I Kiwi-Sized Game of Monday Night Trivia…

August 8, 2017

After a couple of weeks off, one of our best Monday night teams returned to action this week, and proceeded to put a hurting on this tough set of questions.  Which one of Monday’s 79 teams pulled off this feat?  Read on to find out…

ROUND 1:

Our teams were tested right out of the gate on Monday, as the most difficult bonus question of the entire night was asked early in the first round.  On a question about the Panama Canal, we offered a two-point bonus to any team who knew which Panamanian leader signed the 1977 agreement returning the Canal Zone to Panama.  While Manuel Noriega was certainly a good guess, he did not take over until 1983.  It was actually Omar Torrijos who signed that agreement.  Across the board, only ONE TEAM earned that two-point bonus: Kitten Mittens (​Cheesetique).  Later, we lightened the mood by asking about the fast food restaurant which once used these lesser-known advertising characters:

Not surprisingly, Burger King did not keep these not-at-all-creepy characters around very long.  We concluded the round with a question on celebrity couples, asking about the late R&B singer and former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver whose tumultuous relationship resulted in the destruction of a million-dollar mansion.  Only 21% of our teams remembered BOTH of these names to earn a two-point bonus:

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Andre Rison

Thanks to the wicked bonus question on Panamanian leaders, only Kitten Mittens (​Cheesetique) swept the first round with a perfect score of 36 points.

ROUND 2:

Our audio question was more diverse than normal, as our three clips featured a pop song, a TV theme song, and a film clip, all of which were linked by a common theme.  Only about half of our teams earned their wager here, recognizing any two of “Mr. Roboto” (a song by Styx), the theme song to “Mr. Belevedere”, and a scene from the Jim Carrey comedy film “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”:

Carrey Penguins

This proved to be the most difficult bonus question of the round, as only 14% of our teams knew all three answers to earn an extra two points.  The middle of the round proved to be much easier for our teams, with most earning points on questions regarding John Steinbeck, North Carolina, and leukemia.  We concluded the second round with its most difficult wagering question:

–> Which actor appeared in film roles that include an air traffic controller nicknamed “The Zone”; a writer covering a murder in Savannah, Georgia; a third baseman for the Chicago White Sox; an unemployed puppeteer; and a professional assassin?

John CusackJohn Cusack

 

Only 39% of the field earned points with John Cusack, with about half of those teams earning bonus points by remembering the title of the film in which he played an assassin: “Grosse Pointe Blank” (far right).  Just as in the first round, the only team to sweep the second round with a perfect score of 36 points was Kitten Mittens (Cheesetique).

HALFTIME:

Our halftime page dealt with opening credits of films, and the wide range of the films depicted led to a low average of only 13.8 points, but we did have three teams earn a perfect score: Del Ray Dummies (DRP), Kitten Mittens (Cheesetique), and It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Cheesy (Cheesetique).  Here are Monday’s top overall scores at the halftime break:

ROUND 3:

In terms of wagering questions, the third round was a bit more tame than normal, as all five questions were correctly answered by at least half of our teams.  By contrast, each of the three bonus questions played far more difficultly, beginning with this first query on the U.S. Supreme Court:

–> Serving for 34 and 28 years respectively, name either one of the two 19th century Americans who served the longest tenures as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The two men we were looking for actually served back-to-back as Chief Justice, covering 63 consecutive years from 1801 through 1864.  While most teams remembered John Marshall, only 13% of our teams earned bonus points by also remembering his successor: Roger Taney.  We continued with questions covering prime numbers, Sikhism, and the scientific process of osmosis, which also included a rather difficult bonus question.  Only 15% of our teams remembered that Chris Rock voiced the title character in this film:

Osmosis Jones

Once again, only one team swept the third round with a perfect score of 36 points, but this time it was H.R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff (DRP).

6-4-2 QUESTION:

Only eight teams earned six points on the 6-4-2 question, answering correctly after this first clue:

–> Which food is also the first name of a five-time Tony nominee who also won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of President Allison Taylor on the TV drama “24”?

Some deep TV knowledge was needed here to land the correct response of Cherry (Jones):

Cherry Jones

ROUND 4:

The first few questions of the final round played slightly easier than normal, as we touched on the comedic troupe that was recently “honored” by the appearance of this sculpture in London:

Monty Python Dead Parrot

Next, we asked a bonus question that challenged even our biggest sports fans.  After correctly answering which rival of the New York Yankees won the first MLB World Series (the Boston Red Sox), we offered a two-point bonus to any tam that could name the losing side in that first World Series played back in 1903.  Only nine teams arrived at the correct response of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  We concluded the night with our most difficult wagering question, asking for the respective number of meters found in a decameter, a gigameter, and a hectometer.  Despite only needing two correct answers out of three, only 28% of our teams earned their wager here, with about half of those earning a two-point bonus by knowing all three correct answers: ten (decameter), one billion (gigameter), and one hundred (hectometer).  For the fourth straight round, only one team earned a perfect score of 36 points, with Shakeweight (Il Forno) taking the honors this time around.  Here are your top Monday scores after the final round:

FINAL QUESTION (15.2% success rate):

–> Which country of nearly five million residents straddles the Alpine Fault, a boundary between two tectonic plates which leads to activity in the Taupo Volcanic Zone?

 

Most of our teams headed to the Pacific Ocean and the Ring of Fire to try to come up with a correct response.  While that was certainly a good start, it helped if you knew which island nation not only had five million residents, but was home to the Southern Alps.  Exactly 12 teams came up with the correct answer of New Zealand:

New Zealand

Congratulations to Kitten Mittens (Cheesetique) and Shakeweight (Il Forno), as the only two teams to score the Perfect 21 tonight by answering correctly on all wagering questions.  Here are your top overall scores:

TONIGHT’S WINNERS:

DRP in Alexandria, VA:  H.R. Puff ‘N’ Stuff  (Next week’s first category: the novel “Dune”)

Greene Turtle in Hagerstown, MD:  Hair Club for Men  (Next week’s first category: “The West Wing”)

Morgan Inn in Woodbine, MD:  Westward Ho!  (Next week’s first category: “Ghostbusters” – original)

Hershey’s Restaurant in Gaithersburg, MD:  Killer Snails  (Next week’s first category: Washington Redskins)

Uno Pizzeria in Frederick, MD:  Interrobang  (Next week’s first category: “The Phil Hendrie Show”)

Cheesetique in Arlington, VA:  Kitten Mittens  (Next week’s first category: “Game of Thrones”)

Adam & Eve Gastropub in Frederick, MD:  Trivia Newton John  (Next week’s first category: Novels)

Il Forno in Frederick, MD:  Shake Weight  (Next week’s first category: Triple 50/50: Catholicism or Judaism)

 

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