Thursday Trivia’s Island Life!

April 30, 2023

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Led by another 22-team event at Aslin Beer Co, Thursday’s game of Pour House Trivia was attended by 242 teams across 22 locations. That included the first of what is now a weekly game at Lone Oak Farm Brewing in Olney, MD hosted by Michael!

FIRST ROUND:

A three-part question about 201st-birthday boy Ulysses S. Grant started the regular set of first-round questions on Thursday. After that, we had subjects such as the Sheetz convenience store chain, Charles Darwin’s work on the Galapagos Islands, and the back-to-back first overall NFL Draft picks by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 and 2022. Not even asking for either of the Jags’ first picks in those drafts — Trevor Lawrence and Travon Walker — was enough to throw a ton of teams off. This round had a whopping 53 perfect scores, more than a fifth of the field.

SECOND ROUND:

A trio of songs with body parts in the title comprised Thursday’s audio clue, in which we played Blondie’s Heart of Glass, Keep Your Hands to Yourself by Georgia Satellites, and the Weeknd’s Can’t Feel My Face. Wagering questions in this round weren’t so bad, but a couple of bonus chances were in the single-digit percentage success range. We headed to the periodic table for the first:

  • Elements number 99 and 100 on the Periodic Table were named for which European-born physicists who influenced the Manhattan Project?

Only 9.5% of the field named both Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi, namesakes of the elements Einsteinium and Fermium, respectively. Slightly less successful was the bonus question attached to this:

  • Who will host the final episode of his namesake talk show tomorrow night on CBS?
  • For a two-point bonus, which former Comedy Central show will be revived as its replacement?

It wasn’t too hard to name now-former Late Late Show host James Corden, but just 9% of teams knew the series @midnight is returning to take that time slot. Of all our teams, only Jub Jub (Lone Oak), Transparent Eyeballs (Crooked Run), and Dave Martinez School of Management (Bear Brick Oven) had perfect scores in this round.

HALFTIME:

At halftime, teams first had to identify films with paradoxical titles such as Eyes Wide Shut and Dead Man Walking, then name the ten largest U.S. states by land area. Seven teams turned in a perfect 20-pointer, but the average team scored 14.9 points. We had a few teams with at least 90 points at the intermission, included two perfect squads:

THIRD ROUND:

The most difficult question on Thursday came in the form of the night’s Three Clues query, this time about an historic figure:

  • In the fifth century A.D., I ruled a European empire with my brother Bleda.
  • I was portrayed by John Cleese in a Monty Python sketch depicting me as a sitcom dad.
  • An urban legend states that I died from a nosebleed in 453 A.D.

About 23% of teams earned points for naming Attila the Hun at any point, but 11% did so before the final clue for bonus credit. Other topics in this round included the penhold and shakehand manners of holding a ping pong paddle, the upcoming miniseries adaptation of Fatal Attraction, and the Øresund Bridge which connects Denmark and Sweden. This round had a pair of perfect teams: Jub Jub (Lone Oak) and Alley Cats (Solace Brewing).

FOURTH ROUND:

There were 33 six-point answers given in Thursday’s 6-4-2 about singer Lizzo, who celebrated her 35th birthday that day. The toughest bonus question came on this round’s opening query:

  • Which first name is shared by a character from Back to the Future and the elder son of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman?
  • For a two-point bonus, what is the name of Willy Loman’s younger son?

While Willy Loman’s oldest son is named Biff, his youngest son, Happy (or Harold) was named by only 4.9% of teams. An A+B=C question later in the round proved to be tricky as well; teams were asked to add these two things together:

  • The number of bones in a normal adult human skeleton.
  • The number of arrows held by the eagle on the Great Seal of the United States.

A typical adult has 206 bones, while the Great Seal’s eagle holds 13 arrows; just over a quarter of the field had the correct sum of 219. Once again, Jub Jub (Lone Oak) recorded a perfect score in this round, this time joined in that feat by Three Brains, One Answer (Belly Love). Another two-way tie for first overall highlighted the top of the standings before the final question:

FINAL QUESTION (36.36% success rate):

  • A 20th century novel titled Friday, or, the Other Island is a modern version of which 18th century book?

The word Friday in that title may have helped some of our teams, as that is a character in the novel Robinson Crusoe. Thursday’s Perfect 21 mark was reached by Jub Jub (Lone Oak) and Dave Martinez School of Management (Bear Brick Oven). Each of those teams made the top three of Thursday’s final standings:

THURSDAY’S WINNERS:

Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick, MD: We Drink and We Know Things  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Muppet Show Guest Stars)

Lone Oak Farm Brewing in Olney, MD: Jub Jub  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film))

Fourscore Beer Co. in Gettysburg, PA: Smartacus  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Quilting)

Michaux Brew in Waynesboro, PA: Double Trouble  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: NASCAR)

Mookie’s BBQ in Great Falls, VA: Fierce Foursome  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Jazz)

Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD: Crabcakes  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Historic Decapitations)

Loudoun Kitchen and Bar in Leesburg, VA: We the Peephole  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Twin Peaks (season 3))

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

Belly Love Brewing in Purcellville, VA: Three Brains, One Answer  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Call the Midwife)

Solace Brewing in Sterling, VA: Alley Cats  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Catfishing (outdoor activity, not slang term))

Brewery Fire in Taneytown, MD: Five Heads, One Brain  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Schmidt Sting Pain Index)

Crooked Run in Sterling, VA: Transparent Eyeballs  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 2023 NFL Draft)

Solace Outpost in Falls Church, VA: Purr and the Kitty Kats  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)

Interchange Tiki Bar in Williamsport, MD: Gong Gong and the Butt Demons  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Mystery Science Theater 3000)

Bear Brick Oven Pizza in Silver Spring, MD: Dave Martinez School of Management  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Greek Mythology)

Preston’s Pub in Manassas Park, VA: We Are Bob  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Video Games)

Aslin Beer Co in Alexandria, VA: I Don’t Know  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Microsoft Excel Functions)

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

Steinhardt Brewing in Frederick, MD: H Block  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Puppets)

Mile 20 at the Breeze in Herndon, VA: Vapors  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Japanese History)

Comus Inn in Dickerson, MD: CIA  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 2010 in Pop Culture)

Mark’s Pub in Falls Church, VA: What About Dave?  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Cuneiform)

Earn $100 for Referring PHT

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