Warm-up Round (10 Questions, 500 Points each, 14 seconds to answer after posting of Question & 5 Choices; No Clues):1. The archipelago at the end of South America is called:_______________________.
[Choices: Cristo Redentor, Machu Picchu, Tierra del Fuego, Chichen Itza, Easter Island ]
2. If something is described as feasible, that means:_______________________.
[Choices: It is invisible, It is weak, It is too old, It needs money, It can be done ]
3. Hurricane Harvey dealt a harsh blow to this city's metropolitan area in 2017:____________________.
[Choices: Houston, San Jose, Columbus, Jacksonville, Raleigh ]
4. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a controversial _____________________ General.
[Choices: Prussian, Spanish-American War, Confederate, World War I, Revolutionary War ]
5. Which of these creatures is a bird?______________________
[Choices: Capybara, Egyptian Mau, Binturong, Wobbegong, Least Bittern ]
6. "Anatomy of the Human Body" is a famous textbook popularly called:______________________.
[Choices: The Double Helix, The Mismeasure of Man, What is Life?, One Two Three....Infinity, Gray's Anatomy ]
7. "Iacta alea est", meaning "The die is cast", was said by which famous leader?______________________
[Choices: Julius Caesar, Benito Mussolini, Napoleon Bonaparte, George Patton, Nebuchadnezzar ]
8. Where is the Sea of Tranquility?_______________________
[Choices: Central Asia, Jupiter, The Moon, Arctic Circle, South America ]
9. "Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen" is a lyric from this hit musical:________________________.
[Choices: Hair, Rent, Sweeney Todd, Brigadoon, The Phantom of the Opera ]
10. A junket is a ____________________ made at someone else's expense.
[Choices: Wound, Trip, Course, Prank, Meal ]
Countdown Round (12 Questions, 1000 Points each, Points decrease rapidly from 4 to 16 seconds, and with 3 Clues): 11. "Ecce homo" is a circa 1930 fresco painting by Elias Martinez that depicts:__________________________.
[Choices: Adam, Jesus, Da Vinci, Moses, Stalin ]
12. What kind of medical condition is "Pica"?_________________________
[Choices: Influenza, Purblindness, Pigment loss, Eating disorder, Artery blockage ]
13. Of the Wonders of the Ancient World, which is oldest?_________________________
[Choices: Roman Colosseum, Lighthouse at Alexandria, Temple of Artemis, Great Pyramid at Giza, Colossus of Rhodes ]
14. For 70 years, this state was home to Platt National Park:______________________.
[Choices: South Dakota, Alaska, Delaware, Maine, Oklahoma }
15. What African-American singer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018?______________________
[Choices: Mary Wells, Leslie Gore, Maria Tallchief, Carmen McRae, Nina Simone ]
16. D.H. Lawrence's "The Plumed Serpent" concerns an attempt to revive the ancient ___________________ religion.
[Choices: Cretan, Mayan, Shinto, Egyptian, Aztec ]
17. Which U.S. war took place at the same time as the Napoleonic Wars?__________________________
[Choices: War of 1812, Mexican War, Spanish-American War, U.S. Civil War, French and Indian War ]
18. Joy Harjo, the current poet laureate of the United States, is a:______________________.
[Choices: Mexican American, Japanese American, Swedish American, Native American, Korean American ]
19. What institution did billionaire art collector Patrick Drahi purchase this year?_______________________.
[Choices: Metropolitan Opera, Sotheby's, Central Park, Bulgari, Mme. Tussaud's ]
20. Which entity's mint stopped making pennies in 2012?_________________________
[Choices: Canada, Australia, United States, Gibraltar, Isle of Man ]
21. Saltimbocca is an Italian dish made of veal wrapped with prosciutto and:_____________________.
[Choices: Sage, Pho, Onions, Thyme, Broccoli ]
22. James Marape became Prime Minister of ______________________ earlier this year.
[Choices: Papua New Guinea, Austria, Zambia, Mauritania, Suriname ]
Category Round (6 Questions, 1000 Points each, Points decrease from 4 to 20 seconds, & with 3 Clues; Category chosen by majority vote at each Site): 23.(a) European geography v LANGUAGES: Hassaniya is a dialect of ____________________ that is spoken in parts of Africa.
[Choices: Arabic, Urdu, Sicilian, Portuguese, Spanish ]
24.(a) Panda bears v CLASSICAL COMPOSERS: Anton Bruckner was an ________________________ composer known for his symphonies and masses.
[Choices: Iranian, Austrian, Estonian, Italian, Algerian ]
25.(a) IT HAPPENED IN 1989 v Japanese culture: Which world leader was overthrown by a coup in 1989?___________________________
[Choices: Daniel Ortega, Alfredo Stroessner, Juan Peron, Tony Blair, Boris Yeltsin ]
26.(a) CLASSICAL COMPOSERS v European geography: Which composer is known for composing four Ballades between 1831 and 1842?___________________________
[Choices: Benjamin Britten, Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms ]
27.(a) JAPANESE CULTURE v Panda bears: In Japan, the ritual of admiring the "sakura" means appreciating:__________________________.
[Choices: Tea ceremonies, Snow formations, Naked people, Cherry blossoms, Kite flying ]
28.(a) Languages v IT HAPPENED IN 1989: All of these events happened in 1989 except:_________________________________.
[Choices: Calgary wins Stanley Cup, Wrestlemania III, Oliver North convicted, Tiananmen Square protest, Exxon Valdez oil spill ]
***Because I worried my camcorder battery might run out after the SHOWDOWN game, I switched batteries; unfortunately I may have wiped out the last part of the SHOWDOWN game recording. Therefore the remaining Q&A are reconstructed from brief written notes, and I cannot supply the exact 5 Choices for all Questions.***
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. Archimedes lived in this century:______________________________.
[Choices: 6th Century BC, 5th Century BC, 4th Century BC, 3rd Century BC, 2nd Century BC ]
30. In boxing, what weight class includes 122 to 126 pounds?__________________________
[Choices: Bantamweight, Featherweight, Welterweight, Lightweight, Flyweight ]
31. Aaron Eckhart and Tommy Lee Jones played what character in the Batman movies?____________________________
32. What is the largest satellite in the Solar system, which orbits the planet Jupiter?____________________________
33. What is the title of Bruce Springsteen's new album?_______________________________
34. What is a common name for the horse chestnut tree?____________________________
35. What word means "to travel or wander, on foot"?____________________________
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 & Choices = 16 seconds; No Clues): 36. "The Lady of Shalott" was written based on the _______________________ legend.
37. Papal, patriarchal and ______________________ are types of crosses.
38. Which of the following is ***FALSE*** about the element Rhenium?___________________________
[Choices: Is named for a river, Is shiny and silvery, Is common in the Earth's crust, Has a high boiling point, Is element number 75 ]
39. Which capital city is located in the Bight of Benin?__________________________
40. Josef Breuer worked with what other investigator for his 1895 "Studies in Hysteria"?__________________________
Final Jeopardy Question on INSECTS (50% Bonus if Right Immediately; Points decrease rapidly from 4 to 20 seconds, and with 3 Choices; 50% Deduction if Final Choice is Wrong):41. What is the only insect with 3D vision?_____________________________
Answers:1. Tierra del Fuego [see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tierra_del_Fuego ]
2. It can be done [see
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/feasible ]
3. Houston [I (REACH) at Whispers Bar, Ottawa ON called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Harvey ]
4. Confederate [I pre-called "Civil War"; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest ]
5. Least bittern [I pre-called this one, mentioning it's a heron; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_bittern ]
6. Gray's Anatomy [Myfanwy (SPRAJO) pre-called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray's_Anatomy ]
7. Julius Caesar [Jean (LESTER) was maybe first among many to pre-call this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alea_iacta_est . I am not a Latin scholar (Dai, who was not present this evening, might have known this), but maybe a better answer for who said "Iacta alea est" would have been "Yoda". ]
8. The Moon [see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_Tranquillitatis ]
9. Hair [Myfanwy (SPRAJO) and Sue (SWIFT) pre-called this one; see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3qhle8Oy9s ]
10. Trip [Myfanwy pre-called this one; see
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/junket ]
11. Jesus [Chris (CEEZED) pre-called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_homo ]
12. Eating disorder [Chris pre-called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(disorder) ]
13. Great pyramid [I called this one, although others guessed other Choices; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Won ... ient_World ]
14. Oklahoma [I pre-called "Nebraska" (from the Platt River), but as soon as I saw the Choices (which did not include Nebraska), I called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickasaw ... ation_Area ]
15. Nina Simone [amid other calls, Jean (LESTER) called this one; see the section "Honors" at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone ]
16. Aztec [I called "Mayan" (Choice #2) because I knew it was in Mexico, but then saw that Choice #5 (Aztec) was better; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plumed_Serpent ]
17. War of 1812 [I pre-called this one from the years of the Napoleonic Wars; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812 ]
18. Native American [I guessed this one, others not; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Harjo ]
19. Sotheby's [I guessed this one; on typing the Question, I noticed the clue "art collector" which I did not note at the time. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotheby's ]
20. Canada [Sue pre-called this one, perhaps a tad obscure for our friends from the USA. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(Canadian_coin) . In its last days, the coin was not even solid copper, but only copper-plated zinc, and schoolkids used them as ninja stars. ]
21. Sage [one of the members of the other group in the room (BPBOOM?) pre-called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltimbocca ]
22. Papua New Guinea [Phil (BSLXPN) suggested New Zealand (perhaps from the English name, James), but this was immediately nixed by Myfanwy, so we went with Papua New Guinea. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea ]
23.(a) Arabic [an early wrong call for "Urdu" threw us (it takes time to clear your mind of an obviously wrong call, as you have to fight off anger), so we lost most of the Points on this one which should have been obvious from "Hassan", an Arabic name; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassaniya_Arabic ]
24.(a) Austrian [I pre-called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Bruckner . Depending on your tastes, his loooong symphonies are either boring & repetitive, or monumental & powerful. For the latter view, try Otto Klemperer's versions on CD played on a full frequency stereo system set at "11" for volume, for example, Bruckner's Symphony No. 6. You can sample it on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCDohcWOPps (1st movement Maestoso from 0-16:55; 3rd movement Scherzo from 31:44 to 41:00; 4th movement Finale from 41:08 to 54:50, especially the last 2 minutes). For a short sample, try the 3rd movement Scherzo of Bruckner's Symphony No. 4, from 36:53 to 41:53 at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56VBDwujEJc . Klemperer's slooooow tempi may not be exciting compared to other conductors, but IMO are better suited to Bruckner's instruction "nicht zu schnell". Otto's son, Werner, became famous for playing Colonel Klink on "Hogan's Heroes". ]
25.(a) Alfredo Stroessner [I stupidly switched from the former dictator of Paraguay on a wrong call for "Daniel Ortega", losing most of my Points; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Stroessner ]
26.(a) Chopin [Chris called this one first; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballades_(Chopin) and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkPLDoZXlHQ ]
27.(a) Cherry blossoms [Jean (LESTER) pre-called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom ]
28.(a) Wrestlemania III [Phil pre-called "not 1, 4 or 5", and Patrick (MRRED) called "Wrestlemania", but I was too slow to switch from "Oliver North". See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WrestleMania_III (from 1987, not 1989). ]
29. 3rd Century BC [Phil called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes (288 BC to 212 BC). ]
30. Featherweight [I called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_class_(boxing) ]
31. Two-Face [Patrick pre-called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-Face ]
32. Ganymede [I wasn't sure if Triton is bigger, but Ganymede was the only Choice which was a moon of Jupiter; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganymede_(moon) ]
33. Western Stars [We all missed this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Stars ]
34. Conker [Myfanwy called this one; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculus_hippocastanum ]
35. Peregrinate [I called this one; see
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/peregrinate ]
36. Arthurian [see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_of_Shalott ]
37. Maltese [see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_cross_variants ]
38. Common in Earth's crust [Bin (ACE), Sue's guest from Denmark, called this first. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhenium . I knew that Rhenium is named after the river "Rhine"; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._3_(Schumann) for Robert Schumann's "Rhenish" Symphony; the Latin "Rhenus"="Rhine". ]
39. Lome [I called this one, as the only Choice in the bend in Africa on the Western side; see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lome (the capital of Togo) ]
40. Sigmund Freud [I called this one; see the section "Anna O." at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Breuer ]
41. Praying mantis [I pre-called this one; see the section "Vision" at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis . I mentioned the "pseudopupil" (dark spot on each eye, where no light reflects outward when the segment of the compound eye is directly in line with you; other segments reflect light at glancing angles and do not appear dark): see the photo showing "Head of Archimantis latistyla".
I remember intelligent people laughing at the eyes of the giant 8-foot ants during a showing of the 1954 science fiction movie "Them!", because they showed pupils, but insect compound eyes can show pseudopupils. And 3D vision is an asset, maybe a necessity, for an ambush predator like the praying mantis.
Admittedly, human-like eyes on insects, as shown on the posters for "Them!" are all wrong. Insect compound eyes do not have to show sharply focussed images (so the multiple focussed images in the 1958 movie "The Fly" are wrong), but are more useful in detecting movement (for example, moving shadows of predators) which rapidly switches the output of each segment used as an On-Off pixel. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Them! and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fly_(1958_film) .]
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Congrats to our friends at Big Guys in Winnipeg MB for their #1 Site standing; we at Whispers in Ottawa ON had to settle for #3.