It’s August, just. Scorching summer days bleed into each other, a never-ending litany of beach parties and midnight raves. Students bid each other farewell and split for Ibiza, Goa, Benidorm and Bali. Nature beckons, with its subsuming allure of misspent, mindless pleasure, and I’m sure all of you have been completely overtaken by the eternal-seeming summer haze.
And yet Autumn is on the horizon. Days will shorten. You will return to the drudgery of the everyday. And when you do, for whatever solace it might bring, quiz will be there for you.
Here’s what the rest of 2024 has in store for us. Some events’ locations are still to be determined, but we’ll hopefully know more soon.
NASAT (14th September, online). Open to students and non-students alike, this is a 2.5-dot mirror of the US’s all-star high school tournament. There’s not much time left to rustle a team together for this one, but at least you won’t have to make last minute travel plans if you do. I modded this tournament last time around, and if I remember correctly the winning team was called Horse. It’ll be exciting to see if a different member of the Chinese zodiac can triumph this time. I have a lot of money riding on sheep.
WaShBowl Open (mirror) (5th October, Sheffield). Forget whatever drudgery the MCU has vomited up, because this tourney from Warwick and Sheffield is the true crossover event of the year. And now re-remember that MCU thing, because this is a strictly pop culture affair, covering film, music, video games and a terrifying category called “internet/meme”. This is an open mirror of the event held for students earlier in the year, so if you played it, no spoilers for us non-students (maybe consider modding? It’s fun, I promise!)
ACF Fall (19th October, Durham and Southampton). The premier international 1-dot tournament returns. As per usual, this is a strictly novice closed tournament with entry restricted to less experienced players. For those of you new to the scene (and curious if it’s really worth arduous train journeys up and down the country just for the chance to show off your knowledge about microsporangia) this is a fantastic first tourney. Societies can also get a discount on their team’s entry by writing a quarter- or half-packet.
Penn Bowl (26th October, Warwick). Another open tournament - quite an avalanche of them this season, not that I’m complaining! This is a 3-dot tournament which, despite the name, probably won’t be taking place in Philadelphia - though last time it was at Warwick, which is only marginally more accessible by train. The star-studded Scottish, Irish, Both or Neither took it last time; here’s hoping this will be the year the Manx and Cornish can finally step it up a gear.
TRASH IN THE ATTIC (2nd November, Cambridge). A brand new fixture for the 2024 calendar, this is a closed 2-dot pop culture tournament brought to us by CUQS. Your eyes don’t deceive you, the title is an acronym, standing for: Tournament Revolving Around Steaming Heaps of Important kNowledge, Then Hopefully Examining Amazing Trash To Intrigue Competitors. Don’t look at me, I didn’t come up with it.
ACF Winter (16th November, TBD). This is a closed 2-dot tournament; more experienced teams (with 2+ players in their third year of QB) will be required to write a half-packet or pay a bit extra. It is a little odd to have the autumn tournament in October and the winter one in November, with the trees barely un-leafed. Edinburgh took the W in this tournament last year with an exceptional 80 point final from Ben Russell Jones; competitors will take heart that he’s graduated now, relegated to the still-important position of moral support.
British Novice (30th November, TBD). The clue is in the name - this is another 1-dot novice tournament, the difference being that this one’s put together by UKQB. I’m sure many of those reading this post are among the writers and if so, many thanks to you. I’m not writing for this one, so don’t expect any questions on pseudoarchaeology or 1980s sophisti-pop. Southampton took the overall crown last year in a superfinal against Edinburgh - a true battle for Britain as the southernmost team beat the northernmost. As a proud Yorkshire gal, I’m hoping the north reigns supreme this year.
ARCADIA (7th December, TBD). At 2.5 dots, this is our hardest closed tournament of the year, and a great first insight into this year’s BSQC hopefuls. Last year’s tournament was a perfect sweep from Imperial A, with three of the four players present on the BSQC team that took Cambridge to a nailbiter of a final. Speaking of which, you can check out that match on our YouTube channel - with some exceptional closed captioning, if I do say so myself.
ARGOS (14th December, TBD). Our final open tournament of the season, and also our hardest at 3.5 dot. Should be a belter, though uncomfortably close to Christmas for my liking. As soon as I hit the advent calendar, I’m out of quiz mode and into holiday mode. But for those of you able to hold more than one thought in your head at once, this oughta be a Christmas cracker.
It’s certainly a packed calendar, so as you trudge home from the final sunrise parties of the season, make sure to have a think on which of these events whet your appetites, and reach out to your potential teammates, who are hopefully not too caught up in hedonism and Helios worship to respond.
Hang loose, quizzers!