New Scaratings

Warm-up Round (10 Questions, 500 Points each, 14 seconds to answer after posting of Question & 5 Choices; No Clues):

1. Kentucky, Virginia, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are all officially called:_____________________.
[Choices: Commonwealths, Coalitions, Unions, Federations, Polities ]

2. Shinny is an informal type of:_________________________.
[Choices: Billiards, Cricket, Tennis, Golf, Hockey ]

3. Which of these entities is nicknamed "The Big Board"?__________________________
[Choices: Canadian Parliament, General Electric, New York Stock Exchange, National Football League, European Commission ]

4. __________-239 is an isotope used in making nuclear weapons.
[Choices: Berkelium, Plutonium, Boron, Krypton, Nickel ]

5. The Southern Alps contain the highest peak in:_______________________.
[Choices: Morocco, Poland, New Zealand, Argentina, Spain ]

6. What is Facebook calling its new proposed cryptocurrency?_____________________
[Choices: Zloty, D'or, Libra, Geld, L'argent ]

7. The National Corvette Museum is found in this Bluegrass State:______________________.
[Choices: Virginia, Tennessee, California, Idaho, Kentucky ]

8. By definition, a ___________________ person is one who is skillful.
[Choices: Melancholic, Reviled, Magnanimous, Bileous, Dexterous ]

9. The city of Fredericton serves as the capital of this Canadian province:_____________________.
[Choices: Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario ]

10. Worcestershire sauce gets its name from a county in:________________________.
[Choices: Wales, France, England, Massachusetts, Australia ]




Countdown Round (12 Questions, 1000 Points each, Points decrease rapidly from 4 to 16 seconds, and with 3 Clues):

11. Mary Surratt, the first woman executed by the U.S. government, was involved in this crime:__________________________.
[Choices: Teapot Dome Scandal, Lindbergh baby kidnap, Lincoln's assassination, Oklahoma City bombing, Tate-La Bianca murders ]

12. Which oddly-named creature belongs to the Vespidae Family?_______________________
[Choices: Frill-necked lizard, Spiny lumpsucker, Giant coconut crab, Goblin shark, Bald-faced hornet ]

13. What city hosted the World Pride celebration this year?_______________________
[Choices: Mumbai, New York, Riyadh, Montevideo, Pyongyang ]

14. Which person would be most interested in a cadenza?________________________
[Choices: Furniture designer, Botanist, Musician, Astronaut, Plumber ]

15. This flowering plant is often called the "flame of the forest":____________________.
[Choices: Striped alder, Baobab, Saffron crocus, Royal Poinciana, Hound's berry ]

16. Brazil's Chico Mendes, assassinated in 1988, was a martyr to this cause:______________________.
[Choices: Human trafficking, Anti-racism, Space travel, Environmentalism, Socialism ]

17. Allogamy is a type of:__________________________.
[Choices: Diffusion, Tidal process, Explosion, Planetary movement, Reproduction ]

18. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney formed this musical group in 2001:______________________.
[Choices: Nine Inch Nails, Primus, Counting Crows, Blink-182, The Black Keys ]

19. In 1906, what became the first official U.S. National Monument?____________________________
[Choices: Disney World, Statue of Liberty, Fort McHenry, Governors Island, Devils Tower ]

20. What kind of artist is Robert H. Frank, creator of "The Americans"?_________________________
[Choices: Monumental sculptor, Performance, Painter of murals, Cartoonist, Photographer ]

21. Which term refers to the hatred of God or gods?________________________
[Choices: Pantheism, Monotheism, Polytheism, Misotheism, Atheism ]

22. Alexander Acosta became the ____________________________ in 2017.
[Choices: CEO of ExxonMobil, Prime Minister of Spain, MLS Commissioner, Texas Rangers manager, U.S. Secretary of Labor ]




Category Round (6 Questions, 1000 Points each, Points decrease from 4 to 20 seconds, and with 3 Clues; Category chosen by majority vote at each Site):

23.(a) Nevada v GREEK MYTHOLOGY: Which mythic Greek king kills his father-in-law and attempts to rape the Queen of the Gods?______________________
[Choices: Odysseus, Perseus, Ixion, Prometheus, Sisyphus ]

24.(a) VOCABULARY TEST v General science: Which word means the same as "threadlike"?______________________
[Choices: Filose, Dilose, Silose, Pilose, Gilose ]

25.(a) U.S. Presidents v BIG BUSINESS: Allergan is an Irish company known for making:____________________________.
[Choices: Botox, Tater tots, Whiskey, Skechers, Jell-O ]

26.(a) GENERAL SCIENCE v Nevada: In science, "HARPS" is an acronym for a device that searches for:_______________________.
[Choices: New tectonic plates, Congenital abnormalities, Exoplanets, Endangered species, Tornadoes ]

27.(a) Big business v VOCABULARY: "Commensurate" is an adjective that is a synonym of:_______________________.
[Choices: Sociable, Frightening, Unyielding, Disengaged, Proportionate ]

28.(a) Greek mythology v U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the first man to be elected U.S. President before the age of 50?_________________________
[Choices: Adlai Stevenson, James K. Polk, John F. Kennedy, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson ]




Lightning Round (7 Questions: 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 Points, but time to read & answer decreases from 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5 to 4 seconds):

29. The numbers 1, 3, 6, 10 and 15 are all classified as ____________________ numbers.
[Choices: Triangular, Prime, Obverse, Lenticular, Root ]

30. What job does the title character in "Good Will Hunting" perform?______________________
[Choices: Thief, Waiter, Janitor, Garbage man, Butcher ]

31. Irish whiskey is made from malted and unmalted:______________________.
[Choices: Wheat, Rye, Barley, Corn, Buckwheat ]

32. The ______________________ Music Festival was first held in 1999.
[Choices: Bonnaroo, Live Aid, Newport Jazz, Coachella, Hasty Pudding ]

33. Who recently became President of the European Commission?__________________________
[Choices: Zendaya Coleman, Garbine Muguruza, Nikola Jokic, Ursula von der Leyen, Christian Pulicic ]

34. The two top automotive companies by revenue are Volkswagen and:____________________.
[Choices: KIA, Toyota, Ford, General Motors, Honda ]

35. Which U.S. city will host the 2028 Summer Olympics?_____________________
[Choices: Atlanta, Minneapolis, Bismarck, Los Angeles, Cleveland ]




Dreaded Pyramid Round (5 Questions: 12000, 7000, 4000, 2000, 1000 Points for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Right out of 5; Time from post of Question & 5 Choices = 16 seconds; No Clues):

36. The ________________ is a tiny aquatic animal that perpetually renews its cells every twenty days.
[Choices: Chimera, Orthrus, Arachne, Typhon, Hydra ]

37. In European political history, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines were parties at this time:__________________________.
[Choices: Early modern, Enlightenment, Dark Ages, Victorian era, Medieval Italy ]

38. Irish physicist George J. Stoney gave the ___________________ its name in 1891.
[Choices: Tropic of Capricorn, Electron, Gulf Stream, Quasar, X-ray ]

39. Which character appears in Giacomo Puccini's opera "Tosca"?________________________
[Choices: Radames, Petrushka, Don Jose, Baron Scarpia, Duke of Milan ]

40. Which country consists of three reef islands and six true atolls?_______________________
[Choices: Tonga, Cyprus, Belize, Tuvalu, Fiji ]




Final Jeopardy Question on LITERARY WORKS (50% Bonus if Right Immediately; Points decrease rapidly from 4 to 20 seconds, and with 3 Clues; 50% Deduction if Final Choice is Wrong):

41. Which of these is a literary work by Jonathan Swift?____________________________
[Choices: Under Milk Wood, A Modest Proposal, Bartleby the Scrivener, Dombey and Son, Lady Windermere's Fan ]







Answers:

1. Commonwealth [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_(U.S._state) ]

2. Hockey [I (REACH) at Whispers Bar, Ottawa ON pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinny ]

3. NY Stock Exchange [Myfanwy (SPRAJO) pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange ]

4. Plutonium [I pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-239 . I mentioned Marvin the Martian in Bugs Bunny cartoons who originally had a Uranium Pu-36 Space Modulator; see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu9gva2LZBw (1:38), or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvjR9n5EQHc (0:59), or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuUJfYcn3V4 (0:38). For details on various versions, see https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Ill ... _Modulator , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_the_Martian , and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haredevil_Hare ]

5. New Zealand [I and Dai (DICKIE) pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Alps ]

6. Libra [Dai pre-called this one; see https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/facebook-libra/ ]

7. Kentucky [I pre-called this from "Bluegrass state"; Myfanwy pre-called "Bowling Green"; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Corvette_Museum ]

8. Dexterous [see https://www.dictionary.com/browse/dexterous ]

9. New Brunswick [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredericton (according to this article, Fredericton was named after the second son of King George III, whereas the trivia Quizmaster wrote that it was the third son). Dai mentioned "You probably know that there is a New Brunswick, New Jersey (home of Rutgers University), but did you know that there is a New Jersey, New Brunswick?" (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Brunswick,_New_Jersey , https://www.roadonmap.com/ca/where-is/N ... _brunswick , and https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/we ... new-jersey .]

10. England [I pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire_sauce ]




11. Lincoln's assassination [I pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Surratt ]

12. Bald-faced hornet [Andrew C (GRYFON) pre-called "wasp", and Chris (CEEZED) explained that the Vespa scooter is named after a wasp/hornet; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald-faced_hornet (Family Vespidae), and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet (Family Vespidae, Genus Vespa) , and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespa ]

13. New York [Patrick (MRRED) explained it was the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riot, and Phil (BSLXPN) mentioned that "it would be really awkward in Riyadh"; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall ... e_NYC_2019 ]

14. Musician [I pre-called "Musician" and Dai modified the pre-call with the more precise "Orchestral soloist"; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadenza ]

15. Royal Poinciana [a wrong call for "Saffron crocus" (yellow) devastated some of us, but Sue (SWIFT) got this right (probably by eliminating the other Choices); see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delonix_regia ]

16. Environmentalism [pre-call by Andrew C was explained by Dai; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Mendes ]

17. Reproduction [I pre-called "Sexual reproduction"; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allogamy ]

18. The Black Keys [our group formerly at Buster's Bar, Ottawa missed most of the Points, but BPBOOM and BGRETR in the other group in the room got 1000 Points each, and ITS2 923 Points. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Keys ]

19. Devils Tower [despite calls for "Statue of Liberty" and "Fort McHenry", I called for this; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Tower . A National Monument can be created by the President without Congress, but a National Park requires passage of legislation through Congress. Devils Tower was featured in the 1977 film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_Enc ... Third_Kind ]

20. Photographer [my vague recall of the name was confused by wrong calls and by the fact that Robert H. Frank is a professor of economics; the photographer featured in the 2015 documentary I had seen ("Don't Blink") is Robert Frank. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frank , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Frank , and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Bli ... bert_Frank . ]

21. Misotheism [Jean (LESTER) called this first; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misotheism . I mentioned the "mis-" part is like that in "misanthropy" and "misogyny"; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misanthropy and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogyny .]

22. U.S. Secretary of Labor [Andrew C. pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Acosta ]




23.(a) Ixion [we lost some Points, taking time to eliminate the other choices; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixion ]

24.(a) Filose [Andrew C pre-called "look for 'fil' " (cf. filament or filigree); see https://www.dictionary.com/browse/filose . On typing this up, I noticed that "pilose"="covered with long, soft hairs" (cf. "'Pili") is close, but not as good an answer. ]

25.(a) Botox [Andrew C pre-called "eye products" and Sue said "Botox goes in your eye", so we went with "Botox"; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergan ]

26.(a) Exoplanets [Jean suggested this, and we went with this, assuming that "HARPS" means "High Altitude.....". This was partly luck, as HARPS is actually more complicated; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Accu ... t_Searcher . At the break, I asked Dai and Andrew C (who had been in the Canadian artillery) about HARP = High Altitude Research Project; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_HARP . This involved the use of a very large gun to fire model rockets to high altitudes and speeds. Gerald Bull had been a Canadian engineer allegedly assassinated by Mossad (Andrew C said "definitely") for his work on a supergun for the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Bull .]

27.(a) Proportionate [see https://www.dictionary.com/browse/commensurate ]

28.(a) James K. Polk [the first pre-calls were for JFK, but Phil (BSLXPN) called for Polk. After others suggested Teddy Roosevelt, Phil explained that he was the youngest President at the start of his term (42), but Polk was the first younger than 50 (born Nov. 2, 1795; inaugurated March 4, 1845 at age 49). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_K._Polk and the "Table" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_p ... tes_by_age ]




29. Triangular [there were calls for "Root" as a guess, but with 2 seconds to go, I suddenly saw the triangular pattern of billiard balls racked up in equilateral triangles as the rows increase (1, 3, 6, 10, 15,...) but there wasn't enough time to communicate this to others; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangular_number (I had previously never heard of "triangular numbers"). ]

30. Janitor [pre-called by Andrew C, I think. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Will_Hunting ]

31. Barley [pre-called by several voices; see the section "Types" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_whiskey ]

32. Coachella [pre-called by Andrew C, I think; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coachella ... s_Festival ]

33. Ursula van der Leyen [Phil called this one, I think. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_van_der_Leyen ]

34. Toyota [There were calls for both "Toyota" and "General Motors", with most (not including me) going with Toyota. For 2017 revenues, see https://www.statista.com/statistics/504 ... y-revenue/ . For production numbers by units, see the section "World motor vehicle production, By manufacturer" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry ]

35. Los Angeles [I think Patrick (MRRED) called this in time (within 4 seconds) for us to get the 2000 Points; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2028_Summer_Olympics ]




36. Hydra [I called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(genus) ]

37. Medieval Italy [Dai called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guelphs_and_Ghibellines ]

38. Electron [I called this one, guessing that the name came before J.J. Thomson's 1897 measurement of the mass-to-charge ratio of the electron which showed that it most likely is only a tiny fraction of the mass of a hydrogen atom, the smallest atom. So the electron was part of an atom, and an atom ("a-tom") was not literally indivisible (a microTOMe cuts biological specimens into very thin slices, Positron Emission TOMography produces pictures of thin cross-sections of human body interiors, and "a-" means "not"). I knew that the Greek word for "amber" was "elektron", and amber could be electrically charged by rubbing it with wool; see the section "History, Discovery of effect of electric force" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwk0qCrdA00 . With this background, see the section "Scientific output" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Johnstone_Stoney and the section "History, Discovery of the electron" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._J._Thomson .]

39. Baron Scarpia [Dai called this one, and I backed the call; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tosca ]

40. Tuvalu [Tonga, Tuvalu, and Fiji are in the Pacific, but Dai and I thought that 3 reef islands and 6 true atolls must occupy only a small area, so Tuvalu was the most probable choice. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji (total area = 18,274 sq. km = 7,056 sq. mi.), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonga (area = 748 sq. km = 289 sq. mi.) , and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu (area = 26 sq. km = 10 sq. mi.).]




41. A Modest Proposal [a gimme; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal ]

...............................................................…………………………………………………………………………………………….


Congrats to Houlihans, Westbury NY for their #1 Site score of 59,469 Points (average of best 6 Player scores). Whispers, Ottawa ON was #2 with a Site score of 57,215 Points; we finally had enough Players to end up with 8 tablets scoring 5 for 5 in the Dreaded Pyramid Round.

The link for "Tutorial on Electrostatics from Amber to Ebonite" in the answer to Q38 should have read https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWk0qCrdA00 .

The link in the answer to Q33 should have read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_von_der_Leyen .

Again I didn't take notes. Such a pity. At least I have something resembling wisdom to share.

25.(b): US PRESIDENTS: In his youth, he was known as 'Big Stevie': GROVER CLEVELAND. William Howard Taft was among the distractors. Big Steve was a nickname Cleveland took forward into his political career.

26.(b): NEVADA: Which is *not* a county in Nevada? Acting the fool, I pre-called Maricopa, but it was something else. The distractors were Churchill, Elko, Clark and Washoe. Now I can't remember the answer. This is like forgetting the punchline of a joke.

28.(b): GREEK MYTHOLOGY: Who among the following was a King of Thebes? OEDIPUS. For those who were uncertain, the five-item drop down box was solvable.

Congratulations to Houlihan's, REACH & Co at Whispers, and Cameron's in Half Moon Bay for finishing 3rd, in what all of us are praying was a legitimate, wetware, breakout quiz.

With apology to soccer, Showdown is a beautiful game.

Answer to county not in Nevada = Fremont

_________________
Merkin

Cameron's in Half Moon Bay is definitely wetware and worth the trip if you are in the area.

GRIFF

23.(a) NEVADA v Greek Mythology:

Q: Artemisia Tridentata is the state ______ of Nevada?

A: Flower

For the other Nevada question about the counties, we were stuck between Churchill and Fremont. Fortunately for us, Churchill was the first choice eliminated.

Thanks on behalf of the team for the congrats. It's our first Showdown win in a while. And it may be our last, as we will be losing our strongest player to a relocation in the very near future.

My humble contribution to our win was a precall on the Black Keys question. A few times a year I'll have an answer that the rest don't know (such as this one) and it feels so damn good. If I was playing this game alone I'd be lucky to get 30K and that's only because the final question was a layup. My teammates continue to amaze me week in and week out. It's nice to help them out once in a while.

VULTUR
Houlihan's Westbury

Note to king vulture of Champion Houlihan's: ntn Trivia is one of the few widely-available mental contests involving teams. As a team sport, it requires that every Player be respected and encouraged. I particularly like the sentiment of the Finale of Mozart's "Der Schauspieldirektor" for all Players on a team, and in fact for all competitive wetware teams; see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1cgz3U9t8A (5:05).

Too modest by far, wouldn't you agree? Keep up the good work, VULTUR.

A Der Schauspieldirektor reference! Makes my day!

_________________
Merkin

Me too.