Gideon Day 25 LL70

Strange season! See you all next time!
3/6 Today

1 :( D1 Johnson - No lucky Johnson this time.
2 :) D2 Istanbul to Paris - Whew. I was surprised that I was right.
3 :) D0 Eyeliner
4 :) D3 Scaline
5 :( D2 Prima Princess - I would have gone with "Pretty pretty princess" but they specified a two-word title.
6 :( D1 Fight Song - I have no idea.

Dave M day 25

A surprise win despite my opponent getting 4/6 to my 3/6 yesterday keeps me probably out of relegation but still depends on how I do today. Appropriately enough, yet another 3/6 to finish the season.

 

1 :( I don’t know baseballers except for a couple of the Texas Rangers who appear in the paper here regularly. D2

2 :) I thought about this for ages. In the classic computer game Railroad Tycoon 3 the Orient Express level requires you to build from Vienna to Constantinople. The classic 1988 BBC documentary ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ has the Orient Express starting in London (and Michael Palin gets off in Venice). My hunch was it went further west than Vienna but not as far as London, Paris seemed to be the best compromise. D1 and will probably get D0ed for my trouble.

3 :) Had mascara down but changed to eyeliner as I didn’t see any bristles. Seems simple. D1

4 :( I should have remembered Scalene. I D0ed to my opponent strong in math.

5 :) When I was at elementary school the Princess Royal drove past our school, we all got lined up along the road and waved flags as she drove past. D2

6 :( I went with On Top of the World. Wonder how easy this is. A risky D3 (opponent’s worst category is pop music)

 

Till next season!

Jesse Day 25

2/6 Till next season

1. Identify the baseball star pictured here. LINK: http://www.learnedleague.com/images/art/4895y09cyn405983.jpg
Correct Answer: MIKE TROUT
Your Answer: Trout
Points Assigned: 1

I wonder how hard this will be. This guy is amazing and somehow isn't well known by the public.

2. Upon the completion of its full route in 1889, what were the eastern and western terminuses of the original passenger train service dubbed the Orient Express? (Note: two cities required in answer.)
Correct Answer: PARIS, ISTANBUL
Your Answer: London to Istanbul
Points Assigned: 2

Smacks head. How was a train going to go to London in 1889. I blame this one on the Nyquil. 

3. This is an example of a cosmetic applicator designed and marketed for the application of what? Note that the term itself is edited from the photo. LINK: http://www.learnedleague.com/images/art/948yc054n0938.jpg
Correct Answer: (LIQUID) EYELINER
Your Answer: Eye Liner
Points Assigned: 0

Seems like a gimmie

4. An equilateral triangle has all sides of equal length, while an isosceles triangle has exactly two sides the same length. What's the accompanying term for any triangle with all sides of different lengths?
Correct Answer: SCALENE
Your Answer: Obtuse
Points Assigned: 2

Never heard the term.

5. What is the two-word title customarily conferred by a British monarch on his or her eldest daughter? There have officially been seven such title-holders, including the incumbent Anne, the oldest daughter of Elizabeth II (and her second eldest child after Charles).
Correct Answer: PRINCESS ROYAL
Your Answer: In waiting
Points Assigned: 3

I had no idea.

6. What smash hit song, the biggest in the career of country music group Little Big Town, won both the Song of the Year and Single of the Year at the CMA Awards in 2015, as well as the Best Country Song at the 2016 Grammys (losing to Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" for Song of the Year Grammy)?
Correct Answer: GIRL CRUSH
Your Answer: I like it, I love it
Points Assigned: 1

I had no idea. 

Ben Day 24

4/6 today.  Before today I'm somehow ranked above Jesse in C, despite my MPD of 2 to his 31. Unusually high (for me) OE of .323 has helped, as has weak opposition. Promotion to B would be a disaster scenario as I would be lucky to win 5 based on my TCA compared to those folks.

1 :) Genius Grant. Thanks NPR.

2 :( Never seen any of these. I do connect Spike Lee with "Do the right thing", but I did not make that connection in the time betwen seeing and the questions and submitting. I must have gotten that from sporcle.

3 :) I spelled her as Shonda Rymes but I imagine that's fine.

4 :) Isis. I primarily knew Isis as the 2nd track on Bob Dylan's Desire right after Hurricane.

5 :) Kahlo. Dem eyebrows on the women on the left. That said, I was thinking it might be Rivera, but he was an answer a few seasons back so I steered clear of that trap.

6 :( I also guessed tanning beds. I guess I don't hang out with enough menopausal women.

Dave M day 24

On the brink of delegation with 4 losses in a row (all 3/6s). Probably 5 in a row as yet another 3 but up against the 2^nd in the rundle. I got the exact mirror of Steiny today in terms of correct answers.

 

1 :( Guessed Maccas. Never heard of the Genius Grant. Looks like a bad D2

2 :( No idea – went with Will Smith. D2

3 :( Again no idea – and another bad defense of D3.

4 :) This is surely the gimme here. D0

5 :) Looked like Kahlo-style faces so avoided the ‘Frida Kahlo’s husband’ trap. D1

6 :) HRT which I thought was easy but who knows. D1

Gideon Day 24

5 or 6/6 today

1 :) D0 MacArthur Genius Grant (or Genius Award)
2 :) D1 Spike Lee - Gotta be the shoes.
3 :) D2 Shonda Rhimes - I don't watch Shondaland shows, but I know of them.
4 :) D1 Isis - Osiris was not married to Mrs. Daesh.
5 :) D3 Frida Kahlo - At first I was trying to come up with an artist other than Kahlo (Rivera or Botero), but soon remembered that Kahlo was in a bad accident (probably the bus crash) and painted about it.
6 :| D2 Estrogen Therapy - Close enough?

Steiny Day 24

1.:) pretty simple.  Plus a senior from last year, whose mother won the pulitzer prize a few years back, just won a genius grant this year, so it has been on my mind

2. :) seen a few of these so this was easy

3. :) My friend is a writer for how to get away with murder

4. :( So mad I didn't figure this one out...I wrote Rah

5. :( So close, guessed diego rivera

6. :( bad guess of botox

Jesse Day 24

4/6, But could have easily been 6/6 on an easy day

1. Journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates, poet Ellen Bryant Voigt, photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier, and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda are among the 2015 recipients of the fellowship awarded by the private John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This prestigious prize is best known, colloquially, as what?
Correct Answer: GENIUS GRANT
Your Answer: Genius Grant
Points Assigned: 0

Gimmie, right?

2. Who portrayed the characters Mars Blackmon in She's Gotta Have It (1986), Half-Pint in School Daze (1988), Mookie in Do the Right Thing (1989), and Snuffy in Crooklyn (1994)?
Correct Answer: SPIKE LEE
Your Answer: Spike Lee
Points Assigned: 2

I got this because of Mars Blackmon and the Nike commercials. 

3. Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Scandal are (or were) all successful network series created and produced by what television mogul?
Correct Answer: SHONDA RHIMES
Your Answer: Rhimes
Points Assigned: 1

This is all over TV, even though I have never seen any of these shows. 

4. Until relatively recently, this name was most closely associated with the sister and wife of Osiris and mother of Horus in the Egyptian pantheon (or, perhaps, a DC Comics superheroine). What is that name?
Correct Answer: ISIS
Your Answer: Isis
Points Assigned: 1

I had to think on this for a bit, but was obvious once it came to me. 

5. Who painted The Bus (pictured), which satirizes class divisions in Mexican society while recording a moment before a terrible accident that occurred in September 1925? LINK: http://www.learnedleague.com/images/art/4985yc0984yn5034.jpg
Correct Answer: FRIDA KAHLO
Your Answer: Diego Rivera
Points Assigned: 3

Damn. My though process was, what was the name of Frida Kahlo's husband.  I thought about it for a while and remembered Diego Rivera. Well fuck. 

6. In the early 2000s, the Women's Health Initiative, launched by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, as well as the Million Women Study conducted in the UK, both found an increase in the likelihood of developing breast cancer (and other ailments) among women who were undergoing what treatment, resulting in a precipitous drop in its use?
Correct Answer: HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY (HRT)
Your Answer: Tanning beds
Points Assigned: 2

That actually popped into my head as I think I remembered hearing it on a sceezy lawyer commercial as something you could sue for. Then I thought it was something for people transitioning between genders. Then I got the question wrong. 

Gideon Day 23

4/6 today

1 :) D0 Turkey
2 :( D3 Toblerone - Oops.
3 :) D1 The Head of John the Baptist - There are famous paintings of this
4 :( D2 Roosevelt
5 :) D2 Roman A Clef - Not to be confused with a Bildungsroman
6 :) D1 No Doubt

Ben Day 23

1 :) Turkey, D1

2 :) Matterhorn. No other famous German/Swiss mountains.

3 :( I put down someone's tongue. Head does make more sense. My opponent (who is a referral of mine) works for a church so D0.

4 :( Was fairly confident this wold be Clara Barton.

5 :( I guessed silouette. Haven't heard the term and should have been a D3 rather than D2.

6 :) No doubt. no doubt.

Steiny Day 23

after a glorious 6/6 yesterday, back to my pedestrian ways

1. :) Only answer that made any sense given events of the summer

2. :( Mad at myself for not coming up with this

3. :) I knew it had to be a head, and then I thought of who was decapitated in the bible and I know a song called "The seperation blues" and the relevant verse "Last five words john the baptist said/before they went and cut off his head/we got the seperation blues"

4. :( guessed fictional rosie the riveter which obviously makes no sense

5. :( never heard of it

6. :) pretty easy for our generation

Dave M day 23

3 losses in a row and I’m flirting with relegation again. 3/6 again today and I don’t think it will be enough as I thought there were 3 clearly easier questions today…

1 :) This is a gimme surely? Big news and very recent. D0

2 :) Maybe not such a gimme this one, but it won’t get me many points given my stats. I have skied at the Italian resort Cervinia which is on the slopes of Cervino/Matterhorn and which links with Zermatt on the Swiss side. D2

3 :( I knew it was a head but went with Anthony rather than John the Baptist. Risky D3

4 :( I went with Amelia Earhart, and have never heard Frances Perkins. D1

5 :( No idea but now I know! D2

6 :) One of the simpler pop music questions I feel. I remember No Doubt was big around the time of the Atlanta Olympics. D1

Jesse Day 23

2/6

1. The mayor of a large working-class urban district known as Ümraniye has recently announced that the district's main square would be renamed 15 July Martyrs Square, honoring the roughly 300 people who died in a military insurrection on that day in what country?
Correct Answer: TURKEY
Your Answer: Turkey
Points Assigned: 1

Having been to Turkey, I am familiar with the umlaut over a U.Given the clue recent history I got it from there. Wondering if this is difficult. 

2. The mountain straddling the Switzerland/Italy border is known as Monte Cervino and Mont Cervin in Italian and French, respectively. By what name is it best known in German (and in English, most often)?
Correct Answer: MATTERHORN
Your Answer: Matterhorn
Points Assigned: 2

It was a guess. My other guess would have been Mt Blanc.

3. In the New Testament Matthew 14, the daughter of Herodias (not named in the Bible but later identified as Salome) so pleases Herod with her dancing that he offers to grant her any wish. She replies that she wants whose what (which is then delivered to her on a platter)?
Correct Answer: THE HEAD OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
Your Answer: Peter's Head
Points Assigned: 0

Shoot, I could not remember which one's head got chopped off. Of course it wasn't Peter, wasn't he the first pope? 

4. The Washington, DC, building that houses the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Labor was completed in 1975 and, in 1980, formally named after what pioneering woman, on the 100th anniversary of her birth?
Correct Answer: FRANCES PERKINS
Your Answer: Eleanor Roosevelt
Points Assigned: 2

Never heard of her. Ugh. 

5. The Sun Also Rises, The Bell Jar, Look Homeward, Angel, and The Lords of Disclipline are examples of works of what literary form? The term dates to 17th-century France and describes a work that portrays identifiable characters thinly disguised as fictional characters.
Correct Answer: ROMAN À CLEF
Your Answer: Parody
Points Assigned: 3

Never heard the term. 

6. Before embarking on a successful solo career in 2004 (in music as well as fashion), Gwen Stefani served for the previous eighteen years as a vocalist and songwriter for what California-based rock band?
Correct Answer: NO DOUBT
Your Answer: Sublime
Points Assigned: 1

Darn, I knew this at some point. 

Gideon Day 22

6/6 today
1 :) D1 Shaquille O'Neill - Khazaam!
2 :) D1 Agent Orange - Brush clearing, I guess.
3 :) D2 Gilda Radner - She's come up in the recent remembrances of Gene Wilder. Also considered Jane Curtain and Lily Tomlin.
4 :) D2 Rousey
5 :) D0 Hershey Park - Hershey makes "chocolate," not chocolate.
6 :) D3 Men at Work - Footloose (which recently turned 30) had a reference to Men at Work, and I was pretty sure they were Australian. I also did briefly consider Menudo. This felt like a lucky guess.

Ben Day 22

3/6. Similar experience to Mirkin.

1 :( Kareem Abdul Jabbar. If I has making a show with Shaq, I'd call it Shazam rather than Kazam.

2 :) Agent orange.

3 :( Candice Bergen. TV journalist.

4 :) Rousey.

5 :) Hershey Park. Hershey. Worst thing ever to happen to chocolate.

6 :( I went ACDC over a 50/50 with Men At Work. I knew ACDC had a presence in Australia earlier, but not sure when they were discovered in the USA. I'm watching Scrubs at the moment and Coin Hay was in an episode over the weekend so he was front of mind.

Dave M day 22

3/6 today on what I thought were tough questions, but you all found them simple!

1 :( I definitely don’t think this is a gimme, answered Kareem Abdul Jabaar, and D2ed. Bad mistake it looks like.

2 :) This Agent Orange question I did think was a gimme however. D0

3 :( Completely out of my wheelhouse. D2 and guessed Mary Tyler Moore.

4 :) The only female MMA fighter I know of. D1

5 :) This was a guess for me. They looked like Hershey Kisses. We stayed one night at Harrisburg PA earlier this year and I saw a brochure for Hershey Park at the hotel. Pleased with this. D1

6 :( Men at work would have been my second guess, but I went with INXS first. How on earth did men at work have two different albums in the top ten when they only ever had one popular song? D3

Will Day 22

1. :(
Your Answer: Hulk Hogan
Points Assigned: 2

2. :( Thought I had this
Your Answer: Napalm
Points Assigned: 1

3. :)
Your Answer: Gilda Radner
Points Assigned: 2

4. :) Been listening to a lot of Howard Stern which I’m hoping will help my pop culture stats
Your Answer: Rousey
Points Assigned: 1

5. :) Seemed pretty obvious
Your Answer: Hershey Park
Points Assigned: 0

6. :) Can’t believe I got this!
Your Answer: Men at Work
Points Assigned: 3

Steiny Day 22

6/6 on a particularly easy day.  There is an interesting feeling when you have answered five and felt fairly confident of praying that the next question happen to hit on smething you know and not be an obscure historical or art reference.  The last question was the biggest gamble but I did it!!!!

1. :) Total Gimme

2. :) Learned all about this in Vietnam at the War Museum...they were not happy about our use of agent orange it turns out

3. :) This might be the one that trips people up if you didn't watch old episodes of SNL lik I used to

4. :) Didn't know this fact, but didn;t know any other female MMA fighter so...

5. :) Used to go here every year as a kid

6. :) It was this or ACDC but i figured ACDC had an album after 1985....

Jesse day 22

5/6 

1. What athlete, in addition to appearing as himself in numerous films and television shows, starred as Neon Boudeaux in Blue Chips, John Henry Irons/Steel in Steel, and the title character in Kazaam?
Correct Answer: SHAQUILLE O'NEAL
Your Answer: Shaquile O'Neil
Points Assigned: 0

A gimmie, right?

2. Operation Ranch Hand was a tactical military project conducted by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War which consisted of nearly 20,000 sorties during its ten-year campaign. It involved the use of what novel weapon, which was later renounced in an executive order signed by President Ford in 1975?
Correct Answer: HERBICIDE/AGENT ORANGE
Your Answer: Agent Orange
Points Assigned: 1

My first thought was Napalm, but Operation Ranch Hand implied clearing brush and Agent Orange seemed to be the right weapon for that.  

3. It's Always Something is the title of a 1989 autobiography by what comedian, as well as the subtitle of a 2002 TV movie about her life? The expression comes from a popular television character she portrayed, who would end her editorial commentary by saying "It just goes to show you, it's always something."
Correct Answer: GILDA RADNER
Your Answer: Gilda Radner
Points Assigned: 2

This was a guess. The editorial comments meant it was someone form SNL. My first thought was Jane Curtain, but why would anyone make a TV movie about her. That narrowed it down to Gilda Radner who I recalled dying of cancer young. 

4. In the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, what woman became the first American to win an Olympic medal in women's judo, foreshadowing a dominant run in professional mixed martial arts (MMA)?
Correct Answer: RONDA ROUSEY
Your Answer: Holly
Points Assigned: 2

I just could not think of Rhonda Rousey's name even though I could picture her min my head. 

5. Pictured here is a family ride which is among the attractions at what U.S. theme park? LINK: http://www.learnedleague.com/images/art/4985y0vn983y5983y60.gif
Correct Answer: HERSHEYPARK
Your Answer: Hershey Park
Points Assigned: 1

I've been there a few times. This might be hard from people not for this part of the country. 

6. In May 1983, while the Billboard 200 album chart was being dominated by Thriller, this band had two different albums in the top ten. Name this band, which was mostly unknown in the northern hemisphere a year earlier, and would produce its last studio album in 1985. 
Correct Answer: MEN AT WORK
Your Answer: Men at Work
Points Assigned: 3

This was a guess. I first though of Menudo, but didn't think they reached top ten. Then I thought of Men at Work as one of the few Australian bands I know of. Then I thought of Midnight Oil. I decided on Men at Work because I thought they were more likely to be one hit wonders. 

Gideon Day 21

4 or 5/6 today

1 :| D1 Ferric Oxide (rust, iron oxide) - I might have been too specific; we'll see if he gives it to me. This illustrates the danger of knowing a little too much chemistry.

2 :) D0 Bull Moose - Thanks TR

3 :( D2 David - Jesse, we keep getting the same wrong answers.

4 :) D2 Pablo Neruda - I didn't know he was Chilean.

5 :) D1 Siamese Twins - I saw their plaster "death cast" and liver at the Mutter Museum.

6 :) D3 Playing Card - Whew. I was pretty sure that I saw a 4 of diamonds, a flower in a vase and a woman standing behind it.

Will Day 21

I’m in a 7 game losing streak and for the first time ever in real danger of going down a level, if there is anything below where I am. Today I played Michael (?) Mann, fellow CarrBen family member

 

1. :) I think I should get this because the question asks “what oxide?”
Your Answer: iron
Points Assigned: 1

2. :)
Your Answer: Bull Moose
Points Assigned: 1

3. :(
Your Answer: Homer
Points Assigned: 2

4. :( This was gettable because of the Simpsons, but I didn’t get it
Your Answer: Allende
Points Assigned: 2

5. :) Pretty easy
Your Answer: Siamese Twins
Points Assigned: 0

6. :( That guy was a terrible artist, I didn’t recognize anything
Your Answer: newspaper
Points Assigned: 3

 

Dave M day 21 v Jesse

A 1/6 today, Jesse didn’t need to worry, a clear win to him this matchup, especially as he D0ed on my correct answer. Probably back into relegation zone for me after a loss to the lowest ranked player in the rundle who managed a 6/6 yesterday. You all found today’s questions easier than I did!

 

1 :) The gimme of the day but D1 as I correctly expected Jesse would know Q2.

2 :( I’d vaguely heard of this but went with just Bull which I don’t think will be good enough. D0

3 :( I went with Oracle of Delphi. D1

4 :( Don’t know why I thought this would be tough – you all know the answer! I had no idea though I have heard the name Pablo Neruda. D3

5 :( Again this looks obvious in hindsight. I noticed the common death date and thought that it could have been an execution, close to the civil war, so perhaps traitors of some sort, so maybe Turncoats.. D2

6 :( Agree with Carr there is clearly a bottle of wine there.

 

So a thrashing – 0(1) to 6(4). Hope the final week next week goes better.

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Pelc Day 21 vs. Finn -

Sadly, this is my first time posting this season. I have no good excuses, things have been busy, but not too busy for LL. Thanks to Ben for reminding me to get back into this.

The season has been pretty successful thus far. I'm in the top 10 in Rundle B, just 2 spots from promotion. That seems to be my ceiling and I'm fine with that. I like it here and I have no real interest in spending a season getting my ass handed to me in Rundle A.  

I play Finn today (does he still post here?) - 4/6, not bad but I had a really hard time with defense on this one. All of these questions seem right in his wheelhouse (no 80s-early 90s pop culture to speak of). Might have overthought it a little bit.

1) :) - Seems like a gimme but I'm hoping it's not THAT easy. D2

2) :) - Pretty straightforward American History question, I didn't remember the details but I remembered the nickname of the party and the connection to Teddy Roosevelt. D3 - Finn's weakest category today.

3) :( - Greek mythology + Opera = NOPE. D1

4) :) - The only South American leftist poet that I could think of - wasn't sure if he was from Chile ...now I know. D2

5) :) - Another gimme for me, I was a Guinness Book of World Records nut growing up. I think this is very common knowledge but maybe it's a generational thing and young Finn never heard of Chang and Eng. Even if he hasn't heard of them, there are enough clues to in the question to figure it out so I still went with D0

6) :( - I guessed guitar b/c I thought a part of the painting kinda looked like the bottom of one. Since I know nothing about art, this was basically Thorsten giving me a Rorschach Test. D1 

Ben Day 21

1 :) iron.  I can't think of Mars without thinking of people's eyes bulging out when they were exposed to the surface in Total Recall.

2 :) bullmoose. I'm pretty sure Teddy is in the top 5 of my US presidents, maybe battling for 2nd spot with FDR to join Garfield who sits atop the podium. 

3 :( I guessed Jeremiah

4 :) Neruda.  Much like Jesse, my pool of South American leftists is quite slim, despite my upbringing.

5 :( fortune cookie.  RTFQ. This was a bad miss. I didnt see that they died on the same day.

6 :( Fucking abstract BS.  There is clearly a bottle of wine in that picture.

Jesse v Dave Day 21

4/6 I have a feeling I am losing this one on defense.

1. Mars's reddish appearance (hence the "Red Planet") is due to the prevalence on the planet's surface of what oxide?
Correct Answer: IRON OXIDE
Your Answer: Iron
Points Assigned: 0

Gimmie, right?

2. What was the emblem and nickname of the Progressive Party, a political party founded in the summer of 1912 by Republican Party dissenters favoring the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt over the incumbent W. H. Taft? It was derived from a quote from Roosevelt himself, referencing his own health.
Correct Answer: BULL MOOSE
Your Answer: Bull Moose
Points Assigned: 2

I am counting on Dave being a Kiwi and not knowing American history. May not be giving him enough credit here.

3. The name of what poet and prophet of legend appears in the titles of both a 1607 opera by Claudio Monteverdi and a 1762 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck?
Correct Answer: ORPHEUS
Your Answer: David
Points Assigned: 3

I had no idea. Went with King David. 

4. The 1950 epic poem Canto General (General Song) is the work of what Chilean leftist, who won the Lenin Prize for Peace in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971?
Correct Answer: PABLO NERUDA
Your Answer: Neruda
Points Assigned: 1

Only Chilean leftist poet that I know. 

5. What now-common term originated with brothers Chang and Eng Bunker, naturalized American citizens who died in North Carolina on January 17, 1874?
Correct Answer: SIAMESE TWINS
Your Answer: Siamese twins
Points Assigned: 1

The died the same day and have East Asian first names. Good question. 

6. Name any of the items on the table in this painting by Georges Braque, per the painting's title. LINK: http://www.learnedleague.com/images/art/985y09vc85y098n65.jpg
Correct Answer: CANDLESTICK, PLAYING CARDS
Your Answer: Guitar
Points Assigned: 2

Damn, I looked at the image on my cell phone while in bed and was pretty sure I saw a guitar. Then I entered the answer on my desktop just now, surprised I was wrong. Looking it on a big screen I can clearly see the playing cards. 

Gideon Day 20

6/6 Today, 1/6 Yesterday (oof)

1 :) D1 Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
2 :) D3 Astro Boy - I almost went with Ghost in the Shell, but remembered hearing about the story of Astro Boy. I almost called him Atom Boy.
3 :) D1 Verizon - I remember this happening, and thinking that Verizon was a pretty lame name.
4 :) D2 Scaramouche - Thunderbolts and lightning
5 :) D2 Patriots Day - In Boston we also have a holiday called Evacuation Day on March 17, so government employees and students can have the day off for St. Patrick's Day.
6 :) D0 Funicular - I had a conversation about funiculars last night!

Dave M day 20

Another 3/6 today but feel I could have done better. Hopefully enough, though, against the player at the bottom of the rundle.

 

1 :) This sort of question is always in my wheelhouse. D2

2 :( I feel like I should know this and am worried about my D3

3 :( I was thinking either AT&T or Worldcom, didn’t realize Verizon also came from the baby bells. D2

4 :) Scaramouche Scaramouche will you do the fandango. D1

5 :( I went with Pennant’s Day. Patriot’s day obvious in hindsight. D1

6 :) Funicular seems like a gimme? D0

Jesse Day 20

3/6 Bad score on an easy day

1. The group of territories known collectively by the formal names Union indochinoise or Fédération indochinoise consisted primarily of land area now within what three countries?
Correct Answer: CAMBODIA, LAOS, VIETNAM
Your Answer: Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
Points Assigned: 0

I've been to all three.

2. Name the manga series, about an android child developed by a Japanese roboticist to replace the scientist's lost son, that is the most famous and enduring work of "father of manga" Osamu Tezuka?
Correct Answer: ASTRO BOY (MIGHTY ATOM)
Your Answer: Tetsuo
Points Assigned: 2

Shoot, this is very gettable. 

3. In 1997, regional Bell operating company Bell Atlantic merged with fellow "Baby Bell" NYNEX, then merged, in 2000, with the independent telephone company GTE. At that point, this new entity was renamed what?
Correct Answer: VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS
Your Answer: Nextel
Points Assigned: 3

As is this. I thought I was right and that this was a very hard question for non-NYC area people. 

4. What is the name of the boastful, unscrupulous, and unreliable servant who is a stock clown character from the Italian commedia dell'arte (and the "Bohemian Rhapsody")?
Correct Answer: SCARAMOUCHE
Your Answer: Figaro
Points Assigned: 2

Fudge. This seems obvious now. 

5. The Boston Marathon is held annually on a state holiday with what name, which might be distasteful to followers of Jets, Colts, and others?
Correct Answer: PATRIOTS' DAY
Your Answer: Patriots Day
Points Assigned: 1

I knew this one even without the football team clue. My oponent is Canadian. probably should have scored this higher. 

6. Derived from the Latin word for "rope" is what term for a counterbalanced two-car cable railway used on steep grades like mountainsides? Pictured here is an example, the Saltburn Cliff Lift in North Yorkshire, England. LINK: http://www.learnedleague.com/images/art/8o98dy4jo58973y9.jpg
Correct Answer: FUNICULAR
Your Answer: Funicular
Points Assigned: 1

I've been on a bunch of them.

Ben Day 19

3/6.  Looks like I'll be holding station in C for another season. Pleased with that given my underwhelming offense this season.

1 :( No idea for play. I saw general so went with tin soldier

2 :( no idea

3 :) spiders

4 :) leprosy. I read a book where the protagonist had leprosy

5 :( I went Guam given that it isn't part of any state.

6 :) Big Ben.  This was a good hunch!

Steiny Day 19

Terrible day today

1. :( iceman cometh 

2. :( havel

3. :( index

4. :( tuberculosis

5. :( Samoa

6. :) I wrote big ben on a lark!

Dave M day 19

3/6 is a score I’m happy with on what seemed like a tough day.

 

1 :( Guessed Oklahoma knowing I had no chance. D3

2 :( I also went with Havel. D2

3 :) This one I remembered from the acronym. D1

4 :( I went with Syphilis. Would always be a random guess. D2

5 :) Guam, Okinawa and Diego Garcia were my shortlist. Guam probably still counts as American and Diego Garcia probably doesn’t have 32 military bases on it. D1

6 :) UK gimme plus a clue in the name (and also my husband goes through brown sauce like water). D0

Jesse day 19

1/6

1. What is the title of Eugene O'Neill's resetting of Aeschylus's Oresteia, premiering in October 1931? O'Neill reinterprets the title character as Lavinia, the sister of Orin (Orestes) and daughter of General Ezra Mannon (Agamemnon).
Correct Answer: MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA
Your Answer: Stardust Memories
Points Assigned: 3

I had no idea. I think Stardust Memories is Neil Simon, right 

2. "Socialism with a human face" was the description applied to the reform communism that was introduced in 1968 in Czechoslovakia. It provoked the Soviet invasion in August of that year and quickly failed. Who was the leader (and human) who proposed this new approach, about twenty years too early?
Correct Answer: ALEXANDER DUBČEK
Your Answer: Havel
Points Assigned: 1

I though Havel might have been right. 

3. Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts were the first of a family of U.S.-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are today among the world's largest products traded on major exchanges. These funds, managed by State Street Global Advisors, are well known informally by what nickname?
Correct Answer: SPIDERS (SPDR)
Your Answer: Swaps
Points Assigned: 0

I had no idea. My opponent is strong in Biz questions. 

4. Hansen's disease, a mildly contagious and curable infectious condition now rare in the United States (and becoming rarer globally), is also known by what name?
Correct Answer: LEPROSY
Your Answer: Tuberculosis
Points Assigned: 2

This seems very gettable. It did not come to me. 

5. What non-US island, despite a land area less than half the size of Rhode Island, is currently home to 32 U.S. military bases and about 10,000 American military personnel?
Correct Answer: OKINAWA
Your Answer: Okinawa
Points Assigned: 1

I first thought Bahrain, but the size and numbers didn't seem right. The Okinawa came to mind. 

6. A picture of what appears, appropriately, on the label for HP Sauce, England's favorite brown sauce?
Correct Answer: HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT (BIG BEN)
Your Answer: Beefeater
Points Assigned: 2

I haven't seen a bottle of HP in a while. 

Gideon Day 18

6/6 today
1 :) D0 The Scream
2 :) D2 Diana Ross - I was thinking Smokey Robinson at first, but then remembered that Diana Ross was in the Supremes and that seemed to fit the bill.
3 :) D1 This Old House - Vila!
4 :) D3 Galena - I think I saw crystals of this at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.
5 :) D2 Sunset Boulevard and Mulholland Drive - Mulholland Drive is a really weird movie.
6 :) D1 The Brother's Grimm - I somehow made the Grimm belong to the Brother with an unintentional apostrophe.

Jesse day 18

3/6 

1. "I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord." This is a partial description, in the artist's own words, of what 1893 painting?
Correct Answer: THE SCREAM
Your Answer: The Scream
Points Assigned: 1

It seemed to fit the painting and fjord made it seem to be the work of a Norwegian. I've been to the Munch Museum in Oslo. And no, I didn't steal any paintings while I was there. 

2. Who was the lead vocalist of Motown Records' most successful music group of the 1960s? The singer in question left the group to pursue a solo career in January 1970.
Correct Answer: DIANA ROSS
Your Answer: Diana Ross
Points Assigned: 2

First answer that came to my mind and fortunately it was right. 

3. Since 2003, Kevin O'Connor has served as host for what PBS television show, which began on Boston station WGBH, hosted by Bob Vila?
Correct Answer: THIS OLD HOUSE
Your Answer: This Old House
Points Assigned: 0

We used to watch this with my dad. 

4. What abundant mineral, a lead sulfide (PbS), is the most common and important ore of lead, as well as a source of silver? It's the namesake for a number of communities in the United States, including the one-time home of Ulysses S. Grant.
Correct Answer: GALENA
Your Answer: Pig Iron
Points Assigned: 1

Never heard of Galena. I had no idea. 

5. North Sepulveda Boulevard, which runs north/south for five miles along the 405 in West Los Angeles, provides a link between two highly acclaimed films. What are those films?
Correct Answer: MULHOLLAND DRIVE, SUNSET BOULEVARD
Your Answer: Chinatown and Sunset Blvd. 
Points Assigned: 3

Darn, thought I had this! I have never been to L.A. so this was going to be difficult for me. 

6. "Aschenputtel," "Dornröschen," "Schneewittchen," "Der Froschkönig," and "Rotkäppchen" are all popular today thanks in part to the work of what duo?
Correct Answer: DIE BRÜDER GRIMM (THE BROTHERS GRIMM)
Your Answer: Sprokets
Points Assigned: 2

Mein duetche ist schlekt. For your enjoyment, take a look at the second review down titled "Good times": https://www.amazon.com/German-Three-Months-Book-Hugo/dp/0789494981/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238197163&sr=8-7

Dave M day 18

Not too far out of being back in the relegation area with another loss yesterday. Hopefully 4/6 today will be a win and keep me out of the danger zone.

 

1 :) Norway = Munch and description matches Scream. D3 as opponent terrible at art, risky defense.

2 :) One of my rare 1960s pop music wins. Seems pretty simple. D0

3 :( Don’t know any PBS shows except Sesame Street. D1

4 :( Guessed Antimony. D1

5 :) Sunset Boulevard was easy enough but spent ages trying to think what movie name would be 5 miles south (LAX? El Segundo refinery?) before thinking about what would be 5 miles north, when it became obvious. I guess an easy question for those familiar with LA, which doesn’t look like it applies to my opponent. D2

6 :) Rotkappchen = red riding hood was the giveaway for me. D2

Steiny Day 18

1. :) At first I thought fjord was the key, and the only scandinavian painter I could think of was munch and the only painting I knew by him was the scream and then it all fit

2. :( Wrote lionel ritchie.  I feel like whenever thorsten uses very generic pronouns or avoids pronouns altogether, it is usually a female...need to pay attention to that more

3. :) Bob villa made this a gimme

4. :( Never heard of this, ever.  So I wrote Springfield.

5. :( Half write, got Sunset but I also wrote hollywood boulevard

6. :( guessed siegfried and roy

Gideon Day 17

3/6 today

1 :( D3 Copley - I've seen Copley's work at the Boston MFA, and it looked kinda like that.
2 :( D1 Hanna Montana - I didn't think it looked like miley cyrus, but I went there anyway. It was a tossup between her and iCarly (whatever that is).
3 :) D0 Mole - I've got a pretty good mole recipe.
4 :) D1 Surfing - The poster for this movie is iconic.
5 :( D2 New Orleans - Memphis was on my list of other guesses.
6 :) D2 Syzygy - It's a good word.

Steiny Day 17

On the verge of moving out of relegation, let's pray

1. :( NO idea, guessed rockwell

2. :) pretty much a gimme though I spelled last name wrong

3. :) easy but my opponent is from texas so I was going to D0 it except #5

4:) Knew the movie, so fairly straightforward

5:( Had to D0 this instead since he went to school in Tulane and I thought the answer was New Orleans, it wasn't but still, couldn't be sure

6. :( never heard of this, I said rhythymy

Dave M day 17

Questions definitely not in my wheelhouse today and I feel lucky to have got 2/6. Maybe worth a win.

 

1 :( Absolutely no idea. D3 as art is also my opponent’s weakest suit.

2 :( Went with Hannah Montana not knowing any other teen TV stars. D2

3 :) Chose this over tabasco as Mole is the only sauce I know with chocolate. D1

4 :( I figured baseball and it becoming popular in the far east. Surfing makes more sense. At least I D0ed.

5 :) Mississippi geography (in particular, location of oil fields therein) is a specialty at the moment. D1

6 :( You either know this or you don’t. Never heard of this. D2

Will Day 17

For the curious, a Harpsichord is not a harp and on that I lost my last match. 2/6 today against a weak opponent, might be able to win.

 

1. :( Was agonizing over whether his name was Glibert Stewart or Stewart Gilbert. Relieved to see I was totally wrong.
Your Answer: Stewart
Points Assigned: 0

2. :( Felt good about this guess
Your Answer: Montana
Points Assigned: 3

3. :( Should have known this would be too easy. Also, I’ve never heard of chocolate salsa, but it seems like a good idea
Your Answer: salsa
Points Assigned: 1

4. :) lucky guess
Your Answer: surfing
Points Assigned: 2

5. :) Went to a wedding once in Mississippi and stayed in Memphis
Your Answer: Memphis
Points Assigned: 1

6. :( I was so close!
Your Answer: Elypyly
Points Assigned: 2

Ben Day 17 vs Jesse

Face off with Jesse. He leads me .473 to .413 in career get rate, and I have a slight edge in defense .709 to .687.  In our previous 2 meetings, Jesse has only managed a total of 1 correct, though that 1 got him the victory when we first met in LL61.  Jesse has been in higher rundles than I have since our last match-up in LL63.

1 :( I guessed Jasper Johns. I actually D1ed this given that I've been to Jesse's mum's art exhibitions and thought some of the other questions would be harder for him. 0(0)-0(0).

2 :( I gussed Carly as in iCarly. D2. Never heard of this one 0(0)-0(0)

3 :) Mole. I have a family video of me when I was ~8 performing a song and dance about mole. This is what happens when you father is a specialist on Latin America. I assumed Jesse had encountered this on his travels. D1 Jesse leads 1(1)-0(1).

4 :) Surfing. I thought this was pretty easy. Not that many sports have a culture. ALl tied up now 1(2)-1(2).

5 :( I guessed Birmingham. Memphis would have been a good guess. VERY happy to see that the geography question was US rather than world. D2. 1(2)-1(2).

6 :) syzygy for the win. without the 3 Ys clue I doubt I would have gotten there, but given I know this word as linked to eclipses, was pretty confident. I've already planned my family's trip to St Louis for the full eclipse next August! D3. 3(3)-1(2) to Carr.

Jesse day 17 v. Ben

2/6 I opened the door wide open for Ben to beat me in inner branch duel. 

1. Contained in this montage are works by what American artist? LINK: http://www.learnedleague.com/images/art/9843598vn3y089.jpg
Correct Answer: JOHN TRUMBULL
Your Answer: Thomas
Points Assigned: 3

The name escaped me. I would have gotten that on a multiple choice. 

2. What is the name of this beloved television character (note, name the character, not the actor)? LINK: http://www.learnedleague.com/images/art/5983y0cvn98y65.jpg
Correct Answer: LIZZIE MCGUIRE
Your Answer: Jessie
Points Assigned: 1

I had no idea. My daughter isn't old enough to be into live action tv. 

3. A Nahuatl word meaning "concoction" or "mixture" provides the basis for the name of a famous Mexican sauce which has numerous varieties but always prominently features chili peppers, is cooked, and sometimes includes chocolate. What is the generic name for this sauce? 
Correct Answer: MOLE
Your Answer: Mole
Points Assigned: 0

Seems like a gimmie, right? 

4. The endearing and influential 1966 documentary The Endless Summer is credited with spreading globally the popularity (and culture) of what sport?
Correct Answer: SURFING
Your Answer: Surfing
Points Assigned: 1

I saw this in film school. 

5. The third-most populous city in Mississippi, Southaven, is a suburb of a city in another state. What is that other city?
Correct Answer: MEMPHIS
Your Answer: Baton Rouge
Points Assigned: 2

I am pretty bad with southern US geography. 

6. What word, defined as an astronomical configuration that occurs when three celestial bodies lie in a straight line, is one of few words in the English language (and the shortest) to contain three occurrences of the letter Y?
Correct Answer: SYZYGY
Your Answer: elypisyeys
Points Assigned: 2

Never heard of that word. I thought of a word with two y's and tried to throw a third one in there somehow. 

Midseason Classic

Hey, the Midseason Classic is active until noon ET on Monday, if you want to give it a try.
- Gideon

Gideon Day 16

3/6 today
1 :) D0 Quark - Three quarks for Muster Mark!
2 :) D1 Harp
3 :( D2 Adams - I remembered hearing about this in the Radiolab More Perfect podcast, but could't dredge up the name of the Midnight Judge that Adams appointed, and Jefferson dissed.
4 :( D3 Iambic - I'm guessing this will be the MCW
5 :( D2 Joseph's
6 :) D1 On a Stamp (upside down)

Will Day 16

Maybe 4/6

1. :(
Your Answer: muon
Points Assigned: 3

2. ? Is a harp and harpsichord the same thing?
Your Answer: harpsichord
Points Assigned: 1

3. :)
Your Answer: Marbury
Points Assigned: 1

4. :( This is my answer for all poetry questions, one day it will be correct
Your Answer: iambic
Points Assigned: 2

5. :) Always in the business section, it’s a huge company
Your Answer: Aldi
Points Assigned: 2

6. :) We’ve had this question before. Now I really feel like I’m an LL vet
Your Answer: on a stamp
Points Assigned: 0

Dave M day 16

Whew, tough day. 2/6

 

1 :) Quark was a guess but seemed to fit and a D0 as opponent strong in science.

2 :( Went with Violin on this one, random guess of any stringed instrument. D1

3 :( I don’t know many supreme court cases before Brown v Board of Education so went with Brown. D3

4 :( Guessed Iambic. D2

5 :) Reasonably straightforward grocery industry question. The underlying business model (limiting selection and then get economies of scale ordering ridiculous amounts of that selection, making everything super cheap) is the same between the two.

6 :( Have to be American to get this I assume. I went with Germany and D2ed so risky defense.

 

Until Monday!

Steiny Day 16

1. :) only thing that made sense to guess

2. :) felt good about this guess

3. :( wrote Mcullough...I hate myself

4. :( wrote strong 

5. :( wrote das boot

6. :( wrote germany

hard day

Jesse Day 16

4/6

1. The name for what fundamental unit of matter was originated by American physicist Murray Gell-Mann, inspired by a line in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake?
Correct Answer: QUARK
Your Answer: Quark
Points Assigned: 1

I took several astrophysics for poets classes in college. One of my professors was on the team that discovered one of the quarks. I knew the answer wasn't atom, and quark sounded like something literary. 

2. The neck, forepillar, resonator, and strings are necessary components in virtually all European versions of what musical instrument?
Correct Answer: HARP
Your Answer: Harp
Points Assigned: 3

Total guess. I hope I didn't score this too highly. 

3. Who was the named petitioner in the first United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional?
Correct Answer: WILLIAM MARBURY
Your Answer: Plessy
Points Assigned: 2

Damn. I was sure it was the case about whether taxes were legal and i could not think of the parties involved so I just put Plessy in knowing it was wrong. I could have gotten this if I dug deeper. 

4. In prosody, the study of poetic meters and verse form, a line whose final syllable is stressed or accented is described by what adjective? (Its opposite describes a line that ends in a stressless syllable.)
Correct Answer: MASCULINE
Your Answer: Sharp
Points Assigned: 2

I had no idea. 

5. The U.S. specialty grocery-store chain Trader Joe's is run by a company that also runs—and is named after—what German supermarket giant, noted for its rock-bottom prices and total lack of ambiance?
Correct Answer: ALDI
Your Answer: Aldi
Points Assigned: 0

I just knew this one.

6. In 1918, one of the six U.S. Army Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplanes modified for the purpose of delivering mail appeared, infamously (but perhaps fittingly), where?
Correct Answer: POSTAGE STAMP
Your Answer: On a stamp
Points Assigned: 1

Seems pretty easy. The famous upside down stamp worth a ton of money. 

Gideon Day 15

5/6 today

1 :) D2 Fates
2 :) D1 Bloody Mary
3 :) D1 The Jetsons - This is my opponent's weakest category, but I can't make this a 3 pointer.
4 :) D3 Norway, Finland and Sweden
5 :) D0 Monologue
6 :( D2 Yogi Berra - I was hoping for a Hanna-Barbera tie-in to the Jetsons question.

Ben Day 15

pretty bad day for me in the end, and expect a sounds beating form my .582 opponent. Get your ass up to Rundle B, son. Why are you hanging around here?

1 :( I wrote Furies. Close but no cigar

2 :( This one was the killer.  I approached this from the cocktail angle.  About 5th on my list was Harvey Wallbanger.  Wallbanger - that sounds like a weird poltergeist dreamed up by the English peasantry.  Once I thought of that I couldn't go anywhere else.

3 :) Jetsons. D0.

4 :) 3 Scandis.

5 :( I guessed Vaudeville.  Monologues had crossed my mind, and had I thought of vagina monologues (even though I didn't know the name of the writer) I would have gotten there.

6 :( Guessed Babe Ruth too.  Was Gehrig a catcher? I figure I was looking for a catcher, but couldn't think of any ballplayer who dated back to a "Babe" and "Wally" era other than Babe Ruth.

Dave M day 15

3/6 today

 

1 :( No idea – went with Zeus, Hera, Neptune. D2

2 :) I knew he was indicating Queen Mary who was bloodthirsty, so not far from there to the cocktail. D1

3 :) Easy but also easily missed, I think several people will curse themselves after seeing the answer. I now have the title music in my head. D1

4 :) Those words could only be Nordic/Finnish. D0

5 :( I went with Musicals. A risky D3

6 :( Guessed Babe Ruth too. D2

Will Day 15

2/6. Lost yesterday and will probably lose today, but I seem to be safely out of the relegation zone where I was after my 1-3-0 start

 

1. :( I had no idea
Your Answer: Zeus, Hera, Apollo
Points Assigned: 3

2. :) seems pretty easy from the clue
Your Answer: Bloody Mary
Points Assigned: 0

3. :)
Your Answer: Jetsons
Points Assigned: 1

4. :( It sounded Irish to me
Your Answer: Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland
Points Assigned: 2

5. :( This was a dumb answer, but I never would have gotten to the correct one anyway
Your Answer: Gonzo journalism
Points Assigned: 2

6. :( sports
Your Answer: Young
Points Assigned: 1

Jesse Day 15

4/6 

1. The powerful Norns, figures in Norse mythology who live at the foot of the ash tree Yggdrasil and water it daily from the fountain of Urd, are the rough equivalent of what triad of classical mythology?
Correct Answer: FATES
Your Answer: Dryads
Points Assigned: 2

Nope. I'm not great at mythology.

2. A monarch of England and Ireland who ruled in the mid-16th century—a devout Catholic and issue of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon—has a nickname in Protestant hagiography that is also used as the name of both a supernatural being from folklore and a cocktail. What is that nickname?
Correct Answer: BLOODY MARY
Your Answer: Bloody Mary
Points Assigned: 1

It was the only answer I could think of and seemed to obvious to be correct.

3. Judy, George, Jane, and Elroy: These are the first names of what TV family?
Correct Answer: THE JETSONS
Your Answer: Jetsons
Points Assigned: 0

Gimmie for anyone in their mid-thirties or older I would think. 

4. "Three-Country Cairn" (Treriksrøysa/Treriksröset/Kolmen valtakunnan rajapyykki) is the name of a monument that marks an international border shared by what three nations?
Correct Answer: NORWAY, SWEDEN, FINLAND
Your Answer: Sweden/Finland/Norway
Points Assigned: 2

I lived in Sweden and Finland so recognized both languages and knew the other one was a scandic language. Denmark doesn't share a border with Finland so it had to be Norway. 

5. The writers and performers Ruth Draper, Spalding Gray, Marshall Pinckney Wilder, and Eve Ensler are all closely associated with what theatrical form, the name of which is included in the title of the latter's most famous work?
Correct Answer: MONOLOGUE
Your Answer: One man show
Points Assigned: 3

I had no idea. I had heard of Spalding Gray. Doubt my one man show will do the trick. 

6. Wally Pipp and Babe Dahlgren were major league baseball players with successful careers in their own rights, but they are largely remembered today for serving as bookends to the career of what hall of famer?
Correct Answer: LOU GEHRIG
Your Answer: Lou Gehrig
Points Assigned: 1

I was a big Yankee fan growing up so this was easy for me. 

Steiny Day 15

When I submitted I thought I had a chance at 6/6, but alas 4/6

1. :( Immediately thought of Gorgons and went with it.  Of course I know the fates, but gorgons seemed like the answer so I went with it.

2. :) Only cocktail I could think of that made sense, and the fact that they said monarch helped me realize it could be a woman. Also, I love bloody marys

3. :) Total Gimme D0, highest get of the season I predict

4. :) spent some time in these countries last year, there was no mistaking what region and I knew from my trip that denmark wouldn't be involved based on geography so these are the only three that made sense

5. :) thank you eve ensler, until her name I had no idea, but vagina monologues made it a simple question if you know who eve ensler is

6. :( guessed babe ruth

Gideon Day 14

5/6 today
I'm currently in 1st for defense league-wide, but I expect that to change tomorrow. I was at a loss for how to defend today.

1 :) D0 Vladivostok
2 :) D2 Sia - Chandelier has a pretty memorable video.
3 :) D3 Adiabatic - I've used an adiabatic bomb calorimeter
4 :) D1 HHS
5 :( D2 Liverpool - I've seen the original series, but I couldn't remember the city.
6 :) D1 Marshmallow - I think there will be a lot of tapioca on this one.

Ben Day 13 & 14

Today:

1 :( I guessed Shanghai. For some reason I was convinced it ended in China. On reflection that doesn't make a great deal of sense.

2 :) Sia.  Thanks daughter.

3 :( Equilibirum. I remember the word 'adiabatic' from thermodynamics classes in uni, but haven't used it since then. This is hard.

4 :( I wrote social services. "human services" crossed my mind but didn't make sense.

5 :( Argh. couldn't pull Slough from the recesses of my memory despite being a big fan of the UK office 10 years ago. Racked my brain for this one. Ended up putting down "Free Love Freeway" despondently.

6 :( Licorice. Who knew there was a marshmallow plant?

And yesterday, losing 2(3)-5(3), in order of leaguewide question difficulty, you will see that my opponent missed the 3 easiest questions and got the 3 hardest, thus cutting down my DE from .800 to .760.

1 :) Madonna.  Based on 88% get rate, easiest question of day. D0. My opponent missed.

4 :) Galileo. 83% get rate. My opponent missed.

3 :( The Tramp. I had a hunch Modern Times was Chaplin, and tried to guess "The Tramp" but wrote "Little Scamp". My opponent missed.

2 :) France. My opponent got.

6 :( I wrote "Ha'penny rag". Opponent got

5 :( Never heard of Maastricht. Opponent got.

Dave M day 14

A close win yesterday, very satisfying. I think my 4/6 will get me there today too.

 

1 :) I’d like to visit Vladivostok one day and have spent time looking at it in google maps. D2

2 :) I struggled with this one but remember a video with a human as a chandelier in it so thought it must be Sia. D1

3 :( I guessed Insulation. Never heard of Adiabatic. D2

4 :) A guess but it turned out to be a good one. D1

5 :) I have been to the Slough trading estate to see the exterior of the building shown in the starting titles. D3

6 :( Simple in hindsight and glad I D0ed. I guessed Jello knowing it was wrong.

Steiny Day 14

A rare win yesterday!

1. :) There was a colleague in my old admissions office who covered europe for our office and used to say he covered from Minsk to Vladivostock.  That is the only place I ever heard of it, but i figured i would give it a shot, thrilled to see it work!

2. :) Easy pop music question, especially for ben carr

3. :( never heard of it, I said closed system knowing it was wrong

4. :) only one that made sense, especially given they asked for the full name

5. :( never watched the old office, but love the new one

6. :( guessed tapioca and thought I had a good chance at it

3/6

Jesse day 14

5/6

1. Upon its completion in July 1904, the Trans-Siberian Railway connected Moscow and European Russia with what Pacific Ocean port city?
Correct Answer: VLADIVOSTOK
Your Answer: Vladivostok
Points Assigned: 0

I have ridden the Trans-Mongolian Railroad from Beijing to Moscow, but I knew this anyway. 

2. "Chandelier," "Elastic Heart," and "Cheap Thrills" are the biggest hits (so far) from what Australian singer-songwriter?
Correct Answer: SIA (FURLER)
Your Answer: Sia
Points Assigned: 1

I knew Sia was Australian and that Cheap Thrills was one of her songs. BTW, she is a big fan of Survivor and interrupted the finale of last year's season to give money to an animal loving contestant that spared the life of a chicken. 

3. What is the term, often applied conceptually in relation to the first law of thermodynamics, for a process in which there is no transfer of heat between a system and its surroundings? The word comes directly from the Greek for "impassable".
Correct Answer: ADIABATIC
Your Answer: Thermopylae
Points Assigned: 3

I had no idea.

4. With the creation of the U.S. Department of Education in 1979, another cabinet-level department saw its scope of functions reduced and, accordingly, its name changed. What was the new (and still current) full name of this department, whose original incarnation was formed in 1953?
Correct Answer: HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Your Answer: Department of Health and Human Services
Points Assigned: 1

I know the current departments and this was the only one that made sense. Tommy Thompson in da house!

5. Dunder Mifflin is to Scranton as Wernham Hogg is to what English town?

Correct Answer: SLOUGH
Your Answer: Slough
Points Assigned: 2

I watched the original office and own it on DVD. 

6. The chief use of the plant Althaea officinalis is the mucilaginous substance yielded by its roots, which is the traditional basis for a popular confection (though largely replaced today by gum arabic or gelatin). What is the common name of this plant, which is also the name for the confection itself?
Correct Answer: MARSHMALLOW
Your Answer: Marshmallow
Points Assigned: 2

I first thought of Chicle, but figured that was gum arabic and also thought taffy, but that did not sound like a plant. Then Marshmallow came to mind. 

Gideon Day 13

4/6 today
1 :) D0 Madonna - When I type her name, it's like a little prayer.
2 :( D3 Brazil
3 :) D1 The Tramp - I wonder how many people will put down the fictional character "Charlie Chaplin"
4 :) D2 Gallileo
5 :( D2 Lisbon - It would have been upsetting if today's answer was given in yesterday's question, and I had gotten it wrong.
6 :) D1 Penny Dreadful - I watched seasons 1 and 2

Jesse day 13

5/6

1. Louise and Ciccone are the middle and last names of what mononymous superstar?
Correct Answer: MADONNA
Your Answer: Madonna
Points Assigned: 1

Ciccone gave it away for me. 

2. West Germany and Argentina did it consecutively in 1974 and 1978, but since then only one country has won the FIFA Men's World Cup while also serving as the tournament's host. Name that country.
Correct Answer: FRANCE
Your Answer: France
Points Assigned: 2

I watched this world cup final in a youth hostel in Beijing in 2006. I remember the Zidane head butting incident in the final against Italy. 

3. What iconic fictional character debuted to the public in Kid Auto Races at Venice, appeared in numerous other films, including Mabel's Strange Predicament, The Kid, and City Lights, and was retired in Modern Times?
Correct Answer: THE TRAMP
Your Answer: The Tramp
Points Assigned: 1

My film major pays off. 

4. "Eppur si muove" ("And yet it [the earth] does move [around the sun]")—these words were allegedly uttered by what convicted heretic, after an appearance before the Inquisition in 1633?
Correct Answer: GALILEO GALILEI
Your Answer: Galileo
Points Assigned: 0

It was that or Copernicus. If I remember correctly Copernicus waited until his death to publish? 

5. The agreement signed in February 1992 by the twelve member nations of the European Community to create the European Union is named after the ancient city in which it was signed. What is that city?
Correct Answer: MAASTRICHT
Your Answer: Potsdam
Points Assigned: 3

Shoot, couldn't remember it even though I have heard it hundreds of times. 

6. What term, referencing price as well as quality, was most used for any of a number of popular and sensational serial literary works produced in the middle of Britain's Victorian era and primarily marketed toward young males of the working class?
Correct Answer: PENNY DREADFUL
Your Answer: Penny Dreadful
Points Assigned: 2

A bit of a guess. I first though Penny novels, but then the question mentioned quality and the tv show Penny Dreadfull came to mind even though I hadn't seen it and didn't know what the term meant.