulls of early buzzes on certain subjects just by picking up patterns in certain categories, such as NAQT's obsession with Cabinet members and how rivers always begin with sources, so if I learn the sources of every river I can nail them after a few words. If I had his time, I probably could have done the same in other categories. The fact his two high scores were on ACF Regionals and ACF Fall also did not go unnoticed by me when I saw a post earlier today giving "the evidence." The other good point he made was that statistical anomalies don't count as proof. At Kansas City tournaments my freshman and junior years - the only two I have ever played - I finished second and first overall in individual scoring. Even before my days of having Subash and Steve as teammates, I didn't make a habit of that. I apologize if I appeared to be part of a "mob," but I saw the accusation out there, and felt that only the accused could clear his own name, or not. Reading it now, it was perhaps more one-sided-sounding than I really felt. This reply will probably be picked apart, but I've also learned people have had suspicions about cheating before, and for lack of proof those accused have gone on to have decent careers, while memories of the accusations dwindle. For my part, pending new evidence either way or an argument I haven't thought of, I'm fine with the situation. But that's just me. Brian
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