Thursday Trivia is a Quotable One!

Thursday evening’s edition of Pour House Trivia was played by 223 teams at 20 venues, led by Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria and Solace Outpost in Falls Church, each of which played host to 22 teams.

FIRST ROUND:

The first round on Monday produced questions on topics such as painter Vincent van Gogh, the Black Velvet cocktail which includes Guinness beer, and alphabetically-first South American countries Argentina and Bolivia. These subjects proved to be no match for our teams, as 41 squads put together a perfect score in this round.

SECOND ROUND:

Thursday’s audio question played three songs with the word mad somewhere in the title. After that, we talked about the WB series Charmed and the king and rook involved in the chess maneuver of castling. For the first half’s toughest wagering question, we struck a match:

• Which chemical element with atomic number 15 and with a single-letter symbol is the most common active ingredient on the head of a matchstick?

Just 30% of teams knew phosphorus was that element in question. We followed that up with the night’s most difficult bonus chance:

• There have been 21 instances in which the MLB World Series was contested by two teams from the same U.S. state. Other than New York, identify any two of the three states involved in these series.

Intra-state World Series matchups have happened four times in California, twice in Missouri, and all the way back in 1906 in Illinois; just over 10% of the field named all three states for two extra points. This round was the only one with no perfect team scores.

HALFTIME:

Teams were asked to identify food brands from obscured can logos, then match famous TV moms to their first names. The average score was 18.7 points, but 78 teams aced the round to earn all 20 points! The top five at our halftime break were separated by all of one point:

• Samurai Trivia Players (Bear Brick Oven): 90
• Kevin and the Platypodes (Aslin): 90
• Wilson Countersink Flanges (Crooked Run): 90
• Nugis Fatuus (Mark’s): 89
• Just the Three of Us (Aslin): 89

THIRD ROUND:

The toughest wagering query in the third round came on this TV question:

• Bryan Cranston portrayed a judge on which Showtime series that aired its final episode earlier this year?

Cranston starred on the series Your Honor, which was correctly identified by 22% of teams. Our Three Clues question featured a fictional dog:

• This fictional canine was created by Brad Anderson in 1954.
• This dog was voiced by Owen Wilson in a 2010 feature film.
• Originally appearing in a newspaper comic strip, this Great Dane is owned by the Winslow family.

About 16% of teams knew Marmaduke before the third clue to receive bonus points. Other topics in this round included Woodrow Wilson‘s presidential election victory over incumbent (and third-place finisher) William Howard Taft, Sun Tzu’s book The Art of War, and the Kevin Smith film Dogma. Third Round Meltdown (Smoketown) and Mashley (Interchange) were the only teams to record a perfect score here.

FOURTH ROUND:

We gave a trio of clues about Jamaica for the 6-4-2, and 54 teams knew it from the first hint for a six-point boost. Topics in the final round of the night included the Leona Lewis hit single Bleeding Love, NYC neighborhoods Tribeca (or Triangle Below Canal) and SoHo (or South of Houston), and the origin of the magical word abracadabra. The lone perfect scores in this round were earned by Hillbilly Geniuses (Belly Love) and Titanic String Quartet (Bear Brick Oven). After four rounds of trivia, these were the high scores:

• We the Peephole (Loudoun Kitchen): 163
• Samurai Trivia Players (Bear Brick Oven): 161
• Street Sharks (Fourscore): 160
• I Don’t Know (Aslin): 159
• Cat in the Chat (Loudoun Kitchen): 159

FINAL QUESTION (8.92% success rate):

• Which notable film quote was derived from a line penned by French author Honore de Balzac, who used a similar version of the quote as foreshadowing for a murder?

Balzac originated the quote that eventually became a famous line from The Godfather: I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse. That very difficult final question led to no teams putting up a Perfect 21 on Thursday. However, these teams ended the night as the overall leaders:

• I Don’t Know (Aslin): 168
• Spartan’s Will (Solace Outpost): 167
• Bad Natitude (Solace Outpost): 166
• Nugis Fatuus (Mark’s): 163
• Great Heathen Army (Brewery Fire): 163
• Porn on the Job (Aslin): 159
• Bad Rhinos (Kalypso’s): 158
• Quibbles and Chips (Olde Mother): 151
• Vapors (Mile 20): 151
• We the Peephole (Loudoun Kitchen): 151
• Ask Me Know Questions (Smoketown): 151

THURSDAY’S WINNERS:

Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: Ask Me Know Questions  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Triple 50/50: Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera?)

Fourscore Beer Co. in Gettysburg, PA: Street Sharks  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

Michaux Brew in Waynesboro, PA: Pork Chops  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Call of Duty: Zombies)

Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Scared Money Don’t Make Money  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: West Virginia University)

Loudoun Kitchen and Bar in Leesburg, VA: We the Peephole  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Meryl Streep at the Oscars)

Olde Mother Brewing in Frederick, MD: Quibbles and Chips  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Love is Blind (season 4))

Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: Third or Nothing  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Star Trek: The Next Generation)

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

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

Crooked Run in Sterling, VA: Wilson Countersink Flanges  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Castlevania (series))

Solace Outpost in Falls Church, VA: Spartan’s Will  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Michigan State University)

Interchange Tiki Bar in Williamsport, MD: No Brainers  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Tom Petty)

Bear Brick Oven Pizza in Silver Spring, MD: Samurai Trivia Players  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Saturday Night Live Hosts)

Preston’s Pub in Manassas Park, VA: Pew Pew Pew  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Ghosts (not the TV series))

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

Kalypso’s Sports Tavern in Reston, VA: Bad Rhinos  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Planet of the Apes (original film series))

Steinhardt Brewing in Frederick, MD: Deck Chairs on the Titanic  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Shawshank Redemption)

Mile 20 at the Breeze in Herndon, VA: Vapors  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Comus Inn in Dickerson, MD: Never Gonna Quiz You Up  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Star Trek)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: Nugis Fatuus  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Historic Public Executions)