REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2016

REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2016

We welcomed 5 new teams into the competition although two failed to show and did not indicate they were going to be absent.  Please let us know if you are going to cancel.  Having that admonition out of the way, it appeared that it was a good night for the players with a 66% overall score and a high, winning score of 56 pulled off by We Know Stuff.  I have to say at the outset that I confess to an odd error as “Take the A Train” was the signature song of Duke Ellington and NOT Count Basie.  I don’t know how that happened but it did and sharp listeners caught it so corrections were made and as only two said Count Basie, the prizes were not altered although it brought down the tally of the We Know Stuff team to 56 as they were one of the two teams.  Now the admonitions are complete.

Only 6 points separated the #2 team (Blond Artifacts, Four Horsemen) from the 18th placed teams who were ganged up at 46 points.  Very close competition. 

Round one was typical for the night with a 68% score and was led by the Blonds with a 9.  All but 2 teams knew about Bob Barker’s ending statement about neutering pets.  Guy Fawkes was an almost universal correct answer but for one team who didn’t quite come up with him and ventured Richard Nixon.  Not a bad answer in this time frame of difficult U.S. presidential figures.  The Flintstones were known for them being in bed with one another although the Jetsons came in second for popularity.  The question about the electron micrograph picture that looked like rust dust (to me at least, but then I saw the article) was only answered by four teams (many said dog drool) Green Eggs, I’ll Ask the Questions, Rock Stars and Cheap Dates.  Most knew the Eagles on the music question.

Round two came in at 60% and almost all knew Belgium was the home of Hercule although only 10 teams knew his associate.  There were a few blanks (rare) and other efforts included Miss Marple, Didier, Jeeves, Winston, Achilles (wow), Agaziz, Arthur, John, Mago, Gaston Lumiere, Arno and Hansen (close). NO team got 1942 as the date of the Life magazine picture although Rock Stars, Cashew, the Spuds, Boom Down, Double Pair of Docs, Daughters of E. D. Bolt, Four Horsemen and We Know Stuff were within the two-year allowance.  Many suggested it was in the 1950s in spite of the U.S. uniform of WW2 and even the wool bathing suits.  Even the namesake of the correct answer (42) suggested 1956 and they had a teammate who was possibly around “back then”.  Quite a few knew the Greek thalassa (“sea”) for the thalassaphobia but a few grabbed on to one of my “distractors” as merophobia.  Hmmm.  The music question was fairly easy with Bruce Cockburn being the answer although Robbie Robertson (?) and Gordon Lightfoot got votes.

The third round I think set a record with 78% scoring correct answers.  There were two 10s with the previous champion Cashew squad coming back from a rare 5 on round 2 and Thistle Rocks also scored 10/10.  The lowest score for a team was 6 and only one of those.  I will have to toughen up a bit.  In addition to the two 10s, The Daughters of E. D. Bolt (who is that?) got “youth” or “birth” for the Greek goddess named Hebe.  Dr. Google to the rescue for E. D. Bolt.  I am embarrassed that it is a painting by my favourite artist (I need to review), John Singer Sargent. It is shown below.

Other art expertise abounded as most all knew that “Vincent” was the way van Gogh signed his paintings.  All 29 teams knew Cu was the symbol for copper.  I really have to toughen up.  Also on the math—only one team missed the 1 million mark for Mm in a Km.  Further, Vera Lynn helped identify the fall of Paris with many correct answers.

Round 4 scored a more “normal” 60% with 22 teams scoring 6, 7 or 8.   It was a very even performance for each round and overall as stated above.  ALL teams knew the real name of Mark Twain with various minor misspellings that were allowed including the victors saying his middle name was “Leghorn”—shades of Foghorn Leghorn the cartoon chicken.  The real middle name is Langhorne.  The surname for designer Louis Comfort was Tiffany and was mistaken for Vuitton by many.  Most thought that camel hide instead of goatskin answered the Moroccan leather question.  Most knew the similar flags of Cuba, Texas and the Acadian symbol and most also answered correctly that New Caledonia was French-based.  Overall scores were kept under a bit of control by all teams but one did not know the collective term for a stable of racehorses as a string.  Many who said Rufus Wainwright instead of Gino Vanelli missed the music question.  One wild shot was aimed at Bilbo Baggins but I guess it was truly made up.

The fifth round was “average” for the night with 66%.  The caber question was very well answered but many thought that the “Stayin’ Alive” singers were born in Australia and not the U.K.   “The Falcon” statue was identified by half the teams with Otto Maass Chemistry getting one vote.  We could lobby for a move but I think it unlikely.  Andy Gibb was correctly identified as the singer of question 10 and they were the Blondies, Cheap Dates, Boom Down, Four Horsemen, Interrobang, Eli’s Angels, the Double Docs, Positive Vibration, We Know Stuff, Space Cadets and Trivia Now.

Round 6 scored 70% although only 11 teams knew Quebec had the greatest surface area of fresh water.  Quite a few knew that three strikes in a row in bowling is called a turkey—an odd phrase that apparently originated in the early days of bowling when the alleys were less perfect than today and three strikes in a row was quite an accomplishment.  Nearly all teams knew Urdu was the national language of Pakistan.  However, only Green Eggs and the Double Docs knew that dactylographers study fingerprints.  It was heartening that most knew Alan Turing, perhaps due to a recent film and other documentaries on his life.  Half the teams knew the “Back to the Future” theme.

The last round was also at 70% with the entire evening coming in, as mentioned above, at 66% which is just about a record.  I will have to check.  Getting one of the top three Fortune 500 companies as a top spot in the past 60 years was challenging and only 42, the Spuds, the Double Docs, We know Stuff, the Ministry, Space Cadets and Positive Vibrations had correct responses.  The Hotel squad said IBM as did many others.  Harpp beer (I can’t resist) was OK’d as the Guinness brewery by all but one team.  Now, Guinness with all their double letters has to get the lager spelled “correctly”.  Hah.  Quite a few teams knew 1967 as the year of the de Gaulle statement and others were close.  Finally, nine teams knew the ABBA year for the last question and they were the Double Docs, For the Record, Boom Down, Thistle Rocks, the Otto Maass team, In Vivo Veritas, Space Cadets , Positive Vibrations and the Ministry.

In perusing the scores, I noted two missed correct answers and applied them so the numbers reported last week are very slightly different but the prizes would have been very close to the same as they turned out. 

Thanks as usual to our hard-working graders, Julia, Angela and Cordelia and thanks also to the procurer of items associated with the Bookstore, Kim Stephenson, who also as you know, keeps the books on our annual ~$3K contribution to Centraide.  Last week’s new financial arrangement already will bring in more than our usual $3K for Centraide.  We will sort out the details in the upcoming days. Also I want to acknowledge University Advancement for other gifts along with the Office for Science and Society from the Chemistry Department.

Here is a listing of the teams who have (or are in promissory note stage) for the full contribution (some individuals gave much more than the new rules require) so the totals will come out soon.  Remember that the standard $5 entry fee still obtains but will not guarantee registration for each event, as will the new rules for full $150 per team or $40 for each player.

Here is the list of the full or close to full paid up teams giving them automatic registration for all the Trivia nights.  Others can join in in November and then the other teams will have to book each event when the notice is published.

Blonde Artifacts

Boom Down

Cashew

Crusader Rabbit

Double Pair a Docs

Eli’s Angels

Green Eggs and Ham

For the Record

Hotel de Ville

I’ll Ask the Questions

In Vino Veritas

Otto Maas

Positive Vibrations

Space Cadets

Trivia Now Insanity

We Know Stuff
 

==== almost there====
42
Four Horsemen
Ministry of Truth
Idaho Spuds

THE STANDINGS FOR ROUND ONE OF SEASON 7 ARE PRESENTED BELOW