Showdown Recap for 30 Jan 2018 at BWW in ABQ
The Ragged Rascals are no longer the frazzled rascals, as we have decided to abandon the ridiculous drive across the Rio Grande to get to the BWW there. We took a chance that the promised correction to the battery charging problem had been made and went back to the BWW on Montgomery Blvd.
The group for this game was 11 talented and semi-beautiful people, all possessing a keen wit and a knack for knowing otherwise useless knowledge. There would be 15 boxes in play for Showdown.
Worn-up Round
1. It is the largest of the Society Islands: TAHITI 2. What is the twentieth letter in the Greek alphabet? UPSILON. 3. Presbycusis is a phenomenon that affects this sense: HEARING. 4. A contemptuous or mocking speech would best be described as: DERISIVE. 5. In which country did the Red River Rebellion take place in 1869 and 1870? CANADA. 6. ‘Ezekiel Saw the Wheel’ is this type of song: SPIRITUAL. 7. Ex-soccer superstar George Weah recently took office as President of: LIBERIA. 8. What in the world are paperwhites? FLOWERING PLANTS. 9. Djenne, Makonde, and Bambara are three groups of people located here: AFRICA. 10. Rugby is the name of the boy’s school in this Victorian classic: TOM BROWN’S SCHOOLDAYS.
The Ragged Rascals looked polished and erudite on this round. The team got 9 of 10 without delay. There was a lot of confusion on WU 3, so all of the boxes wound up on the incorrect answer. This was clearly an instance where abandoning the 5-way split was detrimental to the scores of all.
Ground-down Round
1. Here’s a bit of a trick question. Which country is named after Simon Bolivar? VENEZUELA. 2. Rheology is a branch of science that deals with: FLOWING MATTER. 3. According to a Domino’s pizza box, turophiles are people who love: CHEESE. 4. In terms of population, the smallest U.S. state capital is: MONTPELIER. 5. Graphene oxide is a substance that is impermeable to everything except: WATER. 6. The Davis Strait is a northern arm of the ___ Sea. LABRADOR. 7. In what profession did Harlow Shapley gain fame in the Twentieth Century? ASTRONOMER. {Did he have a heavenly body?} 8. The Paleocene Epoch is part of the ___ Era. CENOZOIC. 9. George Ligowsky is credited with inventing this sporting object in 1880: CLAY PIGEONS. 10. Which of these is an edible starch? SAGO. 11. in days gone past, the xebec was a type of: SHIP. 12. This sweet wine comes from the Bordeaux region of France: SAUTERNES.
The group performed to average on this round, scoring highly on 8 of 12 of the queries. On GD 2, 5, 9, and 10 the third-clue save was gratefully welcomed, but the entire round was saved by great calls by DUFF, CSICOP, and BRICK.
Scatology Round
S1. FRENCH HISTORY v Inventions The Arc de Triomphe in Paris was built to celebrate Napoleon’s victory at: AUSTERLITZ. {CSICOP & DUFF}
S2. Dinner time v CLASSICAL COMPOSERS ‘Apollo et Hyacinthus’ was the first operatic work by this 11-year-old composer: WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART. {DUFF}
S3. Current litch-raw-chure v ANIMAL KINGDOM (probably of the gawd-damned-pink-fuzzy-venomous variety) The Fer-de-Lance is a ___ that is native to Southern Mexico and points south. VENOMOUS SNAKE. {MEERA got it, but BLZBUB pre-called that it would be g-d-p-f-v.} S4. Classical composers v FRENCH HISTORY Peter Abelard was a famous French ___ of the Twelfth Century. THEOLOGIAN. {DUFF}
S5. G-d-p-f-v animule kingdom v DINNER TIME An escalope, also known as a paillard, is a: PIECE OF MEAT. {Third-clue save.}
S6. INVENTIONS v current litch-raw-chure Formica is a laminated composite material invented in 1912 by this corporation: WESTINGHOUSE. {HEBEGB, playing TUNES’ box was first to answer.}
The team scored 5 for 6 for the maximum points. The Buzzies treated us like a piece of meat of S5.
Frightening Round
1. Its name comes from a Greek word for ‘living a double life’: AMPHIBIAN. 2. What did Disney just purchase for $52.4 Billion? 21ST CENTURY FOX. 3. In computing, a ___ switch alternates between two states each time it is activated. TOGGLE. 4. ‘Be that as it may’ and ‘on the other hand’ are examples of: CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS. {BLZBUB would have said ‘cliches,’ because he can’t get through a recap without a dozen of them.} 5. Which group was selected as Time Magazine’s 2017 ‘Person of the Year’? THE SILENCE BREAKERS. 6. Someone described as degage would be: DETACHED. 7. The Winter Olympics will be getting underway next week in: SOUTH KOREA.
The gregarious gaggle got 6 of 7 for the full points. On F6, there was a tentative suggestion for ‘detached,’ but only half the boxes hit it for points.
Py-Ram-It Round
P1. The lowest rank in France’s Legion of Honour is: Choices: Duke, Cadet, Chevalier, Gonfalon, Commandeur A: CHEVALIER. {HEBEGB and BRICK were most influential here.}
P2. Which literary character was killed by Brigid O’Shaughnessy? Choices: Miles Archer, Sydney Carton, Fredo Corleone, James Mortimer, Rabbit Angstrom A: MILES ARCHER. {MEERA made the call from which dreams (of a high score) are made.}
P3. Which famous royal family was canonized in 1981? Choices: Romanovs, Bourbons, Hapsburgs, Savoys, Hohenzollerns A: ROMANOVS. {“Romanovs?” said DUFF. “That would make sense for the Russian Church,” said BLZBUB. Fortune would smile on both.}
P4. Corning invented this brand of heat-resistant glass in 1908: Choices: Pyrex, Porcelain, Fiberglas, Vitrolite, Bakelite A: PYREX. {JAX pre-called this answer.}
P5. Which of these successful painters was a Twentieth Century Belgian surrealist? Choices: Munch, van Gogh, Klee, Magritte, Braque RENE MAGRITTE. {DUFF pre-called this answer.}
This round hinged on good guesses (educated speculations?) on both P1 and P3. The other three were deemed ‘easy’ by the team. At the end of this round 10 of the 15 boxes in play had 5 for 5 correct. The other 5 boxes had 4 for 5.
FINAL TRAGEDY Topic: WORLD GEOGRAPHY
The ___ Hills lie on the border of Scotland and England
1. Cheviot 2. Colchester 3. Cambrian 4. Cornwall 5. Crystal
The order of the eliminations was 5, 3, 4, and 2, leaving #1, CHEVIOT as the correct answer. This question hung on a questionable call by BLZBUB for ‘Cambrian.’ Once that happened the organization of the 5-way split broke down quickly. Most of the boxes that answered correctly, and finished in the top six, got only 50% of the points wagered.
The top individual scores for the night were 47599, 46929, 44031, 43781, 43610, and 41925 points.
The team’s average score for this game was 44,645 points.
The Ragged Rascals’ systemwide ranking was THIRTEENTH Place.
The top teams for the night were The Fellowship (53530), Danny K’s (515070, Broadway Bar, Nepean, ON (50168), Tilted Kilt (50135), Old Barn (48918), Stained Glass Pub, MD (46936), and Moose McGuires (46883). Around here, some of the teams that showed up higher on the instant rankings boards from Tuesday night have dropped down the list on the Buzztime website. This is presumably because they had been playing boxes not registered with Buzztime as Players Plus members. One the Buzztime website, the Ragged Rascals have moved up from 13th place to 10th.
As always kudos to the teams who are strictly wetware only and raspberries to the Borgs.
_________________ }}}--( (x) (x) )---> Oh my gawd, they killed Ken Z. You bastards!
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