Showdown Recap for 3 Apr 2018 at BWW Gibson in ABQ
It is beginning to look like Spring all around the ABQ. Trees are blossoming and the grass is greening up. The robins have returned along with the Mexican doves; both are being hunted by the Cooper’s hawk in BLZBUB’s hood.
There is also new life in the team as the Ragged Rascals have made the Round of 16 in the fan-based tournament. Tonight 12 brains are directing 13 boxes in the annual effort to prove our triviot prowess in a fan-based tournament.
Worn-up Round
1. The famed tourist attraction Sugarloaf Mountain is located here: BRAZIL. 2. After Black Friday in 2017, who had his net worth cross the $100 Billion mark? JEFF BEZOS. 3. Your hyoid bone is anchored to muscles that move your: TONGUE. 4. Tomania is a fictional country in this 1940 movie: THE GREAT DICTATOR. 5. This states name comes from a Caddo word for either ‘friends’ or ‘allies’: TEXAS. 6. Entrepreneur Laura Scudder was a pioneer in the commercialization of this food item: POTATO CHIPS. 7. This horse breed is recognized for its colorful spotted coat pattern: APPALOOSA. 8. This star is found in the Constellation Taurus: ALDEBARAN. 9. The Treaty of Jaffa put an end to the: THIRD CRUSADE. 10. ‘Sinitic’ is an adjective describing things related to the: CHINESE.
The team had a couple of rough spots in this round. We missed both WU 5 and 6, and we had to scramble for an answer on WU 8. Most of the boxes survived the round with 8 for 10 correct.
Ground-down Round
1. The average elevation of the United States is about: 2500 FEET. {DOH!} 2. Which of these would you most likely see if you went Skijoring? DOG. 3. ‘Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair’ is a famous literary work by: PABLO NERUDA. {ACK!} 4. Organelle is a term most often used in this field: CELL BIOLOGY. 5. If someone says they’ve got ‘the colloywobbles,’ that means they have a: STOMACH ACHE. 6. There is an architecture prize and a school of law and medicine named for the ___ family. PRITZKER. 7. James, George, Charles, Francis, Henry, and Edward were the six brothers of: JANE AUSTEN. {Uff Da} 8. Zingiber Officinale is the scientific name for: GINGER. 9. Which NBA star was born in Australia in 1992? KYRIE IRVING. 10. Birling is an activity you would see ___ doing. LUMBERJACKS. 11. Exactly how many elements are there in the Lanthanide Series? 15*. 12. Shireen Baratheon is a character on what popular TV series? GAME OF THRONES.
The Ragged Rascals got a heartening 9 of 12 correct in this round without the aid of the third-clue save. The saves were applied to GD’s 1, 3, and 7.
*BLZBUB takes issue with the answer given for GD 11. Is Lanthanum not a member of the Lanthanide Series? The atomic theory of the elements has their place on the Periodic Table determined by their electron shell structure. Lanthanum is the first element to have electrons if the f shell (one to be specific.) The remainder of the elements in the series add one additional electron, until the shell is filled with 16 electrons. So how in the hell is Lanthanum not the initial element in this series of SIXTEEN elements? Sure, the last 15 of these elements are displayed as a line floating under the main elements of the Periodic Table, but this is so the chart does not have a long gap like the one seen between Beryllium – Boron and Magnesium – Aluminum.
Scatology Round
S1. Philosophy v WORLD GEOGRAPHY Cape Prince of Wales is the westernmost point of: ALASKA. {The team went with Australia, until the third clue broke our revelry.}
S2. 19TH CENTURY BATTLES v meat Lord Cardigan led the suicidal 1854 military mission known as the Charge of: THE LIGHT BRIGADE. {Greek chorus}
S3. Famous women v PLAY BALL! This year’s reigning American League MVP is: JOSE ALTUVE. {CHILL and REAPER}
S4. Meat v PHILOSOPHERS Solipsism is the belief that the only certain thing in existence is: ONE’S OWN MIND {DUFF}
S5. Play Ball v 19TH CENTURY BATTLES The Battle of Rorke’s Drift was a major conflict in the Anglo- ___ War of 1879. ZULU {DUFF, again}
S6. WORLD GEOGRAPHY v famous women {It was here that BLZBUB trotted out his hoary old joke that the team “needs to take Famous Women, because there are so few of them, it’s a narrower category.” It got the typical look of disgust from our accomplished female member.}
Which body of water is also known as the Swabian Sea? LAKE CONSTANCE. {ARG! We needed the third clue to nail down points for this one.}
The first question caused a great deal of angst. It was to be bookended by the same emotion on S6.
Frightening Round
1. Hailemariam Desalegn unexpectedly resigned as Prime Minister of ___ earlier this year. ETHIOPIA. 2. ‘Chelsea Hotel #2’ is a song by this modern day bard: LEONARD COHEN. 3. In the Hindu Trinity, the ‘Preserver’ is called: VISHNU. 4. What does the letter D stand for in DC Comics? DETECTIVE. 5. A speech that wanders from one topic to another would be described as: DISCURSIVE. 6. 1929’s ‘The Roman Hat Mystery’ is the first book in which ___ appears. ELLERY QUEEN. {DOH!} 7. What sort of gadget is the HTC Vive? VIRTUAL REALITY SYSTEM
The group got all of these, except for L6. That one provoked a call for the dreaded 5-way split.
Py-Ram-It Round
P1. What two countries became united in 1707? Choices: China & Tibet; Russia & Poland; England & Scotland; Romania & Bulgaria; Algeria & Morocco A: ENGLAND – SCOTLAND {SCOOTR & DUFF}
P2. What classic stage role was played by Jessica Tandy, Vivien Leigh, and Jessica Lange? Choices: Ophelia, Hedda Gabler, Blanche Dubois, Nora Helmer, Mary Tyrone A: BLANCHE DUBOIS. {MEERA got it.}
P3. Which hormone has the exact opposite effect of insulin? Choices: Prolactin, Oxytocin, Glucagon, Inhibin, Androgen A: GLUCAGON. {REAPER didn’t sugar coat this one.}
P4. What literary character has a sister named Grete who plays the violin? Choices: Holden Caulfield, Jo March, Hans Castorp, Pippi Longstocking, Gregor Samsa A: GREGOR SAMSA. {RATZ! Another 5-way split left us mostly bereft of points for this question.}
P5. Which historical figure was the son-in-law of U.S. President Zachary Taylor? Choices: Leland Stanford, Jefferson Davis, Mark Twain, P.T. Barnum, George McClellan A: JEFFERSON DAVIS {CHILL made a huge correct call on this one.}
The team finished this round with 3 boxes on 5 for 5 correct and 10 boxes on 4 for 5 correct. At this point the scores ranged from 35924 to 30169 points. A high score on the Final Tragedy would set us up nicely for a Top Ten finish.
FINAL TRAGEDY Topic: MONARCHIES
Swaziland, Lesotho, and ___ are the three current monarchies in Africa.
1. South Sudan 2. Ghana 3. Gabon 4. Morocco 5. Zimbabwe
The order of the eliminations was 2, 3, 1, and 5, leaving #4, MOROCCO as the correct answer. There was some useful speculation on this question, but there was no clear call for the correct answer. In fact, with 13 seconds left on the clock the call for a 5-way split went out. There were a few lucky enough to have #4 as their default answer, and also a few who took their own counsel who scored well. However, a general lack of communication hurt many of the players who had entered the final round in the top six in scoring after the Pyramid Round. [We lost our #1 box, as well as our #2 and #4 boxes.] This could easily have crippled our score. We were fortunate that it did not.
The top individual scores for the night were 49801, 49285, 47323, 46447, 46183, and 45725 points.
The team’s average score for this game was 47,460 points.
The Ragged Rascals’ systemwide ranking was EIGHTH Place.
The top score, by a wide margin, was that of The Fellowship at the BWW Kent, OH with a whopping 59058 points. They were followed by the Grand Slam team playing at the BWW Arlington, VA with 52763 points.
An Illinois Borg unit was next, but closely followed by our friends at Danny K’s of Orange, CA @ 51291 points.
Then came: Whispers of Ottawa, ON @ 49224, Tailgate of Minneapolis, MN @ 48602, The Borg of Albuquerque, The Ragged Rascals of BWW Gibson in the ABQ @ 47460, Tilted Kilt of Scottsdale, AZ @ 47256, Coaches Pub of Houston, TX @ 47217, Sooner Legacy of Norman, OK @ 46547, The Little Rock Borg, and Houlihan’s of Westbury, NY @ 46265, rounding out the wetware-only Top Ten.
_________________ }}}--( (x) (x) )---> Oh my gawd, they killed Ken Z. You bastards!
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