Showdown Recap for 13 Feb 2018 at BWW in ABQ
The Ragged Rascals convened again within the warm and inviting nook at the back of the BWW on Montgomery. This alternate location has the advantage of having seating indoors which is a bit more comfortable than the patio at the BWW on Gibson. However, the noise levels are much higher, primarily due to the staff’s insistence on having the music played at ear-bleed inducing levels.
Once again, this game would be played on Mardi Gras night. As is our tradition, one of the players supplies beads and decorations for the table. This year LOONEY went the extra step to buy the first round for the team members. He also brought chocolate for the servers. JAX also pitched in with lemon mini-tarts which were quickly gobbled up. These efforts were all appreciated by the nine players (manning 14 boxes) who were able to make it to the venue for Showdown.
Worn-up Round
1. Which word would most likely be used to refer to a movie director? AUTEUR. 2. Cedar Breaks National Monument is located in this U.S. state: UTAH. 3. Germany’s Angelique Kerber is a prominent figure in this sport: TENNIS. 4. Ammonia is made with hydrogen and: NITROGEN. 5. Who, what, or where is ‘Cardi B’? HIP-HOP SINGER. 6. Which word comes from the Latin verb for ‘to burn’? INCENSE. 7. Cultured pearls were first produced in the early Twentieth Century in this country: JAPAN. 8. What sort of gadget is the Abilix Everest 5? EDUCATIONAL ROBOT. {Whiff!} 9. In what year did the United States officially implement the Good Neighbor Policy? 1933. {Another whiff} 10. Which board game has play promissory notes and stock certificates? LIFE.
The team scored eight for ten correct, and used a split to salvage points on WU8. The good neighbors apparently sabotaged our score on WU9.
Ground-down Round
1. Mount Kinabalu is the highest point on this island: BORNEO. 2. ‘Piers Plowman’ is a classic of English literature of this period: MEDIEVAL. 3. Who gave the famous ‘wind of change’ speech in South Africa in 1960? HAROLD MACMILLAN. {Rats, a third-clue save for some, and disappointment for the slow.} 4. What is the capital city of Guyana in South America? GEORGETOWN. {A good save by BRICK cut through the confusion.} 5. Marfan Syndrome is a genetic disorder of the ___ in humans. CONNECTIVE TISSUE. 6. ‘Panache’ is a word that was made popular by this 1897 play: CYRANO DE BERGERAC. 7. During what century did Alexander the Great live? 4TH CENTURY B.C. 8. ‘Arhat,’ or ‘Perfected One,’ is a status in this spiritual tradition: BUDDHISM. 9. In the world of science, what is an alkane? HYDROCARBON. 10. Parietal Art is also known as ___ art. CAVE. 11. ‘The Death of Artemio Cruz’ is a classic novel by this Mexican writer: CARLOS FUENTES. 12. In the Seventeen Century, parts of what are now Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania made up: NEW SWEDEN.
The team did pretty well on this round by scoring eight of 12 for the full score. There were a couple of 5-way splits (GD 10 and 11) and a 2-way split on GD 6. The stumper was GD 3, which needed the dreaded third-clue save.
Scatology Round
S1. Literary characters v U.S. RIVERS Through which part of the United States does the Lehigh River flow? EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. {SCICOP}
S2. NAME THAT YEAR v where do they live In what year did Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels write the Communist Manifesto? 1848. {DUFF}
S3. China v ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE In architecture, Achaemenid refers to a style developed in the: PERSIAN EMPIRE. {DUFF}
S4. WHERE DO THEY LIVE v Literary characters Where do the Garifuna people live? CENTRAL AMERICA. {2-way split w/ S. Africa}
S5. Ancient architecture v NAME THAT YEAR The projected overthrow of Egyptian President Nasser prompted the Suez Canal Crisis of: 1956. {BRICK and DUFF}
S6. U.S. RIVERS v China What river forms part of the border between Illinois and Indiana? WABASH. {Very quick pre-call by BRICK}
This round also went well, with the team scoring perfectly on five of the six. The Garifuna can transport themselves to southern Africa for all we care.
Frightening Round
1. Born in Manhattan in 1955, he is an acclaimed novelist: CALEB CARR. 2. 28 degrees Fahrenheit is the approximate freezing point of: MARINE WATER. 3. Daniel-Day Lewis plays a dressmaker in this 2017 historical drama: PHANTOM THREAD. 4. In which country is a food spread called vegemite hugely popular? AUSTRALIA. 5. What instrument is Jazz musician Chris Botti famous for playing? TRUMPET. 6. Michael’s Stores, Inc. is a large ___ retail chain. ARTS AND CRAFTS. 7. The World Economic Forum was held last month in: DAVOS, SWITZERLAND.
The team flat out missed F2, because while we were discussing whether mercury solidified so near 32 degrees, no one considered the possibility that marine water did so.
Py-Ram-It Round
P1. What literary character lives at 7 Eccles Street in Sandycove? Choices: Sherlock Holmes, Wilkins Micawber, Leopold Bloom, Sydney Carton, Jacob Marley A: LEOPOLD BLOOM. {HEBEGB, nice call.}
P2. Which two countries have the same colors in their national flag? Choices: Madagascar – Nicaragua; San Marino – Monaco; Iceland – Chile; Finland – Egypt; Ukraine – Vietnam A: ICELAND – CHILE. {While DUFF and many others looked expectantly at BLZBUB, a Sheldon Cooperesque expert on flags…BRICK supplied the answer first.}
P3. Hirundo Rustica is the scientific name for the: Choices: Great white shark, Monarch butterfly, Barn swallow, Centipede, Spotted hyena A: BARN SWALLOW. {JAX pre-called this answer, as is her privilege as an ornithologist.}
P4. A matador named Escamillo is a key character in this opera that debuted in 1875: Choices: Rigoletto, Aida, Carmen, The Magic Flute, L’Orfeo A: CARMEN. {DUFF and SCICOP, both deserving of credit}
P5. On March 18, 1857, Liberia annexed the Republic of: Choices: Mogadishu, Manitoba, Mauritania, Malawi, Maryland A: MARYLAND!!! The factoid following the appearance of this answer was, “Maryland was first settled in 1834 by freed slaves from the U.S. state of Maryland,” {We intended to use the 5-way split, but everyone was suckered by the choice of Mauritania.}
Half of the team finished this round with 4 for 5 correct. The rest of the team scored 3 for 5 correct. We suspect we will need a monster score on the Final Strategy to remain in contention for a Top Ten finish.
FINAL TRAGEDY Topic: FLOWERING PLANTS
Both the sunflower and the ___ belong to the Aster family of plants.
1. Rhododendron 2. Dandelion 3. Lily of the Valley 4. Catalpa 5. Oleander
The order of the eliminations was 5, 1, 3, and 4, leaving #2, DANDELION as the correct answer. A few of the team got all the points wagered, but most got around 85% of the points wagered. While not quite as much as hoped for, this would result in scores better than the last two weeks’ games. The top individual scores for the night were 48738, 46194, 46007, 44396, 44241, and 44200 points.
The team’s average score for this game was 45,639 points. That was nearly 1000 points greater than either of the scores from the last two weeks.
The Ragged Rascals’ systemwide ranking was TWELFTH Place. However once extracting the Borg teams from the computation, the Ragged Rascals finished Eighth in the wetware-only competition.
Omitting the Borg collectives, the wetware rankings were 1. Sonoma’s of Columbia, MD @ 53787 2. The Fellowship, BWW Kent, OH @ 50256 3. Houlihans of Westbury, NY @ 49564 4. Tailgate of Minneapolis, MN @ 48541 5. Tilted Kilt of Scottsdale, AZ @ 47279 6. Old Barn of Portland, OR @ 46831 7. Fab Ferns of St. Paul, MN @ 46181 8. The Ragged Rascals of BWW Montgomery, Abq, NM @45639 9. West Park Station of Cleveland, OH @ 45541, and 10. Danny K’s of Orange, CA @ 45529.
All teams are hereby alerted to the pending start of another fan-supported, wetware-only tournament. Get your registrations in!
_________________ }}}--( (x) (x) )---> Oh my gawd, they killed Ken Z. You bastards!
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