New Scaratings

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licóur
Of which vertú engendred is the flour;

And smarte fellowes maken companye,
That playe al the nyght with open ye
(so awardeth hem Buzztime badges as ornamentes),
Thanne longen folk to goon on tournamentes.

With April rolling around once again--and with sincerest apologies to Chaucer--The Fellowship would like to announce the 11th Annual Brainbuster Cup Tournament.

The tournament will be structured pretty much the same as all of the previous editions: It will run for five games (starting on April 1 and running until April 29). Each participating team's final score will be calculated as the cumulative HOF score of their four best performances in those games (in other words, each team gets to drop a low score, which will also ameliorate the impact of any technical or other issues on a particular night). The highest score thus calculated wins, and that team will get the trophy for a year and be required to run the tournament next April. In addition, as was the case last year, the 2nd- and 3rd-place teams will receive silver(-ish) and bronze(-ish) actual medals with the team’s name on the back.

RULES: Teams must use assembled brainpower in the location only. No computers and no references of any kind during gameplay, either paper or electronic (or telecommunication from outside the location). Using the Buzztime Playmaker app on electronic devices such as iPhones, iPads, or Droid phones is fine, as long as this is the only purpose for which the device is being used, and it is being used in and for the location of the team. Any team that pledges to abide by these rules is welcome to sign up.

As the tournament starts on April 1, the signup period will run from now until noon on that day. Please feel free to join here, or by contacting me by PM or email.

The Fellowship (The Basement in the Valley, Akron, OH) is in.

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Sign up Time Out West. Based on the response so far, we stand an excellent chance of taking the silver.

Thanks, Reb!

With about two weeks to go before the tournament starts, here are the teams that have signed up so far on the various platforms:

Arch II, Rocky Hill CT
Big Guys, Winnipeg MB
Danny K's, Orange CA
The Fellowship, Akron OH
Hanko's Sports Bar and Grill, Lake Oswego OR
Okie Tonk Cafe, Moore OK
Moose McGuires, Ottawa ON
Primetime, Tampa FL
Teasers, Chicago IL
Time Out West, Hanover Park IL
Wallaby's, Lenexa KS

Rock Lounge seems to be new to Tuesdays. Anyone know anything about them?
(Edit: Rock Lounge has decided not to play after all)

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

All I know is the Rock Lounge is surprisingly on an Arkansas National Guard base.

Dave and Bill play there and other places scattered far apart in Arkansas after losing Zach’s place and Grumpy’s in Little Rock. They have been long time Wed and Thur players at Zach’s and recent at the Rock Lounge. Maybe 1 of them is in the Ark Nat Guard?

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BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

Interesting. Thanks, BUD!

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Has Grumpy’s in Little Rock closed or gotten rid of the game? It is still listed as live in Buzztime, but there has been no play there since Nov 21.

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Merkin

As far as I know, it hasn't closed. The person from the team said only that the team transferred their accounts to Grumpy's after Zack's closed, but that they rarely play there "for various reasons."

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

With a little more than a week to go, here are the teams that have signed up:

Arch II, Rocky Hill CT
Big Guys, Winnipeg MB
Danny K's, Orange CA
The Fellowship, Akron OH
Hanko's Sports Bar and Grill, Lake Oswego OR
Okie Tonk Cafe, Moore OK
Moose McGuires, Ottawa ON
Phat Turtle BBQ, Cave Creek AZ
Primetime, Tampa FL
Teasers, Chicago IL
Time Out West, Hanover Park IL
Wallaby's, Lenexa KS

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Well, it seems that Buzztime turned up the difficulty two or three notches last night for the beginning of the Brainbuster Tournament. The game was the Brain-bustiest this year by far: not only did it have the lowest overall average so far this year, but the high score was also more than 2,000 points lower than this year's previous low high score. In fact, it had the lowest high score since the first game of the Brainbuster Tournament in 2022 (April 5, 10,300). Kudos to the content team for a truly challenging game.

After the carnage was over, The Basement, Phat Turtle, and Moose McGuire's were left (barely) standing as the top three teams in Week 1 of the tournament. As always, sincerest thanks to Don Denton for maintaining the tournament page, complete with current standings and helpful projections of possible worst and best scores for each team:

https://don.ntn.com/contest.php?contest=99

The good news, of course, is that everyone gets to drop a low score, so any team that needs to can take this as a mulligan. Good skill to everyone going into Week 2!

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Brainbuster Tournament Week 2 Update:

It was another tough Brainbuster game this week--the third toughest of the year, in fact. This has caused a shakeup in the tournament rankings. The Basement, Phat Turtle, and Teaser's are the top three in total points; but after dropping low scores Danny K's vaults into second place, followed by Teaser's and Phat Turtle:

https://don.ntn.com/contest.php?sort=drop1&contest=99

Thanks, as always, to Don Denton for creating and maintaining the interactive tournament page.

With three weeks to go, there is still plenty of opportunity for teams to move into medal contention, so good skill to everyone this week!

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

I played at Zack's and Grumpy's back in July. They had a pretty big group of regular players at Grumpy's: JONBOY and OZ being daily players that frequently ended up on the boards. As you mentioned, neither have played since Nov 21st. It does look like there is a new site in Little Rock: VFW Post 9095 https://players.buzztime.com/site/42987/players, so maybe Dave and the Zack's crew will have a new home. I believe some of the staff from Zack's moved over to the VFW after it closed. I'll have to make a road trip to check it out.

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https://www.buzztime.com/players-profile/?rt=8915269
Changing correct answers to incorrect answers after the final clue, then mumbling profanities...

Hey Jerad, Have you been to The Rock bar in Little Rock? That seems to be the jumpin place these days. That should be on any road-trip list.

Have you played with Dave and Bill at Zacks before they closed? Very good players or average like me. Never met either one before, they weren’t bash goers.

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BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

BUD, no I haven't been to The Rock Bar yet. At Zacks, I did meet Dave. He took me around town and introduced me to the crew over to Grumpy's. Really nice guy and extremely knowledgeable about Buzztime. I didn't get to meet Bill, but I did meet Randy (LESTER/RBUBBA) a lawyer at Zacks.

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https://www.buzztime.com/players-profile/?rt=8915269
Changing correct answers to incorrect answers after the final clue, then mumbling profanities...

The players from Zack’s seem to be at Rock Lounge. are you familiar with that place? OZ and JONBOY returned to play at Grumpy’slast night.

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Merkin

No, i haven't been to Rock Lounge. I've seen it's on the base there in Little Rock, so doubtful I could get on there to check it out. That's great Grumpy's is back up and running.
Apologies to ANON for the tangent on this Brainbuster thread...

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https://www.buzztime.com/players-profile/?rt=8915269
Changing correct answers to incorrect answers after the final clue, then mumbling profanities...

Not at all! I introduced the query about Rock Lounge toward the top of the thread, after all.

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Oh I see, Jerad you don’t think The Rock is open to the public?
I guess either Dave or Bill are National Guard or Military of some kind?

They sure do travel around to the far from Little Rock bars because they have to after losing Zack’s and Grumpys. (which may be fixed)

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BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

Brainbuster Tournament Week 3 Update:

I always learn something playing Brainbuster every week. This week it was that "boxes" apparently is the standard unit for reckoning amounts of stolen body parts.

It was yet another tough Brainbuster game this week, yielding the second-lowest winning score of the year (11,737). The Basement barely edged out Phat Turtle for 1st, but both Phat Turtle and Teaser's made moves up into silver and bronze medal positions, respectively. Yet these places are hardly safe: both Danny K's and Moose McGuire's are lurking only a few hundred points behind once low scores are dropped:

https://don.ntn.com/contest.php?sort=drop1&contest=99

Thanks, as always, to Don Denton for creating and maintaining the interactive tournament page.

We have passed the midpoint of the tournament, but there is still plenty of chance for movement with two weeks to go. Good skill to everyone this week!

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Brainbuster certainly lived up to its name on Tuesday--in fact, it was perhaps the brain-bustiest game since careful records started in 2018. The winning score of 10,115 was the lowest one on record for a game in which at least 100 locations played (only last year's New Year's Eve game and a game played after COVID lockdowns started in 2020 had lower winning scores). Fully half of the tournament field had to use the game as their dropped score.

As a result, this has become one of the most competitive tournaments in Brainbuster Cup history. There are five teams with a mathematical chance to win the tournament next week: The Basement, Phat Turtle, Teaser's, Moose McGuire's, and Danny K's. However, nearly all tournament teams still have a mathematical shot at winning the silver or bronze medals:

https://don.ntn.com/contest.php?contest=99

Thanks, as always, to Don Denton for maintaining the interactive tournament page!

With the trophy and the medals on the line, there is a lot to play for in next week's tournament finale--good skill to all participating teams!

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

The solution appears to be "Dave's Place," which appears to be, well, Dave's place, a condo in Little Rock. Using new equipment, so we see their scores now. Don't know what happens to the 201 Club for Spotlight, that is in a bar.

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“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

This turned out to be one of the most competitive Brainbuster Tournaments on record. Four of the five games were among the most difficult of the year, and as a result no team had clinched anything going into the final week. While The Basement, Phat Turtle, and Teaser's led last week, there was plenty of room for movement in the final game.

When the dust settled, there was movement indeed. While The Basement and Phat Turtle finished 1-2 on the night, a strong and consistent performance by the folks at Moose McGuire's moved them into second place in terms of total score:

1 The Basement 56,094
2 Moose McGuires 50,172
3 Phat Turtle BBQ 48,768
4 Teaser's 48,617
5 Big Guys 45,834
6 Danny K's 45,589
7 Arch II 43,977
8 Wallaby's 43,778
9 Time Out West 43,374
10 Hanko's Sports Bar 42,990
11 Primetime Sports Grill 33,076
12 Okie Tonk Cafe 16,148

However, because everyone gets to drop a low score, the final standings shook out a bit differently:

1 The Basement 45,979
2 Phat Turtle BBQ 42,386
3 Moose McGuires 40,999
4 Teaser's 40,615
5 Danny K's 39,594
6 Wallaby's 37,828
7 Arch II 37,411
8 Big Guys 36,940
9 Time Out West 36,029
10 Hanko's 35,849
11 Primetime 33,076
12 Okie Tonk Cafe 14,882

Thus, while The Basement and Phat Turtle kept their gold and silver places from last week, Moose McGuire's sniped Teaser's out of bronze by just a few hundred points.

First of all, congrats to Phat Turtle for hanging on to silver position for the entire tournament. Given how hard the games were, this is a consequential accomplishment.

Second, congrats to Moose McGuire's for hanging in there to take the bronze at the last minute. This excellent team is long-overdue for such an accolade. I only wish that team captain REACH--who passed away just a few months ago--had been able to witness this.

Third, a shout-out to Teaser's for putting up such a strong performance all tournament. Although you don't even get the steak knives this time, no one can dispute your Brainbuster prowess.

Fourth, sincerest thanks to all of the other participating teams. You have proven yourselves to be among top teams in what is arguably Buzztime's hardest game. It is an honor to be included among you.

Last, congrats must go to The Fellowship at The Basement for their rare wire-to-wire tournament run. While I wish I could take credit for this amazing accomplishment, I can do nothing of the sort. None of them are regulars here, but I'd like to go on the record as saying that they would be just as formidable even if I were not lucky enough to play with them every week. You, as I understand the kids say nowadays, rock.

So this wraps up the 2025 edition of the Brainbuster Cup. I hope to see you all (and others!) join us for the 2026 edition next April!

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."