Showdown Recap for 13 Mar 2018 at BWW Gibson in ABQ
Hurrah! BLZBUB is back in the saddle (or iron, waffle-bottomed patio chair) again at his preferred trivia venue. The BWW on Gibson Blvd has finally received enough repaired Playmakers to allow for robust team play. He has collected a group of 11 triviots [(triv)ia-id(iots)] prepared to run 15 tablets for a rousing ramble through the briar patch we call Showdown.
Worn-up Round
1. Phone calls that emanate from computerized auto dialers are called: ROBOCALLS {Too bad we can’t get RoboCop to arrest or kill them all.} 2. ‘Book of Marvels of the World’ is better known as ‘The Travels of ___.’ MARCO POLO. 3. Agent ___ is a defoliant chemical used quite a lot during the Vietnam War. ORANGE. {Soylent Orange kills people!} 4. What singer-songwriter recently announced his retirement from touring? NEIL DIAMOND. 5. This loose dress that hangs at the shoulders is of Hawaiian origin: MUUMUU. 6. If you want to sail on ___ Bay, you need to go to Massachusetts. BUZZARDS. 7. The town of Rottweil, Germany, lends its name to a famous: DOG BREED. 8. Which word is defined as a sense of careless indifference? INSOUCIANCE. 9. In Japanese culture, Bunraku, Noh, and Kabuki are forms of: THEATER. 10. In the world of Big Business, Steve Madden is known as a: SHOE DESIGNER.
The group had a 2-way split on WU 4, being seduced by the dulcet tones of Billy Joel. The team got all of the other nine in this round correct, mostly by pre-calls.
Ground-down Round
1. In olden days, it was a fortified outpost to a city or castle: BARBICAN. 2. In current European politics, the Casapound is a political party in: ITALIAN. 3. Labanotation is a system used in the field of: DANCE. 4. Nicolas Copernicus was a famous ___ astronomer. POLISH 5. Where did the Panama Hat originate? ECUADOR. 6. Wallace Stevens penned this acclaimed poem that was first published in 1922: THE EMPEROR OF ICE-CREAM. 7. He has a Master’s Degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney: DOLPH LUNDGREN. 8. Scafell Pike is the highest peak in: ENGLAND. 9. This online platform is based in Berlin, Germany: SOUNDCLOUD. 10. Crustaceans belong to the family of: ARTHROPODS. 11. What do the initials ‘E.M.’ stand for in the name of writer E.M. Forster? EDWARD MORGAN. 12. This type of grape is also called the Thompson Seedless: SULTANA
This round was a bit more difficult, but not so much more as to rise to the level of horrendous. The team got nine of the 12 pretty fast, although with a bit of debate on #5. There were 5-way splits on GD 2, 6, and 8.
Scatology Round
S1. Italian food v ANCIENT HISTORY Omri, Ahab, and Jehoram were all: KINGS OF ISRAEL {DUFF, with the call.}
S2. CURRENT MOVIES v geology Chadwick Boseman plays the title role in: BLACK PANTHER {REAPER, appropriately.}
S3. WHAT’S THE WORD? v Manitoba Rubefacient is a term most often used in this field: MEDICINE. {MEERA, made a great call.}
S4. Geology v ITALIAN FOOD Salata, Forte, and Infornata are varieties of this Italian whey cheese: RICOTTA. {JAX got it.}
S5. Manitoba v CURRENT MOVIES Which new movie is based on a 1962 novel by Madeleine L’Engle? A WRINKLE IN TIME. {DUFF was the fastest to this.}
S6. ANCIENT HISTORY v What’s the Word? Sargon of Akkad was a legendary ruler of a ___ Kingdom. MIDDLE EASTERN. {DUFF and CHILL were middling good on this one.}
As we got all six, there’s not much else to say.
Frightening Round
1. What country added two red stripes to its flag in 2017? MAURITANIA. {Split 5 ways} 2. A sushi lover would know that Awabi is Japanese for: ABALONE. {Nice call HEBEGB} 3. The Nimrod Expedition, which began in 1907, tried and failed to reach the: SOUTH POLE. {Mostly DUFF} 4. This Oscar-winning film is a fantasy about a gill man and a woman janitor: THE SHAPE OF WATER. {Greek chorus} 5. The baseball Hall of Fame welcomed ___ in 2017. JEFF BAGWELL. {CHILL swung for the fences} 6. Who recorded the 1985 sophisti-pop hit ‘Don’t Stop the Dance’? BRYAN FERRY {HEBEGB!} 7. In the math problem of 12 minus 7, what is 12 called? MINUEND. {2-way split with ‘subtrahend’}
Py-Ram-It Round
P1. The Battle of the Alma took place one month before the Battle of: Choices: Cold Harbor, Balaclava, El Alamein, Tippecanoe, San Juan Hill A: BALACLAVA. {Unfortunately our history brain-trust became a brain-bust on this one, so a call for the 5-way split was made.}
P2. Mucho and Oedipa Maas are characters in this Thomas Pynchon novel: Choices: Slow Learner, The Crying of Lot 49, Barney’s Vision, Gravity’s Rainbow, Vineland A: THE CRYING OF LOT 49 {A 2-way split with Gravity’s Rainbow was called.}
P3. Which painter is best remembered for his depictions of Native Americans? Choices: Rothko, Catlin, Hopper, Degas, Wood A: GEORGE CATLIN. {DUFF pre-called the guy’s First name and the first phenome of the last name. That was enough for us to get it right.}
P4. The largest ___ are the world’s heaviest flying birds. Choices: Egrets, Albatrosses, Storks, Falcons, Bustards A: BUSTARDS. {Well that one hung an albatross around our necks.}
P5. Which country is bordered on land by Saudi Arabia and Oman? Choices: Pakistan, Jordan, Yemen, Tunisia, Djibouti A: YEMEN. {MEERA was the first to say this.}
This round put a hurtin’ on us. Only two correct, one 2-way, one 5-way, and one complete miss to show for our efforts.
FINAL TRAGEDY Topic: PLANTS
This genus of plants is named after a Scottish gardener:
1. Forsythia 2. Poinsettia 3. Zinnia 4. Cowbane 5. Chrysanthemum
The order of the eliminations was 4, 5, 2, and 3, leaving #1, FORSYTHIA as the correct answer. JAX and DUFF collaborated on this one, with a bit of kibitzing from CHILL. Somehow through all the confusion most of the team wound up on the correct answer, many for only 75% of the points wagered. The players going immediately to #1 were richly rewarded as all of them finished in the top six for the game.
The top individual scores for the night were 50625, 47785, 46548, 45783, 43314, and 42278 points.
The team’s average score for this game was 46,055 points.
The Ragged Rascals’ systemwide ranking was NINTH Place.
This was another tough game, but the Ragged Rascals acquitted themselves admirably. No one panicked after the dreadful pyramid round, and the communication of the final tragedy was very good, albeit chaotic.
The game lent itself to Google look-ups, and this resulted in yet another “win” by a Borg Collective. The top wetware-only score went to The GRAND SLAMMERS, playing at the BWW Arlington, VA with their 53195 points. Then came another Borg unit, but they were followed by the wetware group, The Fellowship, playing at the BWW in Kent, OH, scoring 49790. A bar called Getaway in Pittsburg, PA (Borg/wetware status unknown) was probably trying to avoid the Special Election hoopla and finished just ahead of the Old Barn in Portland, OR and their 48107 points. Then came the Tailgate bar in Minneapolis, MN @ 47597. Yet another Borg unit checked in next, just ahead of the Ragged Rascals at our beloved BWW on Gibson Blvd in the ABQ and our paltry 46055 points. The Borg collective in the ABQ rounded out the Top 10 for the night.
_________________ }}}--( (x) (x) )---> Oh my gawd, they killed Ken Z. You bastards!
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