Raising a Glass to Thursday Trivia!

A 21-team outing at Aslin Beer Co was part of Thursday’s dose of Pour House Trivia, which featured 177 teams across 19 area venues.

FIRST ROUND:

A question early on in the first round proved to be its most difficult way to earn points:

• Originally appearing on the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which song was re-recorded with new lyrics and released 25 years ago this week?

First written to memorialize Marilyn Monroe, Elton John released a new version of Candle in the Wind in 1997 in honor of Princess Diana, who had recently passed away. That title was named by 63% of our teams, while 23% knew the 1997 single began with the words Goodbye, England’s rose. Other topics in this round included nocturnal animals, Michelangelo‘s Pieta, and a Triple 50/50 regarding minor league sports teams. A game-high 17 perfect scores were earned here.

SECOND ROUND:

Thursday’s audio question was the easiest way to earn points in the first half, as teams aced a three-parter about TV game show music. Two questions later, though, we hit upon the most difficult bonus question of the night; a query about Prego pasta sauce brought two extra points to just nine teams able to name Campbell’s as the owner of that brand. The hardest wagering question in the first half came at the end of this round:

• After two unsuccessful nominations, who won an Oscar earlier this year for her portrayal of TV personality Tammy Faye Bakker?

About 45% of the field successfully provided the correct answer of Jessica Chastain, while a quarter of our teams were able to name either The Help or Zero Dark Thirty as her first two nominated works. The only perfect score in the second round on Thursday was recorded by F U COVID (Mark’s).

HALFTIME:

At halftime here, teams had to name celebrities from their wax sculptures and countries from their distinctive regions. Almost a third of the field — 57 teams in all — snagged all 20 points on this page, which carried an average score of 17.8 points. A quartet of 90-pointers topped the scoreboard at the halftime break:

• F U COVID (Mark’s): 90
• Great Heathen Army (Brewery Fire): 90
• Washington Foreskins (Loudoun Kitchen): 90
• Pringles (Bear Brick Oven): 90
• FIVE TEAMS TIED WITH 89 POINTS

THIRD ROUND:

Thursday’s second half started with the Rio de la Plata separating Argentina and Uruguay; a round-low 15% of teams knew both countries for bonus credit. We moved on to play the concertmaster’s violin and had Three Clues about the number 500, then engaged our sweet tooth for this round’s toughest wagering question:

• In addition to referring to a type of creamy dessert, which French word is also defined as the foam sitting atop a glass of champagne?

Roughly two-fifths of our teams had mousse as that correct answer. Once again, we had a round with just one perfect score, this time earned by Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers (Solace Outpost).

FOURTH ROUND:

There were a lot of wrong guesses early in Thursday’s 6-4-2 about the last name Banks based on the six-point clue, regarding the first-ever player to win two consecutive National League MVP awards (Ernie Banks in 1958-59). However, seven teams did provide that answer from the first clue for all six points. Round four began with topics such as the Adult Swim show Robot Chicken, Mattel’s April Fools joke about selling an empty box that supposedly contained Wonder Woman‘s (invisible) plane, and a three-parter on sharks. We saved the toughest for last, though, with this doozy:

• Originally performed by Roger Miller, which song depicts two title characters who hitchhike from Baton Rouge to New Orleans after experiencing car trouble?

A game-low 26% of the field knew that was the plot of the song Me and Bobby McGee; 13% got bonus points for knowing it was co-written by Kris Kristofferson. Scotty Doesn’t Know (Solace Brewing), Samurai Trivia Players (Bear Brick Oven), and F U COVID (Mark’s) had this round’s perfect scores. With only one final question remaining, these were the highest-scoring teams:

• Washington Foreskins (Loudoun Kitchen): 159
• Great Heathen Army (Brewery Fire): 158
• Pretty Girl (Mark’s): 157
• We Drink and We Know Things (Smoketown): 156
• Transparent Eyeballs (Crooked Run): 156

FINAL QUESTION (55.4% success rate):

• Lending its name to pilsner beer, the town of Plzen is located in which nation boasting the highest per capita beer consumption on Earth?

Over half of Thursday’s teams correctly answered that question with an answer of the Czech Republic! However, there were no Perfect 21 teams on this night, as none were able to answer all 21 wagering questions correctly. At the end of the night, these were the teams on top of the standings:

• We Drink and We Know Things (Smoketown): 168
• Pretty Girl (Mark’s): 166
• I Don’t Know (Aslin): 166
• Samurai Trivia Players (Bear Brick Oven): 166
• F U COVID (Mark’s): 165
• Washington Foreskins (Loudoun Kitchen): 165
• Alien Bounty Hunters (Aslin): 165
• Pringles (Bear Brick Oven): 165
• Just Do It (Olde Mother): 163
• FOUR TEAMS TIED WITH 162 POINTS

THURSDAY’S WINNERS:

Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: We Drink and We Know Things (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: REM Discography)

Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Power Vacuum  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Sandman (Netflix series))

Loudoun Kitchen and Bar in Leesburg, VA: Washington Foreskins  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Muppet Christmas Carol)

Olde Mother Brewing in Frederick, MD: Just Do It  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Jon Sings Line Dance Songs)

Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: Hillbilly Geniuses  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Red, White & Royal Blue (novel))

Solace Brewing in Sterling, VA: Alley Cats  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Monty Python Sketches)

Bad Habits Bar & Grill in Martinsburg, WV: Artsy  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Rock Music)

• This game is temporarily being played at O’Connell’s Irish Pub in Martinsburg.

Brewery Fire in Taneytown, MD: Great Heathen Army  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: World War II Films)

Fourscore Beer Co. in Gettysburg, PA: Educated Friends  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Old Crow Medicine Show)

Crooked Run in Sterling, VA: Transparent Eyeballs  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: James Bond Films)

Solace Outpost in Falls Church, VA: Late to the Party  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Former Soviet Republics)

Interchange Tiki Bar in Williamsport, MD: No Brainers  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Children’s Literature)

Bear Brick Oven Pizza in Silver Spring, MD: Samurai Trivia Players  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Music Man)

Preston’s Pub in Manassas Park, VA: That’s What She Said  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Dan Marino)

Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria, VA: I Don’t Know  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Sense8)

Kalypso’s Sports Tavern in Reston, VA: Bad Rhino  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: New Zealand)

Two Story Chimney Ciderworks in Gaithersburg, MD: Tyrian’s Law  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Trans-Siberian Orchestra (audio))

Ten Eyck Brewing in Queenstown, MD: Montberry Crunch  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Fast and the Furious series): 

Lake Linganore Association in New Market, MD: Faking Bad  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 1970s R&B)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: Pretty Girl  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Heavy Metal)