A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Monday Trivia!

After an Independence Day hiatus, Monday was once again full of questions and answers! Nine venues hosted a total of 122 teams for an evening of Pour House Trivia.

FIRST ROUND:

We started things off with the easiest wagering question of the first half, which carried the hardest bonus question of the entire game! A question about children’s character Strawberry Shortcake ended up giving bonus points to only seven teams who also knew her cat is named Custard. Other opening round topics included the pseudonym Machine Gun Kelly used by gangsters and musicians, Three Clues about the transcontinental country Turkey, and NFL quarterback Baker Mayfield’s recent trade to the Carolina Panthers. The only perfect score in this round was recorded by Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP).

SECOND ROUND:

The second round featured an audio question with songs played in reverse, then went on to topics such as the German Purity Law that regulated beer production, the ABC game show Holey Moley, and Isaac Newton‘s law of universal gravitation. The final question of the round ended up being the most difficult wagering query of the first half:

• In addition to lead actor Christian Slater, which 1993 film written by Quentin Tarantino featured supporting actors such as Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Samuel L. Jackson, Dennis Hopper, James Gandolfini, and Brad Pitt?

Even with an additional multiple-choice section, only half the field earned wagering points for naming True Romance, while 22% were able to do so before the choices were given for bonus points. A game-high seven teams earned perfect scores in the second round.

HALFTIME:

Monday’s halftime page tasked teams with identifying various herbs and spices, then naming MLB franchises by their All-Star players through the years. Our groups were apparently very up to that task, with an average score of 18.8 and 60% of teams recording perfect 20-point pages. No teams were perfect at the halftime intermission, but several teams came very close:

• First on First (Aslin): 90
• Beer Sampler (Cushwa): 90
• Roosevelt’s Polio Throw (Bushwaller’s): 90
• College Broke (Mark’s): 90
• Living the Dream (Cushwa): 89
• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 89

THIRD ROUND:

U.S. cities Dallas and Atlanta were the subject of the first category in this round. Later on, teams encountered the toughest wagering question of Monday’s game:

• In Greek mythology, which son of Zeus is best known for his eternal punishment? He was forced to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree, with the fruit just slightly out of his reach, and the water was always receding before he could take a drink.

That mythological figure, Tantalus, was named by 23% of our teams. We followed that up with the hardest bonus chance in the second half. A question about the Beatles song Get Back asked teams to name the exact year its album, Let It Be, was released, and just 12% answered with the correct year of 1970. Six teams were able to put up perfect scores in this round.

FOURTH ROUND:

Monday’s 6-4-2 about Dracula was aced by nine teams who named the character after just one clue for the big six-point prize. A couple of toughies started the fourth round, going from a question about the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise to this sports question:

• Three generations of the France family have each served as the head of which sports organization?

Those would be the multi-generational heads of NASCAR, which 29% of the field knew for their wager. We went on to talk about 2022 film The Northman, alternating and direct current, and a three-parter on famous people who share a first and last name. Once again, Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP) was perfect in this round but this time, they were joined by That’s So Clavin (Cushwa) and Cobra Kai (DRP). Before the final question, these teams were atop the scoreboard:

• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 165
• Cobra Kai (DRP): 161
• Prestige Worldwide (William Jeffrey’s): 160
• Cleanup on Aisle Four (Il Forno): 158
• I Don’t Know (DRP): 158
• That’s So Clavin (Cushwa): 158

FINAL QUESTION (64.8% success rate):

• Theodore Roosevelt was the first U.S. President to visit a foreign country while in office, when he traveled by boat to which Western Hemisphere country?

Teddy visited Panama to check the progress of its namesake canal, and almost two-thirds of our teams gained points on that one! Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP) recorded the game’s lone Perfect 21 by answering all 21 wagering questions correctly. They also recorded the highest score on Monday, followed by these teams:

• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 174
• Cobra Kai (DRP): 173
• That’s So Clavin (Cushwa): 170
• I Don’t Know (DRP): 170
• H.R. Puff ‘n’ Stuff (DRP): 169
• Quiz in My Pants (Cushwa): 168
• George Washington’s Camel (DRP): 167
• Cleanup on Aisle Four (Il Forno): 165
• College Broke (Mark’s): 165
• FOUR TEAMS TIED WITH 160 POINTS

We also have to give a shoutout to Legalized Gambling (DRP), which also recorded 174 points in the game, but did so with more than the maximum seven players for eligibility!

MONDAY’S WINNERS:

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

DRP in Alexandria, VA: Hipster Fashion Consultants  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Wives of Henry VIII)

Bushwaller’s in Frederick, MD: Team Holt  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Detroit Football Accomplishments)

Rockwell Brewery in Frederick, MD: Yank and Prosper  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 2000s Pop Punk)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: College Broke  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Blue Crabs)

William Jeffrey’s Tavern in Arlington, VA: Win or Booze  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Alabama (band))

Ragtime in Arlington, VA: Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Britney Spears) 

Aslin Beer Co in Herndon, VA: First on First  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Pizza Parlor Arcade Games)

Il Forno Pizzeria in Frederick, MD: Cleanup on Aisle Four  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Sam Raimi Films)