Trivia Quiz Season 4

STANDINGS AND FINAL REPORT FOR 2013-2014

Fortunately, the Habs did their job the night before and there was no hockey game to divert interest from the last Trivia night of the 2013-2014 season.  A few teams took the night off but we eventually had 85 persons in the House.  Of the seven rounds, 3 were well under average and there were three rather higher than average rounds with the last session coming in at the more common percentage of 55.  The usual league leader Ministry got off to a slower than expected start and trailed Cashew until the 6^th round when they gained the lead but by Round 7 Thistle Rocks had tied them with a very decent overall score of 50/70.  There will be more on the competition later on in this summary.

The first question on the very large fish (oarfish) stumped all the teams but Cashew.  Only three teams knew that Mackenzie King earned a Ph.D. and those were the Dewey Decibels, the British Bulldogs and the Blonde Artifacts.  Consistent with this slow start was that no team got the U.S. President who was the first to speak on the radio, suggesting Presidents both before and after the time of Warren Harding.   Question four brought all teams a point with knowing that strawberries have their seeds on the outside.  I was later reminded that this was a repeat question from at least two years before; I endeavour not to have these.  The next question showed a young Jennifer Aniston and all but one group knew that face.  Some face.  Five teams figured out that the letter “S” is the most encountered as the starting letter in the group of over 200 countries.  These were the Trivia Trailblazers, the Ministry, the Spuds, Secret Society and the Dewey team.  All teams but two stated one of the world’s countries that is composed of letters not in the odd word “mackerel” – Fiji was the most popular answer.  Six teams knew who Pat Boone was as a classmate of Roy Orbison.  These were the Diviners, Cashew, Green Eggs, the Bulldogs, Space Cadets and the Spuds. I apologize in previous write-ups for mixing up the teams of A Noi with None Yet.  I thought the youngest squad was the A Noi group only to discover that they are about twice the age of the youths and that is slightly generous with the age factor.  In any event, None Yet suggested Mel Tormé who was even older than Pat Boone but it was a good try.

Round 2 came in at 45%, slightly lower than the overall score for Round 1 with the highest team achieving a score of 6.  Only three teams knew what WW2 leaders did when they crossed bridges (“Pee in the Rhine”) sayeth the Space Cadets and “Urinate off of it” by the Ministry and “urinate off the bridge” by the Rabble team.  There were many wrong answers including “blow it up”, “fire a rifle”, “sign of the cross”, “whistle”, “drink glass of wine”, “prayer”, “breaking stride”, “holding the breath”, “raising own flag”, “kissed the shore” (almost ok), “spit”, “sing anthem”, “throwing coins in the water”, “drink into the water” (not a good idea), “check underneath for bombs” (good idea) and an exercise “jumping jacks”.  Good imagination.  Many teams knew that Perry White was Clark Kent’s newspaper boss.  Boom Down, the Otto Maass team and the Trailblazers knew the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.  Mount Logan is higher but it is in the Yukon (almost in Alaska) and as I understand it, this does not qualify as being in the Canadian Rockies.  Too late now if I was wrong.  Almost all teams knew Dave Thomas (either or both of them). Seven teams knew that Bechuanaland (mispronounced by me as it is Bech-wanaland) is now Botswana- impressive!  These were the Bibulous, the Eggs, Thistle Rocks, the Hotelers, Cashew, the Shadow Puppets and Boom Down.  Only two teams had the proper name of the black bird that is from the U.K. It is known as a Rook and those teams were the Positive Vibrations and the Absolutely Bibulous.

The overall score for Round 3 was 63%, well up from the first two rounds.  Only two teams got the youngest age of a man (boy) who signed up for the military in the U.S. in WW2 at age 12.  These were the Ministry and the Positive Vibrations.  All but two teams said correctly that only one country bordered South Korea and one of the two stated “zero” as they thought it was a trick question due to the demilitarized zone line.  Interesting thought but let it be clear that I don’t try at all to have that sort of trick.  Most knew Dr. Pepper, Dan Aykroyd and “Viva Las Vegas” and the length of Queen Victoria’s reign.  All the choices of the number of offspring of the Queen were selected including 12.  Some Queen.  The correct answer was 9 chosen by the Poes, Thistle Rocks, Cashew, the Spuds, Boom Down, the British Bulldogs (with that team name they should have gotten that one right) and Positive Vibrations.

Round 4 saw a group average of 65%.  Most knew that a “Mae West” was another name for a life saver although there were two votes for Dolly Parton (whooa) and one vote for Pamela Anderson (more whooa) and one dark, but interesting answer of Natalie Wood (Spuds) who were in the leadership earlier but were sinking in the middle rounds-(where was the Mae West?).  Many knew Dick Clark and that Toto revealed the Wizard.  Further, most knew that St. Petersburg was where Rasputin met his demise.  Kobe beef and Adele were well-populated answers for the special Japanese beef source and the popular song in the last question of the round.  The top teams of the Ministry, Thistle Rocks and Cashew all scored a relatively rare 10/10.  Congratulations.

The fifth round was the lowest in recent memory with only a 39% success rate.  The Spuds kept unraveling in this round as did the In Vino team- both results were unexpected but both rallied in Round 6 with a perfect 10 and an 8 respectively.  The Diviners and the Space Cadets correctly answered the question about the first professional team for Wayne Gretzky.  However, the Bibulous squad suggested the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds under the notion that this is a professional team.  This suggestion is above my pay scale and technically might be correct.  Gretzky’s official website cites him with Peterborough in the OHA for 3 games the year before the Sault Ste. Marie involvement.  The OHA is the Ontario Hockey Association and I am unable to evolve the professional status.  I leave it to other experts in the House for vigorous discussion on this one.  The Ministry, Cashew, the Poes and the (now) youthful None Yet got that Moe Berg of baseball background was a spy in WW2 (CIA) partly because he spoke several languages.  Many knew that the flamingo ate upside down and that Venezuela was host to the world’s highest waterfall.  Many also scored Usher as the singer in the last question.

As mentioned, the Spuds went from 2 to 10 from Round 5 to Round 6; the Rabble Rousers also scored a 10 in contrast with their previous round of only 1.  Excellent rally.  Many knew that salt was the subject of the march by Ghandi although many suggested tea.  Many teams also recognized the reading room of the Birks building.  All teams but the Bulldogs, the Shadow Puppets and Cashew knew that the hat of the “Cat in the Hat” fame was red and white.  A crucial slip by Cashew.   Only three teams knew the word for fear of long words (Spuds and the Trailblazers) along with DAR Knights.  There were great alternate answers including fear of being eaten by a horse and stepped on by a hippo and the fear of becoming larger.  One other interesting answer was fear of 7-legged horses.  Hmmmm.

The last round was the only one that mostly matched the evening’s overall average that was 55% as mentioned earlier.  Many knew that “W” was removed from White House keyboards when George Bush left office in 2001.  Only 6 teams got the correct answer of sheep for the origin of “legal” feta cheese (in the EU) although it is possible to make the cheese using goat milk.  All but the Spuds knew that “Barenaked Ladies” were the singers in the theme song of “Big Bang Theory”.  Surprising.  Only the Rabble Rousers knew Tina Fey’s correct first name as Elizabeth.  Most suggested Christina.  Logical.  Six teams knew the name for a group of parrots (Company) including the Bulldogs, the Dewey team (they are from the Library- this was an expected right answer), the Cadets, Thistle Rocks, Cashew and the Hotel team.  I was surprised that most knew the great voice of Andrea Boccella.  About half knew both Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross although there were numerous other females suggested.

There were 8 prizes for the last round and there was one play off for 7^th and 8^th place amongst the Otto Maass team, Hotel de Ville and the Blonde Artifacts.  The Blondies lost out on a guess as to the number of homicides in Canada in 2012 to the other two teams who were closer to the right answer.  I am sorry we did not have a 9^th prize but we did have one prize for the team that happened to have the most difficulty in the evening but there was a tie there also between the None Yet group and the Shadow Puppets.  The younger squad lost in terms of the number of countries in Africa.  Maybe all Science majors there.

Thirteen teams came to all 6 matches and 5 others made 5 sessions.  The full and final summary of numbers is on the next page with the  best 5 rounds being counted.  Our collective congratulations go to the Ministry.  Maybe we should have a full round of hand-shaking at the end of each season like they do at the end of hockey games.  I liked the spontaneous applause that took place when the Ministry was announced as winners at the very end.

In any event, I hope all had a good time and I look forward to seeing you in October.  We will announce the final date that will be posted and sent to you in the early Fall.  I have already prepared both October and November so I am ready for another season.

I need to thank not only the Faculty Club for the best venue in town and generosity in providing over $500 in voucher prizes during the year but to the excellent scoring squad- this time with Kayleigh Cloutier (now in Nursing), Elise Fryml (starting this late summer at Wayne State University in Detroit for medical school) and Alexander Steeves-Fuentes who was a major help in TA-ing the Food MOOC that we carried out and just completed.  He will be back next year before going to medical school.  The Office for Science and Society gave copies of Dr. Joe Schwarcz’s new book.  I thank DAR and Maria Keenan for numerous prizes this year.  Finally, a large thanks to Kim Stephenson who offers excellent advice on questions, keeps the books and stimulates publishing companies to give up new books for prizes.

FINAL STANDINGS

STANDINGS AND REPORT FOR MARCH 2014

It was truly a dark and stormy night and to my pleasure and surprise, there was only about a 14% reduction in attendance as 85 persons showed up.  Again, I failed the hockey enthusiasts as the schedule was right on top of another Bruins-Habs game.  Sorry about that.  Round 1 had an average team score of 54% (a little lower than the average of most events).  The first question of the night was correct by the Space Cadets even though a key player came late.  They managed to score by naming one of the cross-streets as President Kennedy.  Many got this “geography” question and almost all said Kennedy and only two said the other street of Aylmer and these were Boom Down and the Living Daylights.  The British Bulldogs showed off by getting both of the streets.  The Secret Society was a bit disarrayed and named their street as St. Denis.  Ouch.

All but 7 teams knew that the Salt Girl held an umbrella while the youthful A Noi group suggested a pickle.  Well, salt was involved!  Well over half of the teams knew the literature of the Bronte sisters and that was impressive.  The relatively new team entry, The Blonde Artefacts took the round with a score of 8.

Round 2 showed a marked increase in the accuracy with a 67% record.  One unnamed team suggested that Rocky Balboa had the 49-0 record as a heavyweight but 7 teams correctly identified Rocky Marciano including the “before their time” A Noi (average age of ~21).  The Space Cadets also knew this one perhaps due to the special knowledge of their late-arrivee.  Over half the teams knew that a Gaffer was the head electrician on a movie set.  Over half the teams also knew Andre Previn was connected to Woody Allen.  All the teams knew Jim Morrison was buried in Paris.  That was impressive.  Almost all the teams knew Harrison Ford acted as the U.S. President and nearly all knew that the name of “Lions” is shared by the NFL and the CFL teams.

The third round scored 65% overall with the Spuds leading that round with an impressive score of 9.  The only question they missed was the Three Stooges who were the originators of the mythical law firm of “Dewey Cheatem and Howe” and the only team who got that correct was the Absolutely Bibulous squad seated somewhat behind the left pillar of the room.  There were only 5 teams that knew that the youngest Nobel winners were from Physics and they were the Secret Society, Thistle Rocks, the Spuds, the Bulldogs and the heavily Arts oriented Artefacts.  The strong team Hotel de Ville suggested Mathematics and A Noi did the same as it is true that brilliance in math is shown by unusually young scientists however there is no Nobel for math.  There should be.  Only three teams knew the full statement from Mao about “…the barrel of a gun” and these were the Ministry, Living Daylights and a new team, Shadow Puppets.  Human Growth Hormone from the pituitary was known by all but 4 teams that included the feisty squad of Otto Maass and the In Vino unit who went from a 9 in round 2 to a 5 in this round.  Too many high fives in round 2 perhaps distracted them.  ALL teams knew the Mamas and the Pappas.  I have to toughen up on the music bits.

Speaking of lightening up, round 4 presented at the end, a score of 73% that I think is the highest for a round in tournament history.  The Ministry, Thistle Rocks (this team was bolstered with a pair of 8s in the early rounds by a single player until the full squad came late well into the game) and Living Daylights each scored a perfect 10 in this round.  Most teams knew that a group of owls is called a Parliament including Date Night, Veritas Odit, None Yet and Rock Stars.  The strong team of Blonde Artefacts had it down on their score sheet but eventually chose “Unkindness” as the name.  They were thinking of ravens --quoth the famous author. The “squiggle” over the n was known by many including the Trailblazers and None Yet although the eventual strong finishers Cashew and Positive Vibrations slipped up on this one.  Many teams got the word “luge” as the spelling bee question including DAR Knights and the Rabble group.

The average score for the overall contest was achieved in round 5 with 59% leaving round 4 as an unusual outlier segment.  Only one team knew what 1728 (a dozen gross) is known as and this was the group from Otto Maass.  Go Chemists!  Many teams knew the Levi label of 501 but other numbers were offered including 451 by the Cadets and 549, 519, 051 by Living Daylights, 401 and the Bulldogs got one digit correct suggesting 235 as the answer.  Where did that come from?  The Bulldogs had a small disaster in round 4 but came back strong with a 7 in round 5.  Hotel de Ville was the only team who knew the 101^st Airborne outfit was called the Screaming Eagles while a wide variety of guesses were given including Top Gun, Easy Company, Rolling Thunder, Big Red One, Red Devils, Rangers, Green Berets, Red Berets, Paratroopers, Band of Brothers (too much TV), Black Ops and Air Heads (desperate).

Round 6 was the toughest of the night with 48% answering correctly and by the time of the start of this round, the Ministry had established a slim lead of 3 points over Thistle Rocks and the Artefacts (40-37).  Hotel de Ville and None Yet scored a 7 to lead this session but the Ministry kept pace with a 6.  Date Night had been doing well up to this stage but had a rough round.  The Bulldogs were the only ones with the full name of Joyce Kilmer although the Ministry, Rabblerousers and Cashew had only one name or a close misspelling that was accepted for the author of the tree poem.  Almost all knew the year of Cartier’s visit to Montreal as 1535.  NO team knew “Steamboat” as the biggest geyser (Yellowstone) and other suggestions were Vesuvius, New Faithful, Lil Squirt, Young Faithful, Big Red (again), Ye Olde Geezer and even Margaret Thatcher.  That was a keeper.  Many knew that Colchester was at the southernmost point in the country although some suggested it was the centre of the country.  Hmmmm.  Many knew Verdi was the opera author.  At the end of this round, the Ministry still had a 3 point lead over Thistle Rocks with 6 teams trailing only by 1 and 2 points below Thistle Rocks.

The last round scored a 51% with Cashew rallying back with a round-leading 7 but it was to no avail as the Ministry scored a safe 6 and in fact every other team had 5 +/- 1.  The most even distribution yet.  Our knowledgeable Cashew team knew that Alcock and Brown flew the Atlantic prior to Lindbergh and appropriately our history experts, the Blonde Artefacts, also had this right as the only teams to get this question.  As this pair of flyers was not Canadian but rather from England and Scotland, the other teams are off the hook- sort of.  Most knew (or guessed) that it was at McGill that the cancer test originated.  Only Cashew knew that B.C. was the home of Dusty Pink Lake and P.E.I. was suggested as was Saskatchewan -not exactly known for high mountains.  Seven teams knew (or guessed) that Chemistry was the home base for Seymour Schulich including the Bulldogs, Date Night, DAR Knights, Positive Vibrations, Trivia Trailblazers, None Yet and the Bibulous group.  The Otto Maass team dropped the test-tube on this one.  Many teams knew Alex Coville as the artist of the WW 2 piece and most as well knew Jamie Foxx was the actor playing Ray Charles.

The night ended with the Ministry (minus Capt. Doug Sweet, replaced ably by his son) with 52 and Thistle Rocks in second with 48.  Cashew, Hotel de Ville and Blonde Artefacts were tied for third (so 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th place were in the offing with a tie-breaker which asked the number of smart phones that are lost or stolen each day in the U.S.  The Blonde crew was reasonably close with a guess of 65,000 with the right answer being 160,000.  The Hotelers were second in this mini-contest and Cashew was the most trusting of theft with the lowest estimate and came in overall 5^th.  The 6^th prize was also a tie-breaker with In Vino, Positive Vibrations, Living Daylights and the Spuds who were collectively asked how many U.S. states were north of Colchester, Ontario, the answer being 27.  The Daylights were the closest team so the 6^th prize was secured.  The overall score from the evening for all teams was 60%.

Thank you all for braving the storm, thanks for excellent score-keeping by Pinkal, Kayleigh and Elise and great help was given by our main prize navigator, Kim Stephenson.  Below is a picture of the Blonde Artefacts enjoying the third place prize from the Development Office (biggest and most impressive looking prize) after which they took the obligatory “Selfie” (not yet shared).

Please register for the April 16^th  event and NOTE that the May contest will be on the 15^th which is a change from the 13^th.  There are 25 teams that have completed at least three rounds so all those teams are in the running and the lowest score will be deducted from each team’s final score.  This means that the Ministry is ahead by 13 and not 16 as the total score indicates.  Get busy Hotel team and Thistle Rocks!

STANDINGS AND REPORT FOR JANUARY 2014

The evening was a good one with 99 persons and 27 teams.  This was down a bit from November as the Space Cadets called in with the flu and three other teams cancelled “perhaps” due to the Bruins-Habs game that was on.  The first question of Round 1 was very well-answered as Serbia.  The question was worded as what country the nationalist assassins were from who were responsible for triggering WW1 and in looking up the history of this region, Serbia was actually a region prior to WW1 within the Austro-Hungarian empire.  Not a team identified the Toronto 1914 Stanley Cup with their proper nickname (Blues).  It is quite unusual that no correct answer prevails for a question.  A majority of the teams knew when the first lighter than air balloon was launched (1783).  The round ended with Cashew and In Vino Veritas leading with 8.  The overall score for the round was 55% (about average).  Round 2 still belonged to Cashew and In Vino but the Ministry started to wake up and was tied for second. The second round finished with another score of 55%.  Here, nearly every team knew the “pit” was the place that was the employee’s side of a casino table.  Too many trips to Las Vegas!  Most everyone scored with John Denver in the two questions about his passing and the movie that he starred in with George Burns.  Eight teams knew that cymbals were made at a world-class level in New Brunswick and they were the Blond Artifacts, the Dewey Decibels, Positive Vibrations, Cashew, the Ministry, the Spuds, the Heroines of Science and Veritas Odit.  Only Positive Vibrations, Hotel de Ville and Cashew knew about the Ivory-billed woodpecker while others suggested the Dodo and the Passenger Pigeon.  The Timex ad was remembered by 25 out of 27 teams; the Maass team suggested Duracell and Living Daylights posed Rolex.  A significant number of teams knew the Mary Wells song.

Round three was the toughest of the night with a 45% score although many knew Skull Island was involved with the King Kong movies.  Seven teams knew “Bruce” was the name of the mechanical shark in “Jaws” (In Vino, Secret Society, Living Daylights, Edgar and the Poes, the DAR Knights, the Ministry and Thistle Rocks.  Three interesting suggestions were “Braces” by the Spuds (this was an uncharacteristic tough round for them but for this and one other right answer), “Chompy” by the Rabble Rousers and “Rick” by the Bulldogs.  What is up with “Rick”?  The question about Papaphobia was correctly answered by Edgar and the Poes, the Maass team, Absolutely Bibulous and Boom Down.  Other interesting answers were a fear of paper by the Bulldogs, fear of warts by the Spuds (something to do with a bad virus by a similar name) and the best one, Fear of Papayas (my fear) by the MaWhat group.  The question about Superman being involved with the plot lines of Seinfeld was answered well.  However, there was a “protest” by two participants who opined that Superman was not a comic “strip”.  I did not know the answer here but research shows that in the 1930s it was a strip and even in the 1980s it was so portrayed although he was mostly known as a comic book character.  NO teams knew Spock’s blood type.  That was a surprise to me given the wide interest in Star Trek trivia.  ALL teams answered the Tom Jones question.  I was quite sure several would not recognize him.  Clearly my short attempt at an impersonation of him was of no help as it was given only in the answer section.  I have to add that a member of one of the absent teams was informed about the event and sent me the “real” T.J. in action.  He was a bit disappointing and he did not get sweaty during his stint. 

Round 4 had a 67% score for all teams however only three teams knew that Quebec was the site of the oldest bridge in Canada (still standing).  The successful teams were the Spuds, the Artifacts and the DAR Knights.  Those same teams along with the Rabble Rousers and the Mass team knew that Austria was the home country of the “Bambi” story.  All teams knew the country of “April Wine”.  Finally, Roy Orbison is not blind but used his glasses as part of his persona apparently by way of an accidental wearing of sun glasses early in his career.  It added cache to his remarkable, musical life.

Round 5 came in at 51%.  All teams knew that John Travolta was in “Pulp Fiction”- that is, all but the Bulldogs, who had that answer but changed it at the last.  The Bulldogs bounced back as only one of four teams who knew that “Love Me Tender” was Elvis’ first film.  The other three were Boom Down, the Spuds and the Ministry.  Only the Trailblazers and the Secret Society knew that San Marino has the largest number of cars per person.  Impressive.

Round 6 was about the same in difficulty as the first two with 56%.  All but one team knew (or guessed as it was logical) that Albert Brooks was born as Albert Einstein.  No points for Al’s parents on this one.  Eight teams knew the first card game of my youth, Euchre with the Bower (not Bauer, although that got credit) as the Jack of Spades.  Specifically he is the Right Bower and the most powerful trump card.  Boom Down almost got it with “Right” but crossed it out and “highest trump card written” in).  Among the correct answers were the Diviners, the Dewey Decibels (they scored a perfect 10 in this Round) and MaWhat.  Almost all knew that Aa was lava but it was a give-away question in the wording.  Many knew the “shooter” was the dice-thrower including A Noi, Date Night, That Avatars and Don’t Think Twice indicating that Vegas or Atlantic City or a more local gambling spot is frequented.  Then again, maybe internet gambling is more prevalent than we think.

The last Round was good for all teams at an average of 75%.  A great many teams knew that Dylan Thomas was not born in Ireland.  The Spuds, Positive Vibrations, Living Daylights and Boom Down knew KLM was the oldest airline (1919) but the choice of Qantas puzzled me so I looked it up.  They were started a year later than KLM and the Secret Society almost got it right.  Nearly all knew the Liger as the mix of a lion and a tiger.  Maybe there was great knowledge for this question but maybe the choices were not distracting enough.  Finally, many knew the impressionist women and 21 out of 27 knew Phil Everly passed away so it was not a guess for most.  The final overall net score was nearly 58% so we continue at pretty much the same pace for each evening event.  The Standings are shown below and it needs to be noted that the Ministry achieved an all-time high score of 57 out of 70 or 81%.  Impressive!  Getting 50 or more is also worth mentioning and the Dewey Decibels were in that category this month as were Hotel de Ville and Thistle Rocks in the fall events.

Again, thanks to Kim Stephenson for help with the prizes and advice along with the Faculty Club delivering great service and prizes as well as our scorers, Elise, Kayleigh and Urvashi.

Please register for the March 12 event

STANDINGS

STANDINGS AND REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2013

It was an even larger house than in October with 118 persons (a record) and 32 teams. The scores were very close all evening and at the end, The Ministry of Truth was nipped by Hotel de Ville by just 2 points. The Ministry was in first or second place all evening but Hotel de Ville made 9 out of 10 on the last round missing only the question as to the first vitamin. Clearly, they are candidates for taking the first McGill MOOC on Food. Hah. There was a three-­‐way tie for 6th with In Vivo Veritas, Absolutely Bibulous and Cashew. The dynamic Cashew duo slid a bit in the last round and ducked out before the scores were fully tallied and could have competed for this slot with the tie-­‐breaker question. While the remaining two teams missed the actual answer by a considerable amount, the question was: How many pounds of yoghurt were produced in New York State last year? (553 million). It was a most memorable pair of answers. The Bibulous squad said 10 million pounds while the Vino quartet said 10,000,001 in coherence with Jeopardy and The Price is Right tactic. Their collective hands must have been hurting for the “high-­‐fiving” that went on all evening and especially in Round 6 where they were the only team to score a 10 for 10. They dipped to only 3 in the last round and if they had scored a 9 they would have tied for second. Thistle Rocks, a perennial contender, came in third, the new entry, Heroines of Science, fourth and Diviners fifth.

Other Round leaders during the evening were the Secret Society, Edgar and the Allan Poes, Rockstars, Heroines and the Boom Down team. The average for Round 1 was a bit low (49%) and interestingly, only 5 teams knew it was a black flag in auto racing that calls the driver to the pits and they were A Noi, Secret Society, Edgar and the Poes, Thistle Rocks and the Ministry. Most knew that nocturnal enuresis was known more widely as bed-­‐wetting. Only two did not know that the amethyst stone is purple. They will not be named. It was fascinating that no team took up the notion that the same stone, amethyst, was believed by the ancient Greeks to keep one sober—except my chemistry colleague guest, Ariel Fenster who was all by himself and scored above 4 teams. That is impressive.

All teams knew about Mad Cow Disease. It was feast or famine here in Round 1 as only the Secret Society knew that obelus meant a division sign. This same team however, suggested that cocaine was the active ingredient in smelling salts-­‐ some wake-­‐up! Several teams knew the Righteous Brothers for the musical piece to end the round including the Space Cadets who improved their score the next round with late-­‐arrivals making the scene.

Scores improved a bit in Round 2 (54%, which was near the overall average score for the evening). Some knew the length of Rip Van Winkle’s sleep and most knew the place of origin of the Dean Seas Scrolls. Interestingly, 17 teams thought France developed the bomb after Russia and the U.S. compared with only 11 for England. Three said China— and one voted for Canada! All but one team knew that sodium bicarbonate is better known by baking soda. The exception was The Craniacs who said Alka Seltzer-­‐ not so bad an answer as sodium bicarbonate is in that product. To my major surprise, only 13 of 32 used the obvious title of the great Tim Hicks song “We Got Stronger Beer” comparing the U.S. and Canada and most tried to guess the singer to no avail.

The Third Round averaged only 48% although most knew that the Diners’ Club was the first charge card -­‐63 years ago. Again, most knew Star Trek showed the first interracial kiss with the ever popular William Shatner. Shockingly, most teams thought that Mount Queen Elizabeth was in New Zealand and only two teams, the Rabble Rousers and the Bibulous crew said Canada. It is in Alberta and is over 9,000 feet in elevation. Only two teams knew that Fidel Castro received a Ph.D. in Law (Diviners, Trivia Trailblazers). Many knew the Peter Gunn theme.

In Round 4, the teams averaged 64% and most of the questions were well answered. Only three teams failed to get Belgium as the home country for TinTin. They were the Craniacs, 21 and Over and the Space Cadets who all said, quite reasonably, France. There were apparently many BB-­‐gun owners (in an earlier life) as “Daisy” was the right answer for the company. There was a flurry of concern about Sherlock Holmes’ addiction with several thinking it was opium-­‐ also a reasonable idea -­‐ however it checked out as cocaine. Almost all got “PINK” as the answer to the music question.

Round 5 showed a 52% success rate. The majority thought Stephen Leacock made the observation about April Fools Day but 7 got it right with Mark Twain including the Spuds, the Bulldogs and Positive Vibrations amongst others. Many knew about sheep not having upper front teeth. How did you know that one? This is a knowledgeable crowd! That was evidenced by the fact that all but two teams know that Navajo was used as a code language in WW2 by the U.S. The Avatar team was the only one who knew who bought Dr. Pepper-­‐ (7-­‐UP)—congratulations. Round 6 showed the highest answer percentage at nearly 70. Quite a few knew USB (Universal Serial Bus) to my surprise as I have already forgotten what it meant but like all of us, I use the devices all the time. Many teams knew that the Get Out of Jail fee in Monopoly was $50 but quite a few said $200. That amount is Bank Error in Your Favour and for crossing Go. Only 4 teams knew that Russell Crowe was born in New Zealand (None Yet, Edgar and the Poes, Secret Society and the In Vino foursome). Britney Spears did not fool many as the music question.

The last round came in as the lowest of the night (45%)-­‐ perhaps fitting to separate the teams which is just what happened. Nine teams knew the Appaloosa horse including 21 and Over, MaWhat, the Blonde Artefacts and Thistle Rocks. One team had the imaginative answer of Dalmation Horse (sp). Only 5 teams knew the first vitamin (A) including the Heroines of Science. Why not? Many got the giant squid as having the largest eye. Good going. Nestle’s and East Pakistan were identified pretty well as were the tiles in Scrabble in Italian-­‐ or at least the non-­‐tiles (J, X). The last question which was what movie did the singer (Glen Campbell) appear in, was answered by only 4 teams including Cupcakes, MaWhat? as well as None Yet AND Hotel De Ville which helped them clinch the evening.

All in all, I hope that everyone had fun – certainly I did and here is the scorecard for the evening along with the accumulated standings. Remember to sign on for January 30 and if you are going to miss the night to please call in as sometimes we can fit in a team who is on the waiting list. Finally, also remember that the lowest score will be deducted for the final standings.

See you in the New Year.

Again, thanks to Kim Stephenson for help with the prizes and advice along with the Club delivering great service and prizes as well as our scorers, Susana, Elise, Julia and Kayleigh.

STANDINGS AND REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2013

It was a full house of 110 persons and over 30 teams as we started our 4th season. The Centraide donation was $550, the highest of any night over this time. The Ministry of Truth won the evening but only by a single point over Thistle Rocks. It was a very close contest all night long with the dynamic duo of Cashew and the Diviners starting out with a tie for the lead. Cashew took over for three rounds until the Ministry took charge in Round 5 and held on. The Rabble Crew wound up third in a numeric playoff against the Hotel de Ville group by getting almost the exact value of Judy Garland’s Oz dress at auction. The Bibulous team beat the Boom Downers in a play off for 5th and 6th place with Cashew being left out for a prize as there was a three-­‐way tie. The full standings are at the end of the article.

The first question was who was the singer in a video that was about 40+ years old-­‐-­‐-­‐ it was Willie Nelson and exactly half the teams got it right with other suggestions such as Merle Haggard, Tommy Hunter (loyal Canadian answer), Hank Williams, George Jones (not a bad stab) Porter Wagner (Wagoner), Gene Autry, Conway Twitty, Jim Neighbors (Nabors) and Bobby Darin with a few blanks and one point for Merl (Meryl) Oberon – a 40s actress – desperation I guess. The average for the Round was 57%; that is about what the overall score is for the teams in general. All but 7 teams knew the Edinburgh was the top Fringe Festival city. Most got it right that “regular” Coke was the largest selling soft drink and I did not see any Pepsi fans. Four teams got (guessed I think) that Sable Island has only one tree growing and they were the Spuds, the Trailblazers, Cashew and the Diviners. The Cashew team distinguished themselves by knowing that Teddy Roosevelt was the first sitting U.S. president to go to a foreign country. Every team but one knew “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers. The lone hold out was for Dogfish. I don’t get that one and I thought some would use the fabled phrase “Know When to Hold-­‐‘Em”.

The teams fared much better in Round 2 with an average of 71% with 5 teams getting a 9 score. Cashew and Thistle Rocks started a run of three 9s to the 5th Round, however no team scored a 10 during the evening. Quite a few teams knew the number of MLB and NHL teams (30 each) and most everyone got Heraldry. Most knew that it was “Scarface” Al Capone although there was one “Baby Face”. Some Baby – some face. All but 7 teams knew it was Noah who was Ham’s father. I think either we have Bible experts or crossword experts. I am guessing the latter. Nearly half the teams knew Roger Miller sang “King of the Road” while Hotel de Ville squandered the point with Roger Williams.

Round 3 came in at 73% for all the teams. It is clear that the Simpsons have made a major “cultural” impact as all but two teams knew that MG stood for Matt Groening. The Bulldogs said “Marge” as did the Cupcakes. Only eight teams knew that 1965 was the year of the Maple Leaf flag. Most of the responses were close to that year. One team that will go nameless said 1870. All but three teams (The Hildebrand Rarity, A Noi and One Night Only) knew Lucy charged 5 cents for psychiatric help. The other answers were 10 cents, hugs/kisses and a kiss respectively. Quite a few teams knew the Shirelles with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” with other answers as Chiffons, Shangrilas, Rondells, Martha and the Vandellas and the Chandrels. Not sure about that last one. Most knew who did the re-­‐do of that song who was Amy Winehouse. I strive sometimes to ask a decent question that everyone knows and was successful with the French fry question as McCain’s. Congratulations.

Round 4 dipped to 66%. All teams but one knew that Madagascar was the home of vanilla but one team did not read the question (island near Africa) as they said Spain. Most knew Willie Nelson was 80 although a fair number said 85. Many got that it was September when the Oktoberfest usually takes place. All teams but two knew that dolphins congregate in a pod. Many teams knew the teeth terms. I was impressed.

Somehow, Round 5 was where a number of teams tumbled. The average was 44% and two teams scored only 1. The Internationals had just scored three 9s in a row and then the 1. No team knew that the new prince in the U.K. received a 41 gun salute. A modern trivia morsel. The Bulldogs said 40 and the Trailblazers said 42; most said 21. Only the Ministry and the Space Cadets (minus one of their regular stars) got that the Colorado Rockies have the MLB attendance record. A few teams kept the faith and said McGill for the internet search engine question. Good On ‘Ya. Those two teams both knew that Roberts was the last name of Barbie. All but two teams knew Canada was the donut capital/per capita with one guess as Iceland-­‐ shame and one the U.K. also shame. Many got Wimpy as the hamburger man. Not too many knew Roger Moore was the oldest 007. A tough round.

Round 6 averaged 58%. I suspect many will now remember that the Monopoly property Short Line was a bus company (who said “your best teacher is your last mistake”?) as only two got the question and nearly 30 teams were disappointed. The two who said bus line were Rock Stars and Veritas Odit Monas. That one needs translation. As a fan of Canadian Martin Short, I was pleased to see most all knew who that was in the question about Jiminy Glick. Herb Alpert was recognized by 21 teams. Older music continues to be known. Thank heavens! Not one team knew where the first NBA game was played-­‐ Toronto. Not a trick question either—just unexpected but it was in the news.

The last round averaged only 52% giving the entire score for all teams for the night at exactly 60% which is a bit above the norm due to the high rounds 2-­‐4. For hanging toilet paper, 77% of the teams got the A roll which is higher than what is reported for the preference (60%). The Bibulous teams said “A! There is no other way!”. Most knew that Halley’s Comet would return in 2062, ~76 years as a cycle. Eleven teams knew Catherine Parr was the widow of Henry VIII.

Nearly half of the teams thought that New Hampshire bordered Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut-­‐ New Hampshire does not border Connecticut and the answer was New York. For the last song, the two actual diseases mentioned by Chuck Betty was caught by the Dewey Decibels, Cashew, the Hotelers, the Mighty Ministry, None Yet and Positive Vibrations -­‐-­‐who all heard arthritis—but it was very hard to understand in the singing as it was the “rollin’ arthritis but pronounced as “rollin’ arthur-­‐it-­‐ is”. It was an impressive ending as it gave the Ministry the victory on the last question. Congratulations once again.

Welcome to several new teams and please register early for November 21st (Thursday). Finally, thanks to Kim Stephenson for help with the prizes and advice along with the Club delivering great service and prizes as well.