A Fabulous Finish to Season XVII!

As our Wednesday venues closed the book on Season XVII, one of our powerhouse teams once again proved why they will be one of the favorites at World Series XVII.  Overall, we welcomed 107 teams across 15 venues:

FIRST ROUND:

Wednesday’s opening round looked at U.S. History, the recent Indianapolis 500, and this Quebecois version of an American staple:

The first stanza was a breeze for our field tonight, as 19 teams posted 36 points to begin the game.

SECOND ROUND:

The difficult level took a noticeable spike upwards with Wednesday’s audio clue, as only half of our teams were able to recognize three songs by Pilot, The Cars, and Bruno Mars, all of which had titles that contained the word “Magic”.  We followed that with an even more difficult question in the category of Biblical quotes:

–> In which Book of the Old Testament would you find the following quote: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away.”?

If you’re talking about somebody who notably had everything in his life taken away by the Lord, it’s always Job.  With just 31% of our teams earning points here, most of the field was hoping to rebound before halftime.  Fortunately, that bounceback came on the next question regarding these two cartoon characters:

Apparently, most of had better attention spans on Saturday morning compared to Sunday morning…  In spite of the difficult second round, we still saw seven teams come away with perfect scores.

HALFTIME:

Flag maps were featured on Wednesday’s halftime page, resulting in six perfect scores and an overall average of 17.1 points.  These were the top scoring first half teams from Wednesday night:

• Sexual Chocolate (Memories):  94
• Fan Club (The Tavern):  93
• Dave Martinez School of Management (Bennigan’s – Clarksburg):  92
• Hamster Relish (Memories):  92
• Stephen Hawking’s Karaoke Machine (Memories):  91

THIRD ROUND:

Wednesday’s third round featured the most difficult wagering question of the night, as only 23% of our teams could recall the title of this thriller film which featured a notable age disparity between its two leads:

We closed the round with a bonus question that ended several perfect games among our top scoring teams.  Most of the field knew that the aircraft manufacturer Boeing was founded in Seattle, but only 14% of our teams earned bonus points by knowing that the company is currently headquartered in Chicago.  With that, the third stanza yielded just one perfect score: Unfrozen Caveman Lawyers (Clover Theater).

FOURTH ROUND:

The final round featured questions concerning the early work J.J. Abrams, the sorceress Morgan le Fay, and this medical device:

Most of our teams were unable to finish the final round with a perfect score thanks to this closing question:

–> Prominently featured in the film “Apocalypse Now”, the operatic piece known by the English title “The Ride of the Valkyries” was created by which German composer?

2-POINT BONUS: This piece of music appears in a four-part cycle best known by which title?

With just nine teams picking up points with Richard Wagner and “The Ring Cycle”, we saw just two perfect scores in the final stanza: Dave Martinez School of Management (Bennigan’s – Clarksburg) and Death by Snoo Snoo (Memories).  Here are Wednesday’s highest scoring teams after four rounds of play:

• Dave Martinez School of Management (Bennigan’s – Clarksburg):  168
• Sexual Chocolate (Memories):  165
• Hamster Relish (Memories):  162
• Death by Snoo Snoo (Memories):  159
• Witiots (Nido’s):  158
• Stephen Hawking’s Karaoke Machine (Memories):  158

WEDNESDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (61.4% success rate):

–> Which Oscar-winning actress made her feature film debut at age seven, with a small role alongside her father in the 1982 film “Lookin’ to Get Out”?

Just over three-fifth of our teams responded correctly with Angelina Jolie. Despite some impressive final scores, only two teams recorded the Perfect 21 tonight with correct answers on all wagering questions: Dave Martinez School of Management (Bennigan’s – Clarksburg) and My Black Hole Just Exploded (Lost Dog Cafe).  Our highest score of the night was good enough for (another) inclusion on the PHT Wall of Fame!

• Dave Martinez School of Management (Bennigan’s – Clarksburg):  180
• Sexual Chocolate (Memories):  175
• Hamster Relish (Memories):  174
• Death by Snoo Snoo (Memories):  171
• Witiots (Nido’s):  170
• Stephen Hawking’s Karaoke Machine (Memories):  170
• Southern Comfort (Clover Theater):  168
• Southpaw Fish (Valley Grill):  166
• Bad Hombres (Lost Dog Cafe):  165
• My Black Hole Just Exploded (Lost Dog Cafe):  164

WEDNESDAY’S WINNERS:

Valley Grill in Middletown, MD:  Southpaw Fish  (Next week’s first category: Rick Springfield Lyrics)

Lost Dog Cafe in Arlington, VA:  Bad Hombres  (Next week’s first category: Washington DC Theater)

CURRENT WINNING STREAKS:

10 weeks: I’d Eat That Off of a Flip Flop (Furnace Bar and Grill)