Wednesday Night Gave Us a Fountainhead of Trivia!
Things were back to normal for Wednesday night Pour House Trivia – the snowstorm had passed, and we were back on our regular schedule with 12 packed venues. Most of our teams had a relatively easy time with the first four rounds of trivia. The final question was a different story. Very different…
WEDNESDAY’S STATS AND FACTS (82 teams across 12 venues):
–> Highest Overall Score: Dusty Baker School of Management (Bennigan’s – Clarksburg) with 155
–> Highest Score after Round 4: Dusty Baker School of Management with 160
–> Highest First Half Score: Olney the Lonely (The Tavern), Sexual Chocolate (Memories), Dusty Baker School of Management (Bennigan’s – Clarksburg) with 90
–> Perfect 21 (correct on all wagers and final): Because of tonight’s final question, no team scored the ‘Perfect 21’ tonight, though six teams ran the table for the first four rounds.
–> The ‘H’ cartoon characters on our halftime page played to an average of 16.4, with about 15% of our teams scoring a perfect 20.
–> Likewise, about 18% of our teams picked up six points on the Biblical themed 6-4-2 question.
TONIGHT’S FINAL QUESTION (3.7% success rate):
Yes, as those of you who are decent at math can figure out, exactly THREE teams answered tonight’s final question correctly. In an odd twist, two of those teams bet zero points!
–> In the late 1990s, the publishing company Modern Library published two lists of the greatest English language novels of the 20th Century. On the list comprised solely by the general public, which female author was responsible for four of the top ten entries? (you’ll find the answer later in this blog)
Valley Grill in Middletown, MD
“Winter is not a season, it’s an occupation.” ~ Sinclair Lewis
Here we are back again at Valley Grill for our Wednesday ritual that is Pour House Trivia, and I thought the aforementioned quote was fitting considering the weather and the fact that the Nobel Prize author was one of the subjects of tonight’s game. Round one started off with yet another Troy McClure film title, “Firecrackers: The Silent Killer”, and we learned of their use in a traditional Irish Halloween celebration. Folks pretty much cruised for the first round, as we visited the great state of Connecticut, Barbie’s manufacturer, the Lego version of the Dynamic Duo, and yet another famous Lewis shown here with her hand up a lamb’s… sock opening:
For round two, we got a little wet listening to some music, had a toga party with the Deltas, and caught some aggro over the difference between Cardinal and Cardinals as it regards to Stanford University. We also discussed the disappearance of honey bees, a minor plot device in a very bad M. Night Shyamalan / Mark Wahlberg flick, and visited this ancient mountaintop city:
I didn’t know it was discovered by a future U.S. Senator, but I did know that multiple people have fallen to their demise at this ancient locale trying to get that “perfect” selfie…
Our third round is where the scores really started to separate. One small “generator” of trivia scoring adversity was a dynamo, and Bhutan gave some people fits, but it is yet another elevated place to visit. Free Tibet! Congrats to Capt. Geech and Fast Forward Not Available for nailing James on the six point clue of our 6-4-2 question. The fourth round got our teams back on track, and knowing where the U.S. Vice President resides really helped. Though no one knew this 1984 Presidential hopeful was the first full time resident of Number One Observatory Circle. That’s OK, he was pretty forgettable anyway:
Indian flatbread, Beyonce Knowles, and the Pacific 12 certainly aided in keeping those scores high as well. Nearly half the field new the nerve agent used by the nefarious Kim Jong-un to off his brother, I wonder if they called Dr. Stanley Goodspeed to verify that it was VX gas. (Sick “The Rock” reference btw). Tonight’s final question was a DOOZY, only one team answered correctly, and they wagered zero! Strategic wagering once again made the difference in the final outcome. Here are tonight’s top teams:
First Place: Stupider, Sexier Flanders
Second Place: Fat Kids are Hard to Kidnap
Third Place: Fast Forward Not Available
We are still sticking with the Troy McClure references, so your first category for next week is “The Verdict was Mail Fraud”. Just brush up on mail fraud and you should be ready.
~ Ronnie
The Tavern in Olney, MD
It was a really COLD night out tonight, but it warmed my heart to see most of my regulars brave the chilly weather and come out for a game here at The Tavern in Olney! As per usual, the teams here know each other so well, and the scores never really get too far apart from each other from last to first. When we got to the final, every team went for the full 12-point wager, and every team turned in a different answer from everyone else, and every team was wrong!
It was kind of an anticlimactic finish UNTIL… someone yelled out jokingly, “Let us try again!” That really intrigued me. I said that I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea, but I wouldn’t let anyone change their original wager and EVERY team had to unanimously agree to that if it were to be a possibility. Every team said yes!! We were now having an unprecedented second chance to answer the final and I was EXCITED! Once AGAIN, every team turned in a DIFFERENT answer from one another, and only two of those matched the original answers turned in the first time around! You guys know a lot of female authors, but I was SHOCKED to see that after all of that, NO ONE got the answer right again! HA!
So finishing in 3rd place was Moving Forward, 2nd place went to April The Giraffe Fan Club, and moving into 1st for the first time in a little while was Olney The Lonely!! They picked the show “Mad Men” for next week’s first category, so study up, and lets hope we can get some normal March weather next Wednesday at The Tavern!!
~ Jon J
Belles’ Sports Bar in Frederick, MD
Once again, tt’s those final questions that will jump right up and get you if you’re not careful! Strategy is SO important here at Pour House Trivia, a team which may not be the strongest in straight knowledge can still do well for themselves if they play to their strengths and guard those high wagers. Part of the fun of seeing new teams come along is watching them figure out the smartest way for them to play their own particular game! Then there are nights like tonight at Belles’ Sports Bar in Frederick – no matter how smart you played the game, that kicker of a final took no prisoners.
Any night that starts out with deaths in children’s novels, you know that it’s going to be a questionable set. Our audio bonus was about a piece of classical music (say what?! No lyrics?!) Asking about a French actress from a Polish film series? What we really need to know is if she was wearing shoes… Ha. The Honda question that was basically “name me the only Honda you know” was followed by the entire bar trying to remember what went on in Beyonce’s video for “Formations”. That puzzling thought was followed by another puzzling thought – where the hell do you go now to watch music videos? Besides YouTube? Yeah. YouTube. That’s it.
Throughout the entire game I had that Bloodhound Gang song stuck in my head… “The roof, the roof… the roof is on fire”. Unfortunately that was quickly replaced by the song that never ends from that damn Lambchop question. I refuse to even type out the words to that one. The team who was really singing at the halftime was Flight Level Awesome as they were the only team to pull a perfect score on the puzzle page.
That final was HARD tonight. Atlas Shrugged, indeed! Good strategy betting low wagers, but it wasn’t quite enough to push Comfortably Dum off of that first place pedestal! Meanwhile, second place went to Kobe Buffalo Meat and in third place, we had Formal Protest, after they managed to bump Flight Level Awesome out of the top three using that solid small number strategy. Have a good week!
~ Sam
Next week’s first category: “The Living Daylights”
Bennigan’s in Frederick, MD
I think we can sum up tonight’s game of Pour House Trivia at Bennigan’s quite succinctly with the following statement: I need a new laptop. Thank you all so much for your patience as I did battle with my uncooperative technology. I really do appreciate it.
We can skip a lot of the hoopla tonight I think. Suffice it to say, it was a rough finish to tonight’s game, and the final scores were as much evidence of that as anything. I’m proud to say that no one fell victim to the trap of putting Cardinals versus the correct answer Cardinal for the Stanford nickname question. Unfortunately, several of our teams lost out on the question regarding the CBS series “48 Hours”. Even after 30 years, not a lot of people are watching.
Our game featured several extremely difficult two-point bonus questions: only one team was able to pull Handel as the composer of “Water Music”, and no one knew Juliette Binoche or that New Orleans was being referenced in Beyonce’s song “Formation”. We also learned that when Ian is on edge from the game not going smoothly, sarcasm is met with a strong tongue lashing. Cheeky lot you are!
The final was really tough tonight, and I don’t blame you guys on missing this; I can only name one Ayn Rand novel, never mind four. So when all was said and done, the scores looked like this:
In third place tonight, BTF!
In second place tonight, Guante de Popo!
In first place tonight, Momentary Lapse of Reason!
Great game tonight guys, and once again thank you for bearing with me. Next week we’ll kick things off with a category called Cleveland Cavaliers NOT Named LeBron James! Study up, and we’ll see you next time!
Until then,
~ Ian
Woodside Deli in Germantown, MD
Woodside Deli in Germantown created another intense night of trivia. During the first round, all of the teams showed proper wagering strategy as only three teams missed one question each with wagers of a single point on those missed questions. Unfortunately, Team Contribution was on the bad luck end of bonus category selection and ended up losing a total of six points on the final question of the round: one point for the wager, and five for the bonus! High Water Mark was two points off of a perfect round and The Fellowship was three points from a perfect score as we closed the first round.
Round 2 saw similar wise wagering from the wonderful warriors of Woodside Deli, but unfortunately, in this round team Choo Choo was the victim of bonus category selection and lost more points from the bonus then from the wager. The highlight of Round 2 was receiving different spellings from every team for the fourth question, in which the answer was Machu Picchu!
The Fellowship found themselves trailing by three points at the half behind the power house duo of High Water Mark for the gold while Contribution led the duo from Choo Choo by two points in competition for the bronze. The third round truly was High Water Mark’s high water mark as they expanded their lead from three to 29 by the end of the 6-4-2 question. The first question of the thirds round was one of the toughest Three Clues / One Word questions I had ever seen! The other teams at Woodside Deli would agree with me as High Water Mark was the only team to nail the answer.
All the teams at Woodside Deli got back into the groove for the final round, but unfortunately for the field, round 3 did the necessary damage to let High Water Mark cruise to another victory. This week, High Water Mark did not miss a single question until the 19th question of the game! To the victor go the spoils, and High Water Mark has decided that the category of Rihanna would be their victory lap. See you next week!
~ Scott
Nido’s Ristorante in Frederick, MD
This week we kicked things off at Nido’s Ristorante in Frederick with a question about U.S. State Nicknames, and we asked about a state that doesn’t have an official state nickname at all! The state actually has plenty of unofficial nicknames like The Cotton State and The Yellowhammer State, and if you’re from there you’d have “Heart of Dixie” printed on your license plate. Teams were split between Mississippi and Alabama, with the correct answer being Alabama. The audio question tonight featured songs with a theme, and even included a piece of classical music. The question asked teams to give the word that is shared by the titles of all three pieces of music, and asked teams to identify the composer of that classical music piece for a bonus. Most teams got “Water” as the shared word, but nobody was able to get to Handel as the composer (the piece was “Water Music”).
Halftime had teams identifying cartoon characters whose names started with “H”, as well as giving answers that all had the word “but” in them. I think my favorite question of the night asked about the voice actors for Batman and Robin in “The Lego Batman Movie”, who also starred in a Fox sitcom together. Most teams knew the show we were talking about was “Arrested Development”, but less were able to get both Will Arnett and Michael Cera as the voice actors. There was a question about bees later on which also reminded me of Arrested Development, where Will Arnett’s character is confused whether somebody is saying “Beads” or “Bees” for most of the episode.
The final question of the night was about 20th century literature and asked for a female author who had four of the top ten works on a list of the greatest English Language works of all time, according to a list published by Modern Library based on the general public opinion. J.K. Rowling was a very popular wrong answer, but the actual correct answer which nobody got was Ayn Rand. This meant things didn’t change much, as third place went to the Misfits, second went to How Bout Dat??, and the win tonight went to Big Fact Hunt! Congrats!
Next week’s first category: 1990s Cartoons
Until next time,
~ Chad
Gentleman Jim’s in Gaithersburg, MD
There was no trivia at Gentleman Jim’s this week. Lindsay returns next week with an opening question on Classic Rock.
Bennigan’s in Clarksburg, MD
A cold cold winter’s night as we entered Bennigan’s in Clarksburg tonight for Wednesday night Pour House Trivia. I was freezing my tail off, but was very happy to be able to spend the next few hours indoors as we got the heat pumped up a bit with a little friendly trivia competition! Seeing they were at full strength (for them, it’s just the trio), I had a feeling it was gonna be a victory for Dusty Baker School of Management tonight. When they bring their core three, they’re nearly unstoppable. That prediction very quickly started presenting itself as a likelihood.
As we approached halftime, Dusty Baker led the field, not quite getting a perfect half but they were near the 90 point range, missing a few on the halftime page and maybe 1 other two point bonus. They were in pro form tonight as they built the lead while other teams slowly diminished. By the time we got through the 4th round, Dusty Baker had already locked this one in as a victory, leading by 18 points.
Either way, we had an exciting final tonight because it shifted some of the standings a bit. A very tough final tonight with only one team picking up the points, and it was NOT Dusty Baker! Perhaps if the game was a bit closer, they might’ve let the lead slip away. Regardless, it was still exciting. The three minutes began and I was getting wrong answer after wrong answer until finally time was almost up and the last team was on their way to hand in their answer.
It was his first time playing so he didn’t realize how the final wager worked. “I didn’t hear how you said this question works. Can I bet zero? I have no idea what the answer is…” I replied, “Sorry, you’re actually locked in for a 12-point bet. You have to give me your wager before the final question… You’re kind of locked into it.” He says, “Damn, okay, well this isn’t right,” as he hands me a slip of paper saying “Ayn Rand”. I looked up at him, shocked. “Yes, that’s actually correct”. He was certain I was joking. I got on the microphone to announce it. “Only one team with the correct response of Ayn Rand. Way to go, Matt Damon, the only team to get the final and it’s their first time here!”
With that, Matt Damon jumped up a bit and finished in 2nd place! Dusty Baker with another win; these guys are gonna be sick in the postseason. Third place went to Cash Me Outside. That’s a wrap. I’ll be back in a week, hope to see you then!
~ Bill
Next week’s first category: MLB Stadiums
Memories in Mount Airy, MD
It was good to be back at Memories this week! Our veteran teams mixed it up (though with less yelling and fighting than usual), and we generally tried to ignore the bitter cold outside.
The first half was no issue for most teams, including our house champs Sexual Chocolate, whose perfect halftime page gave them an impressive 90 points at the start of the third round. But four other teams were close behind, and even a small slip-up by our leaders could have drastic effects.
Some tough questions in the third round separated our teams, including a Three Clues / One Word question that left teams waiting for a 4th or 5th clue. Since this is always a popular choice for a bonus category, several teams lost out on five potential points here. Also, we got to play a fun round of, “Name that one French actress you know and hope for the best”, with a difficult bonus on our Foreign Films question. The only team to earn two points here was Sexual Chocolate, who lengethed their lead with Juliette Binoche. I know, I didn’t see “The English patient” either.
In the end, our top three teams were fairly spread out just before the final, but that last question was a total stumper for the whole bar! Lots of good guesses came in, but Ayn Rand was just out of reach for our teams, and we had our podium:
First Place: Sexual Chocolate
Second Place: Satan’s School for Girls
Third Place: LOWL
Sexual Chocolate takes it down, and selects Four Letter World Capitals question for next week’s first category. You ask, we’ll deliver! See you next week!
~ Nick
Furnace Bar and Grill in Thurmont, MD
Tonight at The Furnace Bar and Grill in Thurmont, a lot was at stake, as Breakfast for Dinner was playing for a six game winning streak, while other teams such as Member Berries and the Goobers where playing for their first victory. The game started smoothly for Breakfast for Dinner, as they took a comfortable halftime lead by being the only team to pick 20 points on the halftime puzzle page.
The question that really put Breakfast for Dinner out of reach was the Science in the News question which asked for the nerve agent used in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam. This was a multiple choice question, but Breakfast for Dinner answered correctly before the choices where given, giving them a two-point bonus and a nearly insurmountable lead. With smart wagering (and a correct response on the final), Breakfast for Dinner secured their sixth straight win here at the Furnace. Congrats on this accomplishment.
The other teams where still battling for second and third place and only had a three point difference heading into the final. Member Berries wagered zero in hopes that The Goobers would miss the final question. Even though they knew the slang term of “Boob Tube”, they did not earn any points for the question due to their wager. However, the Goobers where able to come up with the correct answer and secure themselves second place, while finishing in third place tonight was Member Berries.
Be sure to get out to the Furnace Bar and Grill in Thurmont next week, to see if your team can take down our perennial winners!
Until next time,
~ Devan
Next week’s first category: 1970s NFL
Barefoot Bernie’s in Hagerstown, MD
Cold nights make for great trivia nights. We had nine teams come out to play Pour House Trivia tonight at Barefoot Bernie’s in Hagerstown. I want to welcome We Don’t Even Know, who bar hopped over from Primanti Brothers on Tuesdays to play here tonight. Also, Blank Space was back in action after a long hiatus playing in Frederick. Bu the pre-game story of the night involved the Arrondissements of Ouagadougou who were also hoping to make some Pour House Trivia history tonight. After wins on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday this week, they were attempting to become the first PHT team to win four games in one week. Talk about dedication!
Tonight had highs and lows. Everybody knew that American Girl was made by Mattel, but no one knew that Handel composed “Water Music”. A of O cruised to a high score of 19 on the haltime page, and took an early five-point lead at the break. The second half was filled with pitfalls; almost every team took a zero at some point in the second half, except for the Sad Fat Dragons, who ran the table with ten correct wagering answers. They were sitting place by just two points at the final question.
And that final… We didn’t have any teams come up with the correct response, and Sad Fat Dragons must have seen that coming, as they wisely bet zero. When the dust settled, Alternative Answers pulled off a third place finish, and the Arrondissements of Ouagadougou fell from first into second. That’s such a tough defeat considering the circumstances The Sad Fat Dragons simply stood their ground and rose to first. Congratulations!
~ Sean
Next week’s first category: Natural Disasters
Applebee’s in Waynesboro, PA
I just want to take a second to thank everyone for coming out to play trivia with us tonight at Applebee’s in Waynesboro, even though it was extremely cold and windy, and the roads weren’t the greatest. We had a nailbiter here tonight, with Not Your Team taking home their second ‘W’ in a row by a margin of one point. Here are some highlights:
Not Your Team led from start to finish once again, holding a one-point lead at the end of round one in part by being the only team to guess that Michael Cera and Will Arnett from “The Lego Batman Movie” also starred together in “Arrested Development”. However, Wingin’ It and Alternative Facts were hot on their heels, holding a tie for second place that would continue through round two.
We started off round two with an audio clue, where Not Your Team extended their lead by being the only team to earn the two point bonus, by correctly guessing that George Handel composed “Water Music”. We then learned that Stanford’s team name is the Cardinal, as in the color and not the bird. That was news to me, but apparently our teams knew that as several teams nailed it almost immediately. After turning in a perfect puzzle page, Not Your Team extended their lead to six points, but Wingin’ It had something to say about that.
Both teams continued to battle, by being the only teams to get the Biblical 6-4-2 question on the six-point clue. With a very strong fourth round, Wingin’ It had closed the gap to just one point again. We asked an extremely difficult final question regarding 20th Century Literature, which no team could answer correctly. However, thanks to some conservative betting, Not Your Team and Wingin’ It stayed put atop the leaderboard. Your top three were as follows:
First Place: Not Your Team
Second Place: Wingin It’
Third Place: JuJu and Friends
Next week’s first category: The Music of Great Big Sea” (Not Your Team likes their music categories, apparently)
Check them out on Spotify, and we’ll see you next week!
~ Kyle
Clover Theater in Cloverdale, CA
Fifteen teams competed for trivia glory here on at Clover Theater on Wednesday night!
It was a competitive night as many of the questions were in the teams’ collective wheelhouses. Only 22 points separated the first place team from the last place teams at halftime. Three teams managed to score as perfect 20 on the halftime page, helping them keep close to the top of the leaderboard.
Southern Comfort was able to pull ahead in Rounds 3 and 4 by missing only their one-point questions. That strategy was key in maintaining a comfortable lead. Although they didn’t quite have a Clavin going into the final category they were able to ride their “boob tube” to victory. Here are your top three teams tonight:
First Place: Southern Comfort
Second Place: Queso Loco
Third Place: Laughy Taffeez
Next week’s first category: Botanical Latin
See you next week!
~ Ryan