Showdown Recap for 20 Mar 2018 at BWW Gibson in ABQ
After a long two week road-trip, BLZBUB has settled back into the familiar confines of the BWW on Gibson Blvd in Albuquerque. He seems almost bored with the sameness of the establishment. But Low? What has happened in his absence? The fair and enticing Melissa has announced that she is moving on to another job, and that she hopes it pays better than serving a bunch old farts and teetotalers. Quell damage! And while BLZBUB and the Ragged Rascals wish her well, we will miss that sunny smile.
Ah well, these things come to pass, and there is nothing aging triviots can do about it. However, this will introduce an opportunity to introduce some new talent in the server pool to our peculiarities. The team wishes them good luck as they adapt to BLZBUB’s requests for beverages alien to 19 year old non-drinkers.
Worn-up Round
1. What do you call a person who sells candles? CHANDLER. {Bing-o! We got it.} 2. Incorporated as a city in 1885, it is nicknamed ‘The City Beautiful’: ORLANDO. 3. On what Caribbean island was the Battle of San Juan Hill fought in 1898? CUBA. 4. Nevus is the technical term for this physical characteristic: MOLE. 5. This 17th Century phenomenon is regarded as the first speculative bubble: TULIP MANIA. 6. Which is an extra-spectral color? MAGENTA 7. Which term refers to a male adolescent? STRIPLING. 8. Bourbon whiskey is a distilled spirit made mostly from: CORN. 9. It’s a small portion or quantity: DOLLOP. 10. As Alfred Pennyworth is to Batman, Edwin Jarvis is to: IRON MAN.
The team did very well on this round by scoring 9 of 10 correct. On WU 2, the team got into split territory, caught between Orlando and Oakland.
Ground-down Round
1. The Linderhof Palace was designed by this eccentric monarch: LUDWIG II OF BAVARIA. 2. An inhabitant of Earth would be called a: TELLURIAN. 3. Cotard Delusion is a type of mental illness in which a person thinks they are: DEAD. 4. In 1938, he published the first book in his ‘Space Trilogy’ Series: C.S. LEWIS. 5. Which of these (g-d-p-f-v) animals is a bird? TROGON. 6. Fort Pontchartrain du ___ was established by a French officer in 1701. DETROIT. {Dammit! BLZBUB missed the date when reading the question, rendering Him unable to eliminate Baton Rouge.} 7. In which religion is the Kol Nidre chanted? JUDAISM. 8. The salinity level of the Dead Sea is about ___ percent. 33. 9. In what decade did bobbysocks first become popular in the United States? 1940’s 10. It’s a tree you might find in the Caribbean: DIVI-DIVI. 11. The title of this 1999 movie is an anagram of the 1998 book it is based on: OCTOBER SKY. {Rocket Boys eluded us.} 12. Galangal is a spice that is commonly used in this country’s cuisine: THAILAND.
The team turned in one of its worst-ever performances on this round. We did manage to score the correct answer for the full points on GD’s 1, 5, 9, 10, and 12. There were 5-way splits resolved by the third clue on ALL of the others.
Scatology Round
S1. Literature class v UNITS OF MEASURE Parasang is a historical ___ unit of distance measure. PERSIAN. {Splits}
S2. CURRENT TELEVISION v cities of the world What job does TV character Howard Wolowitz have? AEROSPACE ENGINEER. {Greek chorus form the Geek chorus.}
S3. Jazzmen v SCIENTISTS Edward O. Wilson, entomologist extraordinaire, started the ___ Foundation. BIODIVERSITY. {DUFF, MEERA, and JAX teamed up to answer this one
S4. CITIES OF THE WORLD v Litch-raw-cure clawss Oradea, Pitesti, and Buzau are three cities in: ROMANIA. {Splits with little-known Estonia ensued.}
S5. Scientists v CURRENT TELEVISION Kirsten Vangsness plays Penelope Garcia on this CBS show: CRIMINAL MINDS. {BLZBUB, a topical expert, got this one. What? You were thinking an expert on CBS?}
S6. UNITS OF MEASURE v jazzmen The Rankine Scale is a measure of: TEMPERATURE. {SCOOTR called it, while BLZBUB and DUFF laughed at the synchronicity of a Sharon Allen Facebook post we saw earlier that day.}
The team got 4 of the 6 without delay. The toughest question for us was S1, which prompted a 5-way split. There was a 2-way split on S4, but most of the team got big points on it anyway.
Frightening Round
1. She plays the role of figure skater Tonya Harding in the 2018 movie ‘I, Tonya’: MARGOT ROBBIE. 2. In the algebraic formula 3x + 10 = 31, what does x equal? 7 3. Who is a featured artist on Mark Ronson’s hit ‘Uptown Funk’? BRUNO MARS. 4. In U.S. politics, money given to non-profit organizations is called: DARK MONEY. 5. Roger Federer won his ___ Grand Slam singles title at this year’s Australian Open. TWENTIETH. 6. Spotify and Tidal are the names of two: MUSIC STREAMING SERVICES. 7. Nicole Pollizi is better known in the celebrity world as: SNOOKI.
The team had trouble with F5, after calls for ‘high teens’ forced a defacto split with 15 and 20. Otherwise, the round was easy for us.
Py-Ram-It Round
P1. The Livonian War proved to be a defeat for this 16th Century ruler: Choices: Ivan the Terrible, Olaf IV, Napoleon Bonaparte, Peter the Great, Frederick Barbarossa A: IVAN THE TERRIBLE. {DUFF}
P2. In Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni.’ Leporello is the title character’s: Choices: Rival, Brother, Lawyer, Servant, Priest A: SERVANT. {DUFF again.}
P3. What marsupial has a backward-facing pouch and digs extensive burrowing systems? Choices: Kangaroo, Wombat, Mongoose, Lemur, Horned Toad A: WOMBAT. {HEBEGB was the first with the call. “Of course,” said the rest of us. “Kangaroos don’t dig, and the rest aren’t even marsupials.”}
P4. Born in 1924, Svante Oden is remembered for publicizing the problem of: Choices: Holes in the ozone; X-ray radiation; Dutch Elm disease; Acid Rain, Nuclear proliferation A: ACID RAIN. {This question prompted a 2-way split between acid rain and holes in the ozone.}
P5. Painter Camille Pissaro displayed his works at all eight Paris ___ Exhibitions. Choices: Baroque, Rococo, Pointillist, Dadaist, Impressionist A: IMPRESSIONIST. {DUFF made an impressive call.}
This wrapped up an impressive performance for this round. The Ragged Rascals got 4 for 5 for the full points and the single two-way split on P4.
FINAL TRAGEDY Topic: WORD ORIGINS
English writer Edmund Spenser was the first known person to use this word in print:
1. Lackluster 2. Braggadocio 3. Moonbeam 4. Hornswoggle 5. Green-Eyed
The order of the eliminations was 3, 5, 1, and 4, leaving #2, BRAGGADOCIO as the correct answer. The team started this one on a five-way split and hoped for the best. A few players got lucky and had their choice quickly eliminated, allowing them to make their best guess. Unfortunately all of the players assigned #4, along with a bunch of the guessers landed on #4 also.
The top individual scores for the night were 50607, 44763, 37719, 34596, 33748, and a lowly 18260 points. The top scores belonged to people who stayed with their 5-way split. Not many did.
The team’s average score for this game was 36,614 points.
The Ragged Rascals’ system-wide ranking was FOURTEENTH Place.
The top scores of the night went to “the usual suspects.” The Fellowship claimed another victory with 51086 points, the only score above the 50,000 barrier. Houlihan’s of NYC, NY came in second at 47137. The Grand Slam team at BWW Arlington finished third with 46844. The Fiftieth-place team could only manage 24688 Points. Congrats to all those teams that bettered that mark.
_________________ }}}--( (x) (x) )---> Oh my gawd, they killed Ken Z. You bastards!
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