It’s the Thursday Trivia Halftime Show!

February 26, 2023

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Thursday night featured 20 Pour House Trivia locations and a total of 226 teams, including 25 at Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria, VA.

FIRST ROUND:

The game’s first regular question referenced the upcoming Opening Day for MLB, but only 9.7% of teams earned bonus points for knowing the defending World Series champion Houston Astros are currently on a 10-year Opening Day win streak! Up next, we had a three-parter on fictional characters played by a variety of performers. See if you can name the characters played by each of these trios:

  • 1)  Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr., Ian McKellen
  • 2)  Albert Finney, Michael Caine, Jim Carrey
  • 3)  Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe

A round-low 59% of teams named at least two of (in order) Sherlock Holmes, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Robin Hood. The phrase iron fist and former President Thomas Jefferson‘s Louisiana Purchase were covered to end the round. The only perfect teams here were Rail Splitters (Fourscore) and Green Machine (Solace Outpost).

SECOND ROUND:

Three songs that each won the Oscar for Best Original Song were played at Thursday’s audio portion: Take My Breath Away from Top Gun, Chim Chim Cheree from Mary Poppins, and Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire. Other topics in the round included the beginnings of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the forehead decoration known as the bindi, and the Northern Hemisphere’s Galapagos penguin. The round concluded with this question about 21st-century TV:

  • Referring to a scientific theory that differs from mainstream belief, which term was used as the title of a FOX science fiction series created by J. J. Abrams?

That series, Fringe, was named by 44% of the field, while 14% knew that Leonard Nimoy played Dr. William Bell on the show. A game-high 13 perfect scores were earned in this round.

HALFTIME:

To start Thursday’s halftime sheet, teams had to name 10 countries from a map of Asia. After that, they had to identify 10 Tom Hanks films from the role Hanks played in each. There were 39 perfect scores at halftime on a page that carried a 17.2-point average. The top of the halftime break standings featured these teams:

  • Rail Splitters (Fourscore): 91
  • I Don’t Know (Aslin): 90
  • Slime Puppies (Steinhardt): 90
  • SIX TEAMS TIED WITH 89 POINTS

THIRD ROUND:

The second half began with this film question:

  • John Singleton became the youngest person ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for which film?

To this day, the late John Singleton has the record; he earned a nomination at the age of just 24 for his film Boyz n the Hood. Just under a third of the field got that answer, while 5.3% of teams earned bonus points for naming Regina King as the future Oscar winner who made her film debut in that work. We moved on to this question about a certain ad slogan:

  • Which line of personal hair care products introduced the first one-step home hair color formula, along with the advertising slogan Does she…or doesn’t she?

Clairol was correctly named by 43% of teams. Other round topics included the similarly-named Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari and 1920s silent film title character Dr. Caligari, as well the catalytic converter recently stolen from the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile. The only perfect third-round squad was We the Peephole (Loudoun Kitchen).

FOURTH ROUND:

Thirteen teams notched a six-pointer on Thursday’s 6-4-2 about Finland. The final round started with a question about the Charge of the Light Brigade written by Alfred Lord Tennyson and regarding a battle in the Crimean War. For the toughest question in this game, California here we come:

  • Excluding San Diego, what city of about 475,000 residents is the most populous California city located south of Los Angeles?

This question also eventually featured a multiple-choice component but even with that, just 27% of teams named Long Beach as that city; 4.8% did so early for two extra points. The last question of the round was the night’s Three Clues offering:

  • A system of measurement used primarily for gemstones and precious metals.
  • The title of a 2004 feature film directed by Wolfgang Petersen.
  • The first name of fictional characters portrayed by Zac Efron, Donald Glover, and (the voice of) Phil Hartman.

The name Troy was given by 8.4% of teams before the third clue, while it was given as any wagering time by 38% of the field. This was the only round in which no teams recorded a perfect 36-point effort. These were the top-scoring teams after four rounds:

FINAL QUESTION (46.02% success rate):

  • Last summer marked the 20th anniversary of the debut studio album from which band that is the most recent music group to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show?

That album, Songs About Jane, was released in 2002 by future halftime show headliner Maroon 5. Once again, a Thursday came and went with no teams picking up Perfect 21 honors for giving right answers for all 21 wagering questions. The final top ten featured five teams pairing off:

THURSDAY’S WINNERS:

Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: Ask Me Know Questions  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Spring Ephemerals of the Eastern U.S.)

Fourscore Beer Co. in Gettysburg, PA: Rail Splitters  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: ChatGPT)

Michaux Brew in Waynesboro, PA: Suspect Tuna  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: St. Patrick’s Day)

Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Trivia Newton John  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Archer)

Loudoun Kitchen and Bar in Leesburg, VA: Jibbitz  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Children’s Literature)

Olde Mother Brewing in Frederick, MD: Triviasaurus Rex  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Wheel of Time (novel series))

Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: I Am McLovin  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Three Pines)

Solace Brewing in Sterling, VA: Scotty Doesn’t Know  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Frank Zappa)

Brewery Fire in Taneytown, MD: Great Heathen Army  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 1990s One-Hit Wonders)

Crooked Run in Sterling, VA: Wilson Countersink Flanges  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Clint Eastwood Films)

Solace Outpost in Falls Church, VA: Norfolk Southern PR Team  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: U.S. Open Cup (soccer))

Interchange Tiki Bar in Williamsport, MD: Gong Gong and the Butt Demons  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: World Championship Wrestling)

Bear Brick Oven Pizza in Silver Spring, MD: Know Nothings  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Mobile Suit Gundam)

Preston’s Pub in Manassas Park, VA: Animaniacs  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Pro Wrestling)

Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria, VA: I Don’t Know  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Psych)

Kalypso’s Sports Tavern in Reston, VA: Bad Rhinos  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: U.S. Supreme Court Cases)

Steinhardt Brewing in Frederick, MD: Slime Puppies  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Billboard #2 Hits)

Mile 20 at the Breeze in Herndon, VA: Vapors  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 1980s Primetime TV)

Comus Inn in Dickerson, MD: Never Gonna Quiz You Up  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Bluey)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: What About Dave?  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Inauguration Day)

Earn $100 for Referring PHT

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