Dave M day 25

A final 4/6 to probably lose today and therefore relegation for the season. Brian goes up to A, I go down to C, Carr sticks around in B. See you all after the holidays!

 

1 : ) Mexicali. Came to me straightaway. D11

2 : ( Protector of the Faith. Close but not quite correct. D22

3 : ) Conveyor Belt. I moved to the UK when Yo Sushi was in its pomp. D10

4 : ) Glaze. This is one of the better Gen Z coinages, I find it very evocative. D01

5 : ( Westward Ho. This is a great question and I feel like I might have landed on the answer if I'd thought about it harder. D33

6 : ) Salt n Pepa. Looks like this hit the sweet spot of timing for most of us! D22

Brian Day 25

 5/6 to put season 107 in the books.  For all my early season woes this ended up being one of my better seasons and in the promotion zone  heading into today, primed for relegation next season.   

SeifD is a point out of first in our inappropriately named private rundle, good luck today. 

I encourage you three surviving bloggers to sample some one-days and mini-leagues in the offseason.

Happy New Year!!!!

1) Mexicali 1/2  portmanteau made this easy

2) Defender of the Faith 3/2  I was worried this was from Game of Thrones

3) conveyor belt 1/1  surprised it hadn't been around in the West longer

4) glaze 2/0  Don't glaze me, bro.   Being a parent helped a lot this season

5) Steel the Plow  2/3  i wasn't thinking along those lines at all, the WJB connection rings a bell

6) Salt N Pepa  0/1  just a slight gimme for me

David S Day 25

 5/6 to end the season. 

1. Mexicali :), D22. Cute question. Took me a minute and didn’t actually realize there was the opposite American city on the other side. But portmanteau made it clear enough. 
2. Defender of the faith :), D21. Gimmeish. 
3. Conveyor belt :), D11. I’ve eaten at one before. 
4. Glaze :), D12. Wasn’t sure, but seemed like a good guess. 
5. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz :), D33. Kind of annoyed that “wonderful” is evidently not required for this to be correct. Never would have given a D33 had I known. 
6. TLC :(, D00. Well, I’ve actually heard of the answer. I guess I had a chance at this. 

Happy holidays and a great offseason to all!

Marcus LL107 Match Day 25 -- Confirmation

Well done Brian for yesterday you were a worthy winner,  5 today which I was pleased with.

Happy holidays I shall miss you all 

Player: BrowningM

1. Two opposing border towns, which sit approximately 125 miles (200km) east of San Diego, are distinctive for their portmanteau (and sort of reciprocal) names. Identify either of these cities.
Correct Answer: CALEXICO, MEXICALI
Your Answer: tijuana
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Nah

2. What four-word title (with two of the words being "of the") was bestowed on Henry VIII by Pope Leo X, as a reward for the King's written opposition to the teachings of Martin Luther, and is still held by the British monarch today?
Correct Answer: DEFENDER OF THE FAITH
Your Answer: defender of the faith
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Every British kid learns this at school

3. YO! Sushi, founded in 1997 in London's Soho district, introduced many Western diners to a concept invented in Osaka in 1958 by Yoshiaki Shiraishi called kaiten-zushi, which involves the serving of sushi using what device?
Correct Answer: (ROTATING) CONVEYOR BELT
Your Answer: conveyor belt
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Not been for ages 

4. What word used in oil painting and pottery for a particular substance (or the use of that substance) is today a Gen Z slang term for giving praise to an excessive and cringeworthy degree?
Correct Answer: GLAZE
Your Answer: glazing
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Worked this one out.

5. The American farmer, the American factory worker, and William Jennings Bryan (the last more loosely) are represented by a set of characters in a populist and bimetallist interpretation of what 1900 novel and its many stage and film adaptations?
Correct Answer: THE (WONDERFUL) WIZARD OF OZ
Your Answer: wizard of oz
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

I took a long time on this 

6. With DJ Dee Dee "Spinderella" Roper, rappers Cheryl James and Sandy Denton seasoned the pop charts in the late 1980s and 1990s under what name?
Correct Answer: SALT-N-PEPA
Your Answer: salt n' pepa
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

My era and a rare pop get but the clue made it easy

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Brian Day 24 vs Marcus (LLL)

 5/6  on what I think will be a tough day for Marcus so I'm saying there's a chance... Yep, a rare off day for Marcus.    Btw, I haven't been paying attention until today but there's a dogfight for first in LLL which might come down to the last day (though Pelcovitz might have clinched today)

1) Pablo Picasso 0/1  Should be the gimme of the day, even for me.  As someone pointing out interesting facts said, it's very weird to think that Picasso was alive to hear Led Zeppelin

2) G Rated 1/1  Was having trouble until I got to Midnight Cowboy, which made this a gimme

3) Bayer 3/0  I've heard of Bayer Munich and hoped that's what the question was referring to somehow.   (Ha!   Turns out it was Bayern Munich and I just got lucky)

4) Shein 2/2  Gimme if you have teen girls

5) Holstein 1/2  Ah, orange and white.  Nice clue, wish I saw it.

6) Scooby Doo 2/3 I think this is the third wild ass guess I can't believe I hit this season.  Absolutely no idea, 1969 sounded right for Shaggy and the VW bus,  and I thought "Strangers in the Night" could be a Scooby episode title.  No idea what the connection here is, does Sinatra scat during the song?   And why did everyone get this?

Dave M day 24 v Carr LLL

5/6 yesterday was indeed a losing score as I thought. I reckon I have a better chance with 4/6 today.

 

1 : ) Pablo Picasso. Obvious answer for a famous Hispanic artist alive at that time. D12

2 : ( Character runs away. I was not even in the right area. Figured Midnight Cowboy the character ran towards New York? D13

3 : ) Bayer. If you know football you know it. I don't think my LL opponent will (Ben probably does though). D31

4 : ) Shein. It was that or Temu, and adding it to the first gives you "She Inside" which suddenly makes sense as to the origin of the name. D00

5 : ( Buffalo. I started with Longhorn and switched at the last minute as I figured it wasn't "now-flourishing" but should have stuck to my guns. Those are the UT colors and, now I remember, Bevo is the name of the UT mascot…

6 : ) Scooby Doo. I don't know how the link works exactly but the timing lined up OK for Scooby Doo. D22

David S Day 24

 Back down to earth with a 3/6. 

1. Pablo Picasso :), D10. Almost got tripped up by what strikes me as bad wording because I thought the first and last name had to be the same. Once I realized that wasn’t the case, gimme. 
2. Rated G :), D13. I might have gotten this without the Midnight Cowboy clue. But I knew that was X, so that made the answer clear. 
3. Siemens :(, D21. No in here for me. 
4. Temu :(, D32. No idea. Never heard of this company. 
5. Buffalo :(, D21. Seemed too easy.
6. Scooby Doo :), D02. No idea, but this was an obvious guess I think. 

Marcus LL107 Match Day 24 -- Confirmation

I got pourboy yesterday. 3 or 4 today with another I'm not sure about.

Player: BrowningM

1. [REDACTED] Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruiz y [REDACTED]. What are the first and last names redacted from the preceding name, of the individual who became, in celebration of his 90th birthday in 1971, the first living artist to receive a special honour exhibition at the Grand Gallery of the Louvre Museum?
Correct Answer: PABLO PICASSO
Your Answer: pablo picasso
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

Gimme 

2. What is the most notable distinction shared by the Best Picture Oscar nominees Toy Story 3, Babe, Beauty and the Beast, Sounder, Fiddler on the Roof, Airport, Hello, Dolly!, and Oliver! (the only winner in this list)? It's a distinction they share with no other nominees, and a distinction to which nominee (and winner) Midnight Cowboy stands alone in a direct contrast.
Correct Answer: RATED G
Your Answer: U certificate, midnight cowboy was an X
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

U is the rating in Britain, obviously I got the sense of this but not sure if I will get the point.

3. The city of Leverkusen, which sits on the Rhine between Cologne and Düsseldorf, is home to the champions of the German Bundesliga from the 2023-24 season, and is also (relatedly) the headquarters of what multinational corporate giant?
Correct Answer: BAYER
Your Answer: Bayer
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Football gimme 

4. Identify the fast fashion e-commerce platform that was founded in Nanjing, China, in 2008 as ZZKKO, and took its current name in 2015 after dropping the letters "side" from the end of an intermediate name it had adopted in 2011?
Correct Answer: SHEIN
Your Answer: pass
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Nah

5. What now-flourishing bovid was saved from near extinction by the U.S. Forest Service in 1927, about a decade after a burnt-orange-and-white specimen named "Bevo" drew widespread attention to the breed?
Correct Answer: TEXAS LONGHORN
Your Answer: pass
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I didn't have a scooby

6. Frank Sinatra's 1966 recording of "Strangers in the Night" inspired the name of what title character from an animated series that premiered three years later?
Correct Answer: SCOOBY DOO
Your Answer: scooby do
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I did have a Scooby…

Brian Day 23

 Six pack on a fun day

1) Macbeth 3/2  mormaer sounded vaguely Irish or Scottish, which greatly narrowed down the candidates. 

2) po'boy 1/1 Didn't know the origin but this was pretty much a gimme from the description.  Marcus, I give you the point.  Not sure Thorsten will.  

3) Time Machine 2/1  Had to be

4) Mallorca 0/3   I assumed it translated to major, and seeing the alternative spelling I think that's right.

5) Mamdani 2/0  Can't wait 'til this douchebag takes over.  Should be awesome.

6) Tsunami 1/2   A well-phrased question

Brian Day 22

 Late post from yesterday 2/6  and yet won both my matches, including a 5(2)-3(3) in Avalon B

Haven't watched Price is Right since the 80s, didn't know Brisbane, wish New Haven was mentioned for Union Station, went with Fox Networks.  But got 3 theatre points for knowing Petrushka dolls, and Woolworth's got me 2 points for a NYC gimme.

Dave M day 23

5/6, close to another 6/6 with just the HG Wells question wrong – I went for Outer Space. Was pleased when the concept of Mamdani came to me in Q5. I figure a v easy set of questions today so tough to defend and 5 may not be good enough for a win. Let's see.

David S Day 23

 Six pack today. 

1. Macbeth :). D00. Easy if you’re even remotely familiar with the play. 
2. Po Boy :), D11. This seems so obvious in retrospect, but this was by far the hardest for me. Finally came to me. 
3. Time Machine :), D13. I haven’t read any Jules Verne, but I’m familiar with plenty of his books’ titles. 
4. Mallorca :), D21. Gimme. 
5. Mamdani :), D22. If you don’t have anything nice to say, say nothing at all. 
6. Tsunami :), D32. Didn’t see how this could be anything else. 

Marcus, I doubt that will pay. But who knows?

Marcus LL107 Match Day 23 -- Confirmation

Hopefully 6

Player: BrowningM

1. What legend of history and drama, mormaer of Moray, became king after slaying Duncan I in battle near Elgin in 1040, before his defeat and death at the hands of Duncan's son in 1057?
Correct Answer: MACBETH
Your Answer: Macbeth
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Gimme for Brits for sure 

2. A popular sandwich was reportedly invented in New Orleans in 1929 by restaurant owners and former streetcar workers Bennie and Clovis Martin, who served it free of charge to striking streetcar workers who were low on funds. What name is used for this sandwich (influenced by the strikers themselves)?
Correct Answer: PO' BOY
Your Answer: pourboy
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Is this gonna play ?

3. An 1895 novel by H.G. Wells introduced (and in fact used in its title) a term that later became commonplace in science fiction and fantasy. Identify this two-word term.
Correct Answer: TIME MACHINE
Your Answer: time machine
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

There was an almost identical question about the lost world a while back.

4. What is the fitting name of the largest island in the archipelago known as the Balearic Islands?
Correct Answer: MALLORCA/MAJORCA
Your Answer: majorca
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Been there many times

5. The Ugandan academic and commentator who is currently a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University in New York, and is known for his influential post-9/11 book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, has the first name of Mahmood. What is his last name—a name which has emerged from relative obscurity in the past year?
Correct Answer: MAMDANI
Your Answer: Mamdani
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Worked it out fro the clue 

6. The Japanese characters 津波 refer to what natural phenomenon, which is often preceded by an event known as a "withdrawal" or "drawdown"?
Correct Answer: TSUNAMI
Your Answer: tsunami
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

Gimme 

Dave M day 22

A 6 pack today which will help with an increasingly forlorn attempt to stay in Rundle B this season.

 

1 : ) The Price is Right. I have a vision of Drew Carey saying this which was enough to guess Price is Right. D12

2 : ) Brisbane. I think I read an article saying the expense may cause it to be moved to Melbourne/Sydney? But that wobble seems to have passed. D22

3 : ) Union Station. I know Chicago LA and DC have these and figured the absence of NYC was the giveaway. D01

4 : ) 21^st Century Fox. The toughest part of the day – 20^th or 21^st? D20

5 : ) Puppets. I knew Guignol is a puppet. D33

6 : ) Woolworths. Skyscraper history. D11

David S Day 22

 4/6 with a question I hate.

1. The price is right :), D10. Central piece of American culture. 
2. Brisbane :), D32. I remember reading about this. I have to admit I forgot about Melbourne and was a bit thrown by the “third.”
3. Union Station :), D11. I’ve never heard of the singer or band, but I knew the names of the stations. I debated whether it was just Union or should include station and went with the latter since station was not mentioned in the question. 
4. 20th Century Fox :(, D01. I hate this. One was the company and one was the studio, and I think it’s ridiculous to only count one of them. 
5. Swords :(, D23. Nope!
6. Woolworth :), D22. I’m pretty familiar with NYC buildings. 

Marcus LL107 Match Day 22 -- Confirmation

4 today 

Player: BrowningM

1. "Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered." For decades, these sentences have been the sign-off that concludes episodes of what game show?
Correct Answer: THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Your Answer: pass
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Not easy for a Brit 

2. In July 2021, what sun-drenched city was awarded hosting rights for the 2032 Summer Olympics, becoming the third city in its country to host the Summer Games?
Correct Answer: BRISBANE
Your Answer: Brisbane
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Have to know 

3. The name of the band that bluegrass impresario Alison Krauss joined in 1987 at age 16 is shared by transportation facilities in Chicago, Toronto, Washington, Los Angeles, and many other cities. What is that name?
Correct Answer: UNION STATION
Your Answer: pass
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Not my thing 

4. The Walt Disney Company made two especially notable acquisitions in the 2010s: the 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, and the 2019 completion of a $71.3 billion transaction involving key assets from another media and entertainment giant, which itself had spun off from News Corporation in 2013. Give the precise name of this latter acquisition target (as the name appeared in its logo) at the time of the deal.
Correct Answer: 21ST CENTURY FOX
Your Answer: 21st century fox
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

The 20/21 issue gave me pause for thought 

5. Japanese Bunraku, French Guignol, Russian Petrushka, Indonesian Wayang, and Turkish Karagöz are all theatre traditions that are distinctive for their use of what props?
Correct Answer: PUPPETS
Your Answer: puppets
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

Gimme

6. The Manhattan skyscraper that stood as the world's tallest from 1913, when it surpassed the Met Life Tower, until 1930, when it was overtaken by 40 Wall Street, was built as the 60-story headquarters of what retail store chain?
Correct Answer: F. W. WOOLWORTH COMPANY
Your Answer: woolworths
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I lived in NY for a year back in the day

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Brian Day 21

 4/6  Happy Chanukah everyone!

1) Large hadron collider  1/2  gimme if you know it, impossible if you don't

2) sideline reporter 0/1 Pam Oliver was my favorite

3) Waterworld 1/0  actually not a bad movie

4) Strait of Hormuz 2/1  A straitforward question

5) Laos 3/3 no idea

6) alfa romero 2/2 lamborghini made the short list, but not short enough

Dave M day 21 v Marcus

Marcus I could indeed have gotten all 6, but only managed 4, with you getting the second matchup victory this season.

 

All were really simple so I thought, except for the NFL presenter question, where I guessed Talking Heads but Sideline Reporter did cross my mind. The other one, in a true brain fart moment, I travelled across the Arabian Peninsula and for some reason wrote down Bab el Mandab instead of Straits of Hormuz.

David S Day 21

 Day 21

Solid 5/6 and just barely missed a 6-pack. 

1. LHC :), D23. Well within my wheelhouse. 
2. Sideline reporter :), D22. Gimme. 
3. Waterworld :), D02. I remember it well. 
4. Hormuz :), D31. As gimme as it gets. 
5. Singapore :), D10. Also a gimme. 
6. Ferrari :(, D11. Too bad. I recognized the Italian but didn’t have anything more to go on than that. 

Marcus LL107 Match Day 21 -- Confirmation

5 again and didn't have a clue how to defend Dave M as I thought he may know em all

Player: BrowningM

1. In 2007, CERN scientists near Geneva cooled a sector of their particle accelerator to 1.9 K (−456°F), colder than outer space at 2.7 K. What is the name or three-letter abbreviation of this accelerator, where the Higgs boson was discovered in 2012?
Correct Answer: LARGE HADRON COLLIDER/LHC
Your Answer: LHC
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Easy if you know

2. On nationally televised broadcasts of NFL games in the 2025 season, Tracy Wolfson, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi, Melissa Stark, Lisa Salters, and Pam Oliver all hold the same position. What is the standard, two-word title commonly used across all networks (and most commonly overall) for this role, which is believed to have been first officially designated to ABC's Jim Lampley and Don Tollefson in 1974?
Correct Answer: SIDELINE REPORTER
Your Answer: pass
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Nah

3. What 1995 movie earned the nicknames "Fishtar" and "Kevin's Gate" due to its troubled production and record-breaking $175 million budget?
Correct Answer: WATERWORLD
Your Answer: Waterwold
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Gimme for people my age 

4. Sailing from the Gulf of Oman into the Persian Gulf, around the extreme northern tip of Oman, ships pass through what strait?
Correct Answer: STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Your Answer: Hormuz
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Gimme

5. After forming the People's Action Party in 1954, Lee Kuan Yew served from 1959 to 1990 as Prime Minister of what country (first as a component state, and from 1965 as a fully independent republic)?
Correct Answer: SINGAPORE
Your Answer: Singapore
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I've been to Singapore many times

6. What carmaker, whose eponymous founder was born under the zodiac sign Taurus, has named many of its models after famous fighting bulls, including Murciélago, Aventador, Diablo, and Huracán?
Correct Answer: LAMBORGHINI
Your Answer: Lamborghini
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0


Gimme

Brian Day 20

 5/6 as i lost the coin flip on the sixth.  

1) Vantablack 3/3  no idea this was an acronym portmanteau, but I'm familiar with it

2) HBO 1/1 marketing imbeciles

3) Breaking Dawn 1/2 Never seen but familiar enough from the zeitgeist at the time of the movies

4) Christie's 2/1  lost the coin flip

5) allspice 0/0  Started with jerk because of Jamaican but had to be allspice from the rest of the description 

6) Dreamt 2/2  Popped immediately into my head from unique ending.

David S Day 20 vs. Marcus (LLL)

 4/6 despite the questions really not being in my wheelhouse, meaning they are pretty easy. Not in Marcus’s wheelhouse either, but he still looks to have beaten me.

1. Blacknight :(, D33. No clue at all. Hopefully this is as obscure as I think it is. Otherwise, this is pretty terrible D. 
2. HBO :), D22. Lol. Love this question. 
3. Angel :(, D12. Wasn’t going to get this. 
4. Sotheby’s :), D20. Didn’t know this, but the most obvious guess was right. 
5. Allspice :), D01. The blend clue made it pretty clear. Otherwise never would have known. 
6. Dreamt :), D11. Key day for within-question clues. The (almost) uniqueness made it clear. 

Marcus LL107 Match Day 20 -- Confirmation

5 today which I think will be enough to beat Seif

Player: BrowningM

1. What is the acronymic-portmanteau name for the coating developed by Surrey NanoSystems in 2014 that created what was dubbed the "world's darkest color"? This substance is composed of vertically aligned nanotube arrays that absorb up to 99.965% of visible light.
Correct Answer: VANTABLACK
Your Answer: vanta black
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Was big in the news here at the time

2. In this branding timeline, what single name is redacted? \ \ [REDACTED] Go (2010-2020) -> [REDACTED] Now (2015-2020) -> [REDACTED] Max (2020-2023) -> Max (2023-2025)-> [REDACTED] Max (2025-present).
Correct Answer: HBO
Your Answer: pokemon
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Impossible for me 

3. The 2005 novel Twilight is the first novel in the four-novel vampire romance series written by American author Stephenie Meyer, and gives the series its name. Give the name of any one of the other three books in this series, released one per year beginning in 2006?
Correct Answer: NEW MOON, ECLIPSE, BREAKING DAWN
Your Answer: new moon
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Seif didn't have a teenage daughter  so I'll be surprised if he knows this

4. What auction house, founded in London as a book auctioneer in 1744, became the first major international firm of its kind to be American-owned when purchased by shopping mall magnate A. Alfred Taubman in 1983?
Correct Answer: SOTHEBY'S
Your Answer: sotherby's
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

Gimme

5. What familiar name for a spice common in Middle Eastern and Jamaican cuisine (which is also known as pimento, myrtle pepper, or Jamaica pepper, and which is not actually a blend) refers to its flavor, resembling cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg combined?
Correct Answer: ALLSPICE
Your Answer: allspice
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

My wife has Jamaican heritage 

6. "I [BLANK] I Dwelt in Marble Halls" and "I [BLANK] We Spoke Again". What word, whose ending is unique in the English language (or very nearly so), is redacted from these song titles?
Correct Answer: DREAMT
Your Answer: dreamt
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Annoying enya warble 

Brian Day 19

 First six pack of the season. First in two seasons, actually.

1) Queen of Hearts 0/1  Didn't realize Alice was that early, but still a gimme

2) Staten Island 2/0  Ask me Staten Island's county, I don't know it, but phrase it this way and it's a gimme

3) Proto Indo European 3/3  I knew Indo-European, proto was the second P-word to come to mind and made sense. 

4) helium 1/2  Off again on my years, would have thought it was isolated on Earth earlier, but it's literally named after the sun

5) Oppenheimer 1/1  Felt pretty sure that was Downey's character

6) Nemo 2/2  A nautical Nautilus gimme.  I've heard of Point Nemo so there was no chance of falling into the Fogg trap

Dave M day 19 v Pelc LLL

Another 4/6 – easier questions today so don't think that will be good enough for the win.

 

1 : ) Queen of Hearts. Was pleased to get this, it took a while. Head chopping was presumably the link between the characters. D22

2 : ) Staten Island. I learnt this on a tour of NYC once. Both competitors are NYers so D00

3 : ) Proto Indo-European. Straightforward I think. D11

4 : ) Helium. Hydrogen or Helium if it was the sun, and Helium made sense with the timing. D22

5 : ( JFK. Great question, but I got trapped into thinking it was at the beginning of a biopic's time period not the end. D11

6 : ( Fogg. Had no idea with this one but guessed it might be Jules Verne-related. D33

David S Day 19

 4/6. 

1. Queen of hearts :), D12. The date of the book got me there. 
2. Staten Island :), D10. Gimme for me, but may play hard. 
3. Primary Indo European :(, D33. So close…
4. Helium :), D21. Only two choices, and I just couldn’t imagine it took this long to discover hydrogen. 
5. Oppenheimer :), D01. Love this question. I spent a while on it but figured it had to be this. 
6. Fogg :(, D22. Now that I see the answer I remember!

Marcus LL107 Match Day 19 -- Confirmation

Looks  like they may have made all the questions easier after the first half stats cos today was the easiest 6 I ever got .

Player: BrowningM

1. Elizabeth, the wife of Henry VII of England, and the biblical Judith are among the possible inspirations for what suited, two-dimensional figure, who was also a character in an 1865 children's novel?
Correct Answer: QUEEN OF HEARTS
Your Answer: the queen of hearts
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

Gimme 

2. New York's Richmond County is coextensive with an area better known by what name?
Correct Answer: STATEN ISLAND
Your Answer: staten island
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Easy if you know anything about NY 

3. Albanian, Ukrainian, Irish, English, Greek, Hindi, Persian, French, Icelandic, and Katë are all languages descended from a reconstructed language known as PIE. What do the letters in PIE stand for?
Correct Answer: PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN
Your Answer: proto indo european
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

I guess you have to know it 

4. In 1868, French astronomer Pierre Janssen and English astronomer Norman Lockyer independently discovered what element on the Sun, long before it was isolated on Earth 27 years later?
Correct Answer: HELIUM
Your Answer: helium
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Chemistry gimme 

5. A U.S. Senate aide, who prepares Lewis Strauss for his confirmation hearing in 1959 as Secretary of Commerce under President Eisenhower, is purportedly the only invented character in what critically acclaimed and award-winning biopic?
Correct Answer: OPPENHEIMER
Your Answer: oppenheimer
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Very guessable 

6. The "oceanic pole of inaccessibility", the spot on the earth farthest from any land (often nearer to astronauts on the ISS than to any humans on the earth's surface), is a Point named fittingly after a character from 1870s adventure novels who traveled in a submarine for a distance two times Earth's circumference. What is his name?
Correct Answer: NEMO
Your Answer: nemo
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Nice clue but very easy 

Brian Day 18 vs Ben (LLL)

5/6 

1) Indonesia 1/0  Jakarta is sinking, didn't even need the Dutch connection

2) Raglan 2/2  Knew was wrong, raglan refers to the sleeves, but no idea

3) Yellowstone 1/1  Jaune = yellow.   But I think the first Nat'l Park is well-known as well.

4) Magnificent Seven 0/1  Gimme in this group

5) set 3/3  Knew there had to be a clue in the question, took me all day to figure it out, and even then I had no confidence. But if it wasn't 'set' or 'break' a Guinness record, I didn't see how else you could answer this.  A classic Thorsten question, though you had to dig a little deeper.

6) SNL 2/2  Well-written question, lots of clues here, but I still think a bit difficult.

Dave M day 18 v David S LLL and Carr LL

4/6 today and I won't trouble David S for the win. I was very confident he'd know all about Henley. I thought the SNL question was hard.

 

1 : ) Indonesia. I understand the move has drastically slowed down with the new president. D10

2 : ) Henley. Simple English geography/clothing Q or so I thought. D11

3 : ) Yellowstone. Got there from the French. D22

4 : ) Magnificent 7. Finance gimme. D01

5 : ( Lay. Set would have been obvious if I'd thought of it. D22

6 : ( RNB. Assumed it was a genre, not a TV show. D33

David S Day 19 vs. Dave M (LLL)

 5/6, and today strikes me again as pretty easy. 

1. Indonesia :), D20. Was pretty sure it was Indonesia before I saw the Dutch part. Gimme with that. Sure gimme for Dave M. 
2. Oxford :(, D23. Spent some time on this, but I actually had no chance. 
3. Yellowstone :), D11. Many ways to get this, but roche jaune means yellow rock (or stone) in French, so that might be how most people get it. 
4. Magnificent 7 :), D31. One - finance gimme. Two - if Michael Hartnett can get his name into a question, maybe I can, too. New life goal unlocked!
5. Set :), D12. Set having the most meanings is a great trivia fact I’ve known for a long time. 
6. SNL :), D02. Second question of the day that comes straight from the forecasting contest (shameless promotion). If anyone wants to play, the entry form is:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTCBRTlTqx0da5u64Al_qKhNCj8yvRjqWWFQuZ6PkCbqIkqQ/viewform

Marcus LL107 Match Day 18 -- Confirmation

Player: BrowningM

5 today with a couple of good ones

1. In 2024, what Southeast Asian country officially began moving some government functions to its future new capital Nusantara, starting the transition away from the city which has served as capital since its independence in 1945 (and prior to that during its Japanese occupation and Dutch colonial period)?
Correct Answer: INDONESIA
Your Answer: indonesia
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

The Dutch and the Japanese got it for me not the city 

2. What town on the River Thames in England, home to the Royal Regatta, lent its name to the collarless shirt with a short buttoned placket that provided ideal ventilation for rowers? Today it's a menswear staple as a casual T-shirt alternative, undershirt, or layering piece.
Correct Answer: HENLEY
Your Answer: henley
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Been there many times 

3. French fur traders in the late 1700s encountered a river they called Roche Jaune. This river eventually gave its name to a roughly 3,500-square-mile region of the U.S. that was formally designated in 1872 as the first of its kind in the world. What is this area named?
Correct Answer: YELLOWSTONE (NATIONAL PARK)
Your Answer: yellowstone
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

Gimme ?

4. In 2023, Bank of America analyst Michael Hartnett coined what phrase, derived from a classic 1960 Western, to refer collectively to the influential tech stocks with the ticker symbols AMZN, AAPL, GOOG, META, MSFT, NVDA, and TSLA?
Correct Answer: MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Your Answer: magnificent 7
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Gimme for finance folk 

5. "To ornament (metal or other surface) by inlaying or encrusting it with stones or gems" is one of the many definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary for what word, which had a Guinness-record 430 separate definitions in the OED's 1989 version?
Correct Answer: SET
Your Answer: set
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Took ages to work this out 

6. Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of [BLANK] Music is a documentary directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Oz Rodriguez that premiered on NBC in January 2025. What three letters fill in the blank?
Correct Answer: SNL
Your Answer: pass
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

No clue

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Brian Day 17

 4/6 with four gimmes and 2 no way in hells

1) zulu 3/3 assumed it was African and I had no shot

2) venezuela 0/0 current events gimme

3) south beach 1/1  

4) Gilligan''s Island 2/2  The professor and Mary Anne.   I only gave D2 by default, but based on your responses I'm glad I did

5) NIkon 2/2 never heard of the answer

6) Isaac 1/1  Star Wars, not to mention Dune. 

Dave M day 17

4/6 today which I feel should have been 5 – looks like a common issue so far today!

 

1 : ( Xhosa. I initially thought "huh that looks like a Polynesian word" but NZ Maori has 10 consonant/consonant like letter combos. Of course it has 8 actual consonants. D22

2 : ) Venezuela. A current affairs gimme surely. D10

3 : ) South Beach Diet. This question seems especially easy? Maybe I'm focused on diet too much. D01

4 : ( The love boat. I knew it was one of the 60s/70s sitcoms on NZ TV during the day, but couldn't remember which. D33

5 : ) Leica. Got it quickly from the last name. D11

6 : ) Isaac. I saw Frankenstein only this last weekend. D22

Marcus LL107 Match Day 17 -- Confirmation

4 with some more questionable defence as well

Player: BrowningM

1. A glottal stop known as ʻokina is one of the eight consonants in the alphabet of what language?
Correct Answer: HAWAIIAN
Your Answer: Malay
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

I didn't have a clue but maybe I should have been able to guess 

2. Edmundo González claimed victory against Nicolás Maduro and was subsequently recognized by the United States as having received the most votes in the disputed 2024 presidential election in what country?
Correct Answer: VENEZUELA
Your Answer: Venuzuela
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Gimme

3. A bestselling book that first appeared on the New York Times Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous list in 2003 was written by cardiologist Arthur Agatston, who described a diet he created with nutritionist Marie Almon while they worked at Greater Miami's Mount Sinai Medical Center. What name did they give this diet (and book), taken from a fashionable neighborhood near Agatston's practice?
Correct Answer: THE SOUTH BEACH DIET
Your Answer: south beach
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Took me a few mins

4. In the original version of the theme song for what sitcom, the lyrics referred to five of the show's main characters by name or role, while lumping the other two (a Ph.D. and a farm girl from Kansas) into "and the rest". It was changed to mention all seven in season two and onward.
Correct Answer: GILLIGAN'S ISLAND
Your Answer: big bang theory
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

PhD was all i was clinging to

5. A company founded by Ernst Leitz in Germany in 1869 released the first widely available 35mm camera in 1925, helping to popularize street photography and the 35mm format. This revolutionary camera established what prestigious brand name, by which the company itself is now known?
Correct Answer: LEICA
Your Answer: leica
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Not many alternatives

6. Duke Leto Atreides, Poe Dameron, Dante Alighieri, and Victor Frankenstein are among the characters portrayed on film by what Guatemala-born actor?
Correct Answer: OSCAR ISAAC
Your Answer: oscar isaac
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

I knew from dune Star Wars and Frankenstein 

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David S Day 17

 4/6 on a day that felt very easy and where I committed the cardinal sin of changing a correct answer that was my first guess to an incorrect answer. 

1. Hawaiian :), D22. Eight consonants made me think of this instantly. Given that I have no great language skill, that makes me think others will, too. 
2. Venezuela :), D10. Anyone paying even remote attention to the news should get this. 
3. South Beach Diet :), D02. The description made this very clear, though I didn’t know until this question the origin of the name. 
4. The Big Bang Theory :(, D31. I changed the right answer to a wrong one here. What was I thinking? Is this my first season of playing Learned League?!
5. Leica :), D23. Absolutely the only high end German-sounding camera company I can name. 
6. Bardem :(, D11. I never could have come up with Isaac. Proud of myself for at least remembering Bardem was in Dune.  

Brian Day 16

 5/6  heading into the Midseason classic tomorrow.  Don't forget the Midseason Classic!!!  And Yale vs Montana State football!!!

1) Grenada 3/3 Gimme if you read the newspaper cover to cover in the 80s.   How do kids learn anything these days?  I think this is not well-known if you weren't alive for it.

2) Lyre 2/1  First olden days guitar-like instrument to pop into my head, and it worked with lyric or lyrical.  Turns out I was picturing a lute, but I'll take it

3) Whale 1/1  Cetacean = whales and dolphins, i took "-largest" as a clue for whale

4) Euclid 0/2  Was deciding between Euclid and Pythagoreas until I re-read the q a final time before flipping a coin and noticed there were multiple books; had to be Elements

5) Ivanhoe 2/2 No chance, considered a few joke answers before settling on one with Ivan in the title

6) Ledecky 1/0  Immediately popped into my head, I didn't think about it any further.

 

David S Day 16

 3/6

1. Grenada :), D00. Gimme for me. Curious how hard people will find this. 
2. Sonnet :(, D11. Got tricked by the question, but I’d never have gotten there. 
3. Bear :(, D32. No idea. 
4. Euclid :), D22. Seemed like the clear best guess. 
5. Anna Karenina :(, D23. I had nothing here. I have heard of Gogol but couldn’t name any of his books. 
6. Ledecky :), D11. Only female swimmer I could name, so it was Ledecky or bust!

Marcus LL107 Match Day 16 -- Confirmation

I've been losing on defence recently but that won't happen today with my first 6 pack for a while 

Player: BrowningM

1. In 1983, following a coup and the formation of a Marxist Revolutionary Military Council, a brief U.S. military intervention prevented the junta from consolidating power in what Caribbean island nation?
Correct Answer: GRENADA
Your Answer: Grenada
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

I remember it well

2. What ancient musical instrument, after which a type of formal poetry is named, consists of a resonator or sound box and two upright arms joined by a crossbar, with gut strings (as many as 12) that are stretched vertically between the resonator and the crossbar and plucked with a plectrum?
Correct Answer: LYRE
Your Answer: Lyre
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I do love a lyrical ballad or 2

3. Lying mostly south of the celestial equator, the relatively faint but fourth-largest constellation Cetus is also known by what animal name?
Correct Answer: WHALE
Your Answer: Whale
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Cetacean …

4. Pons asinorum ("bridge of asses") is a nickname given to the fifth proposition—that the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal—in the first book by what mathematician?
Correct Answer: EUCLID
Your Answer: Euclid
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

Elements 

5. On February 24, 1852, during an episode of mental instability, Russian author Nikolai Gogol burned the presumably completed manuscript for the Part II of what novel, before his death just over one week later?
Correct Answer: DEAD SOULS
Your Answer: Dead Souls
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

I like my Dante and his imitators 

6. At age 13, at July 2010's Potomac Valley Championships held at the University of Maryland, she finished second behind 17-year-old Kaitlin Pawlowicz in the 1500m freestyle (in a race some eyewitnesses say she lost because her cap came off mid-race). It remains today the last time she failed to win at that distance in any competition. Name this athlete.
Correct Answer: KATIE LEDECKY
Your Answer: Ledecky
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

The only modern female swimmer I can name 

David S Addendum

Frustrating because I got the clue for nine and even knew (or thought I knew) the name of the Salinger book but still got it wrong. 

Brian Day 15

 4/6

1) Rock wheat 2/3   have heard of durum, but no chance, and def overdefended

2) Mandate 0/0  I wonder what ever happened to the Mandate of Palestine? 

3) Kennesaw Mountain 3/2  Kennesaw Mountain Landis, first commissioner of baseball

4) Nine Stories 2/2  No idea but I sensed a Thorsten clue in "three tales...along with six others" and got lucky.  Seif, same for you but you chose tales instead of stories, or you knew it cold and wrote the wrong answer?

5) Michigan 1/1  no idea.  Three of us guessed this?   

6) Flux 1/1  I would have had it from the physics clue if I spent some time on it (I was also thrown off by substance as Dave was), but time travel gave it to me immediately

Dave M day 15

3/6 today when I was expecting a 4 and maybe 5, frustrating.

 

1 : ) Durum. Simple food q. D00

2 : ) Mandate. Simple history Q for us people. D22

3 : ( Stone Mountain. Surprised to get this wrong. I have looked Stone Mountain up before after seeing it on approach to ATL and it is certainly controversial, so was sure it was correct. D21

4 : ( Short Stories. I had no idea. D33

5 : ( Michigan. At least it was close. I figured Motown might feature here. D12

6 : ) Flux. Simple film Q. D11

 

Marcus LL107 Match Day 15 -- Confirmation

4 today vs Ben LLL , I am easy to defend so let's see.

Player: BrowningM

1. The appropriately named common wheat accounts for about 95% of global wheat production. In second place is what hard variety, milled to make semolina flour and the source for nearly all commercially produced pasta?
Correct Answer: DURUM
Your Answer: Durum
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0
 Gimme 
2. What was the name used for the form of international trusteeship devised by the League of Nations to administer former German and Ottoman colonies after World War I? By the end of WWII, some territories had achieved independence, with notable exceptions including Namibia and Palestine.
Correct Answer: MANDATE
Your Answer: Mandate system
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I'm not sure how well known this is but I am decent at history 

3. The name of the highest peak in suburban Atlanta is notable in its relation to the name of Major League Baseball's controversial first Commissioner. What is that peak's name?
Correct Answer: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN
Your Answer: pass
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Not a clue 

4. "A Perfect Day for Bananafish", "For Esmé—With Love and Squalor", and "Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes" are three tales that, along with six others, make up a 1953 J.D. Salinger collection published with what two-word name?
Correct Answer: NINE STORIES
Your Answer: Nine Stories
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

Read em

5. What state produced musical acts including Devo, The O'Jays, Nine Inch Nails, and Guided By Voices, as well as (perhaps in a more readily apparent sense) the bubblegum band who released "Yummy Yummy Yummy" and "Chewy Chewy" in 1968, and the funk band that had hits in the 1970s with "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster"?
Correct Answer: OHIO
Your Answer: michigan
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

Oh well

6. In physics, it's the flow of a substance through a surface; in metallurgy, an additive that promotes the flow of molten metal and removes impurities; and in a certain film series, something or other to do with time travel, apparently. What four-letter word is this?
Correct Answer: FLUX
Your Answer: flux
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

Fun question 

David S Day 15

Deeply frustrating 2/6 where I was very close on three more. 

1. Spelt :(, D10. I really didn’t have any doubt this was right. Too bad. 
2. Mandate :), D22. Only gimme of the day for me. 
3. Landis :(, D33. I actually knew the last name of the first MLB commissioner, but I now see the mountain is the same as his FIRST name. I had no shot at that. 
4. Nine Tales :(, D21. Almost too frustrated to finish this blog post. 
5. Washington :(, D02. I thought a lot of bands came from Washington. But not these I guess. 
6. Flux :), D11. Figured this was all it could be. But I really dislike the word “substance” in the question, which threw me off. Flux in physics is most often EM-related, so it’s not a substance.