Monday Trivia, Dead Ahead!

The biggest turnout for a Monday game in two years happened last night, as 119 teams in total showed up to play Pour House Trivia at nine area locations!

FIRST ROUND:

After a question about the origins of the Memorial Day holiday, teams hit the hardest wagering question of the first round:

• Earning his first nomination for the 1980s film Cry Freedom, who has the most Oscar nominations among African American actors?

About 77% of the field correctly named two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington for wagering points, while a first-half-low 38% of teams tacked on two bonus points by naming either Glory or Training Day as the films he won acting Oscars for. We wrapped up the first round with questions on Nikola Tesla’s remote control and terms that feature the letters B-E-E. Eighteen teams managed to start their game with a perfect first-round score.

SECOND ROUND:

Monday’s audio question involved instrumental versions of famous songs, which was an easy task for the vast majority of our teams. We also discussed the sport cricket and soon-retiring talk show host and paternity tester Maury Povich before getting into the most difficult wagering question of the first half:

• What is the more common name of the work of art sometimes known as La Gioconda?

As the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, La Gioconda is better known as the Mona Lisa. A little less than three-quarters of the field earned their wagers with that answer. The round ended with a question about the University of Pennsylvania, or Penn, which is the only Ivy League school named for its state. Another great round for our teams saw 16 groups go perfect.

HALFTIME:

Perfection reached only one team in Monday’s halftime page: Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP) was the only squad that aced the topics of aviation-themed films and locations of U.S. landmarks relative to Washington, D.C. Even though there was just a single perfect score, teams managed an average of 15.9 points here. There were points a-plenty on the halftime leaderboard:

• Legalized Gambling (DRP): 93
• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 92
• George Washington’s Camel (DRP): 91
• Cobra Kai (DRP): 91
• Auburn Pillagers (DRP): 91
• H.R. Puff ‘n’ Stuff (DRP): 91
• Real Team of Genius (William Jeffrey’s): 91

THIRD ROUND:

Round three featured the hardest wagering question and bonus opportunity in Monday’s game, all in the same category! After topics like fictitious TV shows within real TV shows and almanac writer Ben Franklin, teams came across a question on a famous sportscaster:

• Nearly a decade after the Miracle on Ice, which ABC sportscaster was live on air when an earthquake struck just before Game 3 of the World Series?

That sportscaster, Al Michaels, was named by 44.5% of teams; his on-air counterpart, Tim McCarver, was identified by only seven teams for bonus points. The round wrapped up after questions on Apostle and famous doubter Thomas and the cooking term confit. Perfect rounds were harder to come by here than in the first half, but Prestige Worldwide (William Jeffrey’s) and Washington Redskins (Ragtime) managed the full 36 points.

FOURTH ROUND:

Just Guessing (DRP) guessed right on the 6-4-2, as the only team that correctly named the letter B after just one clue to score the maximum six points! The fourth round started with its toughest question:

• Apart from the Big Apple, three other New York cities have at least 200,000 residents. Two of these cities are found upstate, while the third is located in Westchester County. Name two of those three cities.

While roughly two-thirds of Monday’s teams gained their wager by naming at least two of the three, only 10% of the field got their bonus points by knowing all three: Buffalo, Rochester, and Yonkers. The round continued, dealing with topics such as Heinz’s vinegar, a Three Clues question on Elton John, and the Warsaw Pact signed in 1955. Legalized Gambling (DRP), Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP), and Washington Redskins (Ragtime) returned to the land of the perfectos with their fourth-round efforts. We went into the final question with these teams on top:

• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 165
• Legalized Gambling (DRP): 165
• H.R. Puff ‘n’ Stuff (DRP): 165
• Washington Redskins (Ragtime): 163
• George Washington’s Camel (DRP): 161

FINAL QUESTION (32.8% success rate):

• Which film marked the first instance in which two actresses both earned Oscar nominations for portraying the same character in the same film?

Gloria Stuart and Kate Winslet both secured Oscar noms for playing the old and young versions of Rose in Titanic, which almost a third of the field got right for one final boost to their scores. With that, six teams earned a Perfect 21 on Monday by correctly answering every wagering question! At the end of the game, this was the cream of the crop:

• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 170
• H.R. Puff ‘n’ Stuff (DRP): 167
• George Washington’s Camel (DRP): 161
• Cobra Kai (DRP): 172
• Fart of the Deal (Ragtime): 163
• Brewed Awakenings (DRP): 147
• Team Holt (Bushwaller’s): 145
• Geralt of Trivia (William Jeffrey’s): 144
• F.U. Covid (Mark’s): 144
• FOUR TEAMS TIED WITH 163 POINTS

We also can’t end this wrap-up without a special shoutout to Pursue This (Bushwaller’s), who put up a stellar 168-point effort while playing ‘over the limit’ with more than seven players. Well done!

MONDAY’S WINNERS:

Cushwa Brewing in Williamsport, MD: That’s So Clavin  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Fast & Furious (film series))

DRP in Alexandria, VA: H.R. Puff ‘n’ Stuff  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (book))

Bushwaller’s in Frederick, MD: Team Holt  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

Rockwell Brewery in Frederick, MD: Jerk and Thrive  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: New Girl)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: F.U. Covid  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: May Day)

William Jeffrey’s Tavern in Arlington, VA: Geralt of Trivia  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Witcher)

Ragtime in Arlington, VA: Fart of the Deal  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Mad Max: Fury Road)

Aslin Beer Co in Herndon, VA: Wild Bills  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Former Countries)

Il Forno Pizzeria in Frederick, MD: Bass Slappers  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Ultimatum (Netflix series))