Weekend Trivia Was a Close Shave!

It was a great weekend to experience a game of Pour House Trivia, as 87 total teams — including 27 at Springfield Manor Winery — found out at eight different locations!

FIRST ROUND:

The weekend’s opening-round wagering questions were pretty successfully answered by our teams, but some bonus questions tripped them up. Friday came with a pair of them, starting with a Dungeons & Dragons question where 14% of teams also named the role-playing game’s creator, Gary Gygax. The round ended with Three Clues about the country Argentina, and 13% of the field named it before the final clue for two extra points. On Saturday, the toughest bonus chance in the first half came in this round, where a question about the avocado granted bonus points to three teams that named its alternate zoologically-inspired name, the alligator pear. A half-dozen teams earned perfect scores in the first round.

SECOND ROUND:

Friday’s audio clue had some spring in its step and played three songs with flower names in the title, while American Idol winners were the theme of Saturday’s corresponding question. Each second round over the weekend contained the hardest first-half wagering question of its game. We went back to some science vocab for Friday’s question:

• While malleability most often refers to a metal’s ability to be reshaped into a thin sheet, which term specifically refers to a metal’s ability to be drawn into a wire?

Even with a later crossword-style clue, the answer of ductability was the most difficult main answer of Friday’s game; just under one-third of the field earned their wager on it, while 13% got it before the extra clue for bonus points. Saturday’s first-half toughie, coincidentally, was also science-related:

• In addition to his work in food science, which 19^th century French microbiologist also created the first vaccine for rabies?

Louis Pasteur was the scientist in question there, and half the field milked wagering points out of that answer. Other topics in this round included Rafael Nadal pulling out of this year’s Wimbledon field, 1980s sitcom Night Court, actress Minnie Driver, and Three Clues about Mexico. In all, five teams got all 36 points in the second round.

HALFTIME:

Celebrities with zoological names and super things were the topics of Friday’s halftime page, while Saturday’s teams hung on to the July 4th feels with American-titled films and U.S. presidential quotes. Teams averaged right around 15 points out of a possible 20, and perfect scores were reached by three teams (all on Friday). High scores at the halftime break went to these teams:

• Ten Thousand Dugongs (Mason Social): 91
• Murph’s Masters (Belles’): 90
• Beer Pressure (Doc Waters): 89
• The Dog Ate My Answer (Mason Social): 89
• No MSG (Flying Ace): 88
• Meridian Misfits (Mason Social): 88

THIRD ROUND:

The toughest wagering question of Saturday’s game began second-half play, as we discussed big-league managers:

• Each hired in 2015, the three longest-tenured current National League managers are former MLB players themselves. Representing each of the three NL divisions, what teams do they each manage?

About 34% of the field named at least two of those three teams — Craig Counsell’s Milwaukee Brewers, Don Mattingly’s Miami Marlins, and the Los Angeles Dodgers managed by Dave Roberts — while 15% got all three answers for the bonus. This round in general stumped Saturday’s teams in the bonus chances; a question about Damien from The Omen gave bonus points to a game-low two teams who knew his last name of Thorn. Later on, another 15% of teams earned extra points for getting within three years of 1932, the year Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon was first published. Back to Friday, teams got tripped up on a retro meme:

• At just one year old, Sammy Griner became the subject of an internet meme later dubbed Success Kid, as he was depicted with an intense facial expression and a clenched fist. In actuality, Sammy was simply holding a handful of what substance?

Success Kid was on the beach grasping a handful of sand, which was successfully answered by 47% of teams. They went on to topics like Fresca’s lime and grapefruit flavor combo and Tricia Nixon’s White House wedding. Only one team all weekend managed a perfect third-round effort, Beer Pressure (Doc Waters).

FOURTH ROUND:

Three teams earned all six points on Friday’s 6-4-2 about the MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers, while just a single team did the same on Saturday on a single clue about former late-night host David Letterman. Friday kicked off with a scientific three-parter and some oil (or Texas tea, if you will) before the night’s hardest bonus opportunity showed up. A question about the Mostly Mozart concert series in New York City saw only three teams name its venue, the Lincoln Center, for those important pair of points. Once again, a Saturday round began with its most difficult question:

• After appearing together as lovers in the 2007 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele reunited to play a couple on a FOX TV series a few years later. What are the respective names of that musical and TV series?

Groff and Michele gained fame on Broadway in Spring Awakening before moving to the small screen for turns on Glee; 65% of teams named at least one of those works, while a little under one-fifth of them got both answers. Teams went on to questions about the hedonism school of thought and the origins of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. This was the only round over the weekend where no team went perfect. We geared up for the final question with these groups leading the charge:

• Beer Pressure (Doc Waters): 163
• Ten Thousand Dugongs (Mason Social): 160
• No MSG (Flying Ace): 157
• Blue Banner Bombers (Doc Waters): 156
• FIVE TEAMS TIED WITH 154 POINTS

FRIDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (45.9% success rate):

• Which title character from the 1979 Tony Award winner for Best Musical made his first appearance in a Victorian penny dreadful serial called A String of Pearls?

SATURDAY’S FINAL QUESTION (7.7% success rate):

• Caravaggio’s painting The Calling of St. Matthew depicts Jesus calling Matthew from a life of obscurity into the light.  Which popular 1970s film shares a similar theme, with the title character being pulled from obscurity into a life of fame, while a photo reproduction of the Caravaggio painting has a subtle presence in one of the film’s scenes?

Friday’s title character was none other than Sweeney Todd, while Saturday’s film was Rocky. This capped off another weekend with no Perfect 21 honors for answering all 21 wagering questions correctly. However, these teams put together excellent overall efforts to top the final leaderboard:

• Beer Pressure (Doc Waters): 169
• Blue Banner Bombers (Doc Waters): 168
• No MSG (Flying Ace): 167
• Sharkfin Pizza (Flying Ace): 166
• Trainspotting (Doc Waters): 162
• Sexual Chocolate (Dragon): 161
• Little Brains, Big Egos (Springfield Manor): 161
• Zero Clue (Springfield Manor): 160
• Slightly Agitated (Springfield Manor): 156
• Send Noodles (Springfield Manor): 155
• Ten Thousand Dugongs (Mason Social): 155

WEEKEND WINNERS:

Springfield Manor Winery in Thurmont, MD: Little Brains, Big Egos  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: The Great Outdoors (recreation))

P. B. Dye Golf Course in Ijamsville, MD: ON HIATUS (FIRST CATEGORY AFTER HIATUS: Cryptozoology)

Dragon Distillery in Frederick, MD: Sexual Chocolate  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Triple 50/50: Ronnie or Donnie Van Zant?)

Doc Waters Cidery in Germantown. MD: Beer Pressure  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Dad Jokes)

Flying Ace Farm in Lovettsville, VA: No MSG  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Danny Boyle Films)

South Mountain Creamery in Frederick, MD: Cleanup on Aisle Four  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: RRR (2022 film))

Belles’ Sports Bar in Frederick, MD: Biscuit Snatchers  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Slumdog Millionaire)

Pretzel and Pizza Creations in Hagerstown, MD: Nerd Birds  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: Back to the Future)

Mason Social in Alexandria, VA: Ten Thousand Dugongs  (NEXT WEEK’S FIRST CATEGORY: 20th-Century Military History)