New Scaratings

Showdown Recap for 24 Jan 2017 at BWW Gibson in ABQ

The team is ready. The questions are inbound. The communication this week is better than the last. All of this points to a better result for this week, but will the questions be within our memory’s grasp? The slant of the games of the recent weeks has been decidedly towards the current events with an increasing protrusion of the entertainment camel’s nose under the tent flap. Will this lazy question-writer’s trend continue? Stay tuned for the…

Worn-up Round

1. A sports car lover would know that the Nissan GT-R is nicknamed after: GODZILLA
2. A tuft of hair on the head that can’t be easily combed flat is called a: COWLICK.
3. Firenze and Magorian are the names of ___ in the magic world Harry Potter: CENTAURS.
4. Find the real plant among the ones we have made up: FARKLEBERRY. {Thorny question}
5. If you are learning ‘Ruby’ what are you MASTERING? PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.
6. Stephen Foster composed a famous 1854 song about ‘___ with the Light Brown Hair.’ JEANIE.
7. Sherwin-Williams is a company known for this slogan: COVER THE EARTH.
8. Uttar Pradesh is to India as ___ is to the United States: CALIFORNIA.
9. In the world of nature, what is a privet? FLOWERING PLANT.
10. Which English word is derived from an Italian word for ‘cellar’? CANTEEN.

[The results of this round were a heartening 9 for 10 correct. We don’t give a farkle about your southern berry.]

There were a few tasty questions in this round, but a few left a bitter beer taste in our mouths. But at least the BWW has recently installed a new local beer from the Marble Brewery, their tasty Double White – a nice 7% ABV brew. But the name leaves a lot to be desired. It seems that with the explosion of microbrews and independent brewhouses in the U.S. innovative names for their products are being overcrowded. BLZBUB must take a whack at coining some new ideas for provocative names for beers.

Ground-down Round

1. “The Poorhouse Fair” is a 1959 novel by: JOHN UPDIKE.
2. The systolic click murmur syndrome is an abnormality of the: HEART.
3. If you’re on the Island Sark, you have a great view of the: ENGLISH CHANNEL.
4. Thomas Cole is considered the Father of U.S. ___ Painting. LANDSCAPE.
5. The Kuomintang is a political party founded in ___ in 1912. TAIWAN.
6. Ayida-Weddo, the Rainbow Serpent, is a revered entity in: VODOU.
7. This is the favorite food of Eeyore, the gloomy donkey in “Winnie the Pooh.” THISTLES.
8. Parsley, tarragon, and chives give the color to this salad dressing: GREEN GODDESS.
9. What role does Matt Damon play in the 2009 movie ‘Invictus’? RUGBY PLAYER.
10. TEM, SEM, REM, and STEM are types of ___ microscopes: ELECTRON.
11. England’s Oxford University is famous for its Bodleian: LIBRARY.
12. Which political figure of the 20TH Century was known as the ‘Gangbuster’? THOMAS DEWEY.

[As is usual, this round ground down our point totals. There were misses (3rd clue saves) on GD’s 1, 6, and 7. There was a bit of a delay on GD 12 while we switched from Coolidge to Dewey, but little harm done.]

BLZBUB wonders what his alter ego Ken Z., a retired physicist, might be tempted to name beers if that fellow started a brewery. Would he be swayed to the dark side and PUNish his guest with names such as Non-alcoholic Neutron or Cherry Pion Pilsner? Or would he play it straight with his Boson Barley Brew? At least he’d have something to sip while playing the…

Scatology Round

S1. Food v ROCK MUSICIANS
Robert Smith of ___ has been called the poster child of gloom and doom. THE CURE {KURGAN finally gets one in his wheel-house tonight and makes the pre-call.}

S2. Gemstones v LAS VEGAS
The Bellagio in Las Vegas is famous for its nightly outdoor ___ show. WATER. {KURGAN and HEBEGB made the first, best suggestion.}

S3. ANCIENT BATTLES v sports for dummies
Fought in 480 B.C., the Battle of Salamis was a big victory for ___ forces: GREEK. {DUFF and CHILL, who was a spear carrier for the Athenian General, called this.}

S4. Las Vegas v FOOD
Traditional pesto sauce is made from basil leaves, garlic, olive oil, and: PINE NUTS. {JAX and KURGAN made suggestions. JAX’s proved to be the answer.}

S5. SPORTS FOR DUMMIES v gemstones
Which sport has an on-deck circle? BASEBALL. {Greek chorus}

S6. Rock musicians v ANCIENT BATTLES
The Battle of Issus, fought in 333 B.C., was a victory for the forces of: ALEXANDER THE GREAT. {DUFF and CHILL again battled to see who’d call it first…dead heat}

[This was another good round. The team went 6 for 6 correct. Lots of people wanted to pick the second rock musician query. Of course all of the alter-gory questions are of interest to someone out there. Let’s send ‘em in folks.]

Now just suppose Ken Z’s financial advisor decided to pitch some names his way. Would he try to sell Apple-Jack Beni-ficiary? Or could you soon see on your shelves an Annuity Amber or even a Squandered Inheritance?

BLZBUB just hopes the team does not accept a squandered lead during the…


Frightening Round

1. ___ Fire TV is a tiny box you connect to your HDTV. AMAZON.
2. Which Latin term refers to the privacy of a judge’s chambers? IN CAMERA.
3. Asian weather phenomenon Meranti was in the news in September 2016. What was it? TYPHOON.
4. Which is an example of a multi-hulled watercraft? CATAMARAN.
5. Who’s new music release is titled ‘24K Magic’? BRUNO MARS.
6. Which athlete would be most concerned about his backswing? GOLFER.
7. In December 2016, the Russian Ambassador to ___ was assassinated. TURKEY.

[The team got 7 of 7 correct. HUZZAH!]

A trip to the auto mechanic inspired some more possible beer names. He liked Steering Steel Stout. He would even consider Vroom-Vroom Kaboom and Wrecked Radiator Red. But he would leave Hubba-Hubba Hubcap by the side of the road.

Py-Ram-It Round

P1. The pallid ___ is an endangered species of fish native to the U.S. South and West.
Choices: Barracuda, Marlin, Catfish, Carp, Sturgeon
STURGEON. {MEERA made a tentative call for this at first, but then backed it up more convincingly.

P2. Which river’s source is in the Adirondack Mountains?
Choices: St. Lawrence, Charles, Allegheny, Colorado, Hudson
HUDSON. {On a split with Allegheny…we have no Easterners on the team tonight.}

P3. The ___ Wars were civil wars fought in Spain in the 19th Century.
Choices: Punic, Mercantile, Frugalist, Carlist, Piedmont
CARLIST. {BLZBUB made the call, with some trepidation, as this is usually DUFF’s bailiwick.}

P4. Which planet has at least 1,600 major volcanoes?
Choices: Neptune, Venus, Saturn, Saturn (sic, BUZZIE, sic), Jupiter.
VENUS. {Pre-calls for Mars were quickly replaced with calls for Venus, the only rocky planet on the list. Then we had to sweat it out waiting for the bogus double-Saturn listing not to hide another plausible answer by mistake. This is exactly the kind of sheit that drives Showdown players crazy. Can you PLEASE get a competent proofreader over there, BUZZTIME?}

P5. Historian Matthew Josephson popularized this term during the 1930’s Depression:
Choices: Hula Hoop, Robber Baron, Natural Selection, Rags to Riches, Big Bang
ROBBER BARON. {Since the term ‘robber baron’ had been around long before the 1930’s, we dismissed it as a choice, forcing us to settle on the ‘rags to riches.’ OUCH.}

[Another tough Pyramid round? Yep. This one cost us dearly. Only four boxes finished the round with 4 of 5 correct. Then six boxes sat at 3 of 5 correct, followed by six at 2 of 5 correct.]

Now of course BLZBUB is fond of strippers, if they have a heart of gold like a good lager. But what if Ken Z. got the wild idea to open a stripper brew pub? Would you drink his Pasty White Legar or his Dance Pole Porter? Every beer drinking male he knows would love a Bodacious Booby Brown. And most would love to slam a Beer Thong Pounder.

FINAL TRAGEDY
Topic: DOGS

Which dog hunts mainly by sight and speed, as opposed to smell and endurance?

1. Brussels Griffon
2. Papillon
3. Afghan Hound
4. Manchester Terrier
5. Maltese

The order of the eliminations was 2, 5, 4, and 2, leaving #3, AFGHAN HOUND, as the correct answer.

The top individual scores for the night were 50488, 49995, 49503, 49195, 46373, and 45807 points.
The team average score was 48,560 points.
The team’s ranking was SEVENTEENTH Place.

As BLZBUB is winging his way to his home grounds on the bayou, this recap is being posted before the official Buzztime rankings are due. But as of Tuesday night the winner of the wetware division in The Fellowship at the BWW in Kent, OH with 58289 points. Other authenticated non-Borg teams in the Top Ten include:
Tailgate, Minneapolis, MN @ 56403,
Moose McGuires, Ottawa, ON @ 53310,
Stained Glass Pub, Elkridge, MD @ 51982,
Tilted Kilt, Scottsdale, AZ @ 51044,
and Mad River, NYC, NY @ 50711.

Finally, as a parting beer and shot, here are three more proposed monikers for a new beer being brewed by a friend of BLZBUB. That friend would like to brew an easy drinking pilsner with a below 5% Alcohol by Volume. It needs a name. Tell him here which you like best:
1. Quixotic Quaff
2. Quotidian Quaff
3. Querulous Quaff

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

The first food question asked something like, "Boston and Butter are other names for ________ lettuce." (BIBB)

The first gemstones question asked for the name of the gem that means "green gem" in Greek. As EMERALD was the only obviously green choice given, this one was a bit of a gimme.

Thanks as always for the updates!

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

3. Sports for Dummies - who would be concerned about birdies? GOLFER

4. Las Vegas - what's the first name of the big neon cowboy downtown? - VIC

_________________
liljol, still residing in a humble lil abode in Buzztime's Backyard, San Diego County, in The Horribly Site-Poor Golden State, California...

<--805 NTN Buzztime sites visited as of 11/13/2018...

F CUBS!!!!! FBOSOX!!!!!

FPDRES!!!!! FCHGRS!!!!!

Since my memory is persistent like a Salvador Dali timepiece keeps time, it would be helpful were someone else to confirm this:

S5: Gemstones: A birthstone for the month of November? TOPAZ

I felt badly for SPOON, seated to my left. He was playing for a 62, going into the Pyramid. I didn't answer "Sturgeon," nor "Robber Baron," and took him down with me. Four of our ten playmakers went 5 for 5. Maybe stubbornness is not altogether the noble virtue I imagine it to be.



I'm coming around to Old Scratch's notion that feng shui has its place. Six months in, the quandary of having 8-10 players in a group is still a novelty to me. With ten of us surrounding a couple of scrunched-up 4 tops, and my sitting apart from the players whose conjectures I find most decipherable, SPOON should have collected a 60.

The other players at the table are basically Tuesday night only. As a daily player, with far broader experience in player-player and player-civilian dynamics, I need to be more assertive.

"But Scrawn D," you may be asking: "Assertive of what?"

Buzztime blew it again on question 5 in the 2nd Round. In 1912, the Chinese National Party, the Koumintang (KMT), was founded in Beijing. While Taiwan was the most plausible answer, KMT did not figure with any prominence in Taiwan until Chiang decamped there in 1949 after losing the civil war against Mao and the Communists.

_________________
Merkin