Learned League

My first time on this year; would love a place to kibbitz on prior days questions and brag and bitch.
I'm 3-0 but I'm chalking that up to beginner's luck and a rookie rundle.
how about you?

Riding the bottom of A babee. Did we not have a thread already?

nope.

this is really making me use some muscles that have long been neglected. I've always prided myself on fast reference google-fu. LL is just about information that you've been exposed to or otherwise can puzzle out from your memory. You don't generally seem to be able to "figure out" clues logically or utilize your skillset to uncover information... you just have to remember it! I'm approaching it where I read the questions late night, answer whatever i know immediately and sleep on the rest till the morning and that seems to help a bit.

Oh hey! I remember James Redd and the Blecchs and I talked about starting a LL thread on ILX a few years ago, but we clearly never got around to it.

I'm 1-2-0 so far this season in A Keystone.

I occasionally post on the LL message board, too.

You don't generally seem to be able to "figure out" clues logically or utilize your skillset to uncover information... you just have to remember it!

I don't actually think this is true! I don't know that the first few questions this season have necessarily been representative, but one of the things I like about LL is that you often can puzzle things out if you read the question closely.

Actually, the Vaseline question from the other day might be a good example of this. I'd never heard of the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company, but I kept focusing on "Titusville, Pennsylvania" and thought, is it related to the coal industry? If I'd thought harder, I might have landed on oil instead, which could conceivably have led me to petroleum jelly. (It didn't happen, but it could have!)

You're right, though, that a fair amount is dredging stuff up from memory. I always read the questions when I wake up in the morning and then usually let them rattle around my noggin for a while before submitting answers. Sometimes an answer will come to the surface in the interim. For instance, one time, on my way to work, I suddenly and inexplicably recalled the name Zamfir.

Anyway I never use my invites so hmu ilxors. Word is league growth will be capped eventually at which point I guess it becomes one in one out, so get in while getting is good.

Baffling

for the confused:
https://learnedleague.com/

Some other useful links:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-coolest-weirdest-internet-community-youll-never-be-able-to-join/2014/08/20/3c3f565e-26eb-11e4-958c-268a320a60ce_story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/magazine/letter-of-recommendation-learned-league.html

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mick-mulvaney-learned-league-trivia_n_5c941573e4b0a6329e147a61

Thanks

3 of 6 correct today, 2 that i kinda thought i coulda got right and 1 that was just no chance at all

Hey don’t post about questions until the results are in, even obliquely! You don’t know who’s submitted yet.

well sure, but how is saying what i think i got right by the numbers revealing anything?

I’m sure there is some ruling from the Commissioner on this on the site, pro or con.

i challenge jaymc to 'smith' a one-day about ilx

forks if I were to know you intimately I could derive third-order insight into the answers by analyzing how well you thought you did, imo. Best to avoid even the appearance of etc.

Makes sense

i've been doing learned league for a few years on an invite from jaymc. i'm in C rundle, which seems to be about right since i almost always end up right in the middle of the rankings at the end of each season. i've had a strong start to this season so far but i'm sure i'll hit a rut and end up back in the middle again.

my ongoing minor issue with the main learned league is the "classical music" category, which seems very specific for a stand-alone category (that i suck at). i wish they just had a "music" category that spanned all genres.

silby OTM about not posting *anything* about a Match Day until it's over

U guys are playing 3D chess but whatever works is fine. Meet you back here at 1 in the morning to discuss.

I can't immediately find anything from the Commissioner about this, though it is a widely accepted norm within the LL community. On the LL board, whenever anyone posts even the most innocuous thing about a question while the Match Day is live, the post gets deleted.

Also, here's someone in a Learned League thread on the Jeopardy! message board:

With the new season and new players, it is a good time to remind everyone of the rule about discussing matches on this board. Please do not make any comment about the questions until that day's results have been posted on the LL board. Do not say how many you got right or wrong. Do not say if you thought they were hard or easy. Just do not say anything at all about the questions until the LL day has ended and the next day's questions are up.

As extreme as it may seem, I think it makes sense to stick with that rule here, too.

Oh, it's also in WestJ's LL84 welcome post:

Please remember, do not post anything here or elsewhere about any LL questions while a match day is underway. Not with a spoiler warning, not with oblique references, not asking if a question has an error in it, not anything. Period.

Well it's tomorrow now and I can reveal the secret that a plurality LL'ers are not fans of Bhad Bhabie

Haha. That was actually my route in, and I almost thought the answer was "Bad" until I remembered that "Suge" was the name of a song by Da Baby.

I lost 8(5)-7(5). Always disappointing to get the same number of questions right but lose on defense.

I am averaging about three right per game, but in the rookie league with some judicious defense, that seems to be enough to stay fairly competitive.

damn i almost missed this thread. u can find me having terrible defense to start, i'm 2-2 :/ i'm usually decent on defense? but i have been getting steadily worse somehow season over season. idk why.

also there was a thread but like a fool i smushed the words together LearnedLeague - any iLLx0rs out there?

i was gonna give a cryptic clue to my name since i don't like saying it on here (i mean i guess it's already too late to run for office due to my history on this site, i would guess) but then i realized i put it in the other thread so go look there!

also yes i haven't used an invite in ages so if anyone needs, hit silby up and then hit me up

and i 100% got that q yesterday on account of bhad bhabie (almost went with lil on account of yes indeed, until i read closer lol) (also i feel like lil was a question super recently???)

and yeah esp if this is a public board, no talk on today's results is always a good move. also no talking abt the random comedians u found and you're like "wow no way they're just like me!" and you sometimes check in to see what they got. its bad form

Completely new to this, but really like the idea. It seems like it's too late to join this season--is that correct?

yeah you have to join in between seasons

or you might be able to join but you wouldn't be able to play this season.

also no talking abt the random comedians u found and you're like "wow no way they're just like me!" and you sometimes check in to see what they got. its bad form

What about high-ranking White House officials

I too would like to join! Will M, silby, or any other kind ilxor have a spare invite?

theo von is a beast at learned league guys

Oh wait $30 for membership, gotta think about this.

What about high-ranking White House officials

Actually, I am going to answer my own post and note that the Commish has laid down the law about this, so I am going to respect that decision, but I still find the whole thing amazing sometimes.

@Leee: You only have to pay after you've completed a full rookie season, so you can try it out and decide if you like it. I have plenty of invites to spare, too.

can one of you kind individuals send me an invite, please? ilx webmail reaches me :)

Ah ok, that sounds reasonable. You can ilx mail me, and thanks!

Suge was one of the year’s biggest rap hits; surprised that didn’t give away that clue. I guess people aren’t much listening to that world unless they are specialists.

the 30 also covers a full year, which is i believe 3 or 4 seasons, so if you like the first season you're not paying too much to keep going!

i don't see where to send invites tho, is it possible to do so during the season or do we have to wait a month?

also if we have this many ppl i am definitely thinking ilxor private rundle next go around

Okay, I just looked, and you can only give out 1 invite per season (unless you are a Premier or Commissioner's Circle member). Pretty sure there were more at one point, but I don't blame Thorsten for wanting to put some controls on growth.

I'll give mine to you, Leee, since we've actually met IRL!

Oh, and Will, the referral page is here:
https://www.learnedleague.com/thorsten/referral.php

if my quick scan is right, leee, unctious, and jim want invites? and jaymc has leee? so i will send one to Unc & someone else get jim? (lmk if i missed any. i am so tired rn)

Unc contacted me, I will take care of ‘em

ok jim i'll send you a message then!

Why the low get rate on Q4 yesterday, Charles Pathé? This was the flaw in my defense, since I thought everybody must know this, especially an opponent with .761 in Film so assigned it a zero, allowing him to tie me 4(4)-4(3). Note: really don’t care that much, long ago gave up agonizing on defense, valuing speed over accuracy, having long ago settled down into C Rundle, most of my enjoyment now coming from the occasional 1DS or ML.

started winning some matches and got my % correct to .501

then went 0-6 for today

ah well

Facing jaymc now who is in a tight race for first place, what's in it for me for taking a dive.

(Jk of course, because I've yet to beat him.)

bring it on!

then went 0-6 for today

ended up winning this march cause my opponent forfeited hah

BTW it's usually frowned on to comment about the currently active match, even how many you got right, which sounds strict but the reasoning is that it might give clues about that day's questions.

duly noted!

I'm not sure it's to my credit, but I must admit I was amused that 1) I got three points for knowing that the G in ESG is for "Governance", 2) my opponent didn't get it, and 3) said opponent is the UK The Chase player known as "The Governess".

Facing jaymc now who is in a tight race for first place, what's in it for me for taking a dive.

(Jk of course, because I've yet to beat him.)

I did my part in keeping an ilxor in first place!

Thank you for your service! And GG.

I feel very lucky that I am still in 1st. Last time I finished 1st was with a career-high TCA/QPct. This season my QPct is roughly on par with my last few seasons. But somehow my opponents keep getting fewer points than me. Hope I don't screw it up in the next few days.

Welp, my luck may have run out.

Ah bummer! You're also facing an opponent who has VERY strong science scores -- I just played them and they gave me a 1 for xylem/phloem (I got it right but I was very unsure about it).

That is to say, your next opponent is the guy I just played.

finished 2nd, but closer than I expected! it came down to the Total Match Points tiebreaker, which was far and away in his favor.

2nd place would've been good enough for a championship berth in the past, but not anymore. (or at least not at this point in the calendar. in the next three seasons, if I finish 2nd behind someone who has already qualified, then I think I get in.)

ended up in the middle of my rundle

looking at my scores, i went 1-10 on geography and 3-14 on world history

those are also my worst jeopardy categories hah

good job! I think most people improve over time, as they become familiar with the style of the questions and the strategies for assigning points.

based on your finish, looks like you will be placed in a D rundle next season, and since I referred you, it will be either of the two divisions of D Plateau.

Geography is one of the easiest categories to improve on if you don't mind a little daily studying. I had a bad get rate in it and now it's one of my better subjects.

I'm surprised that the hip hop question played so hard even in A rundle (50%, hardest by quite a margin), as I'm hardly a rap head and I was still able to pull DLS. I'd think that the genre would've saturated trivia more by now, but I guess arguing with ilxors for 25 years (good grief) skews my knowledge base.

there were a few questions that i thought were tailor made for ilxors

there are a lot of old-school nerds (not derogatory) on learned league - lots of people who know math/science/geography but nothing pop culture-related

i had my usual season - started slow, improved as the season went on, ended up right around .500

Speaking of nerds, the mathletes calculated the luck value of all active players and jaymc ended up in the 99.5th %ile (186th overall) of the luckiest. I thought I also lucked out by having the third-lowest CAA in my rundle, but I barely cracked the 50th %ile.

Not surprised that I am one of the luckiest!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOQUiVcOc2k

there are a lot of old-school nerds (not derogatory) on learned league

i'm losing the pop-culture battles but not as badly as i'm losing the kid-culture battles

mostly because i have no idea how to defend the latter

I know that a lot of the posters/players here aren't big gamers but my indie video games ML topic was accepted!! (Tentatively scheduled for March 2027.) Having been part of the infamous Heavy Metal 2 ML, I'm going to try to make at least some of the questions more approachable to non-gamers with general-knowledge ins.

Mine (Pre-1960s Pop Music) was rejected but TBH it's probably for the best as I've already had my turn 3 times over by now so it's good to get some new blood out there.

congrats, Leee!

and condolences, Greg. I saw your LL thread about it and was looking forward to playing it!

Thorsten allowed me to convert it into a narrower 1DS proposal on the Great American Songbook so there's still another shot out there.

Hey, any advice for a first time ML editor? (I've contributed before but never as the person in charge.)

*Hey = Greg

Shoot me a DM on LL and I'll send you over the stuff I used in the Online Content MLs

My friend who did this is giving me his thoughts right now.

He sez:
Keep editing your questions and take out any extraneous crap that may not be necessary to answering the question. Keep the questions short

And find people to playtest and give feedback

Now, speaking as myself, I am recalling that they did a great job of gradually increasing the difficulty day by day, with the first day being pretty easy overall

In other news, I am registered for Gen X Movies by Theme, which started today, but unfortunately not for Fine Arts in Pop Culture.

Damn I thought I registered for FAIPC but apparently not!

Be sure to take a look at '60s Garage Rock.

I looked ... don't think I would do very well.

n/a did grebt!

yeah, nice work!

I looked again and I think I would've gotten 6/12, which is better than I initially thought, but that is not a genre/era I know very well.

oh nice

mildly surprised that the monks question played the hardest but tbf the one I almost missed was wooly bully

Be sure to take at look at my abovementioned friend's current 1DS before it leaves at noon, JI Album Covers by Famous Artists.

The only one I missed on Garage Rock was Vox Continental. But at least I moneyed properly and I knew I was never gonna beat someone like RS on such a quiz.

JI Album Covers was pretty starkly split between 7 easy questions and then the rest extremely hard.

yeah

jaymc seems to have done the best of us here

glad to see I moneyed optimally, but was never going to get Howard Finster.

I summoned that one up somehow but chickened out of moneying it