SUMMARY OF RESULTS
MAY 2013
On May 9th, twenty six teams (three phoned-in cancellations) and nearly 90 participants did noisy battle in the final round. One new team (The British Bulldogs with no obvious British person) joined and promised to come back in October. The team was composed of one of our football coaches (giving the quizmaster a bouncer should the proceedings get out of hand), a player from DAR and one University financial wizard with spouse. They were in second place at the start but faded as the evening wore on.
As all now know, the mighty Ministry won not only the evening’s competition but the overall prize as well. The teams that trailed in the evening were numerous requiring some play-off tests. The final results are summarized at the end. Congratulations to the Ministry!!
For Round 1, all but three teams knew that Pinocchio smoked a cigar. Most all knew that Mexico had the most Spanish speaking people although, our Canadian-content experts, the Space Cadets ,suggested Argentina. All but two knew the Allen key so the evening was off to a strong start for the participants.. Only the Secret Society knew that Larry Hagman did not speak on Sundays and there were wild suggestions ranging from the Thistle Rocks team indicating he went to CostCo, other habit-suggestions were visiting his mother (long deceased), naming the Presidents, dialysis, and others including several who said he watched “Dallas” reruns. Great suggestions but not right. Only None Yet picked up on the historic number of 21 steps by the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, VA. The connection here is the 21-gun salute so prevalent in this sort of historic form of honour. The Long Gun folks provided 1776 steps—that would be about a mile of travel. The score for the round was 56%, which was a bit above the evening’s average of 52%, one of the lower nights of the season. It is very hard for me to judge how easy an evening will be but it was good that the last night was a bit more challenging to ensure that the Ministry was indeed the top team.
Round 2 was the lowest of the evening with a 45% tally for the House. The Ministry took command with another 8/10. Most thought that George Washington was on the first U.S. stamp but only Date Night and the Ministry got Ben Franklin. Several teams know a beaver was on the first Canadian stamp (before Canada was official) but the Space Cadets suggested a ship. Only the Spuds, Living Daylights and All Mouth and No Trousers knew that Electrum was the ancient Egyptian’s name for the gold-silver material. Impressive! Most knew the Byrds and their music but it was a difficult round although most all knew there were 7 stars in the Big Dipper.
The loudest “hoot” in our three-year history took place in Round 3 on the question of the number of toes on birds. It seems there are more answers for this on careful reflection -than I had originally searched out. The number for an ostrich is 2 (it seems the only bird with 2 and would have been a better question) while the Zygodactyl foot has two forward and two backward-oriented toes and many have three forward and one backward. I do not have my original “definitive” source that was adamant that the answer was three but it is likely that they were not counting the “back” toe as a toe. Given that our analysis at the time as well as later showed that my gaff did not affect the final results, we left the scores as they fell. Mea Culpa. Let’s let sleeping birds stand on their toes. It was extremely impressive to me that just about every team in the House knew Bob Dylan was born as Robert Zimmerman. Knowing his voice was not difficult but knowing his birth name I thought was going to be more challenging. This is a knowledgeable crowd. There were many “PT” names suggested but In Vino, Thistle Rocks and the Cupcakes achieved Personal Transport. The Bulldogs said Phantom Turbo. Not bad. Seven teams got Softball from the early name of Kitten Ball. Lite beer choices for Canada were all over the place and our Canadian trivia group of the Space Cadets suggested Oland. Hmmmm. On balance, this round was 48% and at this time, the Ministry took a 4 point lead and Hotel de Ville, minus David Covo had struggled to second place where they finished the night tied with Thistle Rocks. Professor Covo, on “tour” in Copenhagen phoned in during the evening to check on the progress of his team and to give encouragement. Very impressive and much appreciated by his team mates.
Round four saw an upturn in the results with 53% getting right answers. Quite a few recognized that the suited gentlemen were from the world of art and not hockey although some looked like hockey players in my eyes. Seven teams knew that cystic fibrosis causes a salty skin on a baby. Impressive to say the least and these were the Debaters from Otto Maass, 21 and Over, Living Daylights, Trivia Trailblazers, Cashew, the Hotel crowd and the Ministry. The question about the origins of AM radio based on the Eastern Township’s own Reginald Fessenden was answered only by Thistle Rocks and many thought the answer was Marconi although he was not exactly born in the Townships but in Italy.
The scores in Round 5 dropped a bit and one of the tough questions was the piece by Spiral Starecase incorrectly spelled by the Positive Vibration team but credit was certainly given. Many guesses ensued such as The Doors, Walls, Sills, Elevators and the Cupcakes suggested Gargoyles. Good guess. Most said Emma as the most popular girl’s name in the U.S. (lately it is Emily) and a few got Isabella for that year and they were Edgar and the Allen Poes, Living Daylights, Secret Society, the Ministry and the Spuds.
In Round 6, scores went up to 57% although no team knew the cover for the piano keys. This is a rare event that nobody knew the answer, which was the fallboard. This is not so easy to find/verify even on Google without using the right answer directly. Almost all knew Lebanon did not have a desert and I guess the song “Windy” was better known that I thought as I always thought it is “Wendy” but most teams knew. One said “Wyndy” another “Mindy” (nobody said “Mandy”) and one disgusted team said “Poop”. Ah, the pressure.
The last round was a 60% affair although there was a total failure of all participants to know that “We” was authored by Charles Lindburgh. I am sure I saw no high-fives in the House. An unusual answer was by the Boom Down team who suggested Yevgeny Zamyatin. Low and behold he did write a book called “We” but he died in 1937 and not in 1974. Wow. Good shot and that saved me from a “correction”. If we gave half-marks, that would be a candidate. Many knew Mary Quant “invented” the miniskirt. All but three got “Rush” to close out the season with a strange piece but all - Canadian for sure.
At the end, The Ministry won by 5, Thistle Rocks and Hotel de Ville were tied at 46 and the Thistle Rocks won a numeric playoff. From there, Cashew was 4th and 5 teams tied for 5th with three of them getting a final round prize with the numeric-oriented playoff.
Attendance was very good considering busy schedules. Of the 38 total teams who participated, 15 came to all 6 events, 8 to 5 events making 23 possibly eligible for the total prize where one score was deducted. Four teams attended 4 nights, 2 each for 2 and 3 different rounds and 7 teams came for a single night.
The final scores for the May 9th night are shown on the next page and the total standing on the last.
| Ministry of Truth | 51 |
| Hotel de Ville | 46 |
| Thistle Rocks | 46 |
| Cashew | 43 |
| 21 and Over | 40 |
| Blank Pages | 40 |
| Idaho Spuds | 40 |
| In Vivo Veritas | 40 |
| Living Daylights | 40 |
| All Mouth and No Trousers | 39 |
| Boom Down Go Fudd | 39 |
| Trivia Trailblazers | 39 |
| Heat is On | 36 |
| Secret Society | 36 |
| Edgar and the Allan Poes | 35 |
| Date Night | 34 |
| Space Cadets | 34 |
| Dewey Decibel System | 33 |
| Long Gun Registry | 33 |
| One Night Only | 33 |
| Otto Maass Debators | 33 |
| British Bulldogs | 32 |
| PositiveVibrations | 32 |
| Cupcakes | 28 |
| Flying Monkeys | 25 |
| None Yet | 20 |
I look forward to seeing any/all of you for the 4th season. Stay tuned to the Faculty Club website for announcements and you will be notified as to the exact date- most likely in October.
This year we collected a bit under $3,000 for Centraide making the three year total something over $8,000. All of the funds are given to this charity.
I want also to thank Nicolas Zrihen and Adrian Chu of the Club for their organizational skills and especially to Kim Stephenson from the Bookstore for most of the prizes and to my colleague Dr. Joe Schwarcz as well for his book donations. Not least, thanks also to Elise, Alexandra, Sheldon, Kayleigh and Susanna –great McGill students for help scoring the nights.
Best wishes for the summer
David Harpp
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
APR 2013
As with last month, twenty nine teams crowded into the Ballroom at the Faculty Club with a new record 105 persons to do battle. We were joined by Martlet1 for their second appearance this year with a new participant being Provost Masi. Their team started hot getting 9/10 answers along with Hotel de Ville, Thistle Rocks and Living Daylights. The only question Martlet1 missed was the spelling of the first name of Daryl Oates.
Only 7 teams knew argon was the third most prevalent gas in the atmosphere—1%. These were Thistle Rocks, Martlet1, Idaho Spuds, Rock Stars, Ctrl Alt Delete, Otto Maass Debators, and Living Daylights. Most teams knew that there were 54 squares on a Rubik’s Cube although a number of teams said 96 and one gave 149—that would be some cube! The round was the best of the night and it was mostly downhill from there.
In Round 2, the majority knew/guessed that 5 seconds was correct for the fastest NHL goal from face-off. Just 5 teams knew where the atomic clock was- Colorado and they were the Deweys, Cashew, In Vino, Hotel de Ville and the Martlets. Almost all knew that Ned Flanders went to Oral Roberts University although Thistle Rocks said Reverend Lovejoy. Seven teams knew that Rwanda had the most women legislators- The Heat, All Mouth, Secret Society, Space Cadets, Living Daylights the duo of Date Night and the Spuds. The Martlets dropped back from first place as the Hotel and Living Daylights merged into a tie for first place.
Twelve teams knew Richard Harris was the originator of the silly but nice song “MacArthur Park”. Impressive. All but three knew “Rosebud” as the last remark of Charles Foster Kane. The alternate suggestions were “The horror”, “I love you” and “The end”. Only the Martlets knew that front-wheel-drive was the invention in the Citroen 7CV. Most all teams knew their Monopoly and remembered that New York Avenue is coloured orange. Many said yellow—that is the Marvin Gardens property trio. At the end of the round, Thistle Rocks was in the lead by two points and they stayed in that position to the end. It was clear that the mighty Ministry was missing a key player as Doug Sweet was called to another task.
Round 4 started with Three Mile Island and it was in Pennsylvania- most knew that. Only In Vino Veritas, Living Daylights, the Long Gun group and the Rabble Rousers got the movie that likely did in John Wayne and others as “The Conqueror”. Most teams thought the 1 billion population mark came in 1905 but 3 Old Guys and 1 Older Guy, 21 and Over, Blank Pages and the Martlets knew it was 1805- or guessed it. It helped the Martlets to get back in the top 5 teams although Thistle Rocks kept pace. For the question on nutritional value of different listed foods, 27/29 said chick peas and None Yet suggested parsnips (I like parsnips but not many do) and the Secret Society thought it was potatoes.
Round 5 started with the French vesion of “What a Night” and 8 teams got “Jersey Boys” as the musical and appropriately this included Rock Stars getting it right. All 29 teams knew about blue chip stocks- too easy. Too many knew Manolo Blahnik but only Blank Pages knew that Varley was the artist for the painting that was shown. Impressive. Quite a few teams knew that Captain Kirk would be born in Iowa. How is that possible? Trekkies I guess. Seven teams knew Juice Newton and that was also impressive. This included the trio of Edgar and the Allen Poes.
In Round 6, only the Space Cadets knew that the SAT exams started in 1926- good information or great guess. Cigarette smoking for women was stimulated by the Marlboro brand and Living Daylights and Cashew got it while most said Virginia Slims. Logical. A fair number knew that Staten Island was the site of the garbage dump. Further, most knew that Jamie Foxx was the star of “Ray” – about Ray Charles.
The night started at the highest level with teams averaging 68% but it was downhill from there until this round when the average was 49%. The last round was well-done with 64% being the average for all teams. This round started with many knowing that spinach was the key ingredient in dishes labeled Florentine. Eleven teams saw the similarity of Clint Eastwood’s son to his father. All groups knew that Coca Cola used a Polar Bear as a mascot and most also got Charlie the Tuna’s company as Starkist. The last question was about the singer Grace Slick and seven teams knew her. The overall average score was about what is typical for the whole of the rounds this year at 57%.
Unfortunately, two teams were short-changed in the grading and the corrected results are here. The Spuds and the Boomers are owed a prize for this oversight. Our scorekeepers do their best but errors happen occasionally. IF you are going to keep your scores, please let us know right away if there has been a miscalculation. With such a close race going into the May event, we don’t want any uncomfortable feelings as a consequence of an oversight. In the last listing, there are 16 teams who have played 5 rounds. There are 10 more with 4 rounds. This is great attendance.
Results for April
| Thistle Rocks | 50 |
| Living Daylights | 49 |
| 21 and Over | 47 |
| Cashew | 47 |
| Boom Down Go Fudd | 46 |
| Idaho Spuds | 46 |
| Cupcakes | 45 |
| Edgar and the Allan Poes | 45 |
| Blank Pages | 43 |
| Three Old Guys and 1 Older Guy | 43 |
| Martlet1 | 42 |
| Ministry of Truth | 42 |
| One Night Only | 42 |
| Rabble Rousers | 42 |
| Hotel de Ville | 41 |
| Trivia Trailblazers | 41 |
| In Vivo Veritas | 40 |
| Dewey Decibel System | 39 |
| Rock Stars | 39 |
| Secret Society | 38 |
| PositiveVibrations | 37 |
| All Mouth and No Trousers | 35 |
| Date Night | 34 |
| Otto Maass Debators | 34 |
| Long Gun Registry | 33 |
| None Yet | 32 |
| CTRL-ALT-DEL | 30 |
| Space Cadets | 30 |
| Heat is On | 29 |
STANDINGS AFTER FIVE ROUNDS (SOME TEAMS MISSED ONE OR TWO ROUNDS)
THE LOWEST ROUND WILL BE SUBTRACTED FROM THE SIX ROUND TOTALS AT THE END
THAT SUBTRACTION IS SHOWN HERE BELOW FOR THE NET AFTER 5 ROUNDS
5 round Net Score to date
| Ministry of Truth | 251 | 209 | |
| Thistle Rocks | 253 | 206 | |
| Living Daylights | 249 | 203 | |
| Cashew | 236 | 194 | |
| Hotel de Ville | 230 | 189 | |
| Dewey Decibel System | 186 | 186 | |
| Boom Down Go Fudd | 212 | 179 | |
| Blank Pages | 211 | 176 | |
| Rabble Rousers | 175 | 175 | |
| Rock Stars | 205 | 172 | |
| Idaho Spuds | 169 | 169 | |
| PositiveVibrations | 201 | 166 | |
| All Mouth and No Trousers | 193 | 165 | |
| In Vivo Veritas | 193 | 165 | |
| Edgar and the Allan Poes | 164 | 164 | |
| Date Night | 197 | 163 | |
| Cupcakes | 191 | 161 | |
| Trivia Trailblazers | 190 | 159 | |
| Emquips | 157 | 157 | |
| Heat is On | 183 | 154 | |
| 21 and Over | 152 | 152 | |
| One Night Only | 151 | 151 | |
| Secret Society | 168 | 146 | |
| None Yet | 141 | 141 | |
| Space Cadets | 137 | 137 | |
| CTRL-ALT-DEL | 117 | 117 | |
| Long Gun Registry | 116 | 116 | |
| Internationals | 110 | 110 | |
| 3 Old Guys and 1 Older Guy | 89 | 89 | |
| Martlet1 | 86 | 86 | |
| Otto Maass Debators | 61 | 61 | |
| Mah Whats | 47 | 47 | |
| The Heat is On | 38 | 38 | |
| Co-Chairs | 37 | 37 | |
| Les Quatres Loggers | 36 | 36 | |
| Craniacs | 35 | 35 | |
| Shogun | 27 | 27 |
We hope to see you on May 9—please register soon.
David Harpp
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
MARCH 2013
Twenty nine teams crowded into the Ballroom at the Faculty Club with a record 104 persons in the competition. Clearly preparation had taken place – OR – the questions were truly easier as record high scores were achieved with a total group average of 63% (normal ~53%). The winning team by one mark was ….The Ministry --yet again-- and they achieved a near-record 79% score! (55/70). They hold the record of 56/70 (80%).
There was a tie for second place with Living Daylights and Thistle Rocks scoring 54/70 (77%). The two teams with dynamic duos only (Cashew and Date Night) came in with 51 and 50 respectively. Date Night and the Idaho Spuds tied and Date Night won the playoff and all six mentioned teams won prizes.
A record four perfect rounds were recorded- one each by Positive Vibrations, the Dewey Decibel group, Living Daylights and Thistle Rocks but it was the consistent play of the Ministry that wore down the competition.
Hotel de Ville were missing two members (Architect David Covo arrived late to bolster the team and they still came in tied with 48 tied with the Boom Down team and the Rabble Rousers. Round four was an all-time best with a 75% score for the House. Interestingly, the Secret Society had a low score of the night on this set of questions.
The first question (theme from “Hill Street Blues) was answered by 18/29 with many other themes mentioned that were not correct- such as “Julia Child”, “St. Elsewhere”, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, “Cheers”, “Family Ties” (thank heavens, not “Family Guy”). This was an indication of the high quality of the answers that were to follow in the evening. Considering that “Hill St. Blues” started 32 years ago, it was impressive to get such a good response.
The third question in Round 1 was basically -who was Ben Stein ?and 27/29 knew! Impressive again. Nine knew “Terra Nova” as an early name for Newfoundland- it is curious that Ben Stein was better known. ONLY Cashew and the Spuds picked “Ture” three times for three full marks for the Ig Nobel Awards. I will have to try that sort of question again. It seems there are 8 ways that one can have a T/F set of three questions and just about all combinations were actually used but only two with the correct T-T-T
All but four teams knew Margot Kidder’s profile but the fine team of Date Night mixed up her with Margaret Trudeau. They must have been thinking of Superman and Pierre in similar ways. Only a few teams knew where the Jerusalem artichoke came from (North America).
e-Gloves, i-Gloves, Digi Gloves, Padders, Hot Paws, Hobo Gloves (good one),Techtile (also good), Pickpocket’s Gloves, Trigger Fingers were among the 29 wrong answers for the “Twittens” gloves for handy winter texting when out of doors. Some of the names suggested are clearly better than the one that is used. All but 5 knew that England was where “To Sir with Love was filmed” although Vietnam, Japan, South Africa and the U.S. were cited. Quite a few got Halifax as the first newspaper although two said Kingston.
In Round 3, 12 teams knew what a turnbuckle is. Every team knew Daniel Day-Lewis but the quiz was made up before the Oscar date---my excuse for such an easy question. Only 5 knew the Anvil Chorus including Les Quatre Loggers, Idaho Spuds, Boom Down, Date Night (one of the dynamic duos) and The Living Daylights. Almost all knew what raita is made of (cucumbers). Seventeen teams knew that our oxygen comes dominantly from phytoplankton. The “V” for Victory Beethoven piece was picked by the Loggers, None Yet, the Ministry, the Rabble Rousers, the Spuds, Thistle Rocks and Positive Vibrations.
All but three teams in Round 4 knew that the NATO system for making letters clear was Q for Quebec. Only one team failed to name “Risky Business” as associated with the rock and roll song played although that team did guess “The Color of Money” which was a Tom Cruise film. The six naked pigs question was well-answered by all but 6 teams. Most teams knew either Ellison or Wells as the answer to the Invisible Man question----I can see I will have to toughen up the literary questions.
In Round 5, most all got sepia as the colour agent for film Only two teams failed to come up with the sport that the movie “Tin Cup” was associated with. Impressive - as that movie dates back 17 years. “Spilsh Splash was answered correctly (writer- Bobby Darin and Murray the K) by the Spuds, Date Night, Secret Society, None Yet, Blank Pages, Cashew and the Internationals who knew Murray. Most of the teams knew that Joan of Arc was cast into the Seine so long ago. Tough crowd.
In Round 6, every team knew that G.I. Jane was played by Demi Moore. The country that exports the most coffee was split pretty much between Columbia and Brazil with the U.S. getting a vote. All but three teams knew that DuPont produced nylon. I would not have guessed that question would have been so well known. It is as if everyone has taken our World of Chemistry Course on Technology where we emphasize the story of Wallace Carothers. The Ministry Captain knew that a baseball had 108 double stitches but must have misunderstood the question about the one person in the list who did not get over 3000 hits in his lifetime in baseball as their choice was Pete Rose who has the most. We will pardon them this time. About half the teams knew (or guessed) it was Babe Ruth. He had a lot of home runs but not quite 3000 hits.
The final round was tense as there were a half-dozen teams who were within 2-3 points of each other. Appropriately, this round had the lowest group average of the night (50%) and while The Long Gun Registry got 8/10 to head the round, the Ministry got a close 7 along with the 3-Old Guys and 1 Older Guy but the performance of the Ministry won the night as has become their habit. This low score for the overall round included a “freebie” of the Princess Bride and that great video of Mandy Patinkin. Only three teams knew the St. Laurent was in office when Thanksgiving was installed. Seven teams knew who Spike Jones was and this was the difference for the Ministry and gave them the one point edge over Living Daylights and Thistle Rocks who said Tom Lehrer and Les Brown respectively. Les Brown? That was the band of renown but not for goofy sound effects.
Special thanks again to the Bookstore’s Kim Stephenson for providing most of the prizes and tending to the “store” as we collected over $500 for Centraide. We look forward to seeing you on April 8 (Monday) and the final event will be on May 9 (Thursday). Please sign up for these and IF you cannot make it, let us know by phone or email so others can possibly join in.
David Harpp
STANDINGS AFTER FOUR ROUNDS (SOME TEAMS MISSED ONE OR TWO ROUNDS)
THE LOWEST ROUND WILL BE SUBTRACTED FROM THE TOTALS AT THE END
| Ministry of Truth | 210 |
| Thistle Rocks | 203 |
| Living Daylights | 200 |
| Hotel deVille | 189 |
| Cashew | 188 |
| Blank Pages | 169 |
| Rock Stars | 166 |
| Positive Vibrations | 165 |
| Boom Down Go Fudd | 165 |
| Date Night | 164 |
| All Mouth No Trousers | 158 |
| Emquips | 157 |
| In Vino Veritas | 155 |
| Heat is On | 154 |
| Trivia Trailblazers | 149 |
| Dewey Decibel System | 147 |
| Cupcakes | 146 |
| Rabble Rousers | 133 |
| Secret Society | 130 |
| Idaho Spuds | 123 |
| Edgar and the Allen Poes | 119 |
| Internationals | 110 |
| One Night Only | 109 |
| None Yet | 109 |
| 21 and Over | 106 |
| Space Cadets | 106 |
| CTRL_ALT-DEL | 88 |
| Long gun Registry | 83 |
| Ma Wat Uno | 47 |
| 3 Old Guys and 1 Older | 46 |
| Martlet1 | 44 |
| Co-Chairs | 37 |
| Craniacs | 36 |
| Les Quatres Loggers | 36 |
| Otto Maass Debators | 27 |
| Shogun | 27 |
THE SCORES FOR MARCH 2013
| TEAM | TOTAL |
| Ministry of Truth | 55 |
| Living Daylights | 54 |
| Thistle Rocks | 54 |
| Cashew | 51 |
| Date Night | 50 |
| Idaho Spuds | 50 |
| Boom Down Go Fudd | 48 |
| Hotel de Ville | 48 |
| Rabble Rousers | 48 |
| All Mouth and No Trousers | 47 |
| Dewey Decibel System | 47 |
| Long Gun Registry | 47 |
| 3 Old Guys and One Older Guy | 46 |
| Rock Stars | 46 |
| PositiveVibrations | 44 |
| None Yet | 43 |
| Blank Pages | 42 |
| Cupcakes | 42 |
| Space Cadets | 42 |
| In Vino Veritas | 41 |
| Trivia Trailblazers | 41 |
| Emquips | 40 |
| Edgar and the Allan Poes | 39 |
| Heat is On | 39 |
| One Night Only | 38 |
| Les Quatres Loggers | 36 |
| Secret Society | 35 |
| 21 and Over | 34 |
| Internationals | 33 |
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
JANUARY 2013
There was a full house of 26 teams who ignored sub-zero temperatures when the nearly 100 players crowded into our Ballroom on January 22nd. It was a less noisy group than the one in November perhaps due to the weather.
As has become a more or less regular result, the contest was won by the Ministry by 5 points over strong competitor Thistle Rocks. The Ministry’s score of 56 seems to be the highest for any monthly event to date (80%) but I will check the records on this point. Cashew was uncharacteristically in the 9th spot largely due to a poor 5th round although they rallied with a 9/10 effort on the last round. Hotel deVille also had a rough 5th round but managed the only perfect score of the event with a 10 in the last sequence. The Dewey crowd and Living Daylights tied for third, Boom Down was fifth, Blank Pages sixth and Martlet1 (the Principal’s team) was tied for seventh and won that spot in a playoff. The savvy Len Blum wrote down their answers and seemed to be the coordinator.
It should be said at the outset, that all 70 questions were answered correctly. In Round 1, ten teams knew who Guy Lombardo was but (to me), to my surprise, 24 teams knew about Albert Camus and his novel “The Plague”. The Black and Tans of Irish history were identified by 15 teams although the Cupcake team said they were known as “The Cupcakes”….although I am sure they were a tougher crew. The Idaho Spuds and Thistle Rocks knew that the term “poise” is used to measure viscosity- both science-based groups. Only 4 teams recognized the tones of the Mills Brothers from half a century ago and one team suggested it was the Baldwin Brothers---not yet born.
In the second round, all but one team knew the hummingbird could fly backwards—the lone wrong answer was given as the Puffin. The Anglican Church’s calendar of saints added Sir Thomas More in 1980 although one team suggested John Lennon. Indian food seems to be a favourite of the different teams as 22 knew what Ghee is. Five teams knew about the cameo appearance of Michael Jackson in “Men in Black II” and one suggested former NBA rebound king Denis Rodman as holding that role. For the final question- most all knew the 29X Platinum album of the Eagles. Both rounds one and two were averaged ~53% but the quality improved to 64% in the third stanza.
As I have spent a long time studying the element and its organic compounds, I was pleased that 19 teams knew sulfur (sulphur) is the correct term for “brimstone”. Half the teams knew to connect the diamond (highest on the Mohs scale) with April. Eighteen teams knew the depersonalized picture represented “A Streetcar Named Desire” although the Idaho Spuds suggested “The Invisible Man”- not a bad stab. All but four teams knew that Queen Victoria was connected to the capitals of B.C. and Saskatchewan although three suggested N.B. and Newfoundland- the St. John(s) connection.
Finally, 17 teams knew Johnny Cash’s song where “I shot a man in Reno….” was the key phrase.
In Round 4, most knew that Oscar Wilde said “I’m not young enough to know everything” but three teams said it was Dick Pound- those were Date Night, the Idaho Spuds and Martlet1. The latter team all know Mr. Pound personally and in truth, he easily could have said it and maybe has done so over the years but he was preceded by Mr. Wilde. All but four knew that the couple in “The Graduate” escaped by bus showing this 1967 classic holds strong memories. Only Martlet1, The Living Daylights and Hotel de Ville knew that Mike Nichols won its only Oscar as most said it was the music of Simon and Garfunkle that won the prize—not at all a bad wrong answer. All but 8 teams knew Sheena Easton was the singer in that Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only”.
In Round 5, only 5 teams knew “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” was the novel where an arrest took place at Stonehenge (Hotel deVille, Blank Pages, Idaho Spuds, the Ministry and The Living Daylights). Martlet1 curiously said “Tarzan”. I thought the dough used in Baklava might be a good question but all the teams got it right! Six teams knew William Shatner wrote “Get a Life” including Blank Pages and Secret Society as well as Date Night and Cupcakes. Most knew Christopher Walken has not won two Oscars. Several teams knew that Gene Vincent sang “Be-Bop-a-Lula” but Buddy Holly and Elvis received numerous votes. This was the toughest round with an overall score of 43% and this is where the Ministry, in close competition to this point, took charge with a score of 70% along with Boom Down who also made a 70% on this section.
In Round 6, 18 teams knew the black and white movie Oscar winners and I confess to insufficient information in the question as it was intended to be the Best Picture and some teams listed other films where Oscars were won and the film named was in black and white. Mea Culpa. The answers to the question about the number of squares in the New York Times crossword demonstrated a very smart crowd as 20 teams knew it was 15. Further, culture abounds as 21 teams knew Desdemona. Several knew Oscar held a sword but the Spuds suggested it was George Bush. Harlow and Garbo were known by a few teams as the actresses mentioned in “Betty Davis Eyes”.
The last round was the best of the night with 70% getting correct answers. Most knew William Dawson was the Principal with the longest tenure and the Ministry and Martlet1 fortunately (for them) got it right. Cashew spoiled this round from being perfect by saying it was James who was the longest termed Principal- maybe it just seemed like it had to be as one of that team has spent many hours in the James Building. The Red River in Texas and South Vietnam was known by four teams including The Internationals. Mike Myers and Austin Powers were identified by every team save one wrong answer in one of those questions. Too easy. Most were aware that Canada did not win Gold in 1976 and only All Mouth and No Trousers slipped up on Janis Joplin. The overall score was 58% for the event with ~41 being the average correct number of answers.
Special thanks to the Bookstore’s Kim Stephenson for providing most of the prizes and tending to the “store” as we collected nearly $500 for Centraide. We look forward to seeing you on March 12 (Tuesday). The remaining dates are April 8 (Monday) and the final event will be on May 9 (Thursday). Please sign up for these and IF you cannot make it, let us know by phone or email so others can possibly join in.
David Harpp
STANDINGS AFTER THREE ROUNDS (SOME TEAMS MISSED ONE OR TWO ROUNDS)
THE LOWEST ROUND WILL BE SUBTRACTED FROM THE TOTALS AT THE END
| Ministry of Truth | 155 |
| Thistle Rocks | 149 |
| Living Daylights | 146 |
| Hotel deVille | 141 |
| Cashew | 137 |
| Blank Pages | 127 |
| Positive Vibrations | 121 |
| Rock Stars | 120 |
| Emquips | 117 |
| Boom Down Go Fudd | 117 |
| Heat is On | 115 |
| Date Night | 114 |
| In Vino Veritas | 113 |
| All Mouth and No Trousers | 111 |
| Trivia Trailblazers | 108 |
| Cupcakes | 104 |
| Dewey Decibel System | 100 |
| Secret Society | 95 |
| CTRL_ALT-DEL | 88 |
| Edgar and the Allen Poes | 80 |
| Internationals | 77 |
| Idaho Spuds | 73 |
| 21 and Over | 72 |
| One Night Only | 71 |
| None Yet | 66 |
| Space Cadets | 64 |
| Ma Wat Uno | 47 |
| Rabble Rousers | 44 |
| Martlet1 | 44 |
| Co-Chairs | 37 |
| Long gun Registry | 36 |
| Craniacs | 36 |
| Otto Maass Debators | 27 |
| Shogun | 27 |
THE SCORES FOR JANUARY 2013
Ministry of Truth 56
Thistle Rocks 51
Dewey Decibel System 49
Living Daylights 49
Boom Down Go Fudd 47
Blank Pages 46
Hotel de Ville 44
Martlet1 44
Cashew 42
Secret Society 42
All Mouth and No Trousers 41
One Night Only 41
Rabble Rousers 41
Trivia Trailblazers 40
Emquips 40
Positive Vibrations 40
Rock Stars 39
Heat is On 38
Internationals 38
Date Night 37
Cupcakes 36
In Vino Veritas 35
Idaho Spuds 34
21 and Over 33
None Yet 32
CNTRL-ALT-DEL 28
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
NOVEMBER 2012
It was a crowded 27 teams (more than 100 raucous players) that gathered in the Faculty Club Ballroom on November 21st. The event was one of the more noisy ones in our series perhaps due in part to the two enthusiastic co-chairs of Centraide (VP Finance, Michael Di Grappa and Dean of Management, Peter Todd); their term was seated closest to the dais. This team was most spirited and for a first-time group, did reasonably well.
Fifteen teams knew the first piece of music as the main theme for “Bridge on the River Kwai”. This shows that movies, if they are good, will usually be known by a fair number of teams. This film is 55 years old so maybe we can delve deeper into film history in future rounds. In addition, it was impressive that 11 teams knew the name of the march- “Colonel Bogey”. I think people are studying for these events.
All but three teams knew the formula for V8 juice. Impressive. Asking what book had the first Chapter as “The Bite of the Raptor” was not as challenging as I had thought as almost all teams got it right. Many groups knew what the pinna referred to (ear) but one group ventured belly button. Most everyone failed on the description in the older ads for Fig Newtons (Ma Wat Uno and Cupcakes were the only two teams who knew) and the rest said “Twinkies”. Every team knew who “The Who” was in that musical question. Round 1 ended with a 59% correct average—close to the overall average of 6.1 correct per round out of 10 questions.
The teams found Round 2 even easier with an overall average of 74% and four teams getting 10/10 (Cashew, Hotel de Ville, All Mouth and No Trousers and Thistle Rocks). All but three teams knew where the Spanish Steps are located (Rome). Nineteen teams knew that Ernesto was the first name of Che Guevara. That was excellent. Equally good was that fifteen groups knew about the Peace symbol meaning “Nuclear Disarmament”. Our Co-Chairs said “No Death”- perhaps a hope for our budget situation. Close but not quite. Concerning the second-biggest earner since the Beatles in the past 20 years, 24/27 knew it was Garth Brooks. Most all knew “defenestration” was the act of discharging someone via a window. All in all, the best round.
In Round 3, the only team who knew the arrangement of Kings in a new deck (Kissing Kings) was The Living Daylights. Ten teams knew what country bordered Italy and Slovenia. Not bad. Only five teams (the Dewey group, Rock Stars, Craniacs, The Heat is On and In Vivo Veritas) came up with the answer of the first name of the Dewey Decimal System originator (Melville). Six teams failed to come up with the St. Louis Blues as an answer to a W. C. Handy musical piece. There were a few illogical names for the best-selling British car, namely the Bentley and Jaguar but most got the “Mini”. This was the toughest round with an average overall of 42%.
Round four was answered a bit better with an average of 55% and ten teams knew who was the first man to be on the cover of Playboy (Peter Sellers) although some other answers were Dudley Moore, Benny Hill (7), Lenny Bruce! and Spike Jones! I am guessing not many know who Spike Jones was so maybe some question should be concocted for the future on this person. Interestingly, 25/27 teams knew about the largest city in western Australia (Perth) and all teams knew Nancy Sinatra’s song about “Boots” and identified her dad. The Trivia Trail Blazers were the only team who knew who the best actor was in 1969- John Wayne. One team said it was a tie with John Voigt and Dustin Hoffman. Eight teams knew Berlioz was also a librarian—these were the Idaho Spuds, Hotel de Ville, Thistle Rocks, Rock Stars, The Living Daylights, the Ministry, Trivial Trail Blazers and of course the Dewey Decibel System.
It was brought to my attention that the answer to the largest state east of the Mississippi is in fact Florida and not Georgia. My source that I did not check (it was not likely to be wrong as it is a quality listing) was wrong. The 
numbers have been corrected on the master list. Sorry about that. Only five teams did not know the colour of the center square in Scrabble—we have game players in our event. Most knew about Monet’s contribution to the Impressionists movement. About half of the assembled were able to tease out Little Richard as the singer- I did not think it sounded like him but good ears prevailed. All but two knew that Otis invented the elevator- we must all be looking down in these devices. The average score for this round was 70% and In Vino Veritas scored 10/10.
In round 6, nearly all got the Spruce Goose as the name of the giant wooden plane built by Howard Hughes. On the question of the banned French product in Chicago, 25/27 knew it was Foie Gras and two suggested snails/escargot. I would have to agree that the latter two choices had the right idea but it was not what actually happened. Hollywood and Redwood were the correct answers for Neil Young’s song although one team suggested Hollywood and Brentwood- the site of the OJ Simpson debacle. Finally, most knew the birth province of k d lang. Here the teams averaged 70% again.
Round 7 saw 24 teams knowing that the number one ball in billiards/pool is yellow. Impressive gamers. Every team knew the Chinese “army” was made of Terra Cotta. You are scaring me. Only three teams knew Marlon Brando directed “One-Eyed Jacks” and they were Craniacs, Idaho Spuds and Ma Wat Uno. One team suggested Walter Cronkite. What’s up with that one? Seven teams knew where Devil’s Island was including Cupcakes, Thistle Rocks and the Internationals and Ctr Alt Delete. Finally, many knew the theme from “High Noon” but one team suggested Ben Hur but this team also knew two of the 11 Oscar-winning movies. Time to review Ben Hur. The last round showed a 59% success rate making the net for all teams for all rounds to be, as mentioned earlier, 61%. This is somewhat above the usual mid-50% range so teams are getting better or I am getting easier. What is interesting is that some team answered every question.
Please remember to phone for a reservation (514-398-6660 then 0) for January 22nd and IF you are unable to attend, please let us know so no team need be turned away. There is only space for 32 teams and this is a big crowd. Thanks for the rowdy behavior as it says you are having fun. I hope. We will post the dates for March, April and May quite soon.
The scores after two rounds are listed below. Remember the lowest score in the series of six rounds will be deducted from these totals at the end. The low scores here are for the teams who missed the first or second round. Note that the Ministry who did not win either of the first two rounds is the overall leader but there are several teams within easy striking distance.
Special thanks to the Bookstore’s Kim Stephenson for providing the great tie-breaking question about the dating frequency of the Sex and the City star.
David Harpp
The Winners
STANDINGS AFTER TWO ROUNDS (SOME TEAMS MISSED ONE ROUND)
SUMMARY OF RESULTS OCTOBER 2012
We hope to have a completely full roster next month (Nov. 21, Wednesday) but there were 27 teams who labored well in the opening session. The Space Cadets all had to leave for a training session and lifted off during the break.
Indeed, for some reason, the first round was not handled well with less than a third of the overall scores gaining the right answers. Interestingly, 9 got Willard as the correct name for Mitt Romney and there were some great other answers including, Wilbur and Orville (anticipating the question about the license plates for the celebration of flight). Others were Marvin, Mitchell Mithroy, Walter and Jebediah. You have to love it. There were only 4 correct answers out of the 51 possible responses in the first three questions about the Olympics. I promise no more questions on this topic this year. With that in mind, the first round was about average. To my surprise, 25/27 knew the music from Ghost as well as the performers. Bryan Adams' father was not well-‐recognized as a diplomat and here, I think it fair to credit both Shogun and the Trivia Trailblazers for using Ambassador-‐ and the Shogun group for Ambassador to Portugal. Indeed, Adams lived there for some time and while it is not easy to find out the exact role his father played in Portugal, this is SO obscure and likely close enough, that a point was credited. Six persons got that the "American Gothic" woman was the man's daughter.
The teams came roaring back in round 2 with a strong overall performance. Most had seen and remembered the shape of chicken wire as hexaganol. Most knew the wattle and that a whale's offspring was a calf. All but three teams knew the dodecagon was a 12 sided figure and a fair number knew that LaGuardia read the comics decades ago enabling 6 teams to get a 9/10 rating on the round-‐ these were the Idaho Spuds, Cashew, Thistle Rocks, the Ministry, Boom Down and the Rock Stars. Six mostly different teams were herpetologistically inclined and knew the Cottonmouth and these were The Long Gun team, In Vivo Veritas, Living Daylights, Date Night and again, the Rock Stars and the Dynamic Duo of Cashew.
In round 3 only None Yet knew Tiger Woods' first name but there were other close ones such as Elroy and Earnest. A few less than half knew the colour of the bathing suit of Bo Derek. Edgar and the Allen Poes knew that North Carolina and Ohio celebrated flight on their car plates as did others including The Heat is On, the Rabble-‐Rousers and the Secret Society. The Edgar and the Allen Poes had the youngest member in our game history with a 6 year old on the team. The Canadian invention of the manure spreader was known by several teams-‐ including Positive Vibrations, Ctrl-‐Alt-‐Del, Blank Pages and Emquips. The Ministry was not up to speed on this one, selecting dental floss, as did a number of others.
The first question in round 4 was answered by a few-‐ Babar being the one who married his cousin-‐ Edgar and the Allen Poes' junior member came through and the Space Cadets managed that one as well along with the senior team of Hotel de Ville-‐ good memory. Boom Down, Ctrl-‐ Alt-‐Del and Living Daylights also knew Babar. Other answers included Jerry Lee Lewis-‐ not so far off along with Adolf Hitler, Houdini, Clark Gable, Einstein and Stalin. Most knew the Stanley Cup has Jacques Plante's name badly spelled (Jac, Jaque, Jacq among others). Many did well with the repeated names (couscous, Mahimahi, Humbert Humbert and Duran Duran). In fact, Humbert Humbert was a surprisingly well chosen answer. A fair number knew ozone is produced during lightning storms including Cupcakes but the Debating team from Otto Maass Chemistry picked the wrong allotrope of oxygen-‐ namely just O2 and not O3 . Many knew the "smell of napalm in the morning meant Victory but one group (unnamed, said "wife's cooking").
There was some chemistry in round 5 and the Debating team from Otto Maass got the first two (too easy) questions but many others also scored. Helium and nitrogen don't combust. Aside from one politically incorrect answer for the female donkey, the Living Daylights, Thistle Rocks, Secret Society, The Heat is On, Cashew and the Edgar and the Allen Poes scored with a Jenny. One team said "she-‐ass". Most got the anagram "American Idol". It was a little scary that ALL teams knew about donuts and Homer Simpson and almost all also knew the music "What a Feeling". Only the Rabble Rousers and the Ministry knew what nail biting was called. Quite a few teams knew Sao Paulo was the most populous city in the Southern Hemisphere and most knew the motto of "Silly Putty"-‐ it is a silicone polymer and can be played with in a similar way as "Play Dough" (made mainly from flour and water) but there was no motto for "Play Dough" so I slipped up in my ill-‐conceived effort at accommodation. The audience is very direct and they were right. Only Blank Pages, Living Daylights and Shogun knew the Sparrow did in cock robin. All teams knew Shania Twain. I wonder if she had a son if she would dare name him Mark. Maybe Marc.
In the final round, Celine Dion and Bryan Adams dominated the guesses for the first cover person for Entertainment Weekly and no one selected k. d. lang. About half the teams selected Einstein as person of the century although Bill Gates got half a dozen votes. No team knew it was Finland that the U.S. beat in their unusual win for the 1980 Olympic hockey medal. The last question was more difficult than we anticipated in that only the Living Daylights got it by naming 4 of the 5 celebrities. Many got the fairly obvious three of Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire but missed Frank Sinatra standing to the side in a red and black outfit who was not dancing. He showed up 3-‐4 times in the edits. The Long Gun Registry had the correct 4 but also had 2 others who were not in the different movie clips. John Travolta was given a few votes but he was born well after when most of the films were made.
For the first time in a while, the Ministry of Truth was upset as per a first place finish. They started slowly but came back with two 9s and an 8 in the rest of the match but faltered slightly at the end to finish tied for third only one point short of the winning two of Thistle Rocks and Cashew. The Ministry has an unbeatable record of guessing/knowing the exact number of double stiches in a baseball (108). I saw Doug Sweet's face light up when the question was asked and he got it. Eleven teams are within 8 of the leaders and we hope for a highly competitive season. The standings and scores are shown below.
