I Think I Love Weekend Trivia (So What Am I So Afraid Of?)
We closed the month of June with a combined 32 teams playing at three weekend venues:
FIRST HALF:
Opening round topics from this weekend included a noticeable foreign flavor, as we discussed Marie Curie, mozzarella cheese, Charlotte of Mecklenberg, and this Swiss company:
Our Friday teams dealt with colorful musical acts for their audio question, as we played tunes from The White Stripes, Pink, and Macy Gray. The Saturday squads were quizzed on three songs with “Candy” in the title (“I want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow, “Sex and Candy” by Marcy Playground, and “Candy Shop” by 50 Cent). With the second round running smoothly, most of our weekend teams hit a speed bump on the third question of the second round. Friday’s version involved NBA champions:
–> Only two teams have won exactly two NBA titles. The first is an Eastern Conference team that won both of its titles in the 1970s, while the other is a Western Conference team that won both of its titles in the 1990s.
Only four Friday teams could name either the New York Knicks (1970 and 1973) or the Houston Rockets (1994 and 1995). Meanwhile, the Saturday question in this position dealt with the Oscars:
–> Respectively released in the 2016, 1997, and 1950, name any two of the three films which are tied for the most Oscar nominations with 14 apiece.
Once again, only four teams earned wagering points by naming any two of “La La Land”, “Titanic”, and “All About Eve”. Five of our weekend teams earned perfect first round scores, but no team was able to replicate the feat in the second round.
HALFTIME:
Former child actors and brand logos were the featured topics on this weekend’s halftime pages. With an overall average of 15.4 points, only Smarty Pants (Belles’) earned the full 20 points. Here are your highest scoring first half teams from this weekend:
- Uncle Jack (Belles’): 87
- Off Beats (Pretzel & Pizza Creations): 86
- Give Us Your Beer Money (Pretzel & Pizza Creations): 86
- Smarty Pants (Belles’): 85
SECOND HALF:
The second half began with topics such as basketball coach Phil Jackson, the song “Moves Like Jagger”, and these two fictional characters whose names are identical:
That’s John Carter (left) and John Carter (right). On each of our two weekend nights, only oe team was able to sweep the third round: Stupid Sexy Flanders (Springfield Manor Winery) and Give Us Your Beer Money (Pretzel & Pizza Creations). The final round saw a substantial increase in difficulty level, as evidenced by this Friday question on gambling, asked in the A + B = C format:
Part A = The number is that is most likely to be rolled when rolling two dice.
Part B = The number of hole cards a player is dealt in a standard game of Omaha poker.
While most teams knew that Part A equaled seven, only one of our Friday teams knew (or guessed) that players are given FOUR hole cards in Omaha, leading to the correct response of 11. In an interesting coincidence, the most difficult wagering question of Saturday’s game also involved gambling, albeit tangentially:
–> As the namesake for a former Las Vegas casino, which term once referred to the coastal regions of northwest Africa and the pirates who attacked ships and settlements in the area?
Only three of our Saturday teams came away with points here, either by knowing their African geography, or by remembering this casino (which has changed names several times):
The final round did not yield any perfect scores this weekend, leading to this overall leaderboard heading into the final question:
- Give Us Your Beer Money (Pretzel & Pizza Creations): 161
- Smarty Pants (Belles’): 158
- Off Beats (Pretzel & Pizza Creations): 158
- Uncle Jack (Belles’): 155
- Mother Cluckers Two (Springfield Manor Winery): 149
FRIDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (66.7% success rate):
–> The son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright originated the idea for which product after he noticed his father’s usage of interlocking beams on the foundation to make the Tokyo Imperial Hotel earthquake-proof?
SATURDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (33.3% success rate):
–> Upon its introduction by a Wisconsin architect in 1927, which invention was given the name ‘electric pig’?
Correct final answers from this weekend included Lincoln Logs and the garbage disposal. Congratulations to Give Us Your Beer Money (Pretzel & Pizza Creations), who recorded the only Perfect 21 of the weekend and topped the overall leaderboard:
- Give Us Your Beer Money (Pretzel & Pizza Creations): 173
- Off Beats (Pretzel & Pizza Creations): 170
- Mother Cluckers Two (Springfield Manor Winery): 161
- Arrondissements of Ouagadougou (Pretzel & Pizza Creations): 152
- Half Nelsons (Belles’): 152
- Uncle Jack (Belles’): 151
- Stupid Sexy Flanders (Springfield Manor Winery): 150
- Smarty Pants (Belles’): 148
An honorable mention goes out to Johnny Chicken (Pretzel & Pizza Creations), who recorded 161 points while playing “over the limit” on Saturday night.
THIS WEEKEND’S WINNERS:
Springfield Manor Winery in Thurmont, MD: Mother Cluckers Two (Next week’s first category: Cats – animal)
Vanish Brewery in Leesburg, VA: NO GAME THIS WEEK (Next week’s first category: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”)
Belles’ Sports Bar in Frederick, MD: Half Nelsons (Next week’s first category: First Three “Die Hard” Films)