New Scaratings

Showdown Recap for 4 Apr 2017 at BWW Gibson in ABQ

This Tuesday’s game featured adventures in temperature control at the BWW on Gibson in the ABQ. The management couldn’t get the temperature comfortable in the main dining area, so they kept blasting alternately the air conditioner and the heater in the patio area. Presumably the brain-eaten victims in their zombie management thought that mixing the two zones would cure the problem. Instead this resulted in the Ragged Rascals putting on and peeling off jackets several times throughout the evening. <SIGH>

On the bright side, we no longer need to worry about basketball fanatics unexpectedly bursting into paroxysms of joy or disgust. BLZBUB has never seen the reason for any interest in a sport he deems “short attention span theater.” But since the spectacle continues to exist, He has some suggestions for improvement of the game.

Worn-up Round

1. The Tin Lizzie was the nickname for an early 20TH Century: CAR.
2. In contrast to most heavenly bodies, ___ has little atmosphere: THE MOON.
3. James Delligatti created this popular sandwich that made its debut in 1967: BIG MAC.
4. Devils Tower rises more than 1200 feet above the Belle Fourche River in: WYOMING.
5. Which item listed is a hypothetical subatomic particle? AXION.
6. In what European city was Checkpoint Charlie an important location from 1961 to 1989? BERLIN.
7. The Corderilla Merida is a Venezuelan: MOUNTAIN RANGE.
8. Georgetown, Kentucky is home to a ___ manufacturing facility: TOYOTA.
9. The border trilogy is a series of three novels written in the 1990’s by: CORMAC MCCARTHY.
10. Born in 1861, Jose Rizal played a key role in gaining the independence of: THE PHILIPPINES.

{The team went 10 for 10 on this round, and hopes to continue strong for five more rounds.}

BBall suggestion #1: Move the three point line to half-court.

Ground-down Round

1. Her ghost appears in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”: MADELINE USHER.
2. Turacos, members of the family Musophagidae, are ___ endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. BIRDS.
3. Which word would be a definition of ‘ancillary’? SUPPLEMENTARY.
4. In U.S. history, Meyer Lansky was instrumental in forming the: NATIONAL CRIME SYNDICATE.
5. ‘Bottomless Pit’ is a term that first appeared in which work: BIBLE.
6. What should one do with a biretta? WEAR IT.
7. Which of these islands is part of the Windward Islands chain? MARTINIQUE.
8. Under the name Eugen Sandow, F.W. Miller became a pioneer in this sport: BODYBUILDING.
9. Laterite is a type of soil most likely found in climates that: HOT AND TROPICAL.
10. Joseph Asagi wants to go to Nigeria in this play that debuted on Broadway in 1959: A RAISIN IN THE SUN.
11. Which country was the world’s leading producer of uranium 2015? KAZAKHSTAN.
12. The Dominican nun known as Catherine of ___ is known for her mystical writings. SIENA.

{This round, as usual, was more difficult for us. The team needed the third clue on questions WU 1, 6, 9, and 10.}

BBall suggestion #2: The slam dunk is worth only one point, unless the player launches from the free point line or beyond.

Scatology Round

S1. FIRST LADIES v musicals
What First Lady was the first to have both a husband and a son as U.S. President?
ABIGAIL ADAMS. {Greek chorus}

S2. INDONESIAN CUISINE v literary characters
Nasi Goreng, considered the most common dish in Indonesia, is: FRIED RICE. {JAX and WALACE}

S3. WORLD CITIES v fashion designers
Which city is located about 40 miles from the Red Sea? MECCA. {SCOOTR}

S4. Literary characters v FIRST LADIES
Which U.S. First Lady is mismatched with her husband?
SARAH – ULYSSES S. GRANT {CHILL}

S5. Fashion designers v INDONESIAN CUISINE
In Indonesian cuisine, Martabak is a delectable: STUFFED PANCAKE. {WALACE}

S6. Musicals v WORLD CITIES
The city of Hyderabad is the capital of a state in: INDIA. {MEERA}

{The team has “chosen wisely” to quote a fictional Knight Templar.}

BBall suggestion #3: Abolish the charging fowl to return the balance of the game to defense.


Frightening Round

1. ‘Silence,’ Martin Scorsese’s latest film is set in this country: JAPAN.
2. An inactive or sluggish person would best be described as: TORPID.
3. Warren Buffet is estimated to have slightly over ___ dollars in assets: 78 BILLION. {Ack, gag, snort, wheeze…BLZBUB misread choice ’65 Million’ as Billion. SHEIT!}
4. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a state whose existence is vigorously disputed in: MOROCCO.
5. ‘Peace Trail’ is a new CD from this legend of rock and roll: NEIL YOUNG. {GACK! KURGAN took us down the wrong trail which ended in another disappointment from Bob Dylan.}
6. Which term would best apply to a person who is extremely emotionally dependent on another? CLINGING VINE.
7. Chablis is a popular French ___wine: WHITE.

{That round cost us a bunch of points, and was also nearly as bad as missing the last question.}

BBall suggestion #4: Allow body checking against players not handling the ball, thus forcing more strategic passing.

Py-Ram-It Round
[missing from video: questions are paraphrased…need a helping hand for these]

P1. Which mineral is an ‘Eight’ on the Mohs scale of hardness?
TOPAZ.

P2. The phrase “???” appears in which famous document:
U.S. CONSTITUTION

P3. …some question about an author…
HOWL.

P4. Which famous historical figure died (in battle?) near the river Silarus?
SPARTACUS

P5. Whale, megamouth, and basking sharks mainly eat only:
PLANKTON.

{The team struggled a bit on this round. Although there were pre-calls on P2 and P5 and an early call on P1, there were splits on P3 and P4. This left the team with six boxes on 4 of 5 correct, and the remainder on 3 of 5 after this round.}

BBall suggestion #5: Put 2 minutes on the clock, put 70 points on the scoreboard for each team, and get this BITCH OVER NOW!

FINAL TRAGEDY
Topic: FRENCH ROYALTY

Catherine de’ Medici was the Queen of France as the wife of this King:

1. Charlemagne
2. Richard III
3. Urban V
4. Louis XIV
5. Henry II

The order of the eliminations was 2, 4, 1, and 3, leaving #5, HENRY II, as the correct answer. There was a bit of a delay by “history boy” aka DUFF, which allowed MEERA to speak up first with the correct answer.

The top individual scores for the night were 54987, 54637, 53960, 50536, 50482, and 49518.
The team average score was 53,351 points.
The team’s ranking was SIXTH Place.

Congrats go to The Fellowship for another win at 58586 points. A suspected Borg unit finished next…meh. The legitimate 2nd place finish goes to Mad River of NYC at 54724, with the BWW Arlington VA at third with 53609 points.

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

_________________
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!!!!!

First literary characters: Which of these Dickens characters went to America?
A: Martin Chuzzlewit
We took the second Fashion Designers Q as well, but I can't recall it, other than that it was a male designer and we were asked to name the decade in which he bacame popular, which was the '60s.
The Pyramid Q that K couldn't recall was "What poem is dedicated to Carl Solomon?" A was Howl.

We knew we wanted to avoid Indonesian cuisine. S2's answer has already been posted, so:

S5. FASHION DESIGNERS vs. Indonesian cuisine
The flamboyant Michael Fish did his work in THE 1960S.

(And this was a good night for us, both as a team and for me personally. I'm most glad of our 11th place team finish [behind at least 2 teams known to play in the electronic research division], but my individual 4th place finish is, I believe, my best ever in Showdown.)

--Rick Magnus
RickM, Blue Goose

I believe the 2nd pyramid question was in what document does the Emoluments Clause appear?

DIABLO has a strong Constitution.

The question was something like "Which of these literary works was dedicated to Carl Solomon." MEH made a nice precall here for us.

The second "Musicals" question asked something like "'The Shop Around the Corner" and "The Good Old Summertime" were the inspiration for which musical?" (SHE LOVES ME)
(We didn't love that question).

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