Conspiring with Wednesday Trivia!

Pour House Trivia was up to 206 teams this past Wednesday among our 20 locations, with Idiom Brewing in Frederick, MD leading the pack by hosting 21 teams.

FIRST ROUND:

Teams enjoyed an opening round that referenced the newest film in the Scream franchise, the LUV stock symbol of Southwest Airlines, and Virginia’s Skyline Drive. The toughest bonus chance in the round came on this three-parter regarding people with Ash in their name:

• 1)  Which singer infamously lip-synched her song “Pieces of Me” on an episode of Saturday Night Live?
• 2)  Set during the 19th century, which novel begins with the lead character secretly in love with Ashley Wilkes?
• 3)  Who was the first person to reach one million Twitter followers?

About 27% of the field knew all three answers which were, in order, Ashlee Simpson, Gone with the Wind, and Ashton Kutcher. Seventeen teams recorded perfect first round scores.

SECOND ROUND:

The wagering questions in this round were of no serious challenge to our teams, with one exception. We started with the audio question, this time about theme songs for Cheers, Scrubs, and iCarly. The tricky question came next, which had the lowest success rate of any question asked on Wednesday:

• Before a match in the Japanese sport of sumo, competitors ritually throw handfuls of what substance into the ring?

Sumo wrestlers throw salt in a purification ritual taken from Shinto tradition; that answer was given by just over a quarter of our teams. After that, we offered questions about the Greek letter omega, the cord unit of measurement, and Aerosmith’s only Billboard Hot 100-topping song, I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing. This round featured ten perfect teams.

HALFTIME:

In Wednesday’s halftime action, teams had to name music groups from picture clues, then match states to their second-most populous cities (such as New Haven, Connecticut and Grand Rapids, Michigan). In total, 36 teams earned all 20 points while the average squad scored a very solid 17.9 points. Our top seven teams were separated by all of one point at the halftime break:

• Three Fifes and a Drum (Craftworx): 91
• Island Banshees (Celtic House): 91
• Starsky & Hutch (Celtic House): 91
• Blinded by the Wine (Axes and O’s): 90
• Bad Misty (Craftworx): 90
• Jones Springs Hooligans (Barstool): 90
• Quick Pink and the Vine Gang (Belles’): 90

THIRD ROUND:

The most difficult bonus try of the night came at the start of the second half when we gave this question about NBA futility:

• In NBA history, only two teams have amassed losing streaks of at least 24 games. Oddly, each of these teams has amassed two separate losing streaks of at least 24 games in their respective histories. Name at least one of those Eastern Conference teams.

Only 6.7% of the field named both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers for two bonus points. A Last Word/First Word became the round’s least-successful wagering question:

• What would the five-word name of the TV series be if characters named Carol Peletier and Maggie Greene teamed up with Christina Applegate’s character Jen Harding from another show to take on Alpha, Beta, & The Whisperers?

Linking those shows together would get you The Walking Dead to Me, named by 49% of our teams. A human biology question came a little later:

• Physically resembling tree branches, which portion of a human nerve cell (or neuron) derives its name from the Greek word meaning tree?

The dendrite was correctly identified by 55% of teams. The only perfect teams in this round were Carpet Stretchers (T.J. Stone’s) and Black October (Grape Escape).

FOURTH ROUND:

Only four teams were able to name the musical Groundhog Day — yes, based on the 1993 film — from the first clue about some of its songs. Wednesday’s final round provided this question about a certain late 90s toy fad:

• Taking their name from a prefix meaning one billion, which items were an early version of virtual pets, introducing such characters as Compu Kitty, Digital Doggie, and Komputer Koala?

The Giga Pets line of virtual companions was named by 47% of the field, while 12% knew the brand was first sold by Tiger Electronics. Other topics in this round included the film The Departed, comic strip Cathy (ack!), country singer Merle Haggard, and Three Clues about the city of Chicago. Quick Pink and the Vine Gang (Belles’) was the only team to earn all 36 points in this round. That team also challenged for the points lead after four rounds:

• Carpet Stretchers (T.J. Stone’s): 162
• Quick Pink and the Vine Gang (Belles’): 161
• Toilet Kings (Quinn’s): 158
• Knocking Puss and Boots (Hops N Shine): 157
• Barn Gurlz (Sully’s): 157
• Power Vacuum (Belles’): 157

FINAL QUESTION (24.27% success rate):

• This Roman senator fought against Julius Caesar, who pardoned him, before conspiring with Brutus to murder Caesar. He is best known by which one-word middle name?

Almost a quarter of the field provided the right answer, Cassius. For the second week in a row, Stink Floyd (Belles’) earned the only Perfect 21 feat of the night. With that, the night concluded with a trio of teams from the aforementioned team’s venue atop the leaderboard:

• Quick Pink and the Vine Gang (Belles’): 170
• Power Vacuum (Belles’): 169
• Stink Floyd (Belles’): 168
• Starsky & Hutch (Celtic House): 167
• The Legend of Taylor Heinicke (Axes and O’s): 166
• Carpet Stretchers (T.J. Stone’s): 166
• Tug and the Heartstrings (Idiom): 165
• Black October (Grape Escape): 164
• Vixen (Memories): 164
• Tanya Harding Club (Thick-N-Thin): 163

Einsteins of Beer (Memories) would’ve also made this list but played over the limit with more than seven players, so they earn an honorable mention instead.

WEDNESDAY’S WINNERS:

Belles’ Sports Bar in Frederick, MD: Quick Pink and the Vine Gang  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 1980s Music (audio))

Memories Charcoal House in Mount Airy, MD: Vixen  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Pokemon Go)

Quinn’s on the Corner in Arlington, VA: Toilet Kings  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Wes Anderson Films)

GearHouse Brewing in Chambersburg, PA: Archived!  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Greek Mythology)

TGI Fridays in Hagerstown, MD: What the Fork  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Green)

Idiom Brewing in Frederick, MD: Tug and the Heartstrings  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Nintendo Virtual Boy)

Axes and O’s in Sterling, VA: The Legend of Taylor Heinicke  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Friends Guest Stars)

Hops N Shine in Alexandria, VA: Knocking Puss and Boots  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 1990s Country Music (audio))

Sully’s Pour House in Herndon, VA: Left Unsupervised  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Gemstones)

T.J. Stone’s in Alexandria, VA: Carpet Stretchers  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Famous Omars)

Craftworx Taproom in Gainesville, VA: Bad Misty  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: John Hughes Films)

Barstool Sportsbook in Charles Town, WV: Rattle and Roll  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: White Chicks)

Grape Escape in Gaithersburg, MD: Black October  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Erin Performs Eminem)

Shipgarten in McLean, VA: Zelda’s Buddies  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Grand Slam Tennis Champions)

Thick-N-Thin Brewing in Hagerstown, MD: Tanya Harding Club  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 2000s Commercial Jingles (audio))

Kitzie’s Restaurant in Martinsburg, WV: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Triple 50/50: Maryland or West Virginia?)

Rough Edges Brewing in Waynesboro, PA: Vandelay Industries  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Waynesboro Lore)

Celtic House in Arlington, VA: Starsky & Hutch  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Sea Hunt (TV series))

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: Fresh Off the U-Haul  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Pi (number))

Augie’s Mussel House in Alexandria, VA: IWD Nuts  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Pickleball)