Gideon Day 7 vs Seif

Seif wins!

5/6 today 

1 :) D1 Hummus
2 :( D2 Daenerys Targaryn, Mother of Dragić, Breaker of Backboards, Queen of the Rim
3 :) D1 Mecca
4 :) D0 Catamaran 
5 :) D2 Ukraine 
6 :) D3 Louie Anderson - I was so proud of myself for eventually remembering him that I defended too high. I was so sure most everyone else would go for Drew Carey or Wayne Brady. 

Brian Day 7 vs random and WeiszJ

4/6.  My second loss of the week to a Weisz 9(6). Hoping my main opponent defends me like Jesse did, 8(4).

1) Hummus.   I considered tahini and babagonoush, but this sounded more earthy, and didn't see what else it could be.  I'm guessing a gimme for the demographics of our little group, but is the Levant that well-known a term? Unsure of my defense in LL.  2/0

2) Melania.  No shot here.  3/3

3) Pyongyang.  Had no idea, then kicked myself once i saw the answer. 2/1

4) catamaran.  A gimme, but I don't know why, and I don't know how to defend.  1/2

5) ukraine.  Had to be Chernobyl.  Luckily I've read about the new HBO show, I might not have picked the correct republic.  Defending low given the show's popularity.  1/1

6) Anderson.  Dawson and Harvey mean Family Feud, and Anderson is the only other host I know. 0/2

Steiny Day 7 V. Mirkin in LLL

1. :( I thought my guess of "offal" was a good one D22

2. :( I knew it was on the right track, but didnt know how to spell his name and wrote Danic... D31

3. :) This seemed like a gimme D00

4. :) I have been on a number of catamarans D11

5. :( I guessed Thaliand because of Elephant D22

6. :) He was the worst by far, and that is quite a feat given the rest of the feud hosts D13

Pelc Day 7 vs. Ben

Good day today. 

6/6 if the spelling of humus doesn't matter

1. :| - I think spelling should count here because all I did was name a middle eastern condiment. I'm shocked this was correct. D1/1

2. :) - This guy is so freakin good. D1/2

3. :) - This took me longer than I care to admit. In hindsight, I probably defended this poorly, should have a pretty high get-rate. D3/2

4. :) - My fluency in Tamil has finally paid off. D2/1

5. :) - This was clearly Chernobyl (looking forward to watching the HBO miniseries) but, embarrassingly, I wasn't positive which current country it was in. Glad I guessed right. D2/0

6. :) - Family Feud was my favorite sick day show (at least tied with TPIR). Louie Anderson was after my time but I remember when he took over. Didn't know how to defend this one in LL but this would be a tough get for my esteemed Australian LLL opponent. D1/3

Dave M day 7 v Steiny LLL

A nice 5/6 to close the week – I struggled with defending this one so could feasibly drag a draw or loss, although getting a sport question right should hopefully confound my opponents.

 

1 : ) I had previously wondered whether there was any link between Humus and Hummus. D10

2 : ) Living in Dallas pays off for a change. Doncic has been inescapable here this year. I didn’t try to attempt the accents. D01

3 : ) Could only be Mecca. D22

4 : ) Could only be Catamaran. D22

5 : ) I’ve seen photos of the Elephants Foot before – very haunting. D13

6 : ( I was never going to get this final question, so put down Steve Martin as a random guess. D31

Jesse Day 7

My first 6/6 of the season!

1. What term from biology and soil science, not to be confused with a certain Levantine condiment, is defined as the dark, thick material produced when organic matter decays?
Correct Answer: HUMUS
Your Answer: Humus
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I knew it was some derivation of hummus. I guessed the right spelling. 

2. In the 2018-19 NBA season, there were two players from Slovenia, one of whom was Miami Heat guard Goran Dragić. Name the other, a finalist for the 2018-19 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
Correct Answer: LUKA DONČIĆ
Your Answer: Luka Doncic
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

I follow the NBA. Halleluka!

3. A cube-shaped building, about 43 feet high and covered at times with black cloth embroidered in gold, is the most famous and important landmark of what city?
Correct Answer: MECCA
Your Answer: Mecca
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

What else could it be. 

4. What term is generally used for a watercraft with two parallel and equal-sized hulls? The term is derived from a Tamil word for "tied wood".
Correct Answer: CATAMARAN
Your Answer: Catamaran
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Considered outrigger, but I know outrigger can have just one support hull. 

5. In December 1986, scientists encountered a lethal, 2-meter-wide mass that they dubbed "the elephant's foot" in what present-day country?
Correct Answer: UKRAINE
Your Answer: Ukraine
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

I am watching Chernobyl on HBO now. I am guessing this will be in the next episode? 

6. Name the comedian who is missing from this otherwise complete list (randomly ordered): Steve Harvey, Ray Combs, Richard Karn, Richard Dawson, John O'Hurley.
Correct Answer: LOUIE ANDERSON
Your Answer: Louie Anderson
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I remembered that he was the pre-Harvey host. 

Ben day 7 v Rando and Pelc

3.5/6. Hard day to d.

1 :| humas.  Not sure what spelling does to me here. D33

2 :( magić johnšonović. I spent most of my time today coming up with this joke and learning how to do accents. D10

3 :) Mecca. Insh'allah my opponents will miss this. D22

4 :) catamaran. Let's just say I didn't get this from the Tamil. D11

5 :) Ukraine. D22

6 :( dangerfield. Who are these ppl? D01

Seif Day 7 vs. Gideon (LLL)

5/6.  What?!  I can't believe I got so many right.  Got a lot of lucky guesses here.  I really thought I'd done much worse.  I thought my best case scenario here was 4/6 but didn't expect to actually do that well.

1. Hummus :), D20.  Shocked to get this.  I wasn't sure what "Levantine condiment" meant, and I thought I might end up looking ridiculous with this answer.  Once I'd decided to accept what I thought was the meaning of the term for purposes of my answer, I then (for real) debated between hummus and tahini.  I chose the right one.

2. Knauss :(, D33.  No clue here.

3. Mecca :), D02.  I was pretty sure I had this image in my head of people standing around this structure.  But I was nowhere close to certain and thought I could easily get this wrong.

4. Catamaran :), D11.  This seemed like the only reasonable answer, at least that I could think of.

5. Ukraine :), D12.  I was pretty sure here.  I'm not 100% sure I would have gotten this without the help of the year, which made me confident it was right.  I almost rushed this and put Soviet Union before re-reading and seeing that it was asking for the modern-day country.  I would have kicked myself non-stop if I'd done that.

6. Anderson :), D21.  Very proud of myself on this one, since this is decidedly not up my alley.  But surprisingly, I realized pretty quickly what this list was.

Kim Day 7

Day 7 - forgot my name the first time 

2/6. (Same as yesterday with primateus wrong). Really frustrating as I knew what two others were about but couldn't get there. 

Vs FriedlandW in LLL 

1 :( oil. Not sure how hard this was for everyone given the condiment clue. D13 

2 :( Vlasic. Yes, I wrote a pickle. I do not know any NBA players unless they are clogging my newsfeeds for dating Kardashians. D32 

3 :) Mecca. D21 

4 :) Catamaran. D00 

5 :( Russia. I started with thinking Nepal because of all of the news about Everest deaths. Lethal mass quickly lead me to Chernobyl but I could figure it out between Russia/Belarus/Ukraine. D21

6 :( Drew Carey. UGH! Richard Dawson and Steve Harvey immediately got me to Family Feud but I couldn't remember if Drew Carey did it before the Price is Right. Other blonde annoying host. D12

Day 7

2/6. (Same as yesterday with primateus wrong). Really frustrating as I knew what two others were about but couldn't get there.

Vs FriedlandW in LLL

1 :( oil. Not sure how hard this was for everyone given the condiment clue. D13

2 :( Vlasic. Yes, I wrote a pickle. I do not know any NBA players unless they are clogging my newsfeeds for dating Kardashians. D32

3 :) Mecca. D21

4 :) Catamaran. D00

5 :( Russia. I started with thinking Nepal because of all of the news about Everest deaths. Lethal mass quickly lead me to Chernobyl but I could figure it out between Russia/Belarus/Ukraine. D21

6 :( Drew Carey. UGH! Richard Dawson and Steve Harvey immediately got me to Family Feud but I couldn't remember if Drew Carey did it before the Price is Right. Other blonde annoying host. D12

Brian Day 6 vs LevinsonDA and Kim

3/6  Kim, I think you'll get credit for both misspellings and beat me 3(3)-2(3)

1) nativity.  I've seen dozens of boxes of these lining the shelves around Christmas time, but never read the name on them. 2/0

2) Donatello.  No idea.  Add me to the ninja turtle group, I decided to guess one of the two less famous namesakes.  Unsuccessful coin flip.   2/3

3) Peter and the Wolf.  Felt good about this, I have childhood memories of listening to this on a record.  Turns out it's Prokofiev, and much later than Tchaikovsky.  (Ben, I see we had similar childhoods.) 3/2

4) Primates. Gimme. 1/2

5) Laugh In.  Sock it to me was famous.  1/1

6) Gonna need a bigger boat.  I've never seen this all the way through (don't feel so bad, Dave), but another gimme.   0/1

CREDIT

i assume i get credit for "going to need a bigger boat."

Steiny Day 6

Today the questions were harder:

1. :( I figured fruit cake was not right, so I made up a word "specialone"  it was not correct D21

2. :( I felt very good about my total guess of da vinci D11

3. :) This I knew D12

4. :( Guessed erectus because..well..it amused me D33

5. :( I guessed SCTV D22

6. :) This one I knew after Jaws and quote  D00

Pelc Day 6 vs Brad

Somewhat disappointing 3/6 today made more disappointing because I was very excited to make the 'wrong Ninja Turtle' joke and was beaten to the punch.

Brad and I tied in LLL 3(3)-3(3)

1. :( - I rarely don't at least have a guess on a food question but I searched my brain for disgusting sounding Italian cakes and came up empty. D1/2

2. :( - Went Da Vinci. D2/3

3. :( - Went Snow White and feel dumb now. In hindsight,  I don't see how you can make the 7 dwarves work in a ballet. Sleeping Beauty is a way better guess. D3/1

4. :) - Educated guess. D2/1  

5. :) - 'Sock it to me' got it for me. D1/2

6. :) - Movie gimme, would've been a better question and still gettable without the Jaws mention. D0/0

Ben day 6

3/6. PB start to the season for me. League wide defense was extremely balanced yesterday. No question had more than 1.6 average D!

1 :) pannatone[sic]. I had panna cotta down for a long time but caught myself before submitting, I like the Ruth/Esther fiasco last season. I'm glad to see that those of us who have sampled panettone are unanimous in thinking it tastes like a gross boring stale cake.

2 :( Botticelli. I spent some time on choosing between TMNT too, thofuh Raphael would have been close to last on that list, before being seduced by the appeal of alliteration.

3 :( Peter and the Wolf. I was very confident here. Given that this is a 'symphonic fairytale for children' by Prokofiev it is safe to say I wasn't even close (all my LL whiffs could benefit from a flute accompaniment)

4 :) primate. I was not confident here, especially in the appropriate variant of primate, or whether primate was in fact correct. I know very little about taxonomic classes. Mirkin's erectus made me lol. 

5 :( in living color. Self mentioned this show to me recently so it seemed like a good guess. 

6 :) gonna need a bigger boat. Iconic. I wish I adlibbed one of the best 100 movie quotes of all time. That's cool.

Jesse day 6

3/6

1. Raisins, candied lemon peel, and orange, all contained within raised dough enriched with egg yolks, make up what Italian cake, a specialty of Milan that is traditionally served during the Christmas season?
Correct Answer: PANETTONE
Your Answer: Torianno
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I often shop at an Italian market near my house and see these cakes every winter. I could not pull the name so just guessed.

2. In the mid-1800s, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and John Everett Millais founded an artistic "Brotherhood" named after what other painter, who had died nearly 330 years prior?
Correct Answer: RAPHAEL
Your Answer: Carvaggio
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Total guess. Nope.

3. During his career, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed three ballets. Two are The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. What is the third, also based on a fairy tale?
Correct Answer: THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
Your Answer: Little Drummer Boy
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I had no idea.

4. What term best fills in the blank in this series: Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, __________, Hominidae, Homo, H. sapiens?
Correct Answer: PRIMATA (PRIMATES)
Your Answer: Primate
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Seems like a gimmie. 

5. "Sock it to me", "The Joke-Wall", "The Party", and "The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award" were among the recurring sketches that appeared on what comedy television series?
Correct Answer: (ROWAN & MARTIN'S) LAUGH-IN
Your Answer: Laugh In
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

I remembered this from Sock it to me. 

6. An iconic line from the movie Jaws, #35 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes , was reportedly ad-libbed by Roy Scheider, and not in the original screenplay. It begins with "You're"—how does the line end?
Correct Answer: GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOAT
Your Answer: going to need a bigger boat.
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

I think this will be accepted. 

Dave M day 6

Back to earth after my thrilling poor-defense win against Pelc yesterday, with a 2/6.

 

1 : ) Panettone is ubiquitous in the UK at Christmas time these days too. I don’ t get the attraction, it tastes stale to me. D11

2 : ( Basing a guess off turtles seems to be a common theme here – I also picked the wrong one (Michaelangelo). D20

3 : ( I made a random fairy tale guess of Cinderella. D31

4 : ( I was strangely confident with Erectus which on rereading the question is a bit of a category error. D22

5 : ( No idea, guessed Mad TV. Never heard of the correct answer. D13

6 : ) Looks like this was a common get. I also wrote down ‘going to’ vs ‘gonna’ but assume that pays. D02

brad day6

vs pelc

3/6

common d

1) panettone d1

tried one once, thought was disgusting

2) michelangelo d3

kim got to the wrong turtle joke first

3) sleeping beauty d2

very lucky guess.  only thing i know about ballet is that there are fairies dancing, and sleeping beauty has fairies

4) neanderthal d2

very gettable

5) chapelle show d1

nope

6) gonna need a bigger boat d0

yup

Kim Day 5

1 or 3 of 6. I think probably 2 are scored as correct.

Vs FriedlandW LL
Vs IngramB2 LLL

1 :| Panatone. I think this poor spelling will be accepted. D22
2 :( Michaelangelo. Figured it would be one TMNT. So close. D13
3 :( Madam Butterfly. Which I knew was an opera. D22
4 :| Primateus. I think this will likely be incorrect. D31
5. :( Saturday Night Live just in case it was the obvious. Maybe poor D. D11
6 :) Gonna need a bigger boat. I actually thought this started with "We're" but could not have been anything else. D00

Seif Day 6 vs. Andy (LLL)

Very disappointing 2/6 (or 1/6 if Thorsten is in a particularly harsh mood).  I really thought I'd done better, and I think my D was pretty bad, too, given that some questions I thought were easy turn out to actually be quite hard.  Since Andy clearly can no longer lower himself to post on this blog, I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out whether I beat him or not.

1. Fruit cake :(, D00.  I thought this was easy and gave it low D.  I've actually never even heard of the answer.

2. Da Vinci :(, D21.  Really thought I knew this and that it was right.  Nope!

3. Hansel and Gretel :(, D31.  Sleeping Beauty was one of the roughly half dozen things I was considering, but I really had no more than a 1/6 shot of getting this.

4. Primate :), D12.  At least one of the questions was easy for me today...

5. Whose Line Is It Anyway? :(, D22.  I had no clue here, so I just took a random shot.

6. Going to need a bigger boat :/, D13.  I'm guessing Thorsten probably lets go the fact that I replaced "gonna" with "going to," but we'll see.  Assuming I do get credit for this, it's the sole high point of today's questions for me.  I've never seen Jaws (I know, I know...) and I only knew this because--and I promise this isn't a spoiler--there's a parody of this line in the series finale of Breaking Bad.

brad day5

vs ben

3/6

1)ive been working on the railroad d2/3

had a feeling this would be a song i learned in elementary school but couldnt come up with it.  Aussie D FAIL!

2) moons of jupiter d1/d2

answer crossed my mind, but had no idea a day named after odin

3) water lillies d3/1

not only a rare art get, but an even rarer confident art get.  visited giverny several years ago.  glad to get some redemption after the starry night miss

4) king kong d2/2

did not read this in high school

5) holt d1/1

remember nbc making a big deal about this around the lauer fiasco 

6) hong kong, macau d0/0

got hong kong immediately, considered the other suspects but felt good when i came up with this

by my math 6(4)/5(3) for ben

Score Correction

Just took another look and realize I messed up - Mirkin wins!

Brian Day 5 vs Gideon

4/6 might be enough in LL, but Gideon could run the table today. Kicking myself for my misses, and regretting my defense, regardless, now that I see those answers.

I'm batting .805 so far this season, vs a career average of .535.  Regression to the mean is imminent.

1) Lord Won't You Carry Me Home.  I had the tune in my head, if not the exact lyrics, but couldn't pull the title.  2/2 too high

2) Days of the week.  Wodensday, Thorsday, Freiaday, Saturnday... now the theme to Happy Days is stuck in my head.  I'm worried this was up my alley but not up anyone elses.  1/0

3) Water Lilies.  When I first met my wife, she was taking post-grad courses to increase her base pay as a teacher.  She seduced me into writing a few of her papers, including one on Monet.  Hoping to earn a 3.  0/1

4) Tarzan.  Considered Heart of Darkness, but never knew what it was about except the inspiration for Apocalypse Now.  D is too high  3/2

5) Holt.  I don't watch the news, but luckily Lester came to mind.  1/1

6) Hong Kong, Macau.  Hopefully this gets defended as a geography question, though for me it's a business question.  2/3

Jesse day 5

4/6 Easy day, could have gotten more if I didn't rush. 

1. What African-American spiritual, written by Wallace Willis in the mid-1800s and recorded by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Louis Armstrong, and Eric Clapton, is frequently cited not simply as a celebration of release into heaven, but also of the aspiration (or plan) to be "carried home" to freedom via the Underground Railroad?
Correct Answer: SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT
Your Answer: What a wonderful world
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I can hear the Clapton version in my head. 

2. An Anglo-Saxon god of war, the chief god of Norse mythology, a Norse god of thunder, the foremost goddess of Norse mythology, and a Roman god of agriculture are among a group that give their names to what septet?
Correct Answer: DAYS OF THE WEEK
Your Answer: The Avengers
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Oh boy, this wasn't that hard. I knew the Avengers was very wrong, but didn't think it through. 

3. What is the English translation of the French Les Nymphéas, which is the title given to a series of around 250 oil paintings by Claude Monet?
Correct Answer: WATER LILIES
Your Answer: The Waterlillies
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

I saw many of them at exhibition somewhere, uh, the Met? 

4. The Congo River and a remote trading post deep in the jungles of central Africa run by a corrupted ivory trader provide settings for the flashback story told in what brisk, 80-page 1899 novella?
Correct Answer: HEART OF DARKNESS
Your Answer: Heart of Darkness
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

I read it a while back. 

5. Until the announcement in May that Norah O'Donnell had been named anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News, the anchor news desks at the "big three" broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) were occupied by three men with one-syllable last names. Give any one of those three names.
Correct Answer: GLOR, HOLT, MUIR
Your Answer: Holt
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Never heard of the others, but I know of Lestor Holt.

6. Currently, there are two administrative divisions of China known formally as "special administrative regions", formed in 1997 and 1999 pursuant to declarations signed in the previous decade. What are the names of these two SARs?
Correct Answer: HONG KONG, MACAU
Your Answer: Hong Kong and Macau
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2  

Not sure if this hard or not. 

Pelc Day 5 vs Mirkin LLL

4/6 today with two very gettable misses. I see my esteemed LLL opponent has posted so I'll  tabulate the score as I go.

1. :) - 'Carried home' made this much easier, doubt I would have gotten this one without it. D2/1.

Pelc leads 2(1)-0(0)

2. :( - I figured out Thor first and then guessed something Marvel related. Days of the week didn't even occur to me, which is a bad miss. D3/2.

Tie ballgame 2(1) - 2(1)

3. :) - Pretty much the only way I get art questions correct is when it's simple math like Monet = Water Lilies. Should've defended accordingly, despite Mr. Mirkin's similar struggles with art. Luckily he was even more aggressive here. D0/2.

Pelc leads 5(2)-4(2).

4. :( - This is a killer. It's been ages since I've read Heart of Darkness and I totally blanked on it. To make matters worse, Mirkin's struggles in literature led me to a killer defensive mistake. D2/3 - Mirkin leads 7(3)-5(2).

5. :) - Holt was the only one I knew. D1/1. 

Mirkin leads 7(3) - 6(3). 

6. :) - I'm not so strong in geography but knew this one. D1/0.

A thrilling, poorly defended slugfest ends in a 7(4)-7(4) tie.

Good game, Mirkin! 

Dave M day 5 v Pelc LLL

A 4/6 today which judging by the below scores and Pelc’s performance so far will be another loss. Yes Steiny it does feel like the questions are a bit easier so far this season.

 

1 : ( I should have thought of this, not sure why it didn’t come to me. It is sung before rugby matches featuring England for some reason. D12

2 : ) I knew many of the days of the week were named after norse gods and the ‘septet’ settled it for me at the end. D01

3 : ) Monet = water lilies, I don’t really know that much else about the guy. D23

4 : ) Was pleased I got this, I’ve never read the book but the timing seemed to fit. D22

5 : ( No idea about network new anchors. I guessed Ford. D30

6 : ) Asian geography gimme. D11

Hemingway??!!?!?!

Ben Carr, Joseph Conrad wrote heart of darkness...not hemingway

Steiny Day 5 v. MKay and FaganKD

I was CONVINCED I had 6/6 today and it was snatched from my grasp! I need to do some research on the last question to cofirm I am actually wrong.  Has anyone else felt that this season has been significantly easier than in the past?  Perhaps questions are just hitting me the right way, but with 22 right through 5 days, I am WAY above my average for TCA

1. :) "carried home" totally gave it away D11

2. :) My trick for this one was to think of what comes in groups of seven and I only really knew two of the references, thor and saturn and that confirmed one of the 7's I had been thinking of...days of theweek D22

3. :) Art gimme...Monet, 250 paintings, what else could it be D22

4. :) Seemed very gettable D11

5. :) I knew Muir and Holt...didn't know Glor D00

6. :( I put Macau and TIBET!  I really thought Tibet was right and was more sure of it than Macau!.  So mad!  

Ben addendum on Brad’s Jenna and Roy

Jenna was the actress's name who played Pam who dated Roy from the warehouse in the early seasons. So maybe that's where you answer came from? Weird.

Ben day 5 v random and brad

4/6. Hopefully brad was weakened by the touching scenes at Jenna and Roy's wedding yesterday and is consequently off his game today.

1 :) swing low sweet chariot. I know this song from revenge of the nerds when the other chapters of the tri lambs show up at their frat party (and the omega mus). If I know it, mustn't be hard for Americans. D11

2 :) days of week. I assume my opponents know that Wednesday is named after Odin. D00. 

3 :) water lilies. Educated guess. Between this and starry night I'm about tapped out on the depth of my art knowledge for the season. D22

4 :( uncle toms cabin. Argh. I have no idea why I didn't reflexively jump to Hemingway from the Africa story. Not sure if I would have guessed the right one but should have done better. D33

5 :( West. Lester Holt is the only name I knew. More thought might have got me there if I thought through debate hosts. D11. 

6 :) Hong Kong, Macao. Having worked for a Hong Kong based company helped here. Could easily be led astray by Tibet. D22

Seif Day 5

4 or 5/6.  Actually kind of disappointing.  I thought I had a 6/6.

1. Swing Low Sweet Chariot :), D22.  The song came to me right away.  I wasn't sure if the song title was two words or four words.  I put four just to be safe, and it turns out that was it.

2. Avengers :(, D11.  I fell right into the trap.  Man!

3. Lilies :/, D21.  I assume many people will put just Lilies.   Hard to see how this pays, but you never know.

4. Heart of Darkness :), D32.  Read it in high school.

5. Holt :), D13.  Phew.  I was pretty sure he was the NBC (?) host.  I had no chance of naming the other two.

6. Hong Kong, Macau :), D00.  Gimme.

Kim Day 5

Early flight today. Maybe should have waited until later. 1/6

Vs Steiny LLL

1 :( Oh Happy Day D12
2 :( Once I got over the Avengers, I considered the days of the week as the most obvious septet and did not put it. Fail. D22
3 :( The muses. This is obvious. I need to learn some French. D21
4 :( No idea. D33
5 :) Holt. D00
6 :( Hong Kong, Taiwan. I thought of Macau and am going to attribute this one to still sleeping. D11

Ben day 4

3/6

1  :) Dwight Angela. Office gimme.

2 :) kgb. I didn't know the translation but had no other guess.

3 :( happenings. For some reason I thought the word had to be after the titles rather than before.

4 :( fumble. I muffed this one.

5 :( J. Not sure why he ruled out the back of the alphabet by saying it was before q. Lame. 

6 :( sporrin. I missed this news item.

brad day4

vs mirkin lll

2/6 common d

1) jenna, roy d2

no idea, didnt watch the show.  are these even character names?

2) kgb d0

gimme of the day

3) oil d3

no idea

4) tip d1

how is this even a real word?

5) j d2

process of elimination got me down to answer and o, and scrabble points were the tiebreaker

6) egg d1

cant believe i did not hear about this, this is amazing!

unless my math is off 3(2) / 3(3) tie

Jesse Day 4

3/6

1. The May 2013 finale of the American TV sitcom The Office featured the wedding of what two characters? (First names acceptable.)
Correct Answer: ANGELA (MARTIN), DWIGHT (SCHRUTE)
Your Answer: Dwight and Angela
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

I watched the whole series. 

2. The Committee of State Security in the Soviet Union, a political security agency and police force formed in 1954 and dissolved in 1992, was known by what initialism?
Correct Answer: KGB
Your Answer: KGB
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

It was the only answer I could think of. 

3. Sunrise, Sunset, and Midnight—These are three half-titles of films directed and co-written by Richard Linklater. What word completes the titles of these three films?
Correct Answer: BEFORE
Your Answer: Kingdom
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Shoot. I never saw any of these, but in retrospect have hear of them. 

4. Fill in this blank from Rule 3, Section 2, Article 6 of the 2018 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League: A _____ is the touching of a loose ball by a player in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain possession of it.
Correct Answer: MUFF
Your Answer: Incompletion
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

I didn't know muff was an official term!

5. What is the first letter of the alphabet that is not the first (or only) letter of a symbol on the periodic table of elements? It is one of only two such letters (the other is "Q").
Correct Answer: J
Your Answer: J
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I considered E, but I knew there was one named after Einstein. Got to J and couldn't think of any elements. This was a guess as I am not great with the periodic table. 

6. During a May 20 campaign event for the approaching European elections, the divisive British politician and Brexit party leader Nigel Farage was hit by protester Paul Crowther with what novel weapon? The weapon's name became Twitter's top trend in the U.K. by the end of the day.
Correct Answer: MILKSHAKE
Your Answer: Dildo
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1  

I did not catch this in the news. 

Brian I Day 4

6/6 (second of the young season!) against ShowalterA in LL, and Andy in LLL.  Felt good about all of these, but was only sure of 2 when I submitted. Andy, I assume that's you piping in with an anonymous one-liner of Einsteinium?  Thanks for posting.

1) Angela, Dwight.  Was a big Office fan, but couldn't remember the finale.  Considered Phyllis, but was pretty sure Michael had been at her wedding screwing things up, and he was gone for the final season, so this made the most sense. 2/2

2) KGB.  the only reason i wasn't sure about this is that it was too obvious, was worried it was GRU. 1/0

3) Before.    I remember it was a big deal when they made a sequel several years later, something about about Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy on a train?  Never saw any of them.  2/2

4) Muff.  A surprisingly difficult football question. I had no idea, this was all I could come up with, but I thought it had a chance, though I've only heard it in the sense of kick returning.  Didn't know it was in the rule book as an actual technical term.  3/3

5) J.  This one I was able to figure out, and I think it's very guessable just based on Scrabble points if you can elimate X and Z (though the D elements are suprisingly obscure). 1/1

6) milkshake.  Big news item, restaurants were stopping sales at campaign stops, though I worried it was custard, not milkshake. 0/1

Kim Day 4

Vs. MeyerE LL
Vs. FriedlandMJ LLL

3/6

1 :( Pam, Mitch. I am surprised I could even name one character that was on the show. I think she actually got married at some point? D still seems risky. D33

2 :) KGB D00

3 :) Before. I thought of Ethan Hawke immediately on Sunrise and was certain there was at least one other movie. D22

4 :( fumble. I knew this was wrong given the definition and date, but would not have come up with the right answer. D22

5 :) J. Immediately went with the other least common letter. Couldn't think of anything that might trip it. D11

6 :( Door knob. Really dumb guess. I knew shoe and egg weren't novel, but had no good ideas. D11

Pelc Day 4 vs Jesse (LLL)

Had a pretty good first week (including a 6/6 on Day 1). Was a pretty easy day today and really should have gotten a 6/6 but I rushed the sports question. Silver lining: given my success in sports questions, maybe I'll get a 9(5) in one of the leagues - I believe that would be a first for me. 

1. :) - Sitcom gimme. D1/2

2. :) - Cold War gimme. D0/0

3. :) - Movie gimme. These are all excellent films. D1/1

4. :) - Sports gi....shit. I barely thought about it and wrote fumble. Frustrating and dumb. D3/1 

5. :) - By no means do I know the periodic table by heart but J was a top candidate and I could vaguely identify an element for all the other possibilities I was considering - mainly vowels and high value Scrabble letters. D2/3

6. :) - Current 'events' gimme. D2/2

E was clearly wrong

Guys, 

It couldn't have been E because that is the answer to the trivia question:  What letter begins the only element with an LLL member's name in it?

Answer: Ein'steini'um

Steiny Day 4 LLL v. WeiszG

I really muffed this one in my quest to go 6/6

1. :) This came to me quickly (that's what she said) D21

2. :) Seemed almost too easy D00

3. :) I like his movies, although boyhood wasn't as amazing as I was hoping D22

4. :( I said tip...I thought there was a chance it could be wrong but I couldn't think of anything better...oh well D33

5. :) In my first cut I narrowed it to FPJ, and J seemed right to me D11

6. :) This picture was very much in the news recent;y D12

so close to 6/6...and if you told me there was a football related question I would have thought that would be the easiest!

Dave M day 4 v Belsky LLL

Unfortunately ‘the Blues’ didn’t pay on Friday and my 5/6 was only good enough for a draw. Today a middling 3/6 probably isn’t good enough against opponents strong in science, TV/film and current events.

 

1 : ( I spent a while on this guessing what the receptionists name would be assuming one half of the married couple would be Jim (which I think was the character played by John Krasinski) as that was the main romance on the British version, which I did watch. I was way off, I didn’t guess the Dwight character would ever be capable of romance. D02

2 : ) Seems like a history gimme but opponent strengths led me to give it a D21.

3 : ( I guessed cowboy. D13

4 : ( I was confident with fumble. I guess a ball isn’t strictly loose in a fumble. D20

5 : ) I narrowed down to D E J pretty quickly. J was a guess between the three as the ‘rarest’ letter. D12

6 : ) UK politics gimme. Milkshakes have been thrown over several far-right politicians and candidates the past few weeks. D31

Seif Day 4 vs. Ben (LLL)

4/6.  I'm quite happy with this, since I was pretty sure I had 3, pretty sure I didn't have 2, and was no more than "hopeful" on the last one.

1. John and Amy :(, D02.  I've never watched the Office, so I had no chance here.  Did Ben?  I think the answer is no, but I wasn't going to give him D3 on this just in case I'm wrong.

2. KGB :), D10.  Gimme-ish.  I can't think of anything else reasonable it could be.  One key was if you knew that the KGB was created post-WWII, but this was highly gettable either way.

3. Run :(, D22.  No clue.  Not even sure how hard this is.

4. Muff :), D23.  This was a gimme for me, but it's a pretty obscure football term for people who aren't big fans.  I think it's tough, and I doubt Ben can come up with it.

5. J :), D11.  This took 95% of my time today, and I kind of regret giving such a low D for it.  But I'm very happy to have gotten it, especially since I wasn't sure when I submitted.  I very quickly got down to D, E, and J.  After a lot of thought, I convinced myself that Eu was an element, though I wasn't certain and thought I might have just had the EU elections on my mind.  (I now see there are actually several elements whose symbols begin with E.)  That left D and J, and I couldn't think of any, leading me to believe that there was probably a newly named (#105+) element with one of those letters.  So, it was basically just a guess between the two, though I figured I had less than a 50/50 chance because there was still some chance in my mind that the answer was E.

6. Milkshake :), D31.  Gimme for me.  I laughed about this a lot last week.  Ben hasn't done great on these sorts of recent European politics questions recently, so we'll see if the D1 for him was a good idea of whether I should have gone higher.

Jesse Day 3

4/6

1. Denzel Washington has been nominated for an Academy Award for acting (Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor) a total of eight times. Name either of the two films for which he has won the award.
Correct Answer: GLORY, TRAINING DAY
Your Answer: Training Day
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I was positive on Training Day. Didn't bother trying to think of another.

2. The score sheet for what Milton Bradley game contains rows such as "Aces", "Twos", and "Threes" in its Upper section, and "3 of a Kind", "4 of a Kind", and the game's namesake in its Lower section?
Correct Answer: YAHTZEE
Your Answer: Uno
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

I have not played this since I was a kid, and I don't think I knew how to play it then. 

3. I hate to see the evening sun go down / I hate to see the evening sun go down / It makes me think I'm on my last go-round. These are the first three lines of what W.C. Handy song (as sung by Bessie Smith), whose title is also the name of a major professional sports franchise in the U.S.?
Correct Answer: ST. LOUIS BLUES
Your Answer: St. Louis Blues
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

I wrote down a lot of franchises before I arrived at the answer. 

4. After the independence declarations in 1991 and 1992 of Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, a new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed, consisting of what two remaining republics?
Correct Answer: MONTENEGRO, SERBIA
Your Answer: Serbia and Montenegro
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I know the Balkans. My company runs a trip there every year. 

5. What three-word Latin phrase, which first appeared in French as "je pense, donc je suis" in René Descartes Discours de la Méthode from 1637, appeared later in his 1644 book Principia Philosophiae ("Principles of Philosophy")?
Correct Answer: COGITO, ERGO SUM
Your Answer: I think therefor I am
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

I didn't know the latin, but was able to figure out the phrase. Oh well.

6. What dish from southern France, often consisting of baby anchovies and sardines eaten raw, has a name which is used for an unrelated—and very different—dish in Québec?
Correct Answer: POUTINE
Your Answer: Poutine
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Only French Canadian dish I could think of. I assumed this was wrong, otherwise I would have scored it lower. 

brad day 3

vs jesse lll

2/6

1) philadelphia d2/1

immediately thought of this and didnt reconsider

2) yahtzee d2/0

gimme, only reason for d2 is games by far opponents worse category

3) new york yankees d3/d3

ok this is gettable, was thinking would be obscure

4) yugoslavia, chechnya d1/1

nope

5) vote for pedro d1/2

i know french, but 0 latin

6) poutine d0/2

only dish that made sense to me

Brian Day 3 vs Ben in C, MeyerE in LLL

5/6, scratch that, 4/6. 

1) Training Day.  BEN CARR AIN'T GOT NOTHIN' ON ME!!!!   I feel like Ben would be familiar with Training Day, plus Glory was a Final Jeopardy answer earlier this week, so low defense for him.  1/2

2) Yahtzee.  A favorite childhood game, and now I use it to practice math with my kids. 1/1

3) Blues.  I wrote out every single professional sports team's name I could think of.  (Checking after submission, I only missed one NBA and two NHL teams, I'm very proud of myself. )  Initial pass narrowed my choices down to Heat, Magic, Lightning, Jazz, and Blues.  Then it was a choice between Jazz and Blues, and Blues seemed to fit the lyrics. A quicker method would have been to immediately think of which team is in the Stanley Cup finals.  I don't think Ben knows hockey. 3/3
(Just realized I'm not going to get credit for just Blues.  Kicking myself. All that work for nothing.)

4) Serbia, Montenegro.  Two days ago I was wiki-ing around and happened to read up on Yugoslavia.  I never knew there was temporarily a two-republic-only Yugoslavia, I thought they all split up and started killing each other at the same time.  Even without the refresher course, I think if I listed all the Balkan nations I had never heard of until the 1990s, I would have realized these two were missing from the question.  0/2

5) ergo ipso facto.  I think therefore I am, but I think I only know French, not Latin, except for therefore, ergo my wrong answer.  2/1

6) poutine.  Can't believe this was correct.  Complete wild guess based on poutine being the only Canadian food I know of, a light night staple after too many Molsons and Labatt's  in Montreal on a college road trip.  I thought I had a slight chance given that poutine sounds like piscine, and fish were in the French dish. Not happy with the D2 in retrospect, would have flipped it with Denzel.  2/0

Eked out a 4(4)-3(3) over Ben despite sloppiness on the song.

Gideon Day 3

1 :) D2/3 Glory
2 :) D3/2 Yahtzee!
3 :| D1/2 The Blues - I don’t think this is going to get it.
4 :) D0/1 Serbia, Montenegro
5 :) D1/1 Cogito Ergo Sum
6 :) D2/0 Poutine - A couple weeks ago I had a very delicious, indulgent poutine at Duckfat in Portland, ME. The Belgian fries were fried in duck fat, with a duck gravy, a slow cooked duck confit and a sunny side up duck egg on top.

Dave M day 3 vs Jesse again (LL) and Carr (LLL)

I think I may have my first 6/6 in several seasons. I’ll score 5.5 for now.

 

1 : ) For some reason I remember that Denzel Washington got an Oscar for Training Day. It was around the same time there were all those articles about him being difficult to work with and an all around jerk. D22

2 : ) I’ve never actually played the game but couldn’t think of any other MB games with a score sheet, and I’ve played most of the others. Plus the described rows looked like they could easily relate to a game where you throw several dice. D11

3 : | I didn’t think to put down the city name and just went with ‘the Blues’. This was a shot in the dark. I was also thinking about Suns and Heat but the song sounded blues-y, and I thought the genre had to be named after something, so it may as well be this song. My guess is this pays. D33

4 : ) Geography gimme. D01

5 : ) I remember seeing the phrase Cogito Ergo Sum when reading, and looking up its meaning. D22

6 : ) A random guess of the only Quebecois food I’m familiar with. D10

Ben Day 3 v Brian and Mirkin

3/6.

 

1 :( Philadelphia. I knew Hanks won best actor. Thought Denzel might have snuck best supporting. I thought about Flight for which he was nominated but did not win. D12

2 :) Yahtzee. D01

3 :( Miami Heat. The names sounded too country to be about Florida, but I prefered Miami Heat to my runners up Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans. D22

4 :) Serbia and Montenegro. Maybe Brian misses this? Mirkin certainly doesn't D20

5 :( Pentus Ergo Existus. Pretty hard to translate 'I think therefore I am' into latin when you don't know Latin. I tried. D33

6 :) poutine. Not hard when you only know one Quebecois food. D11

Kim Day 3

3/6. LLL vs Ari

1 :) Training Day. I debated whether or not he won for The Hurricane for awhile but thankfully decided to just avoid it. D00
2 :) Yahtzee. I assume this is very easy, but will see. D11
3 :( Suns. I think I went through 60 teams before stopping at the too neats Suns. Didn't consider that I needed the city. Seems obvious now. D11
4 :) Serbia, Montenegro D32
5 :( e pluribuis unum. Well, the Latin at least made me realize what the French said. D23
6 :( nicoise. As in salad. Apparently I only know the Quebec version. D22

Steiny Day 3 v. Andy in LLL

Good luck Andy...I will be at TIC tomorrow btw

1. :( I could think of a lot of movies, but I was deciding between Philadelphia (for which I was pretty sure tom hanks won) and fences (for which I thought viola davis won) but I couldn't imagine another movie he had won for.  I was wrong D11

2. :) Gimme...love me some yahtzee D01

3. :( Nope, had no chance on this one, I said rangers d32

4. :) Wasn't sure if Kosovo fit in here, but serbia and montenegro sounded like such a good answer I went with it d10

5. :( Went with the WEst Wing: Post hoc ergo Propter hoc despite it being more than three words d23

6. :) The only quebecois food I know! d22

Seif Day 3

4/6.  Good set of questions for me.  I'm really hoping to avoid a third straight bad beat in LLL, but at least my regular LL season has gotten off to a good start.

1. Training Day :), D11.  I remember all the controversy of Denzel Washington not winning for Hurricane and then winning this the following year.  I didn't know he'd won a Supporting Actor award until I read this question.  I think I could have come up with Glory for it, but luckily I didn't have to try.

2. Yahtzee :), D31.  I was playing this with my older daughter a few months ago.  Otherwise, I'm very uncertain I would have gotten this.

3. Stars :(, D23.  Do I get partial credit for getting the sport right?

4. Serbia, Montenegro :), D20.  Gimme, especially since it eventually changed its name from Yugoslavia to Serbia and Montenegro.

5. Penset ergo sum :(, D12.  I knew exactly what the question was talking about, I just had no idea what the first word was.  Too bad.

6. Poutine :), D02.  I've never heard of the French dish, but this was the only Quebec dish I could think of, so it was poutine or bust.

Gideon Day 2

1 :( D2/2 The Great Spot - I could feel something was slightly off.
2 :( D3/3 guessed wrong
3 :| D2/1 Rothchild
4 :) D1/1 Iberian
5 :) D1/2 Real Numbers
6 :) D0/0 Ivory Coast

Jesse day 2

5/6.. Still slammed at work.

1. The largest storm system on Jupiter (and in the entire solar system), which rotates once every six days and is large enough to contain three Earths, is best known by what straightforward three-word name?
Correct Answer: GREAT RED SPOT
Your Answer: Great red spot
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

2. The authors of the children's books Possum Magic and The Slave Dancer, the founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers), and a popular anthropomorphic Roald Dahl character all share what last name?
Correct Answer: FOX
Your Answer: Fox
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

3. Father Mayer and sons Nathan and James led the Frankfurt, London, and Paris branches (respectively) of what banking family, likely the wealthiest and most famous of the 19th century?
Correct Answer: ROTHSCHILD
Your Answer: Rothschild
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

4. The territorial extent of the historical region known as al-Andalus varied over time during the roughly 800 years of its existence that effectively ended in 1492, but it was always confined to what peninsula?
Correct Answer: IBERIA
Your Answer: Iberian
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

5. What term is most often used to refer to all numbers that can be represented on the number line? The complete set includes all natural numbers, whole numbers, integers, rational numbers, and irrational numbers.
Correct Answer: REAL NUMBERS
Your Answer: Full set
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

6. What African country is named after a product that was effectively banned from international commercial trade in 1989?
Correct Answer: CÔTE D'IVOIRE/IVORY COAST
Your Answer: Ivory Coast
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

Brian Day 2 vs Seif in private

Question for Jesse from yesterday: Was Sunnydale (artichoke) a Buffy reference?  Nice.

6/6 today, and I probably need it to beat Dave. I think most of these are gimmes for him.  A few more Jewish-adjacent questions today helped me out.

1) Great Red Spot.  I hesitated a bit here, was worried it might be big, not great, but felt pretty confident.  1/2

2) Fox.  Got this from Dahl's Fantastic Mister Fox, it's on my daughter's bookshelf, was the only option I had.  Might be the only question Dave misses today. 2/3

3) Rothschild.  Mayer=Jewish.  So a famous wealthy Jewish banking family in the 1800s... probably secretly the masterminds behind the global financial system... PULLING THE STRINGS OF NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD TO ENGINEER THE COLONIALIST ZIONIST ENTERPRISE?!?!?!?!?? Must be the Rothschilds. 2/1

4) Iberian.  1492 = Columbus, what peninsula did Columbus claim for Spain?  That doesn't make sense in 1492.  But al-Andalus sounds Muslim... ah, yes, the Jews (them again!) were getting kicked out of Spain at this time, the Muslims probably were too.  800 years sounds about right for the expansion of Islam across north Africa and into Spain.  3/2

5) Real. Math gimme.  0/1

6) Ivory Coast .  I remember when the ban on coasts went into effect.  1/0

Reading the blog.... Sorry Dave, two bad beats to start the LLL season.

Steiny Day 2 v. EMeyer in LLL

1. :( No idea on this one, I said "Gigantic PLanetary Hurricane".  Now that I see it, I have heard that phrase before, but never, in a million Jupiterean cycles, would have come up with that one D33

2. :) Just went through my Roald Dahl books until I got a last name that sounded plausible D11

3. :) First talmud, then jerusalem artichokes, now rothschild! it's a conspiracy! D11

4. :) 1492 and Al-Andalus gave this away d22

5. :( No idea, so I said "full set" but seeing real numbers makes me think this was easier than I thought D22

6. :) Listed countries in Africa and this was obvious once I thought of it D00

Dave M day 2 v Jesse LLL

Well, a disappointing 3/6 today, should have done better and suspect a big loss to Jesse.

 

1 : ( I went with Big Red Dot, having forgotten the exact name but remembering the general idea. I’m 99% that’s not close enough to get marked correct. D21

2 : ( D and some serious stupidity will kill me here. I went with Penn after having spent 5 minutes wondering what the last name of ‘Mr Fox’ was in the book. I deserve to lose from this. D33

3 : ) Could only be de Rothschild. D22

4 : ) I have travelled to Seville and Cordoba, which was the center of al-Andalus. Some seriously impressive historic buildings dating to the time, especially the former mosque (now cathedral) at Cordoba which fit 15,000 people inside, not bad for the middle ages. D11

5 : ( I approached this from the wrong direction and put down n. D12

6 : ) Both opponents strong in geography so I expect both will get Cote d’Ivoire. D00

brad day 2

vs kim lll

4/6 ... thought d was particularly tough to assign today

1) six day storm d3/d3

was pretty sure was going to bang my head against the wall after seeing answer, more so with d3

2) loompa d1/2

nope

3) rothschild d0/0

jewish + banking gimme

4) iberian d2/1

the year was the clue for me here, didnt know this but knew a lot going on in that part of the world then

5) real numbers d2/2

just knew this

6) cote d'ivoire d1/1

spent some time trying to think of a country called blood diamond, then thought of this and everything clicked

Kim Day 2

vs Brad LLL
2/6 (one more than yesterday!), common d

1 :( Big Weekly Storm. No idea. d3
2 :( Quinn d2
3 :( Baring d2
4 :) Iberian d1
5 :( linear d1
6 :) Cote d'Ivoire d0

Ben day 2 v random and will

5.5 today.

1 :| I wrote big red spot as opposed to Great Red Spot. I don't think I should get credit but he's paid worse. D22. 

2 :) Fox. Men Fox is the premier children's author in australia so this was easy. D12. 

3 :) Rothschild. Those crazy kids. D11.

4 :) Iberian. I was all about Central America but could only think of Yucatán peninsula and the hard 1492 date seemed early for the Europeans to be totally wiping things out. Then I saw Andalusia in the name and went Iberian. D21.

5 :) real. Gimme for me. D33.

6 :) Ivory Coast. D00. 

Seif Day 2 vs. Brian (LLL)

5/6 today once again.  This has been a strong start for me this season (my terrible loss to Steiny in LLL yesterday notwithstanding).  Unlike yesterday, where I needed a lot of luck to get 5/6, today the questions played right to my strengths.  Actually, I feel like I really should have had all six.

1. Great Red Spot :), D21.  Not quite a gimme because I wasn't sure what the first word was.  I've always just referred to it as the "red spot," so I considered putting down giant instead of great.  Phew!

2. Wolf :(, D13.  So gettable.  I'm a bit annoyed I missed this.  I've read many of Dahl's books, but not the relevant one here.  So, as soon as I thought of an animal that was also a common last name, I put it down and didn't think about it anymore.

3. Rothschild :), D21.  Gimme.

4. Iberian Peninsula :), D12.  I'm curious as to how hard people will find this.  The key for me was remembering that Ferdinand and Isabella completed their reconquest of Spain the same year that Columbus sailed.  Even without this, Andalus sounds enough like Andalusia to be a big clue.

5. Real numbers :), D30.  Gimme.  D3 because my LL opponent's worst category is math.

6. Ivory Coast :), D02.  Gimme.  Maybe I shouldn't have given Brian D2 here.  I'm kind of regretting it.

Gideon Day 1 LL81 vs Brad (and Carrbenite SilvermanA)

4/6 today. Welcome back everyone!

1 :) D0/0 Talmud
2 :) D1/1 Fishing
3 :) D2/2 Starry Night
4 :( D3/1 Urbana-Champain
5 :( D1/3 It Doesn’t Matter - I’ve heard this song, but I forgot the line. I guess like my brother.
6 :) D2/2 Jerusalem

My prediction for this season: there will be an Akihito/Naruhito question. Consider yourselves warned.

Jesse Day 1

3/6 I was in a rush today so didn't give these much thought.

1. The Mishnah and the Gemara are the two components of what central text in Rabbinic literature?
Correct Answer: TALMUD
Your Answer: Talmud
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

I went to hebrew after school and this was the first thing I thought of. 

2. Plugs, spoons, jigs, spinners, and bugs are all related items used during what outdoor activity?
Correct Answer: FISHING
Your Answer: Fishing
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

Debated whether to put Fly fishing. Decided fishing encapsulated fly fishing. Glad I wasn't over specific. 

3. A view to the east from the asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence—a stylized scene prominently featuring a cypress tree with the village center in the background. This actually describes several post-impressionist paintings, but of those, the one that is by far the most famous has what title?
Correct Answer: THE STARRY NIGHT
Your Answer: The Starry Night
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

First thing that popped into my head. Wasn't sure if it was Starry Night, A Starry Night, or The Starry Night. Guessed right, not that I think it would matter. 

4. What city, created from the consolidation of its two namesake towns in 1913, is the most populous in the United States whose common name contains a hyphen? Its minor league baseball team is the Dash, in (slightly inaccurate) reference to the symbol.
Correct Answer: WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA
Your Answer: Wilkes-Barre
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Ohhh, not sure I would have gotten there. Once I had Wilkes-Barre in my head I was ready to call it a day.  

5. How much money you got? How many problems you got? How many people done doubted you? What is rapper 21 Savage's answer to these and many other questions, from the lyrics (and title) of his recently released song?
Correct Answer: A LOT
Your Answer: Don't matter
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Never heard the song. My version seems a little more modest. 

6. The culinary vegetable known as the sunchoke, sunroot, or topinambour, is also known as an "artichoke" that is named after what city (though it is neither an artichoke nor related to the city in any way)?
Correct Answer: JERUSALEM
Your Answer: Sunnydale
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3  

This was so gettable. I think if I had thought about this longer I would get it. This will kill me on D!

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Jesse Weisz Executive Director, GEEO Teacher Travel Programs Phone: 1-877-600-0105 Email: jesse@geeo.org Website: www.geeo.org Address: 700 East Main Street, Norristown, PA 19401

Kim Day 1

First time doing 2 sets of defense, but I think I need to work more on getting some answers right. 1/6

1. :( Nope 3/1
2. :) Fishing 1/1
3. :( Nope 2/3
4. :( Minneapolis-St. Paul 0/0
5. :( A million 1/2
6. :( Mumbai 2/2

Steiny Day 1 v. Seif in LLL

Welcome back y'all

Spoiler alert: I beat Seif 8(5) - 7(5), it all came down to defense

1. :) This is about as gimme as you get for this group D10

2. :( I wrote rock climbing and felt really good about it having just watched free solo I convinced myself he had used all these terms D33

3. :) I don;t know much about art in general, but what i learned in Art Humanities in College has come in such handy.  Plus, this one is really famous D22

4. :) Having been a big ACC fan when growing up, and Maryland was still in it, this was gettable.  IN fact, my original instincts were Minneapolis St. Paul and Raleigh Durham but I didn't think either had a hyphen and raleigh durham got me to winston-salem D11

5. :) Pretty much a guess.  I went back and forth between A lot and Tons, because they both fit grammatically, and fortunately chose a lot D02

6. :) Also fairly easy D21

Brad day1

2/6 with some poor guesses, although i suspect will not make a difference in either match

vs Gideon

1) talmud d2/1

simple jewish q, think it plays tough otherwise

2) gardening d1/2

my 8 year old self knew this (about the last time i did this)

3) water lillies d2/1

just a bad guess, figured might not be obscure and had no idea, but could have done much better than this

4) wilkes-barre d3/d2

thought this had a chance

5) none d1/3

nope

6) jerusalem d0/0

food gimme?

Brian Day 1 vs Will

an inauspicous start to the season. 2/6

1) Talmud.  A gimme for the LLL, and while my opponents name is iffy, he lives in NYC and went to U Michigan.  0/0

2) Fishing.  Have only been twice, but spinners rang a bell.  1/1

3) le dejeuner.  Had Starry Night written down as a WAG, but then i pictured people eating lunch on a hill... There's a reason this is my worst category.  1/2

4) Wilkes-Barre.  Took me forever to come up with even one hyphenated city, and I stopped thinking once I thought of this.  2/1

5) Enough.   No idea. 3/3

6) Bombay.  Never heard of Jerusalem artichoke.  2/2

Jewish

Good thing I'm Jewish; it accounts for the only two questions I got right today.

Dave M day 1

Good to be back! A disappointing 2/6 to get things going, hopefully things improve shortly.

 

1 : ) Think this will be a common get here somehow. D10

2 : ( Like Ben I tossed up between fishing and sailing but went with sailing. D12

3 : ( I also went to Van Gogh and really should have thought of Starry Night. But I didn’t and instead put down Sunflowers which was the only other outdoors painting of his I could think of. D22

4 : ( I love these type of questions and it is obvious now I’ve seen the answer. I went with Wilkes-Barre. D31

5 : ( I tossed up between Seif and Carr’s answers – I don’t care and millions. Went with millions. D23

6 : ) I also only know of this vegetable as a Jerusalem Artichoke, so made sense straight away. D01

Ben Day 1 v rando and Jesse

4/6. Hard to D against someone who has only played for one season. Talmud made for very different D in public and private.

1 :) Talmud. Opening day question for the tribe. D30

2 :) Fishing. Pleased with this. tossing up between this and sailing took me a long time. Long enough to correct my answer to Q3! D12

3 :) Starry night. I figured it was a Van Gogh because of the asylum, and Starry night just fit. I couldn't name many others anyway. Daffodils? self portrait? Shout out to Don McLean. D21

4 :( Mineapolis-St Paul. I suppose this doesn't actually have a hyphen? D01

5 :( I don't care. Both my answer and my feeling toward the answer. D13

6 :) Jerusalem. I knew them by this name first. D22

Seif Day 1 vs. Steiny (LLL)

Good to be back.  Welcome, everyone!

5/6.  One of my most satisfying days ever, and a good start.

1. Talmud :), D20.  Gimme.  My LL opponent has an Armenian last name, so I'm hoping this is not so easy for her.

2. Fishing :), D21.  Quite a coincidence that questions about fishing equipment came up for some of us just yesterday.  But I think I would have gotten this either way.

3. Starry Night :), D03.  This is way out of my wheelhouse.  I got it only because my wife and I spent a good chunk of our honeymoon in St. Remy, and I remember it from then.  Otherwise, I'd have had no chance.

4. Winston-Salem :), D12.  Very happy to get this.  It took my far the majority of my time.  It took me a while to think of it, but then it took me much longer to convince myself that there wasn't another hyphenated city I wasn't thinking of.

5. Millions :(, D32.  Nope!

6. Jerusalem :), D11.  Two questions at least tangentially related to Israel in one day?  Keep 'em coming!  I've heard of Jerusalem artichokes plenty of times.  They're on plenty of menus, etc.