Showdown Recap for 6 Dec 2016 at BWW Gibson in ABQ
Once again the Christmas season is upon us. BLZBUB thought that it might be a good idea to go downtown to look for locally owned businesses in which to buy presents for His acolytes. It turned out to be a mistake, of course. But it inspired Old Scratch to conjure up some doggerel to commemorate the occasion.
But before that He needed to sally once again to His weekly gathering of triviots, the Ragged Rascals at the BWW on Gibson Blvd. We were honored with the attendance of 12 regulars and two new potential team mates. All were anxious for the…
Worn-up Round
1. The Great ___ is a large breed of dog: PYRENEES.
2. Nearly three quarters of this state’s population lives in Clark County: NEVADA.
3. During the Cold War, Checkpoint ___was a place of note in Berlin, Germany: CHARLIE.
4. What country is home to the Boothia Peninsula: CANADA.
5. A gambler named Jim Smiley is one of many colorful characters created by: MARK TWAIN. {whiffed it.}
6. Which of these is a term commonly used in the sport of bowling: SLEEPER.
7. Rod Temperton wrote such hit songs as ‘Boogie Nights’ and this 1983 smash: THRILLER. {Whiffed it.}
8. The Cayman Islands were originally called ‘Las Tortugas’ because of their many: TURTLES.
9. Cavatelli are small pasta shells that look like tiny: HOT DOG BUNS.
10. Many historians refer to William Still as the father of: UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. {whiffed it}
The team went 7 for 10, with flubs on WU’s 5, 7, and 10.
Writing and polishing doggerel is harder than it initially seems, but some can be set to music. In honor of the season, BLZBUB has scribbled verse that may be sung to the tune of The Little Drummer Boy:
“A man upon the street, approaching me, smelling of rum
Have you some change to give, please give me some some
I said I have no coins to give to crumby rum bums,
Crumby rum bums,
Crumby Rum Bums”
Ground-down Round
1. Poet Emily Dickenson in the subject of this 1976 one-woman play: THE BELLE OF AMHERST.
2. The bilbies, or rabbit-eared bandicoots, are rare animals native to: AUSTRALIA.
3. The element cesium was discovered in 1860 by Gustav Kirchoff and: ROBERT BUNSEN.
4. What country elected Rodrigo Duterte as its new President this year: PHILIPPINES.
5. In the world of nature, what is a hornbeam: TREE.
6. ‘The ___ Eaters’ is a famous painting by Vincent van Gogh: POTATO.
7. Necrotizing fasciitis is commonly known as the ___ disease: FLESH EATING.
8. The state of Mississippi consists entirely of: LOWLANDS.
9. Which of these is a type of furniture: TABORET.
10. The citrus fruit tangerine gets its name from a: CITY.
11. If someone is ‘loaded to the gills,’ that means they are: DRUNK.
12. Who is credited with inventing Roller Derby in the 1930’s? DAMON RUNYAN.
Other than a 5-way split on GD 12, the team was perfect on this round. So “strive for excellence, rather than perfection” is good advice. More good advice can be found in the next verse:
“He wants to buy some booze so he can get numb,
He slowly walked away, with money none, none,
Had he flashed a knife, I would think myself dumb.
Think myself dumb,
Think myself dumb.”
Scatology Round
S1. PRESCRIPTION DRUGS v Phantom of the Opera
Opdivo is a ___ drug: CANCER. {No ideas being offered, leads to a 5-way split.}
S2. Human anatomy v 17th CENTURY HISTORY
In the mid 17th Century, George Fox founded what religious group? QUAKERS. {DUFF}
S3. GENERAL SCIENCE v vocabulary test
Heterocyclic amines usually form as a result of: GRILLING MEAT. {JAX lead the way, with an assist from Chef KURGAN.}
S4. 17TH CENTURY HISTORY v prescription drugs
In 1674, pirate Henry Morgan was knighted and named Lieutenant Governor of: JAMAICA. {CHILL was the first to call the correct crumby rum bumkinry.}
S5. Vocabulary test v HUMAN ANATOMY
The portal vein brings about 75 percent of the blood to the: LIVER. {Nice call CROEM!}
S6. Phantom of the Opera v GENERAL SCIENCE
Histidine, Serine and Valine are all: AMINO ACIDS. {CROEM, JAX, and DUFF must have eaten their protein today.}
Other than the goof on S1, the group was stroking like a V-8 on this round. And speaking of stroking…
“A hooker smiled at me and shook her tight bum,
She said you’ve got big cash, so give me some some.
For just a Benjamin I'll make you come come.
Make you come come, make you come come.”
Frightening Round
1. Sky is Europe’s leading: SATELLITE BROADCASTER.
2. A humanoid robot named Ava is a central character in this 2015 film. EX MACHINA.
3. Yoshinori Ohsumi won this year’s Nobel Prize for: PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE.
4. ‘They’re playing Our Song’ is a memoir by this prominent song lyricist: CAROL BAYER SAGER.
5. A diocese is a district under supervision of a: BISHOP.
6. By definition, something transpicuous is: EASILY UNDERSTOOD.
7. Joseph Heller’s 1994 book ‘Closing Time’ was a sequel to: CATCH-22.
Some people lost points on L4 as the team struggled to eliminate bad choices. The other questions fell like Christmas pines…fast and easy. For a while there it looked like BLZBUB would take the fall:
“A cop walking his beat was wanting some fun,
He started profiling me, because I was young,
He made me scared by fondling his gun,
Fondling his gun,
Fondling his gun.”
Py-Ram-It Round
P1. Who lived in the Chateau de Malmaison for a short time in 1815?
Choices: Beau Brummel, Louis XIV, Charles de Gaulle, Napoleon, Marquis de Sade
NAPOLEON. {CHILL made the immediate call.}
P2. Which term would a biology student most likely be familiar with?
Choices: nuagahyde, parallax, saprophyte, fendorite, defenestration
A: SAPROPHYTE. {DUFF, with an assist from JAX.}
P3. In what 1945 novel does Rex Mottram marry Lady Cordelia Flyte?
Choices: Jane Eyre, Brideshead Revisited, A Bell for Adano, The Concrete Jungle, and From Here to Eternity
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED. {DUFF, yet again, but with an assist from MEERA}
P4. Lying at an elevation of 5,800 feet, Lake Tana is the source of the ___ River.
Choices: Blue Nile, Po, Amazon, Rhine, Volga
A: BLUE NILE. {Our moderator, CHILL, was immoderate in his vigor with this answer.}
P5. Sir William Congreve gained fame in the early 19th Century when he designed a:
Choices: cotton gin, submarine, rocket, microscope, fountain pen
A: ROCKET. {HEBEGB lit the fuse on this one, averting BLZBUB’s red glare.}
The team had a few people split off on de Sade on P1 and a few more on “fendorite” (which doesn’t even come up on a post-game Google search as a real word) on P2. The rest of the team went 5 for 5 on this round. This undoubtedly left BLZBUB frazzled at the end of this round, much like His day in downtown ‘burque:
“I had to scurry home and find my good rum,
To forget this day, I had to get numb.
I slammed five shots of Rougaroux* Rum,
Rougaroux Rum,
Rougaroux Rum.”
*Rougaroux Rum is a fine product of the Donner-Peltier Distillery of Thibodaux, LA, home town of BLZBUB. He highly recommends their “Thirteen Pennies” pecan praline flavored rum for your holiday eggnog.
http://www.dpdspirits.com/home/FINAL TRAGEDY
Topic: PRESIDENTIAL RACES
In 1916, this future Chief Justice lost the Presidential race to Woodrow Wilson:
1. Benjamin Cardoza
2. Henry Clay
3. Oliver Wendell Holmes
4. William Jennings Bryan
5. Charles Evans Hughes
The order of the eliminations was 3, 4, 1, and 2, leaving #5, CHARLES EVANS HUGHES, as the correct answer. The call for this question was delayed slightly by the amount of verbiage one needed to read through before arriving at #5. Most of the team lost about 10% of their wager coming into this question. Still, when a player gets 17000 of a possible 19000 points for this question, they are doing quite well.
The top individual scores for the night were 57697, 57550, 57434, 56796, 56786, and 56647 points
The team average score was 57,151 points.
The team’s ranking was FIFTH Place. Without the stress of playing a tournament game, the team had its highest score since 23 August 2016. It’s a Christmas miracle!
Congratulations go out to The Fellowship for yet another win at 61234 points. Then there are two or three Borg collectives, making the Ragged Rascals the second or third best wetware team in the system again. Congrats also to our friends at the BWW’s in Columbia, MD and Kalamazoo, MI for fine scores, along with Mad River of NYC. BLZBUB is also willing to wager that the crew at Danny K’s in Orange, CA with their score of 55327 is thanking their lucky stars that this game was not the Final of the Sandbagger Tourney.
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