A Perfect “Day” For Monday Trivia!

Season XIX kicked off its weekday schedule with 84 teams taking in a game of Monday trivia across ten PHT venues:

FIRST ROUND:

Monday’s game began with a question regarding this current film which is defying logic by earning positive reviews:

Other first round topics included the Erie Canal and Michelangelo’s statue of David.  The most difficult question of the opening stanza was asked in the form of a Triple 50/50 question regarding the appropriate subject of Martin Luther King, Jr.  The topics included King’s birth, family heritage, and college education.  Just under half of our teams earned wagering points with at least two correct answers, while only nine teams earned bonus points by knowing all three correct responses.  As a result, four teams earned a perfect first round score: H.R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff (DRP), No Beer For You (Greene Turtle), Dave Martinez School of Management (Hershey’s), and Power Vacuum (Bushwaller’s).

SECOND ROUND:

Though it is the middle of winter, Monday’s audio question kept us thinking about the summer with artists such as Bryan Adams, Demi Lovato, and ABBA.  Next, we sat down at the breakfast table for the most difficult wagering question of the first half, which was asked in the A+B=C format:

Part A = The number of mascots currently used by Rice Krispies cereal.

Part B = The number of colors currently used in Froot Loops cereal.

Needless to say, Part A was a virtual gimmie, but the field struggled with Part B.  Only 37% of our teams knew (or guessed) that Froot Loops pieces are sold in six different colors:

On a side note…  Do you remember the shocking news that was revealed several years ago that all Froot Loops taste the same regardless of color?  After asking a question about supermodel Gisele Bundchen, we segued into a difficult bonus question concerning Tom Brady.  We asked our teams to name either one of the top two players on the list of most career touchdown passes caught from Tom Brady.  Naming Rob Gronkowski was a breeze for most teams, but only seven teams earned bonus points by also naming Randy Moss, who is second on this list despite playing in New England for just over three seasons.  The second round did not yield any perfect scores.

HALFTIME:

We headed back to the kitchen for Monday’s halftime page, as it dealt with foods with ‘geographic’ names.  Meanwhile, the bottom half had our teams matching first-term U.S. Senators to the respective states they represent.  The overall average reached 16.3 points, while 14% of the field ran the table with a perfect score of 20 points.  Here is Monday’s halftime leaderboard:

• Dave Martinez School of Management (Hershey’s):  90
• Queen’s Gambit (Cheesetique):  90
• Arlington Underground (Cheesetique):  89
• No Beer For You (Greene Turtle):  89
• H.R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff (DRP):  89

THIRD ROUND:

Monday’s second half opened with our nightly Three Clues question, with this version dealing with a classic TV character:

CLUE 1: Introduced in 1963, this TV character’s last name is Grant.

CLUE 2: Jayne Mansfield was once approached to portray this TV character.

Ten teams picked up bonus points by forgoing the last clue and turning in this correct answer:

Other third round topics included English Premier League soccer teams, the study of pathology, and reign of Charlemagne.  Thanks to the first question of the round, only two teams earned a perfect score in the third stanza: Unsavories (DRP) and Dave Martinez School of Management (Hershey’s).

FOURTH ROUND:

Before jumping into the fourth round, we stumped most of the field with this first clue in the 6-4-2 question:

–> Who is the most recent U.S. President to have also served as U.S. Secretary of State?

Only five teams earned the full six points with the correct response of James Buchanan.  The fourth round began with the most difficult bonus question of the night.  While most of the filed knew that the recent albums entitled “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience” were released by U2, only six teams earned bonus points by also knowing that those titles were borrowed from collections of poetry penned by William Blake.  We continued with topics such as Egyptian gods, U.S. government shutdowns, and this Olympic comedy film:

The final round yielded three prefect scores: Unsavories (DRP), Dave Martinez School of Management (Hershey’s) and Power Vacuum (Bushwaller’s).  After four rounds of play, these were your highest scoring Monday teams:

• Dave Martinez School of Management (Hershey’s):  168
• H.R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff (DRP):  159
• Unsavories (DRP):  158
• Power Vacuum (Bushwaller’s):  158
• Kitten Mittens (Cheesetique):  157

MONDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (71.8% success rate):

–> In addition to a TV movie entitled “Redemption” and a limited series in 2014 entitled “Live Another Day”, which 21st century TV series ran for eight seasons for a very fitting 192 episodes?

Nearly three-quarters of our teams responded correctly with the action drama “24”.  Seven teams ran the table on tonight’s wagering questions in order to earn the Perfect 21, though the most impressive of these performances was turned in by defending World Series champion Dave Martinez School of Management (Hershey’s), who set a PHT record by posting 180 points for the sixth time in team history.  Here is Monday’s final overall leaderboard:

• Dave Martinez School of Management (Hershey’s):  180
• H.R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff (DRP):  171
• Kitten Mittens (Cheesetique):  169
• Unsavories (DRP):  169
• Killer Snails (Hershey’s):  169
• Worst Case Ontario (DRP):  168
• Power Vacuum (Bushwaller’s):  168
• Who the F is Alice? (Bushwaller’s):  167
• Chef Goldblum’s Raptor Bites (Hershey’s):  163
• Wingardium Mimosa (Hershey’s):  162

MONDAY’S WINNERS:

DRP in Alexandria, VA:  H.R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff  (Next week’s first category: “Grease” – film)

Greene Turtle in Hagerstown, MD:  No Beer For You  (Next week’s first category: “Spirited Away”)

Morgan Inn in Woodbine, MD:  Great Heathen Army  (Next week’s first category: Diseases of the Human Eye)

Hershey’s in Gaithersburg, MD:  Dave Martinez School of Management  (Next week’s first category: Fyre Festival)

Uno Pizzeria in Frederick, MD:  Cher’s Zombie Army  (Next week’s first category: “Celebrity Big Brother” – current season)

Cheesetique in Arlington, VA:  Kitten Mittens  (Next week’s first category: “Celebrity Big Brother” – current season)

Bushwaller’s in Frederick, MD:  Power Vacuum  (Next week’s first category: Aztec Civilization)

Rockwell Brewery in Frederick, MD:  Mud Duck Hunt Club  (Next week’s first category: World War II Films)

Bareburger in Atlanta, GA:  NO GAME THIS WEEK  (NEXT GAME TBD – First category: U.S. Presidents)

Flanagan’s Harp and Fiddle in Bethesda, MD:  Outdoor Alcoholics  (Next week’s first category: Turn-Based Strategy Games)

Il Forno in Frederick, MD:  Notch Eight  (Next week’s first category: ABBA)