A Wild and Crazy Thursday Night of Trivia!
It was another crowded Thursday night as we welcomed 104 teams to 13 venues. Let’s see which teams breezed through tonight’s set:
ROUND 1:
Thursday’s opening round included questions on U.S. Geography, “R.N.” phrases, and this 1980s comedy film:
We snuck in a tough bonus question to close the round, asking which esteemed British actor made a cameo appearance in the film “Monty Python’s Meaning of Life” as a wounded British soldier. Only eight teams came away with an extra two points with the correct response of Michael Caine. Six teams began the game with a perfect first round.
ROUND 2:
Thursday’s audio question featured three songs whose titles include the phrase “In My”, specifically “In My Head” (Jason Derulo), “In My Life” (The Beatles), and “In My Room” (The Beach Boys). Later, we asked about this new stadium which will be hosting the Super Bowl in three months:
We closed the first half with its most difficult wagering and bonus questions:
–> Perhaps best known to Americans for his inclusion in the hit R.E.M. song “It’s the End of the World As We Know It”, what politician followed Nikita Khrushchev as de facto leader of the Soviet Union?
2-POINT BONUS: What leader immediately succeeded this man in that position upon his 1982 death?
Sure, we all know that Michael Stipe calls out Leonard Bernstein in that song, but the two words which immediately follow are Leonid Brezhnev. Only 28% of our teams earned their wagers here, with just six teams tacking on the two-point bonus by also knowing Yuri Andropov. Only two teams rolled through the second round with a perfect score of 36 points: Captain Awesome and the Wonder Friends (Quincy’s) and Thoroughly Screwed (Bunker Sports Cafe)
HALFTIME:
Thursday’s Disney-themed halftime page led to an average score of 14.8 points, with seven perfect scores of 20 points. Here are Thursday’s top scores after the first half:
- Slapsgiving (Cushwa Brewing): 88
- PC Principals (Fish Market): 86
- Brother of Menelaus (Fish Market): 86
- Three Fingers Worth (Olde Mother Brewing): 86
- Killer Snails (Quincy’s): 86
- In Dog Beers, We’ve Had Only One (Olde Mother Brewing): 86
- We Drink and We Know Things (The Grille at Flower Hill): 86
ROUND 3:
After closing the first half with a difficult question on foreign world leaders, we opened the second half with an even more difficult question on domestic leaders. Yes, the most difficult question of the night was asked in the form of a Three Clues / One President:
CLUE 1: He brought in James G. Blaine as Secretary of State, after Blaine had served under a different president almost a decade earlier.
CLUE 2: This President signed the first U.S. bill limiting monopolies: the Sherman Antitrust Act.
CLUE 3: This grandson of another U.S. President served between the terms of Grover Cleveland.
Even after hearing all three clues, only 19% of our teams earned their wager with the correct response of Benjamin Harrison. Only teo teams earned a two-point bonus by turning in the correct response after just two clues had been read, and ultimately, those were the only two teams to earn a perfect score in the third round: PC Principals (Fish Market) and We Drink and We Know Things (The Grille at Flower Hill).
ROUND 4:
Thursday’s final round included questions on the Geography of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the company Colgate-Palmolive, and three items with three-digit prime numbers in their names (including Bacardi 151 Rum and the 1980s sitcom “227”). We also asked about the most recent member of One Direction to top the Billboard Hot 100 Chart:
For those of you over the age of 25, that’s Irishman Niall Horan. The final round actually eased up a bit on the field, as 11 teams finished the final stanza with a perfect score. Here are Thursday’s top scores after the fourth round:
- Brother of Menelaus (Fish Market): 157
- We Drink and We Know Things (The Grille at Flower Hill): 156
- Lowered Expectations (Quincy’s): 156
- Slapsgiving (Cushwa Brewing): 155
- PC Principals (Fish Market): 155
FINAL QUESTION (23.7% success rate):
–> Ultimately losing to Denzel Washington for “Glory”, what actor’s role as Boolie Werthan made him the first former “Saturday Night Live” cast member to be nominated for an Academy Award?
I’m sure it have helped if we had given the film title (“Driving Miss Daisy”), but nonetheless just under one-quarter of our teams turned in this correct response:
Congratulations to Lowered Expectations (Quincy’s), as the only team to earn the Perfect 21 tonight with correct answers on all wagering questions. Here are your top overall scores from Thursday:
- PC Principals (Fish Market): 167
- Lowered Expectations (Quincy’s): 166
- Gin and Cupcakes (Fish Market): 166
- Three Fingers Worth (Olde Mother Brewing): 164
- Hans Gruber Preservation Society (Smoketown Brewing): 163
- Killer Snails (Quincy’s): 159
- The Fan Club (Quincy’s): 158
- Slapsgiving (Cushwa Brewing): 155
- Formerly Known as TWA (Belly Love Brewing): 154
TONIGHT’S WINNERS:
Quincy’s Bar and Grille in Gaithersburg, MD: Lowered Expectations (Next week’s first category: 2017 Miami Dolphins)
Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Power Vacuum (Next week’s first category: “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”)
Bunker Sports Cafe in Leesburg, VA: Your Mom (Next week’s first category: Statue of Liberty)
Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: Hans Gruber Preservation Society (Next week’s first category: Taika Waititi Films)
Beef O’ Brady’s in Frederick, MD: Gryffindorks (Next week’s first category: Pearl Jam)
Jerry’s Sports Bar in Hagerstown, MD: LB Cool J (Next week’s first category: Beer)
Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: Formerly Known as TWA (Next week’s first category: Nocturnal Wildlife)
Cushwa Brewing in Williamsport, MD: Slapsgiving (Next week’s first category: “Zoolander”)
Olde Mother Brewing in Frederick, MD: Three Fingers Worth (Next week’s first category: English Premier League Soccer)
The Grille at Flower Hill in Gaithersburg, MD: We Drink and We Know Things (Next week’s first category: Contract Bridge)
Right Around the Corner in St. Petersburg, FL: Paco (Next week’s first category: Dan Aykroyd)
Fish Market Restaurant in Alexandria, VA: PC Principals (Next week’s first category: “The Twilight Zone”)
Guido’s in Frederick, MD: Faith Plus One (Next week’s first category: Horror Movies of the 2000s)