The New Adventures of Thursday Trivia!

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Thursday night was the biggest yet for Pour House Trivia, as a record 241 teams played at one of our 20 locations, including a 30-team showdown at Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria, VA!

FIRST ROUND:

For the opening round, teams passed with flying colors. They easily tackled topics such as Three Clues about New York City, other names farmers use for pigs, former CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls, and the literary Divergent series. When the round concluded, we had 33 teams with perfect scores!

SECOND ROUND:

Thursday’s audio question asked teams to name a trio of musical acts performing songs with the word soul in the title; 14% named all three (Break My Soul by BeyonceBirdhouse in Your Soul by They Might Be Giants, and Who Will Save Your Soul by Jewel) to earn two extra points. Later in the round, we had the night’s most difficult wagering question:

  • Which brand of baby food takes its name from a genus of trees that produces a small, three-angled fruit with sharp edges?

The Beech-Nut brand was named by 37% of the field. The hardest bonus chance came at the end of this round, on a question about the former ABA (or American Basketball Association). Its first commissioner, Basketball Hall of Famer George Mikan, was correctly identified by just 6.6% of teams. Two of those teams, Samurai Trivia Players (Bear Brick Oven) and KSS (Steinhardt), had a perfect score in this round.

HALFTIME:

The halftime page for Thursday’s game included a section where teams had to identify television shows with exclamation points in the title, such as Jeopardy! and What’s Happening!!. Only four teams were able to get all 20 points on this one, which carried an average score of 14.4 points. A very tightly-bound pack of teams comprised the top of the halftime standings:

THIRD ROUND:

After a three-parter on alcoholic brand names, we reached the hardest wagering question of the third round:

  • Which late author wrote the 1942 sci-fi short story Runaround, which featured the first explicit appearance of his Three Laws of Robotics?

About 59% of the field named Isaac Asimov to receive their wagering points. Other topics in this round included dark volcanic glass obsidian, Disraeli and Gladstone’s late 19th-century trading off of the U.K. Prime Minister position, and MTV Video Music Award queens Madonna and Beyonce. Perfect scores in the third were earned by 19 teams.

FOURTH ROUND:

6-4-2 about Ben Affleck saw just three teams of our record crowd name him from a single clue for all six points. We began the final round with questions about the very real origins of the phrase devil’s advocate and Indonesia‘s Komodo National Park. However, this question became the most difficult in the second half:

  • After a short stint on the Disney Channel, the live-action show Good Morning, Miss Bliss was developed into which Saturday morning show?

About 43% of teams were alright, ‘cuz that’s Saved By the Bell. Perfect scores in this round went to We Drink and We Know Things (Smoketown), Alley Cats (Solace Brewing), and Southpaws (Mark’s). The top of the leaderboard stayed close heading into the night’s final question:

FINAL QUESTION (23.2% success rate):

  • Which Emmy-winning actress appeared on the cover of a 2014 issue of Rolling Stone with the text of the U. S. Constitution tattooed across her nude back?

As a visual nod to her successful show at the time, VeepJulia Louis-Dreyfus made that cover appearance. Only one Perfect 21 was recorded in Thursday’s game, by Alley Cats (Solace Brewing). These teams took top honors at the end of the night:

And an honorable mention shoutout to Transparent Eyeballs (Crooked Run), which racked up 163 points with more than seven players.

THURSDAY’S WINNERS:

Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: Ask Me Know Questions  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Philosophers)

Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Smarter Than Our Third Graders  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 19th-Century Inventions)

Loudoun Kitchen and Bar in Leesburg, VA: NO GAME  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Star Wars (original trilogy))

Olde Mother Brewing in Frederick, MD: Triviasaurus Rex  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Avatar: The Last Airbender (TV series))

Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: Hot Mess Express  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Alone (season 9))

Solace Brewing in Sterling, VA: Mad Facts: Query Road  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Super Bowl Shuffle)

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

Fourscore Beer Co. in Gettysburg, PA: Educated Friends  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Herman’s Hermits (audio))

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

Solace Outpost in Falls Church, VA: Taco Bellas  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Organic Chemistry)

Interchange Tiki Bar in Williamsport, MD: No Brainers  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Elementary School Science)

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

Preston’s Pub in Manassas Park, VA: White Claw Cruise Missiles  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Country Outlines (visual))

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

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

Steinhardt Brewing in Frederick, MD: Just Good Enough  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Famous B-Side Songs)

Mile 20 at the Breeze in Herndon, VA: Three Divas Plus One  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: James Bond Films)

Comus Inn in Dickerson, MD: Clueless Wonders  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: World War II)

Michaux Brew in Waynesboro, PA: Suspect Tuna  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Christmas Films)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: Red Puddle  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Thanksgiving)