A Lesson in Inflation at Thursday Night Trivia!
Seven of our 13 Thursday venues packed in more than ten teams this week, leading to a total field size of 116 teams! This larger field gave us some extremely impressive scores:
ROUND 1:
Thursday’s first round was a breeze for our teams, as we quizzed the field on words that begin and end with the letter ‘A’, the notable quotation supposedly spoken by Marie Antoinette (though probably not), and these two characters from the Hundred Acre Wood:
The only hiccup for most squads was the first bonus question of the round. Most of the field knew that Jimmy Kimmel would once be hosting this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, but only 23% of our teams earned bonus points by also knowing that Billy Crystal was the most recent celebrity to host consecutive Oscars ceremonies. We saw 16 teams rack up perfect first round scores.
ROUND 2:
Thursday’s audio question featured karaoke versions of “Africa” (Toto), “Radioactive” (Imagine Dragons), and “Chandelier” (Sia). After discussing the Oxford comma (see the previous sentence) and the upcoming remake version of the film “Death Wish”, we closed with a question on boxing champ Mike Tyson, which provided the most difficult bonus question of the first half. Only eight teams could name Iron Mike’s opponent in his first fight after being released from prison – the rather forgettable Peter McNeeley:
Three teams swept the second round with a perfect score: Fan Club (Quincy’s), Title Titans (Quincy’s), and Brother of Menelaus (Fish Market).
HALFTIME:
Thursday’s halftime page featured pictures of vehicles from TV and film juxtaposed with a matching section on sports nicknames. Nineteen teams snagged recorded perfect scores, while the overall average came in at 16.8 points. Here are Thursday’s top scores after the first half:
- Brother of Menelaus (Fish Market): 93
- PC Principals (Fish Market): 91
- Lowered Expectations (Quincy’s): 90
- Title Titans (Quincy’s): 90
- Power Vacuum (Champion Billiards): 90
- No Fruit No Karaoke (Champion Billiards): 90
- Just Good Enough (Champion Billiards): 90
ROUND 3:
Thursday’s second half opened with a question on this late 1980s British band:
Most of the field knew that the #1 hit “She Drives Me Crazy” was recorded by Fine Young Cannibals, but only 17% of our teams tacked on two bonus points by also knowing the band’s other #1 hit: “Good Thing”. Next up was our most difficult wagering question of the night, which came in the form of an A+B=C question:
Part A = In Greek mythology, Hercules was forced to perform this many labors as penance.
Part B = It’s the number of sides on a dodecagon.
Part A was seemingly easier (12), but most of our teams thought that the doecagon had 20 sides, leading the most common wrong answer of 32. Sorry, but the term for a 20-sided figure is icosagon. The dodecagon has only 12 sides, leading to the correct answer of 24. Only 16% of our teams earned points here. Later, we discussed the “literary” work of Paris Hilton, famous people named Mitch, and this American landmark:
The early portion of the round did most of the damage here, as the third stanza did not yield any perfect scores.
6-4-2:
Thursday’s 6-4-2 question was gave us one of the more interesting outcomes from recent games. Let’s start with the six-point clue:
–> On the current version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”, a contestant earns this much money after one correct answer.
The prize structure on the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” has changed several times over the last decade, including a time during which the first question actually resulted in a random dollar amount. This first clue did not yield many guesses, with most teams waiting until the four-point clue to turn in an answer:
–> On the current version of “The Price is Right”, a player in contestant’s row wins this bonus amount with a bid that is exactly right.
The wrong answers poured in after this clue. Sure, when you were growing up, the prize was $100 for a perfect bid, but for nearly 20 years, “The Price is Right” has offered $500 for this feat. As are a result, we saw 64% of our teams earn ZERO points on this question, with just five teams earning six points.
ROUND 4:
The final round included questions on the the range of male singing voices, a Three Clues question concerning the Korean War, and this engineering marvel:
The most difficult bonus question of the round was asked on a question concerning the Space Race, as only nine teams knew that the Columbia was the name of the Apollo 11 module in which pilot Michael Collins orbited the Moon (while Armstrong and Aldrin were on its surface). With that, we saw just four perfect final round scores: Power Vacuum (Champion Billiards), No Fruit No Karaoke (Champion Billiards), Pugalicious (Beef O’ Brady’s), and Scooby Snacks (Smoketown Brewing). These were your top Thursday scores after the fourth round:
- Brother of Menelaus (Fish Market): 162
- Power Vacuum (Champion Billiards): 160
- PC Principals (Fish Market): 159
- Just Good Enough (Champion Billiards): 158
- Lowered Expectations (Quincy’s): 157
FINAL QUESTION (50.0% success rate):
–> What are the TWO most populous countries on Earth whose capital cities share the same first letter as their country name?
Exactly half of our teams arrived at the two correct answers of Brazil (capital of Brasilia) and Mexico (capital of Mexico City). With a slightly easier final question, we saw seven teams earn the Perfect 21 with correct answers on all wagering questions. Here are your top overall scores from Thursday:
- Brother of Menelaus (Fish Market): 172
- Power Vacuum (Champion Billiards): 171
- PC Principals (Fish Market): 171
- Just Good Enough (Champion Billiards): 170
- Lowered Expectations (Quincy’s): 169
- Your Mom (Bunker Sports Cafe): 169
- Harsh Reality (Beef O’ Brady’s): 168
- Clever Team Name (Quincy’s): 168
- Brady’s Deflated Balls (Bunker Sports Cafe): 168
- FOUR TEAMS TIED WITH 167 POINTS
TONIGHT’S WINNERS:
Quincy’s Bar and Grille in Gaithersburg, MD: Lowered Expectations (Next week’s first category: “A Fish Called Wanda”)
Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Power Vacuum (Next week’s first category: Charles Dickens)
Bunker Sports Cafe in Leesburg, VA: Your Mom (Next week’s first category: Curling Terms)
Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: Scoobys (Next week’s first category: “Star Trek: The Next Generation”)
Beef O’ Brady’s in Frederick, MD: Harsh Reality (Next week’s first category: “Arrested Development”)
Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: Veggie Burrito (Next week’s first category: Defunct Car Companies)
Cushwa Brewing in Williamsport, MD: No Brainers (Next week’s first category: Children’s Literature)
Olde Mother Brewing in Frederick, MD: Rum Ham (Next week’s first category: “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”)
The Grille at Flower Hill in Gaithersburg, MD: Gold Team (Next week’s first category: Washington Nationals)
Black Walnut Brewery in Leesburg, VA: D.L.E. (Next week’s first category: Indonesia)
Right Around the Corner in St. Petersburg, FL: Scott’s Not Here (Next week’s first category: Dan Brown Novels)
Fish Market Restaurant in Alexandria, VA: Brother of Menelaus ** FIVE WINS IN A ROW! ** (Next week’s first category: “Girl” Songs)
Guido’s in Frederick, MD: Carpal Tunnel of Love (Next week’s first category: Triple 50/50 – Taking Back Sunday or Brand New?)