1) A character of this book series spends an entire book to avoid being promoted to that book's titular rank. Eleven consecutive books in this series diverge from historical events, before returning to history near its end. (*) Diana Villiers is the love interest of a Royal Navy surgeon, one of the protagonists of, for ten points, this series of nautical novels set during the Napoleonic Wars.

Answer: Aubrey-Mathurin (the first clue refers to the Yellow Admiral)

2) ZZZZ (Zee) Best committed this type of crime to launch an initial public offering. It has been theorized that employees most likely to commit these crimes against their employers are in the C-suite. (*) A model explaining the decision to commit this type of crimes has a triangle named after it. For ten points, name this class of crimes to which Ponzi pyramids belong.

Answer: Fraud (prompt on financial crimes)

3) The American exclave of Point Roberts borders this Canadian province. The Okanagan Valley is home to the majority of this province's agricultural industry. (*) The Lower Mainland houses the majority of this province's population. For ten points, name this province whose largest city shares its name with an island on which that city isn't.

Answer: British Columbia (accept BC; the last clue refers to Vancouver)

4) This Spanish figure was sent by Sancho II to bring Alfonso VI to the negotiating table. He was brought back to the Leon fold after a crushing Christian defeat to the hands of the (*) Almoravids. He was exiled from Leon service for leading an unauthorized expedition in Toledo, and then serving the Moors, which, for ten points, coexisted in Valencia during his reign over that city.

Answer: El Cid (accept Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar)

5) Disruptions in this organ's electric signals can result in diseases known as arrythmias. Attacks on this organ are caused by either the rupture or clogging of coronary arteries. (*) In humans, this organ comprises four chambers, the atria and the ventricles, which, for ten points, pump blood around the body.

Answer: Heart

6) A ninth century BC Assyrian bas-relief depicts this weapon fighting around a city's walls. In the Return of the King, ordinary examples of this weapon are unsuccessfully deployed before (*) Grond. Capped weapons of this type carried metal accessories at their heads, which made them more effective at, for ten points, their role of breaching city gates.

Answer: (Battering) ram

7) This ukiyo-e artist held a position as a fire warden in Edo Castle during his early career. Like others in the Utagawa School, his art influenced European artists who turned to (*) Japanism. His death marked the decline of ukiyo-e art. For ten points, name this Japanese artist bet known for his scenes of major Japanese roads.

Answer: Hiroshige (the last clue refers to the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido and the Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kiso Kaido)

8) In this novel, the titular character escapes prison while his future stepbrother dies in captivity. He inherits part of an estate when he marries Catalina Bernal. (*) The titular character of this Carlos Fuentes novel tells the story through a series of flashbacks occurring on his death bed which, for ten points, deals with the betrayal of the ideals of the Mexican Revolution.

Answer: The Death of Artemio Cruz (accept La Muerte de Artemio Cruz)

9) The high-performance variant of this chemical lab technique uses high-pressure pumps to push the mobile phase through a cylinder. Stationary phases of this method are separated by either their bed shapes or the physical state of the mobile phase. (*) Using this laboratory method yields results in bands of colors. For ten points, name this laboratory method used to separate solutes.

Answer: Chromatography

10) The second movement from Beethoven's seventh symphony is named after this tempo. This tempo originally implied a pace slightly faster than andante but is now slightly slower than allegro. (*) In today's classical music, this tempo denotes a pace of approximately one hundred ten to one hundred twenty beats per minutes, which, for ten points, denotes a moderately fast tempo in modern music.

Amswer: Allegretto

11) This German city was the seat of the Reichsgericht during the Second and Third Reichs. It was the major target of the first day of Big Week in World War II. (*) During the Napoleonic Wars, a massive battle known as the Battle of Nations took place in this city. For ten points, name the largest city of the German state of Saxony.

Answer: Leipzig

12) This novel's protagonist served four years for manslaughter and hitches a ride on a truck with farm hands. To raise money for the trip to California, this novel's farmers are forced to pawn off their possessions at very low prices. (*) California's history of exploitation and abuse is explored in this novel which, for ten points, was written by John Steinbeck against the backdrop of the Dust Bowl.

Answer: The Grapes of Wrath

13) Microwave thermal treatment transforms this mineral into porcelain and ceramic. This material was used in car brakes and fireproofing prior to the 1980s. (*) Chrysotile and crocidolite are two of the main varieties of this fibrous mineral, the usage of both were, for ten points, banned over risks of pulmonary cancers from exposure to its dust.

Answer: Asbestos

14) This Mesopotamian myth involves the titular character casting a spell to unify the languages of the world. Both the titular character and the Lord of Aratta engage in battle using magic-using champions. (*) The titular character invents writing in response to his messenger's complaints over message length and difficulty of recall and remembrance. For ten points, name this mythical king fighting against Aratta for the favors of Inanna.

Answer: Enmerkar

15) In an attempt to break the stalemate this bill caused in Congress, Henry Clay split it in two parts. Under the provisions of this bill, Maine's admission to the Union was conditional to the admission of its titular state as a slave state. (*) It was effectively repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. For ten points, name this bill that effectively separated north and south along slavery lines.

Answer: Missouri Compromise

16) In the nineteenth century, philosopher John Stuart Mill recommended taxing that practice as a means to counter it. According to Duesenberry, a person's engagement with this practice depends on both absolute and relative levels of spending. (*) As their prices increase, Veblen goods become more attractive to engage in this practice, which, for ten points, involves spending to either attain or maintain social status.

Answer: Conspicuous consumption (prompt on consumption alone)

17) A 2019 article from The Independent compared this literary trope to men having a combination of traits known as the dark triad. The titular character of one of Tay Marley's books played quarterback on the football team. (*) This young adult literary trope that dominated Wattpad in the mid-2010s, which, for ten points, was characterized by an attractive troublemaker wearing black and riding a motorcycle.

Answer: Bad boy (or bad person; the second clue refers to The QB Bad Boy and Me)

18) Two classes of these celestial bodies are referred to as near-Earth and trans-Neptunian. These celestial bodies are theorized to be remnants of a protoplanetary disk. (*) The Cretacean mass extinction was caused by the fall of one of these celestial bodies 65 million years ago. For ten points, name the celestial bodies forming a belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Answer: Asteroids

19) In the third season of this TV series, the popularity of Starcourt Mall forced many local businesses to close. An entity named Vecna starts killing the residents of this series' main town during its (*) fourth season. One of the series' core characters is a psychic teenage girl codenamed Eleven. For ten points, name the TV series featuring recurrent interactions with an alternate dimension, the Upside Down.

Answer: Stranger Things

20) The Lebesgue form of this operation allows it to be performed on functions with an infinite number of discontinuities. Fubini's theorem states that, in multiple variables, you may perform it in any order. (*) Performing this operation on products of functions is often done by parts, which, for ten points, is the reverse operation of differentiation.

Answer: Integration