Assembling for Tuesday Trivia!

The final night in May was a trivia-filled affair, as 127 teams across 14 locations stepped up to play Pour House Trivia!

FIRST ROUND:

After a question on the ad slogan for bathroom brand Gillette, teams ran into the first round’s toughest wagering chance:

• Among its 135 chapters, which lengthy American novel features chapter titles such as Nantucket, The Mast-Head, and Ambergris?

If you knew that ambergris is a waxy substance found in the intestines of sperm whales, that may have helped with the correct answer of Moby-Dick; just under three-quarters of the field earned their wager, but only 20% added two bonus points for coming within five years of naming the novel’s publication year of 1851. After that, a query about Cyber Monday and a Three Clues question on the Panama Canal ended the round. Seven teams had a perfect opening round to kick off their trivia night.

SECOND ROUND:

An audio question on three songs that feature whistling was some hard work for Tuesday’s players. Of the songs (Walk Like an Egyptian by the Bangles, Patience by Guns ‘n’ Roses, and Tighten Up by the Black Keys), at least two were named by 59% of teams, but only eight total teams knew all three titles for bonus points. Other topics in the round included 23andMe‘s chromosome-based brand name, an HBO film based on former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, and the different variations of rugby. To end the round, however, we took a trip to Asia:

• Which two Asian countries are located less than five miles from the island nation of Singapore?

Roughly 70% of teams named either Malaysia or Indonesia to get their wager. A single perfect score in this round was earned by Drunken Birds of Steele (Dudley’s).

HALFTIME:

Teams had to identify famous actors in drag for the top half of the halftime sheet, then move on to match scientists to their important feats. The average score on Tuesday’s halftime page was 14.8 points, and fourteen teams aced it with the maximum 20 points. A quintet of high scoring teams headed the standings at intermission:

• Drunken Birds of Steele (Dudley’s): 92
• Quiz in My Pants (Dudley’s): 89
• DC Swampers (Olney): 89
• Enough Already (Smoketown Creekside): 88
• Prestige Worldwide (Ramparts): 87

THIRD ROUND:

We hit the K-Pop airwaves to start the second half, with a question about BTS providing bonus points to a round-low 22% of teams that knew both of their chart-topping hits Butter and Dynamite. After questions on the temporary highway walls named for New Jersey and record-setting missed free-throw shooters Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neal, things got a little hairy:

• Though Harry Truman temporarily qualified, which personal characteristic was common to only five U. S. Presidents, all of whom served during the second half of the 19^th century?

Only five U.S. Presidents in history had beards, not counting Truman’s short stint with one himself. That proved to be the most difficult question to earn wagering points on, with less than a quarter of the field doing so. However, perfect scores were indeed achieved in the third round by Drunken Birds of Steele (Dudley’s) and Third to Last (Gentleman Jim’s).

FOURTH ROUND:

Before the fourth round began, almost one-third of Tuesday’s squads scored the full six points on a 6-4-2 about the geologic term era. No question in the fourth was correctly answered by more than 75% of teams, as we went from Captain Picard’s assimilation into the Borg on Star Trek: The Next Generation, to a stop in Boulder, Colorado, to a sip of hazelnut liqueur Frangelico. The final stop of the round came to the realm of food science:

• All carbohydrates comprise carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, while proteins also contain which fourth element?

That element, nitrogen, was answered by 58% of the field, while about one-fifth of teams knew its atomic number (7) for a two-point bonus. Once again, Drunken Birds of Steele (Dudley’s) had a perfect 36-point round here, joined in that feat by Park Fair Facts (Dudley’s), Stamp Collectors (Ramparts), and Pink Flamingos (Solace Outpost). Heading into the final question, the top of the leaderboard looked like this:

• Drunken Birds of Steele (Dudley’s): 170
• Quiz in My Pants (Dudley’s): 157
• Third to Last (Gentleman Jim’s): 157
• Comfortably Dumb (Smoketown Creekside): 154
• Brain Freeze (Gentleman Jim’s): 154
• Supernovas (Dudley’s): 154

FINAL QUESTION (27.6% success rate):

• After a 20-year absence, which country’s delegation was once again allowed to be seated at the U. N. General Assembly in 1994?

Due primarily to the end of apartheid in the country, South Africa was allowed back at the General Assembly in 1994. With that, the game was over with one team earning Perfect 21 honors for answering every wagering question correctly on Tuesday: congrats to Brain Freeze (Gentleman Jim’s) for the feat! Here are Tuesday’s top scorers:

• Drunken Birds of Steele (Dudley’s): 170
• Quiz in My Pants (Dudley’s): 167
• Brain Freeze (Gentleman Jim’s): 166
• Prestige Worldwide (Ramparts): 166
• Comfortably Dumb (Smoketown Creekside): 166
• Supernovas (Dudley’s): 166
• Stamp Collectors (Ramparts): 165
• Donner Party (Smoketown Creekside): 164
• Smartinis (Dudley’s): 162
• Second to Last (Gentleman Jim’s): 161

TUESDAY’S WINNERS:

Vibrissa Beer and Kitchen in Front Royal, VA: Crawfish Hands  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Pirates)

Cuginis Restaurant in Poolesville, MD: Crusty Broads  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Glass Blowing)

Upper Deck in Mount Airy, MD: Fabulous Killjoys  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Jim Palmer)

Olney Winery in Olney, MD: Austikee  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Righteous Gemstones)

Dudley’s Sport and Ale in Arlington, VA: Drunken Birds of Steele  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Tom Hanks Films)

Ramparts Tavern & Grill in Arlington, VA: Prestige Worldwide  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Oscar Isaac Films)

Solace Outpost in Falls Church, VA: Pink Flamingos  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Woodstock Festival (1969))

Smoketown Creekside in Frederick, MD: Comfortably Dumb  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Old Bay Seasoning)

Distilled in Frederick, MD: Little Brains, Big Egos  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Lizards)

Antietam Brewery in Hagerstown, MD: Slippery Rock, Slippery Roll  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Guns ‘n’ Roses — audio)

Gentleman Jim’s in Gaithersburg, MD: Brain Freeze  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Jason Bateman Films)

Epiq Food Hall in Woodbridge, VA: My Bitches  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Washington, D.C. Landmarks)

Nighthawk Pizza in Arlington, VA: Our Friends Ditched Us  (FIRST CATEGORY: Cats — animal)

Coach’s Corner Grill in Purcellville, VA: Pho Q  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)