Say Cheese! It’s Tuesday Trivia!

Tuesday’s game of Pour House Trivia welcomed 140 teams across 19 venues.

FIRST ROUND:

Tuesday’s game featured one of the most difficult opening rounds in recent memory, starting with the first bonus question.  Only six teams knew that the Parisian cabaret music hall Folies Bergère was the subject of the last major painting created by Eduard Manet.  The difficulty level eased up only slightly from there, as wagering questions concerning the number 31, NBA logos, and the film “Cheaper By the Dozen” yielded an average success rate of just over 50%.  None of our Tuesday teams swept the opening round with a perfect score.

SECOND ROUND:

We were in the subjunctive mood for Tuesday’s audio question, as we asked our teams to identify “If I Were A Boy” by Beyonce, “If I Had $1,000,000” by Barenaked Ladies, and “If I Were A Carpenter” by Bobby Darin.  Other second round topics included the guinea pig, Nationwide insurance commercials featuring Peyton Manning and Brad Paisley, and Minute Man National Historical Park.  With several teams hoping to complete a perfect second round, the final bonus question ended all hopes.  After most of the field earned wagering points on a question concerning the Biblical phrase “Love of money is the root of all evil”, only ONE TEAM (John Trivialta from Cheesetique) tacked on the final two bonus points of the first half by knowing that the quote originated in the Book of Timothy.  Just as in the first round, Tuesday’s second stanza did not yield any perfect scores.

HALFTIME:

Oxymoronic film titles and single-letter stock symbols were the featured topics on Tuesday’s halftime page.  Seven teams recorded a perfect score of 20 points, while the overall average reached 16.4 points.  Here is Tuesday’s halftime leaderboard:

• Comfortably Dum (Champion):  88
• Twerking For Shots (Union Jack’s):  86
• Wiseacres (Champion):  86
• Hojo Mojo (Champion):  86
• How Did I Get Here? (Senor Tequila’s):  85
• Kelvin (Topgolf):  85

THIRD ROUND:

Tuesday’s game featured a treacherous start to the second half, as each of the first two questions doled out wagering points to less than one-fourth of the field.  The third round began with a three-part question regarding bizarre wars: The War of Jenkins’ Ear, The Pastry War, and The Football (or Soccer) War.  Next, the most difficult wagering question of the night was asked in the A + B = C format:

Part A: The total number of possible moves that the first player can make in a game of Checkers.

Part B: The total number of possible moves that the first player can make in a game of Connect Four.

Both of these facts were equally difficult, as only 17% of our teams responded correctly with 14.  The first move in a checkers game comprises seven different options: three of your front four pieces can each move to either of two spots, while the fourth can only move to a single location.  Coincidentally, a Connect Four game board features seven columns, each of which is an option for the first move of a new game.  Later, we looked at singer Billie Eilish, human blood types, and the recent revival of the XFL.  For the third time in a row, none of our Tuesday teams posted a perfect round score.

FOURTH ROUND:

After visiting Princeton University in the 6-4-2 question, we immediately continued with the most difficult bonus question of the second half.  After virtually every team earned wagering points on a question regarding the TV show “America’s Next Top Model”, only eight teams knew that British singer Rita Ora was the only person apart from Tyra Banks to have presented the American version of the show.  That was undoubtedly the only speed bump for most of our Tuesday teams, as subsequent questions about Kit Kat candy bars, actor Joaquin Phoenix, and the work of Lewis Carroll fell on the easier side.  Six of the eight teams that scored the first two bonus points of the round completed a perfect final round.  These were your highest scoring Tuesday teams after four rounds of play:

• How Did I Get Here? (Senor Tequila’s):  156
• Screaming Death Monkey (Quincy’s South):  155
• For the Win (Ramparts):  155
• Bizarre, Interesting, Essential (Dudley’s):  154
• Moose Killers (Cheesetique):  153
• Hipster Fashion Consultants (Dudley’s):  153

TUESDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (50.0% success rate):

–> What are the two most consumed types of cheese in the United States, together amounting to over 230 million pounds eaten in 2019?

Exactly half of our teams earned wagering points on this final question with the correct answer of Mozzarella and Cheddar.  By surviving the start of the second half, Moose Killers (Cheesetique) posted the only  Perfect 21 on Tuesday by answering every wagering question correctly.  The final Tuesday leaderboard included these teams:

• Bizarre, Interesting, Essential (Dudley’s):  166
• Hipster Fashion Consultants (Dudley’s):  165
• Shirley Temple of Doom (Ramparts):  163
• Hojo Mojo (Champion):  161
• Fan Club (Senor Tequila’s):  158
• Moose Killers (Cheesetique):  158
• Rural Jurors (Cheesetique):  157
• John Trivialta (Cheesetique):  157
• Stamp Collectors (Ramparts):  156
• FOUR TEAMS TIED WITH 155 POINTS

TUESDAY’S WINNERS:

Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD:  Hojo Mojo   (Next week’s first category: Romantic Comedy Films)

Cuginis in Poolesville, MD:  Gang of Fools   (Next week’s first category: George Washington)

Senor Tequila’s in Germantown, MD:  Fan Club   (Next week’s first category: Before, During, and After)

Shuckin’ Shack in Frederick, MD:  Ya Donkey   (Next week’s first category: Harley Quinn)

Topgolf in Ashburn, VA:  Bonesaw   (Next week’s first category: Triple 50/50 – Shakespearean Quote or Biblical Quote?)

Upper Deck in Mount Airy, MD:  Dumber Than We Look   (Next week’s first category: “Cheers”)

Olney Winery in Olney, MD:  F. P.   (Next week’s first category: “Arrested Development”)

Cheesetique in Fairfax, VA:  Moose Killers   (Next week’s first category: Pittsburgh Penguins)

Live Oak Restaurant in Alexandria, VA:  NO GAME THIS WEEK    (Next week’s first category: “Frankenstein”)

Funkstown Tavern in Funkstown, MD:  Irish Beer Mafia   (Next week’s first category: Historic Pirates)

Dudley’s Sport and Ale in Arlington, VA:  Bizarre, Interesting, Essential   (Next week’s first category: “The Martian”)

Quincy’s Uptown in Damascus, MD:  Wiley Coyotes   (Next week’s first category: “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”)

Hometown Harvest Kitchen in Frederick, MD:  Half Nelsons   (Next week’s first category: “Apex Legends”)

Ramparts Tavern in Alexandria, VA:  Shirley Temple of Doom   (Next week’s first category: “Harry Potter”)

Monk’s BBQ in Purcellville, VA:  Better Lucky Than Smart   (Next week’s first category: House of Plantagenet)

Quincy’s South in Rockville, MD:  Screaming Death Monkey   (Next week’s first category: “Coriolanus”)

Casa Tequila in Lovettsville, VA:  What’s New, Pussycat?   (Next week’s first category: 2020 Oscars)

Tommy Joe’s in Bethesda, MD:  Hunchbacks of Notre Gone  (Next week’s first category: “The Hunger Games” film series)

Union Jack’s in Gaithersburg, MD:  Reds   (Next week’s first category: Moonshine)

Miller’s Ale House in St. Petersburg, FL:  Simple Minds   (Next week’s first category: 1980s Computer Systems)