A Badger Empire at Monday Trivia!

Monday’s game of Pour House Trivia welcomed 92 teams across nine venues.

FIRST ROUND:

Opening round topics from Monday’s game included U. S. state names, the orange flavored liqueur Grand Marnier, and the upcoming NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.  The first round concluded with this three-part question regarding impersonations from the Celebrity Jeopardy! sketches on Saturday Night Live:

• 1)  Which current talk show host impersonated Adam Sandler, Hilary Swank, and Dave Matthews?
• 2)  Who has portrayed Kathie Lee Gifford and Björk?
• 3)  After his tenure as a cast member, who hosted a 1998 episode in which he impersonated Tom Cruise?

The respective answers to these questions were Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Wiig, and Ben Stiller, with the latter easily being the most difficult of the three.  Stiller appeared on just four SNL episodes before leaving the show in 1989.  Across the board, only nine teams picked up two bonus points with all three correct answers, with two of those teams completing a perfect first round: Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP) and Cobra Kai (DRP).

SECOND ROUND:

Monday’s audio question featured the theme songs from the television shows Mork & Mindy, Beavis and Butt-head, and Will & Grace.  The Tuesday field largely struggled with that topic, but recovered nicely on questions concerning Muscle Beach in California, the graphic novel (and film adaptation) V For Vendetta, and the scientific concept of hypnosis.  We concluded the first half with a quick trip to Africa:

• With about 210 million people, which country with a green and white flag is by far the most populous nation in Africa?
• 2-POINT BONUS: With less than one million people, what is the least populous country on the African mainland?

After most of the field earned wagering points with the correct answer of Nigeria, only seven teams tacked on two bonus points by also knowing that the tiny country of Djibouti is the least populous country on the African mainland.  Due to this difficult question, none of our Monday teams earned a perfect second round score.

HALFTIME:

Leonardo DiCaprio films and ‘HOT’ songs were the featured topics on Monday’s halftime page, which yielded 13 perfect scores and an overall average of 17.4 points.  Here is Monday’s halftime leaderboard:

• Cobra Kai (DRP): 90
• It’s February 29 Somewhere (William Jeffrey’s): 88
• We Thought This Was Speed Dating (Aslin Beer): 86
• George Washington’s Camel (DRP): 86
• Legalized Gambling (DRP): 86
• That’s a Bingo (Il Forno): 86

THIRD ROUND:

Monday’s third stanza included topics such as the stage musical Fiddler on the Roof, the Olympic event of ice dancing, and the legal concept of the bench warrant.  Our nightly Three Clues question landed in the middle of Monday’s third round:

• CLUE 1: During his only term in office, six new states were admitted to the Union, the most of any Presidential administration.
• CLUE 2: He attended the same college as Ben Roethlisberger.
• CLUE 3: He served between the two non-consecutive terms of Grover Cleveland.

Even with very few teams submitting an early guess in an attempt to earn a two-point bonus, less than one-third of the field responded correctly with Benjamin Harrison.  Six teams also earned a bonus by knowing that Harrison (and Roethlisberger) both attended Miami University in Ohio.  The third round closed with the most difficult wagering question of the night:

• Which Scottish-born celebrity has hosted eight different shows on the Fox network?

We’re not sure what threw our teams off the right track here, but less than one-fourth of the field responded correctly with Gordon Ramsay, who has hosted the Fox shows Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, MasterChef, Hotel Hell, MasterChef Junior, The F Word, 24 Hours to Hell & Back, and the newest show Next Level Chef.  A perfect score eluded the entire field in Monday’s third round.

FOURTH ROUND:

After learning about the origins of Sweeney Todd in the 6-4-2 question, we looked at final round topics such as the Ernest Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, the recent film work of Bradley Cooper, and the femur (or thighbone), before concluding the round with this question regarding classic rock bands:

• As pioneers of the rock opera, which British group was the first rock band to play the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City?
• 2-POINT BONUS: Featuring a unit of distance in the title, what is this band’s highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart?

About half of our teams responded correctly with The Who (creators of the early rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia), with about half of those teams tacking on the final two bonus points of the night with the song I Can See for Miles.  Seven teams earned a perfect final round score, with five of those teams playing at the highly competitive DRP in Alexandria.  Heading into the final question, these were your highest scoring Monday teams:

• George Washington’s Camel (DRP): 158
• Cobra Kai (DRP): 157
• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 157
• H. R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff (DRP): 156
• That’s So Clavin (Cushwa): 152

FINAL QUESTION (33.7% success rate):

• Apart from the state of Michigan, which two U. S. states each border more than one Great Lake?

About one-third of Monday’s field responded correctly with Wisconsin (which borders Lake Superior and Lake Michigan) and New York (which borders Lake Erie and Lake Ontario).  Three teams earned a Perfect 21 by answering every wagering question correctly: That’s So Clavin (Cushwa), Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP), and Real Team of Genius (William Jeffrey’s).  These were your highest scoring teams at the close of Monday’s game:

• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 169
• H. R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff (DRP): 168
• Fresh Off the U-Haul (Mark’s): 158
• Just Guessing (DRP): 155
• Auburn Pillagers (DRP): 154
• Buy Me a Beer (Ragtime): 153
• That’s So Clavin (Cushwa): 152
• Real Team of Genius (William Jeffrey’s): 151
• Breadloaf (William Jeffrey’s): 150
• Servant of the People (Mark’s): 148

MONDAY’S WINNERS:

Cushwa Brewing in Williamsport, MD: That’s So Clavin  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Grey’s Anatomy)

DRP in Alexandria, VA: Hipster Fashion Consultants  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Murderville)

Bushwaller’s in Frederick, MD: Team Holt  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Great Comebacks in History)

Rockwell Brewery in Frederick, MD: Jerk and Thrive  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: UNESCO World Heritage Sites)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: Fresh Off the U-Haul  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: TV Game Shows)

William Jeffrey’s Tavern in Arlington, VA: Beers For Fears  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: U. S. Presidents)

Ragtime in Arlington, VA: Buy Me a Beer  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: British Prime Minsters Since 1950)

Aslin Beer Co in Herndon, VA: We Thought This Was Speed Dating  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Military Aircraft)

Il Forno Pizzeria in Frederick, MD: That’s a Bingo  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: St. Patrick’s Day)