Thursday Trivia Isn’t Bad. It’s Just Drawn That Way!

Nothing like a Thursday evening with some Pour House Trivia, as 189 teams discovered across 20 locations!

FIRST ROUND:

Thursday’s first round questions were no tough feat for our teams, save for one tricky bonus question on the various on-screen appearances of the Bram Stoker character Abraham Van Helsing. While the character got his start in the novel Dracula, only 17% of teams knew that David Warner portrayed Van Helsing on the Showtime series Penny Dreadful. Other opening round topics included 1995 NFL newbie franchises Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars as well as former U.S. Presidential candidate H. Ross Perot. A not-so-unlucky thirteen teams earned perfect scores in the round.

SECOND ROUND:

An audio question on TV theme songs proved to be the most difficult bonus chance in the first half; just 8 percent of teams were able to identify all three shows (Alice, Roseanne, and Dexter) from their respective theme songs for two extra points. Teams weren’t done with the toughies, since this question came immediately after:

• The westernmost city on mainland Africa is Dakar, the capital of which independent nation?

A little over two-fifths of the field correctly answered Senegal for wagering points. Questions on the scientific term homeostasis, the ampersand symbol, and new mother Rihanna wrapped up the round. A talented trifecta of perfect scores were attained by Alley Cats (Solace Brewing), Teachers Have Class (Solace Brewing), and Ten Swiss Cheese (Casita Romos).

HALFTIME:

This Thursday’s halftime page proved to be a much easier task than the week before, as teams navigated app logos and matched movie title characters to their respective actors. The average score was a solid 17.5 points, while almost a quarter of the field — 47 teams — went a perfect 20-for-20. With the first half in the books, these were the highest scores at the intermission:

• Pterodactyl (Casita Romos): 91
• Teachers Have Class (Solace Brewing): 90
• It’s Ukrainian Men (Aslin): 90
• SIX TEAMS TIED WITH 89 POINTS

THIRD ROUND:

We hit the links to begin the second half of play, with a question on Phil Mickelson‘s record-setting PGA Championship win last year at 50 years old. However, most teams found the rough on the attached bonus question; just 19% of the field knew that this year’s PGA Championship started this weekend at Southern Hills Country Club. The round didn’t let up right away either, as the hardest wagering question of the night was just around the corner:

• T-cells are named for the fact that they are created in which immune system gland located in the upper chest?

While the thalamus is in the brain and the thyroid is in the throat, the thymus is that gland in question. Wagering points were earned by only 22 percent of teams on that one. We moved on to a Three Clues question about dancer and YouTube celebrity Jojo Siwa, the BTO song Takin’ Care of Business, and Russia‘s statue The Motherland Calls. With the 1-2 punch at the start of the round looming large, no teams found a perfect score in the third.

FOURTH ROUND:

Before the fourth round properly began, five teams scored the big 6-pointer on a 6-4-2 about the number 16. We continued the trend of tricky questions starting Thursday’s rounds, with this trip to the children’s literature section:

• Comprising the first book in the Fudge literary series, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was penned by which author?

About 45% of the field identified author Judy Blume for wagering points, but just 13 teams earned bonus points for knowing the aforementioned book’s main character was named Peter. That wouldn’t even be the hardest bonus opportunity of the round, much less the night: the fourth round ended with a question about the USS Constitution‘s nickname Old Ironsides, with all of eight teams scoring their bonus by naming Oliver Wendell Holmes as the author of a poem of the same name. However, two teams weathered the storm to secure perfect fourth-round efforts: Educated Friends (Fourscore) and Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration (Solace Outpost). One final question separated our teams from trivia glory, but these teams were riding high at the time:

• Educated Friends (Fourscore): 161
• Street Sharks (Fourscore): 156
• Great Heathen Army (Brewery Fire): 156
• Hillbilly Geniuses (Belly Love): 155
• Washington Trivia Team (Solace Outpost): 155

FINAL QUESTION (20.6% success rate):

• Setting a record at the time, which 1980s film listed more than 800 people in its closing credits, though Kathleen Turner was not one of them?

Refusing the credit because she was pregnant and “just had to show up and do her voice,” Kathleen Turner voiced Jessica Rabbit in Thursday’s final answer, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Power Vacuum (Champion) proved to be trivia beasts, becoming the only team in the field to get Thursday’s Perfect 21 by answering all 21 wagering questions correctly! The final leaderboard was topped by these squads:

• Educated Friends (Fourscore): 173
• Washington Foreskins (Loudoun Kitchen): 166
• Power Vacuum (Champion): 165
• Just Good Enough (Champion): 164
• Thoroughly Screwed (Loudoun Kitchen): 161
• Rocketship to Awesomeland (Quinn’s): 161
• Great Heathen Army (Brewery Fire): 159
• Samurai Trivia Players (Bear Brick Oven): 158
• Donner Party Platter (Quinn’s): 158
• FIVE TEAMS TIED WITH 157 POINTS

THURSDAY’S WINNERS:

Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: Painful Burning Sensation  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Muscle Cars)

Pour Dog House in Millersville, MD: Just Guessing  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Middle School Math)

Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Power Vacuum  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Dracula)

Loudoun Kitchen and Bar in Leesburg, VA: Washington Foreskins  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Top Gun — original film)

Olde Mother Brewing in Frederick, MD: Alcoholics Unanimous  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: New York Rangers)

Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: Variants  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Friday — film)

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

Bad Habits Bar & Grill in Martinsburg, WV: Twizzlers  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Rock Bands — audio)

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

Fourscore Beer Co. in Gettysburg, PA: Educated Friends  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Dog Breeds)

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

Solace Outpost in Falls Church, VA: Washington Trivia Team  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Naruto)

Homaide Brewing in Williamsport, MD: Here for the Beer  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Tommy Boy)

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

Preston’s Pub in Manassas Park, VA: Yinz Are Wicked  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Potent Potables)

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

Quinn’s in Arlington, VA: Rocketship to Awesomeland  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Lithuania)

Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria, VA: Hate and Spite  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Russian History)

Kalypso’s Sports Tavern in Reston, VA: Kalush Orchestra  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Environmental Science)

Two Story Chimney Ciderworks in Gaithersburg, MD: Tyrian’s Law  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Finish the Lyric (Madison Sings))

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: Southpaws  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers)