Thursday Trivia Hits the Geographic Gridiron!

Nineteen Thursday venues opened their doors for 203 Pour House Trivia teams, led by a 21-team showing at Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria, VA.

FIRST ROUND:

We started off with the toughest bonus chance of Thursday’s first half. A three-part question asked teams to identify brand names by their stock symbols and former ad slogans:

• 1)  Stock symbol AXP: Never leave home without it.
• 2)  Stock symbol WMT: Always low prices.
• 3)  Stock symbol KO: Make it real.

Bonus points were earned by 16% of the field, all able to name American Express, Walmart, and Coca-Cola. Other topics in the round included tourist attractions in South Dakota, the moccasin, and April of 1964, in which The Beatles held each of the top five spots on the Billboard Hot 100. The only perfect scores in the first round were recorded by Triviasaurus Rex (Fourscore) and Five Heads, One Brain (Brewery Fire).

SECOND ROUND:

Titles with sinful terms comprised the audio question, namely Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life, the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the early 2000s game show Greed. A question about golfing great Jack Nicklaus saw just over a quarter of the field earn bonus credit for knowing he attended college at Ohio State. The most difficult wagering query of the first half came next:

• As heard in the grotto at the close of a Disneyland ride, which five-word phrase also served as the subtitle for a film in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film series?

Dead Men Tell No Tales was named by 58% of our teams. A game-high seven teams had perfect scores in the round.

HALFTIME:

Flags of six-letter countries (such as Poland and Norway) were followed on the halftime page by stand-up comedy album titles. On average, teams scored 16.2 points but 44 squads went the distance to earn all 20 points. A closely-packed group made up the top of the standings at the halftime break:

• Five Heads, One Brain (Brewery Fire): 90
• Horseshoes and Hand Grenades (Smoketown): 89
• F U COVID (Mark’s): 88
• Crabcakes (Champion): 88
• Great Heathen Army (Brewery Fire): 88
• Worst Gender Reveal (Preston’s): 88

THIRD ROUND:

Things got a little tougher in the third round, which featured the two least-successful wagering tries of the night. The round began with this World War II question:

• Named for one of the Southern Solomon Islands, which first major World War II land offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan resulted in a huge victory for the Allies exactly 80 years ago today?

Thursday was the 80-year anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal; about a third of the field got that answer, but just 13% knew the 1998 film The Thin Red Line featured that battle in a fictionalized manner. Two questions later, we had a three-parter about the opera:

• 1) Located in the city of Milan, which historic opera house bears a name meaning ladder in Italian?
• 2) A crossdressing woman named Leonore is the protagonist of Fidelio, the only opera created by which composer?
• 3) Though it is used today as an insult, which term translated as first lady also refers to the leading female singer in an opera company?

About 31% of teams earned their wager with at least two right answers in that set, but a little over 10% crushed it with all three correct responses: La Scala, Beethoven, and prima donna. Other topics in this round were the body’s epiglottis and the Egyptian god Osiris. No teams were able to put together a perfect third round score.

FOURTH ROUND:

Unlike the previous Thursday, this 6-4-2 was a stumper; only four teams named Kansas from the first clue for all six points. While the third round had the two most difficult wagering questions of the night, the final round featured both of the hardest bonus chances. A question about Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 saw just 8.8% of teams name its protagonist, Guy Montag. Later on, we asked about Motown’s The Supremes and only two teams knew the group was originally called The Primettes. In between those questions, we discussed some alter egos:

•  Buddy Love was the alter ego of the title character in which series of comedies?

The Nutty Professor was correctly identified by a round-low 34% of teams. Questions on the Arctic Ocean and Three Clues about the word eagle concluded this round, which again had no perfect teams. We again had a lot of teams nestled close together in the overall standings before the final question:

• Five Heads, One Brain (Brewery Fire): 157
• Gong Gong and the Butt Demons (Interchange): 156
• Three Men and a Baby (Aslin): 155
• Great Heathen Army (Brewery Fire): 155
• FOUR TEAMS TIED WITH 153 POINTS

FINAL QUESTION (28.57% success rate):

• Miamians love their football, and a person who grew up in Miami during the 1950s might still show allegiance to the NFL team currently known by what name? The franchise was the closest NFL team to Miami during that decade.

They’ve since changed names, but those from Miami may still have reason to support the Washington Commanders since the southeast U.S. had no NFL teams in the 1950s! Thursday’s only Perfect 21 team was F U COVID (Mark’s), which submitted correct answers for all 21 wagering questions. You’ll find that team among Thursday’s best:

• Five Heads, One Brain (Brewery Fire): 169
• Restless Leg Syndrome (Mark’s): 164
• F U COVID (Mark’s): 162
• Painful Burning Sensation (Smoketown): 162
• Third Round Meltdown (Smoketown): 161
• Hillbilly Geniuses (Belly Love): 160
• Transparent Eyeballs (Crooked Run): 159
• Three Men and a Baby (Aslin): 158
• Three Brains, One Answer (Belly Love): 158
• Street Sharks (Fourscore): 157
• Cat in the Chat (Loudoun Kitchen): 157

THURSDAY’S WINNERS:

Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: Painful Burning Sensation  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Shakespearean Film Adaptations)

Fourscore Beer Co. in Gettysburg, PA: Street Sharks  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Murder, She Wrote)

Michaux Brew in Waynesboro, PA: Suspect Tuna  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Super Bowl 57)

Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Oh Feathers  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Hogwarts Legacy)

Loudoun Kitchen and Bar in Leesburg, VA: Cat in the Chat  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Scooby-Doo and the Witches’ Ghost)

Olde Mother Brewing in Frederick, MD: Jack and Friends  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Taylor Swift (audio))

Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: Hillbilly Geniuses  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Super Bowl MVPs)

Solace Brewing in Sterling, VA: Alley Cats  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: L.L. Bean)

Brewery Fire in Taneytown, MD: Five Heads, One Brain  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: U.S. State Flags)

Crooked Run in Sterling, VA: Transparent Eyeballs  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 1991 Washington Redskins)

Solace Outpost in Falls Church, VA: Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Drinking Games)

Interchange Tiki Bar in Williamsport, MD: Gong Gong and the Butt Demons  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Garbage (band))

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

Preston’s Pub in Manassas Park, VA: Sweet and Salty  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 19th Century Literature)

Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria, VA: Three Men and a Baby  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Led Zeppelin)

Kalypso’s Sports Tavern in Reston, VA: Deep Fried Chuckles  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Hash House Harriers)

Steinhardt Brewing in Frederick, MD:  Just Good Enough  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Poker Face (TV))

Mile 20 at the Breeze in Herndon, VA: Moist Gang  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Northern New Jersey)

Comus Inn in Dickerson, MD: TBD  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Medieval Torture)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: Restless Leg Syndrome  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Burt Bacharach Songs)