A Thanksgiving Eve Toast to Wednesday Trivia!

A lighter schedule for Thanksgiving Eve saw nine venues host Pour House Trivia on Wednesday for a total of 77 teams.

FIRST ROUND:

Things started strong with a three-parter about the dark meat and white meat of turkeys, then a whiff of a mayflower, the appropriate state flower of Massachusetts. This question featured the hardest bonus chance of the first half:

• While Ronald Reagan was delivering his first inaugural address, news broke that 52 American hostages had been released from which country after 444 days of captivity?

Almost 95% of teams knew that was the hostage crisis in Iran, but only 9% knew the failed operation to free them was named Operation Eagle Claw. However, all seven of those teams made it through the first round with perfect scores!

SECOND ROUND:

A very thankful trio of songs were played for Wednesday’s audio clue. Roughly 53% of teams received bonus points for naming all three musical acts: John Denver (Thank God I’m a Country Boy), Led Zeppelin (Thank You), and Alanis Morrisette (Thank U). After a Last Word/First Word clue and a question about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s portrayal of Mr. Freeze in Batman and Robin, we reached the toughest wagering question of the first half:

• Which NBA team was named for those who supported King Charles the First during the English Civil War?

That team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, was correctly answered by 63% of teams. There were eight perfect team scores in this round.

HALFTIME:

TV shows by Thanksgiving dinner scenes and words that are made up from just the letters in the word Thanksgiving were the halftime entrees on Wednesday. Only two teams managed to get all 20 points on this one, which carried an average score of 14.8 points. Our halftime break came after this, with these teams ahead of the pack:

• The House Never Wins (Mark’s): 91
• I Don’t Know (Hops N Shine): 91
• Washington Trivia Team (T. J. Stone’s): 91
• Texas-Sized Ten-Four (Belles’): 89
• Magic Minds (Celtic House): 88
• Oh, Wait (Hops N Shine): 88

THIRD ROUND:

The hardest question of the third round began Wednesday’s second half of play:

• Which Old West bounty hunter was introduced in a 1972 comic book? He is easily recognizable due to the scarring and disfigurement on the right side of his face. In the feature film version of the story, this title character was portrayed by Josh Brolin.

Jonah Hex was successfully answered by 31% of the field, with bonus points going to 18% which named Megan Fox as the actress who portrayed that character’s love interest in the film. We later gave Three Clues about the United Arab Emirates, in which just over 10% of teams earned extra credit for naming that Asian country from two of the three clues offered. Another third-rounder proved to be tough as well:

• The artistic medium of xylography is often used in printmaking. This medium involves carving relief sculptures into which substance?

Xylography has to do with carving into wood, which 42% of teams knew enough to put it as the correct answer. The only team to achieve a perfect score in the third round was Washington Trivia Team (T. J. Stone’s).

FOURTH ROUND:

Nineteen teams named the potato early enough to get all six points in the 6-4-2. The final round started with topics like the animated series Futurama, letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and a three-parter about Bond film Die Another Day. We saved the toughest questions for last, however, beginning with this:

• If you happen to find yourself in a swanky French restaurant and order an item called coquilles St. Jacques, which sea-dwelling creature would be the main ingredient?

A night-low 20% of teams had the right answer, scallops. The last question of the round included the night’s trickiest bonus chance:

• The 2010 album BTR was the debut release from which boy band that also starred on a namesake Nickelodeon series?

While 54% of the field knew about Big Time Rush, only four teams got those extra points for naming Snoop Dogg as the featured artist on the boy band’s hit single Boyfriend. However, no team was able to record a perfect score in the fourth. Two teams had some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack before the final question:

• Washington Trivia Team (T. J. Stone’s): 165
• I Don’t Know (Hops N Shine): 164
• Arrowski (Celtic House): 151
• Oh, Wait (Hops N Shine): 151
• Stink Floyd (Belles’): 150
• Texas-Sized Ten-Four (Belles’): 150

FINAL QUESTION (42.9% success rate):

• Lending its name to pilsner beer, the town of Pilsen is currently located in which nation boasting the highest per capita beer consumption on Earth?

Pilsen is currently located in the beer-drinking capital of the world, the Czech Republic (or Czechia). The Wednesday Perfect 21 keg was tapped, however, with no team earning points on all 21 wagering questions in the game. These squads were the highest scorers at the end of the night:

• Washington Trivia Team (T. J. Stone’s): 168
• I Don’t Know (Hops N Shine): 164
• Oh, Wait (Hops N Shine): 163
• Texas-Sized Ten-Four (Belles’): 162
• Stink Floyd (Belles’): 162
• Carpet Stretchers (T. J. Stone’s): 161
• Go Big or Go Home (Barstool): 160
• We Back (T. J. Stone’s): 159
• Alcoholics Unanimous (Belles’): 157
• Multiple Scoregasms (Belles’): 156

WEDNESDAY’S WINNERS:

Belles’ Sports Bar in Frederick, MD: Texas-Sized Ten-Four  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Twelve Days of Christmas)

Memories Charcoal House in Mount Airy, MD: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Con Air (film))

Quinn’s on the Corner in Arlington, VA: Beer Pressure  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Brass Instruments)

GearHouse Brewing in Chambersburg, PA: Sue  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Stage Musicals)

TGI Fridays in Hagerstown, MD: That’s So Clavin  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Travis Sings Celine Dion)

Idiom Brewing in Frederick, MD: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Human Heart)

Axes and O’s in Sterling, VA: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Naruto)

Hops N Shine in Alexandria, VA: I Don’t Know  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Pokemon (generation 2))

Sully’s Pour House in Herndon, VA: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Calculus)

Falling Branch Brewery in Street, MD: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Poland)

T.J. Stone’s in Alexandria, VA: Washington Trivia Team  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Seinfeld)

Craftworx Taproom in Gainesville, VA: 

Barstool Sportsbook in Charles Town, WV: Go Big or Go Home  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Real Housewives of New Jersey)

Grape Escape in Gaithersburg, MD: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: College Basketball Mid-Major Conferences)

Shipgarten in McLean, VA: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Liam Neeson)

Elysium Axe Bar in Purcellville, VA: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Fast Casual Restaurants)

Thick-N-Thin Brewing in Hagerstown, MD: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation)

Celtic House in Arlington, VA: Field Force  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 2010s Nickelodeon Shows)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: The House Never Wins  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Sopranos)