New Scaratings

The team assembled for the routine challenge of beating the BUZZTIME clue writers. The team was concerned that the BUZZIES would torture us again with another set of intractable questions. There was a massive amount of doubt about the motives of the BUZZIES, so we agreed to an experiment. We agreed to get strapped to an electrode for the duration of the game. The BUZZIES appointed agent, Mister BUZZ HEAD, will trigger a shock every time we miss a question. Most of my team believes Mr. Buzz Head will not torture us intentionally.

Worn-up Round

1. An oligarch is a member of a/an: ELITE POWER GROUP. 2. Addison’s disease is caused by ___function failure: ADRENOCORTICAL. 3. Patrick Bateman is the main character in this novel: AMERICAN PSYCHO. 4. Pearls that are irregular in shape are: BAROQUE. 5. A creel is a ___ used by a fisherman: WICKER BASKET. 6. The “dismal science” is a term by Thomas Carlyle for this field: ECONOMICS. 7. In Greek myth, Polynices and Eteocles are the sons of: OEDIPUS. 8. It is made by steaming and drying cracked durum wheat: COUSCOUS. 9. In Japan, a tatami is a type of: MAT. 10. In which city can you see the tomb of Leonidas? SPARTA.

Wow, we got all of the above questions correct. Now Dr. Buzztime reveals a wrinkle to the test. He will tell Mr. Buzz Head to start at 15 Volts, but will increase the voltage by 15 volts for every missed question.

Ground-down Round

1. “Ladies Who Lunch” and “Move On” are songs by: STEPHEN SONDHEIM. {Incorrect. Mr Head, please administer 15 Volts. bzzt.} 2. Editing or revising a manuscript on the basis of a critical analysis ia a/an: RECENSION. 3. Once misclassified as fungi, they live in moist, terrestrial habitats: SLIME MOLD. 4. Red-tailed, rubber and rainbow are types of: BOAS. {30 Volts. bzzzt.} 5. Which President was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences? JOHN ADAMS. {45 Volts. bzzzzt.} 6. The Claddagh ring belongs to traditional __ culture: IRISH. 7. The Physiocrats were a group of historically significant: ECONOMISTS. 8. Affinage is a maturing and refining of: CHEESE. {60 V. Bzzt. US: “OW.”} 9. The Peter Principle applies to this field: BUSINESS. 10. Leopold Senghor, Aime Cesaire and Leon Damas are names from the __ movement: NEGRITUDE. {75 V. BZzt. US: “Hey, that stings.”} 11. Olympic speed skater Anton Apollo Ohno’s father is: JAPANESE. 12. Which giant of the entrepenurial world died at age 56 in Oct 2011: STEVE JOBS

We’ve been fooled by several questions by now. However, Mr. Buzz Head is showing little sign of discomfort at our pain. Now the missed questions are beginning to hurt.

Scatological Round:

1. Prison writings v 2011 NOBEL PRIZES
Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, and Adam Reiss won in this category: PHYSICS (correct.)

2. West Africa v VOCABULARY
A syllepsis is a/an: RHETORICAL DEVICE (Correct.)

3. GEOGRAPHY v new autobiographies:
The moxos plains and the cordillera oriental are features in this country: BOLIVIA (Correct.)

4. VOCABULARY v prison writings
Smaragdine is a term relating to this (object/color?): EMERALD {90 Volts. BZZT. US: “Ungh!”}

5. NEW AUTOBIOGRAPHIES v west Africa
The recent memoir, “Drama; an Actor’s Life” is by: JOHN LITHGOW (Correct.)

6. 2011 NOBEL PRIZE v geography
Ralph Steiman, Bruce Beulter and Jules Hoffman won the award for: PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE (Correct.)

Frightening Round:

1. Stefani Gerrmanotta is better known to the public as: LADY GAGA. 2. Which language was invented by a Polish doctor? ESPERANTO. 3. Coca-Cola was invented by a druggist from this southern state: GEORGIA. 4. Metaphorically, to give something one’s imprimatur is to give it one’s: MARK OF APPROVAL. 5. A 30-foot statue of __ was dedicated in Washington, DC this year: MARTIN LUTHER KING. 6. Founded by Roman Catholics, Fordham University has three campuses in and around: NEW YORK CITY. (All correct up ‘til now.) 7. Which Italian city is closest to Perugia? ROME. {Mr. Head, administer 105 Volts. BZZZT. US: “AURGHHH!}

If Mr Buzz Head has any idea of the pain he’s inflicting, he shows no sign.

Py-ram-it Round:

P1. Fish of the genus sebastes are given this common name: ROCKFISH {120 V. BZZZT! US: “AAAAAUGHH, you’re hurting us, dude.}

P2. Friedrich Schiller wrote a seminal essay dividing poets into these two categories: NAÏVE – SENTIMENTAL {135 V. BZ#Z#ZT! US: “GRRRR, Jeebus!}

P3. In science, the Young-Helmholtz and opponent process theories concern: COLOR VISION {150 Volts. BZZ##ZZ##ZT! US: “OWWWW! Please stop, we can’t take it anymore!”}

P4. Critic and curator Lawrence Alloway is credited with coining this term: POP ART {DR. Buzztime, “Please continue Mr. Head…administer the punishment. 165 VOLTS BZZZ###ZZZ###ZT! US: “AAAAA, please, for the love of the Trivia Goddess, please stop!”}

P5. In which literature is the “Superfluous Man” an important type: RUSSIAN {180 Volts. (We feel nothing, we’ve passed out.)}
Mr. Buzz Head was clearly conflicted, but continued to administer the punishment anyway.

FINAL TRAGEDY, on the Topic: LAW

Hugo Grotius laid the foundations for what is now called: INTERNATIONAL LAW. (Correct.)
{DUFF with a classic pre-call of a classic piece of humanist philosophy.}

The torture is finally over. I think most of us survived, but no one is enjoying the experience.

The test subjects’ top scores were a shocking 41485, 41195, 38946, 37881, 37210, and 36990. The unelectrifying team average was a lowly 38,951. We were relieved that no more shocks were to be administered to our reeling neurological systems. At this point, we were speculating that the other test subjects had as hard a time with this game as we did. Proof of this came with the national rankings. The Crotches Crewe finished in 20th place.

Now we can reveal our part in the experiment. We were not actually connected to the electrodes, but acted as if we were. The test was to see if Mr. Buzz Head would continue to exhibit cruelty in the face of our obvious pain.
___
The experiment above was written with BLZBUBic license. The details of the actual experiment, conducted in the 1960s by Dr. Stanley Milgram are more complex. He showed that average human beings were capable of inflicting torture if prompted to do so by a trusted authority figure.

www.stanleymilgram.com
www.answers.com/topic/stanley-milgram
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Milgram

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}}}--( (x) (x) )--->
Oh my gawd, they killed
Ken Z.
You bastards!

Thanks as always for the updates. I would add different categories, but we apparently picked all the same ones.

Speaking of which, did anyone take Spanish Poets, Prison Literature, or German films the last few weeks? A team mate of mine is itching to know what we didn't pick.

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

The first prison writings was along the lines of "HE RECOUNTED TIME SPENT IN PRISON IN "CONVERSATIONS WITH MYSELF" - Nelson Mandela

West Africa Q1 - The Wolof people are mainly in which country? - Senegal

West Africa Q2 - The Fon people are mainly in which country? - Benin

Thanks!

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

On the German films, I refer you initially to your own post on the subject!

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1359

The other one, according to AARDVK, was asking who directed two films, one of which was "Fear Eats the Soul" and the other of which I had not heard of. I would have got that one too.

Yes, we took that one ourselves. My teammate I think desperately wanted to take it again, but in the benevolent chaocracy that is The Fellowship, there are often close votes both ways on categories. From the sound of it, it seems we made the right decision not to take it again, although for all I know he would have precalled this (he has a habit of precalling stuff the rest of us scratch our heads over).

In any case, thank you VERY MUCH for this--he's been asking me about this and the Spanish Poets for weeks now, but does not frequent these boards.

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."