Taking the Skyline to Thursday Trivia!

Eighteen locations hosted a total of 183 teams on Thursday for the latest in Pour House Trivia.

FIRST ROUND:

A Three Clues question on the state of Connecticut turned out to be the trickiest way to get wagering points in the first round, as 70% of teams did with a correct answer. Questions on late night hosts and former Weekend Update anchors Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers as well as Thomas Jefferson’s time as the first U.S. Secretary of State followed. The round’s hardest bonus opportunity came in its final question, about the 2001 film remake of Ocean’s Eleven; roughly one-fifth of teams named its director, Steven Soderbergh, for two extra points. Seventeen teams in all had perfect scores in the opening round.

SECOND ROUND:

We were down for anything in the audio question, which played songs by thematically-named bands 3 Doors Down, Shinedown, and System of a Down. From there, we discussed the waterspout weather phenomenon, two-time Super Bowl losers Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons, and the process behind the Funyuns snack food. However, teams got railroaded at the end of the round with the game’s hardest wagering question:

• Listed on the right half of the Periodic Table, the halogen elements all have names ending with which set of three letters?

Those elements all have names ending in -ine, which gave 35% of teams their wagers. On top of that, only 12 teams all evening added bonus points for knowing the halogens are in periodic table group 17. Perfection in the second round came with a couple of questions, as What About Dave? (Mark’s) and What Would Steve Rogers Do? (Bad Habits) were the only teams to earn all 36 points.

HALFTIME:

Zoomed-in snippets of famous company logos and Shakespearean character pairs were the order of the day at halftime, which brought an average score of 15.9 points. Perfect 20-point scores were earned by 27 teams. After the first half and halftime, these teams topped the leaderboard:

• What About Dave? (Mark’s): 92
• F.U. COVID (Mark’s): 89
• Washington Foreskins (Loudoun Kitchen): 89
• SIX TEAMS TIED WITH 88 POINTS

THIRD ROUND:

Topics in the third round included swordsman Hattori Hanzō from Quentin Tarantino two-parter Kill Bill, the bone disease osteoporosis, and four-time 21st-century Tony Award hosts Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris. The most difficult wagering question came on a trip to Southeast Asia:

• Which 900-year old temple is depicted on the national flag of Cambodia?

Just under a third of Thursday’s field correctly answered Angkor Wat. Eleven teams achieved perfection in this round.

FOURTH ROUND:

A short trek over to New Zealand for Thursday’s 6-4-2 earned fourteen teams the maximum six points as we headed to the fourth round. We didn’t let teams off easy, though, as the round began with the second half’s toughest wagering question:

• The annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain provides a key plot point in which novel penned by Ernest Hemingway?

Even though it was our Facebook hint of the day, only 45% of teams named The Sun Also Rises as that Hemingway novel, while 13% knew the lead character’s name of Jake for bonus points. From there, teams encountered questions about the Greek muses, a three-parter about alphanumeric terms, and the bichon frise dog breed. We couldn’t let our teams go without another difficult bonus question, though; a query about Chinese checkers (which are neither Chinese nor checkers, by the way) saw a game-low 11 teams get two extra points for naming its true country of origin, Germany. Two of those teams hit that final dismount en route to perfect fourth-round scores: Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration (Solace Outpost) and What About Dave? (Mark’s). With one final question remaining, these were the clubhouse leaders:

• What About Dave? (Mark’s): 166
• Donner Party Platter (Quinn’s): 162
• Freud’s MILFs (Solace Outpost): 161
• Washington Foreskins (Loudoun Kitchen): 161
• Bad Rhino (Kalypso’s): 158

FINAL QUESTION (62.1% success rate):

• As a result of the anti-Communist sentiment during the 1950s, which major professional sports franchise temporarily included a body part in its official team name?

From 1954 to 1958, MLB’s Cincinnati Reds changed its name to the Redlegs due to that anti-Communist sentiment. Three teams — Donner Party Platter (Quinn’s), What About Dave? (Mark’s), and Samurai Trivia Players (Bear Brick Oven) — hit a home run in Thursday’s game, notching a Perfect 21 by answering all 21 wagering questions correctly. A very close final leaderboard shook out like this:

• Washington Foreskins (Loudoun Kitchen): 170
• Quarter Century (Crooked Run): 169
• YOLO Swaggins (Crooked Run): 169
• Cat in the Chat (Loudoun Kitchen): 169
• What About Dave? (Mark’s): 168
• TBD (Olde Mother): 167
• Donner Party Platter (Quinn’s): 167
• Transparent Eyeballs (Crooked Run): 167
• FIVE TEAMS TIED WITH 166 POINTS

THURSDAY’S WINNERS:

Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: Ask Me Know Questions  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Trees of the Eastern Woodlands)

Pour Dog House in Millersville, MD: Maria  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: British Literature)

Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Killer Snails  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Queen Elizabeth II)

Loudoun Kitchen and Bar in Leesburg, VA: Washington Foreskins  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Fargo)

Olde Mother Brewing in Frederick, MD: TBD  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Survivor — season 42)

Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: Mack Attack  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: This is Us)

Solace Brewing in Sterling, VA: Alley Cats  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: California Wines)

Bad Habits Bar & Grill in Martinsburg, WV: What Would Steve Rogers Do?  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: “Weird” Al Parodies)

Brewery Fire in Taneytown, MD: Great Heathen Army  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Harry Potter)

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

Crooked Run in Sterling, VA: YOLO Swaggins  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Survivor)

Solace Outpost in Falls Church, VA: Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Office)

Homaide Brewing in Williamsport, MD: Arrested Intelligence  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Evil Under the Sun — film)

Bear Brick Oven Pizza in Silver Spring, MD: Samurai Trivia Players  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 1960s Sitcoms)

Preston’s Pub in Manassas Park, VA: New Kids on the Block  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Anime)

Casita Romos in Mount Airy, MD: Pterodactyl  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Pete Rose)

Quinn’s in Arlington, VA: Donner Party Platter  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: NCAA Lacrosse)

Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria, VA: Alien Bounty Hunters  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Lord of the Rings)

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

Two Story Chimney Ciderworks in Gaithersburg, MD: Tyrian’s Law  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Movie Titles in Other Words)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: What About Dave?  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: World War II Airplanes)