The Depths of Monday Trivia!

Pour House Trivia started the workweek with 127 teams playing at any of our 13 locations.

FIRST ROUND:

A three-parter about TV shows with the word square as part of the title preceded the first half’s most difficult bonus opportunity. We got Biblical with this question at the halfway point:

• Which fourth book of the Old Testament takes its name from two censuses taken of the Israelites?

Numbers was correctly identified by most of our teams, but they could’ve added two extra points for naming the person commonly considered to be that book’s author; just over a third named Moses for credit. The last question in this round proved to be the toughest before halftime:

• Since winning the 1948 World Series, which team lost all four of its appearances in the Fall Classic, most recently to the Chicago Cubs in 2016?

The now-Cleveland Guardians are 0-for-4 in the World Series since 1948, and they were named by 55% of the field for wagering points. In this round, 12 teams recorded perfect scores.

SECOND ROUND:

Monday’s audio clue asked teams to name the compass direction found in the title of three different songs: Dream Academy’s Life in a Northern Town, Wild Wild West by Will Smith, and Miranda Lambert’s Another Sunday in the South. From there, teams had no trouble with questions about the percentage of rubber used to make tires, former presidential candidate and billionaire Ross Perot, the skeletal femur, and Identity Thief actors Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. With 31 perfect team scores, this was the easiest overall round of the night.

HALFTIME:

Some halftime shenanigans were in the cards on Monday, with films depicted on playing cards in the top section and a bottom part made up of answers that featured one of heart, club, diamond, or spade. Teams scored an average of 16.7 points, while six teams aced the page with all 20 points. At the halftime intermission, we had a trio of teams in the 90s:

• Witiots (Bushwaller’s): 92
• We Trivia Good (William Jeffrey’s): 91
• How Did I Get Here? (Quincy’s): 90
• EIGHT TEAMS TIED WITH 89 POINTS

THIRD ROUND:

In the early part of the third round, we had Three Clues about the word stripe and an A+B=C offering. After that came a college basketball question that played pretty tough:

• The year 1988 marked the last time two universities from neighboring states squared off in the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Game. At the time, these schools were both members of the Big Eight Conference. Name those schools.

About 37% of our teams submitted at least one of the two correct answers, Kansas and Oklahoma. The last question in this round concerned the Oscar nomination feats of actress Glenn Close. It was here that a bonus question about her most recent nomination tripped up the majority of teams, as only about an eighth of them knew Hillbilly Elegy. We were down to six perfect teams in this round.

FOURTH ROUND:

The first name Logan was the 6-4-2 answer in this game, and only two teams knew it from the first clue about it being the name of the first male doll to be sold by the American Girl doll company. We started the fourth round with Monday’s least successful question:

• Which rock band has 18 hits that have topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart, including Save Me, Cut the Cord, and most recently Planet Zero?

Just 11% of teams knew those were songs from Shinedown, while four teams notched bonus points for naming the band’s lead singer, Brent Smith. Other topics in this round included the term Scholastic and the Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh. How Did I Get Here? (Quincy’s) made it through this round as its only perfect squad. With only the final question left, these were the high scores:

• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 163
• How Did I Get Here? (Quincy’s): 162
• H.R. Puff ‘n’ Stuff (DRP): 158
• 13th Graders (DRP): 156
• Birthday Boys (DRP): 156

FINAL QUESTION (29.13% success rate):

• Measuring 61 acres in area, which geographic locale inspired a work of literature published in 1854?

A tough final question dealt with the real life (and literary) Walden Pond. No team was able to run the Perfect 21 table with correct answers for each wagering question on Monday. With all scores submitted, these teams stood tall:

• Hipster Fashion Consultants (DRP): 171
• H.R. Puff ‘n’ Stuff (DRP): 170
• Santos L Halper (Ragtime): 167
• Revivalist Hurricanes (Ragtime): 167
• Han Solo Tonight (Mark’s): 166
• Witiots (Bushwaller’s): 166
• Twerk From Home (Il Forno): 166
• Demolition (DRP): 163
• Skool Nite Drinkerz (Cushwa): 163
• Jerk and Thrive (Rockwell): 162

MONDAY’S WINNERS:

Ellie’s Pub in Winchester, VA: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Beatles)

Clyde’s in Alexandria, VA: Ebony and Ivory  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Bachelor (season 27))

Cushwa Brewing in Williamsport, MD: Skool Nite Drinkerz  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 1990s Hip Hop (audio))

DRP in Alexandria, VA: Hipster Fashion Consultants  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd album))

Bushwaller’s in Frederick, MD: Witiots  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Before, During, and After (Jeopardy!))

Rockwell Brewery in Frederick, MD: Jerk and Thrive  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Flavor of Love (season 1))

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: Han Solo Tonight  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Star Wars Films)

William Jeffrey’s Tavern in Arlington, VA: Porpoise Pod  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: New York Yankees Retired Numbers)

Ragtime in Arlington, VA: Santos L Halper  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Scott Boras) 

Aslin Beer Co in Herndon, VA: Long Dong Silver  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: U.S. State Capitals)

Quincy’s Bar and Grille in Gaithersburg, MD: How Did I Get Here?  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Three Stooges)

Whitlow’s in Washington, DC: Taking Care of Quizness  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: World Capitals)

Rai’s Pour House in Sterling, VA: Em and M  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Harry Potter)

Il Forno Pizzeria in Frederick, MD: Twerk From Home  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Mothman)