Jesse Day 16

6/6!

1. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage garnered the most votes in the by-election held on August 13, 2026, to represent the constituency of Clacton in the UK Parliament. What candidate came in second?
Correct Answer: COUNT BINFACE
Your Answer: Binface
Points Assigned: 1

This was a great story to follow. Should play easy. 

2. The golden age of cattle drives and the open range in the U.S. frontier began right after the Civil War in 1866 and hit its steep decline by the mid-1880s, a decline accelerated by Joseph Glidden's 1874 patent for what product, which was nicknamed "the devil's rope"?
Correct Answer: BARBED WIRE
Your Answer: Barbed wire
Points Assigned: 0

Gimmie? 

3. Lee J. Cobb, George C. Scott, Dustin Hoffman, Brian Dennehy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Wendell Pierce, and Nathan Lane have all played the title role on Broadway in what 1949 play, which won the Tony Award for Best Play that year and the Tony for Best Revival of a Play four times (1984, 1999, 2012, and 2026)?
Correct Answer: DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Your Answer: Death of a Salesman
Points Assigned: 2

Total guess, as I know nothing about theatre, but I could picture all of those men in that role. 

4. What 1994 film was made for roughly $27,000 in production costs, and shot primarily in the Leonardo, New Jersey convenience store where its filmmaker worked?
Correct Answer: CLERKS
Your Answer: Clerks
Points Assigned: 2

This was right in my sweet spot as I grew up in NJ and was an aspiring filmmaker in high school when it came out. 

5. In 1930, a baker for the Continental Baking Company outside Chicago named James Alexander Dewar, in seeking a use for the company's shortcake pans when strawberries weren't in season, invented what food, which moved away from its original banana-flavored filling due to shortages during World War II?
Correct Answer: TWINKIES
Your Answer: Twinkie
Points Assigned: 1

Shortcake with a different filling. It just made sense.

6. With over 8 million copies sold in the U.S. alone, what artist's 1976 double live album, though containing previously released tracks, sold substantially more units than all of the artist's other releases (before and after) combined?
Correct Answer: PETER FRAMPTON
Your Answer: Peter Frampton
Points Assigned: 3

I knew Frampton Comes Alive was incredibly popular. I had it on vinyl. 

Brian Day 16

 5/6

1) Starmer 2/3  Knew it was a joke candidate but I never learned his name

2) Barbed wire 1/1 I knew this, maybe from the 1883 Yellowstone prequel?

3) Death of a Salesman 2/2  I remember the Dennehy ads

4) Clerks 0/0   I wasn't even supposed to be here today!   Right in my wheelhouse

5) Twinkies 1/1 Made the most sense

6) Frampton 3/2  Do you feel like we do?   Right in my classic rock wheelhouse

Marcus LL110 Match Day 16 -- Confirmation

Only 3 today 

Player: BrowningM

1. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage garnered the most votes in the by-election held on August 13, 2026, to represent the constituency of Clacton in the UK Parliament. What candidate came in second?
Correct Answer: COUNT BINFACE
Your Answer: count binface
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

gimme for a brit but v lazy defence 

2. The golden age of cattle drives and the open range in the U.S. frontier began right after the Civil War in 1866 and hit its steep decline by the mid-1880s, a decline accelerated by Joseph Glidden's 1874 patent for what product, which was nicknamed "the devil's rope"?
Correct Answer: BARBED WIRE
Your Answer: barbed wire
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

seemed obvious 

3. Lee J. Cobb, George C. Scott, Dustin Hoffman, Brian Dennehy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Wendell Pierce, and Nathan Lane have all played the title role on Broadway in what 1949 play, which won the Tony Award for Best Play that year and the Tony for Best Revival of a Play four times (1984, 1999, 2012, and 2026)?
Correct Answer: DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Your Answer: death of a salesman
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

not sure how easy this is

4. What 1994 film was made for roughly $27,000 in production costs, and shot primarily in the Leonardo, New Jersey convenience store where its filmmaker worked?
Correct Answer: CLERKS
Your Answer: blair witch project
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

never heard of it

5. In 1930, a baker for the Continental Baking Company outside Chicago named James Alexander Dewar, in seeking a use for the company's shortcake pans when strawberries weren't in season, invented what food, which moved away from its original banana-flavored filling due to shortages during World War II?
Correct Answer: TWINKIES
Your Answer: tootsy roll
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

should have got this 

6. With over 8 million copies sold in the U.S. alone, what artist's 1976 double live album, though containing previously released tracks, sold substantially more units than all of the artist's other releases (before and after) combined?
Correct Answer: PETER FRAMPTON
Your Answer: the who
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

v hard 

Dave M day 16

Traveling next few days so posting may be disrupted. 3/6 today - Binface, Barbed Wire and Clerks. I was confident the baked good was Cinnamon Rolls and the other two I really had no idea.

David S Day 16

5/6 today despite it not really being a super friendly day for me. 

1. Count Binface :), D01. I’m guessing this will play hard for most Americans. But I follow UK politics closely enough for this.
2. Barbed wire :), D11. Spent by far the most time on this question. I just couldn’t think of anything else it could reasonably be other than electrified wire, which seemed unlikely to be a big thing in the plains well over a century ago. 
3. Death of a Salesman :), D22. Well aware Nathan Lane is starring in it now. 
4. Clerks :), D22. Saw this many times growing up. 
5. Twinkie :), D10. Had to be! I didn’t realize Twinkies were once banana flavored. Sounds gross. 
6. Mercury :(, D33. I had nothing here at all.

marcus LL110 Match Day 15 -- Confirmation

drunk on the train back from the cricket at lords but did the quiz sober 

1. Named for Alexander of Aphrodisias, who described it around 200 CE, "Alexander's band" is the noticeably dark strip that appears between a primary and secondary example of what phenomenon, such as viewed by a weeping and joyful Paul "Bear" Vasquez in a viral video from 2010?
Correct Answer: RAINBOW
Your Answer: rainbow
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

toyed with aurora , wasn’t confident 

2. A ratio approximately equal to 1:1.618 appears in certain natural growth patterns, has long been associated with harmonious proportion in art and architecture, and has been argued by scholars to appear in works ranging from the Parthenon to Leonardo's Vitruvian Man. This is best known as what "Ratio"?
Correct Answer: GOLDEN RATIO
Your Answer: golden
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

fibonacci gimme

3. In July 1917, in the midst of anti-German sentiment during World War I, "Saxe-Coburg and Gotha" was changed by official proclamation to what new name?
Correct Answer: WINDSOR
Your Answer: windsor
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

gimme for any brit 

4. In 2024, Sabrina Carpenter was named global ambassador for what premium professional hair-care brand, which is now owned by the L'Oréal Group and was founded in 1960 by hair-care pioneer Jheri Redding and business partner Paula Kent?
Correct Answer: REDKEN
Your Answer: pass
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

hmm

5. What is the last name of the British naval officer and polar explorer who achieved the historic feat of locating the North Magnetic Pole in 1831? Thanks to his later missions, his name is all over Antarctica, including the world's largest ice shelf, one of the continent's major seas, an enormous Southern Ocean gyre, and an island that is home to the active volcano Mount Erebus.
Correct Answer: (JAMES CLARK) ROSS
Your Answer: ross
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

ross ice shelf 

6. What character was created in 1939 by Robert L. May, a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store, which distributed millions of copies of a promotional children's booklet featuring the character before May's brother-in-law (songwriter Johnny Marks) wrote a song about him and Gene Autry made him a household name?
Correct Answer: RUDOLPH (THE RED-NOSED REINDEER)
Your Answer: rudolph the red nosed reindeer
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

a guess 

David S Day 15

 4/6 today. 

1. Rainbow :), D12. Not sure how I knew this, but I was pretty certain. 
2. Golden :), D03. Math gimme. 
3. Windsor :), D12. Also a gimme. 
4. Kerastase :(, D30. Had no idea and hadn’t heard of Redken. But right after submitting and before writing this, I got into the shower and saw a tube of my wife’s Redken shampoo. That’s frustrating. 
5. Ross :), D21. Got it from the Antarctic clue. 
6. Puff the Magic Dragon :(, D21. Oh, very gettable. I was pretty sure this was a Peter, Paul, and Mary song, but I had nothing else. 

Dave M day 15

Another 5/6 dragging myself back into the middle of B slowly.

1 : ) Rainbow. This was a guess but I couldn’t think of anything else that fit. I figured it may be an astronomical event so happy it was a bit simpler. D22

2 : ) Golden. Simple-ish math question I reckon. D12

3 : ) Windsor. Does this play hard or easy? Knowledge of the British royals can be hit or miss in the US. D21

4 : ) Redken. Answer in the clue, gimme. D00

5 : ) Ross. Looms pretty large in NZ life - NZ’s Antarctica base in on Ross Island (next to the US base) and NZ’s worst aviation disaster was a sightseeing flight flying into the very same island. D33

6 : ( Popeye. I didn’t really know where to start. Figures it’s a Christmas character. D11

Jesse Day 14

5/6

1. "Signor Leone, I have just had the chance to see your film. It is a very fine film, but it is my film." This is a quote from a letter sent from Akira Kurosawa to Sergio Leone, in reference to the latter's unofficial spaghetti western remake of the former's 1961 samurai film. Name either of these two films.
Correct Answer: A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, YOJIMBO
Your Answer: A Fistful of Dollars
Points Assigned: 0

I studied this is film school, but could not quite remember the particulars. I knew it wasn't Seven Samurai, which was the Magnificent Seven, and not a Leone film. I figured A Fistful of Dollars was the best bet as it was the first in the trilogy. 

2. What standard color of modern printing is named after a battlefield in northern Italy, from the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859? It was originally named fuchsine and is indeed similar to the color fuchsia.
Correct Answer: MAGENTA
Your Answer: Magenta
Points Assigned: 2

Lucky guess! I thought of purple shades, and Magenta didn't seem to be flower-based.

3. The Pyramid Stage, and also arguably vast quantities of mud, are trademarks of the music festival originally called the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival in 1970, and now named after what nearby market town in the southwest of England?
Correct Answer: GLASTONBURY
Your Answer: Glastonberry
Points Assigned: 1

I knew Isle of Wight was named after the whole Island, so Glastonbury was the next thing to come to my mind. 

4. Simone de Beauvoir's famous line "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman" opens Volume II of her 1949 book on gender roles as a learned social construct rather than biological destiny. The book's title labels women as The [BLANK] Sex. What word fills the blank?
Correct Answer: SECOND
Your Answer: Second
Points Assigned: 2

I had heard of this somewhere, but this was still a guess.

5. What word, used for the SI unit of illuminance (defined as one lumen of luminous flux incident on one square meter), is coincidentally also the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for a European nation?
Correct Answer: LUX
Your Answer: Lux
Points Assigned: 1

Luxembourg came to me quickly. 

6. While its product line today spans handbags, leather goods, shoes, accessories, watches, jewelry, and fragrances, what eponymous luxury brand built its early reputation in the 1850s with its innovative flat-topped stackable trunks that revolutionized long-distance travel at the time?
Correct Answer: LOUIS VUITTON
Your Answer: Dior
Points Assigned: 3

I have not listened to any of the Acquired episodes on luxury brands such as LVMH and Hermes. Darn. Listening to the Formula 1 episode now. Amazing podcast if you don't listen already. 

Brian Day 14 vs Ben (CLL)

 4/6 but not the ones I thought

1) The Magnificent Seven 1/1 Gimme.. wait what?    Never heard of this fact

2) Magenta 0/0  Okay, this is a gimme

3) Glastonbury 2/2  This popped into my head as I was about to submit, did not think it was correct

4) Fairer 3/3  never heard of this

5) Lux 1/1  gimme once I went through every single country three times before finally remembering which one I left out

6) Louis Vutton  2/2  I walked by their building in Manhattan last month and the outside looks like luggage.   Very cool.

David S Day 14

 4/6. I was very confident on two and felt like I had solid guesses on the other four. 

1. Seven Samurai :(, D02. Really thought I might get this even though I know nothing about film from this era. Too bad. 
2. Magenta :), D21. Sounded Italian, and also the only other word for purple I could think of. 
3. Penzance :(, D23. For me, the question was just name a town in SW England and hope for the best. 
4. Second :), D32. I learned this in French class. Glad I hadn’t forgotten. 
5. Lux :), D10. Only thing it could be given the country clue. 
6. Louis Vuitton :), D11. Seemed like the best guess. I worried it would be YSL or something I didn’t think of, but a big one clearly named after a person seemed like the way to maximize the odds. 

Dave M day 14

Another 5/6 today

1 : ) A fistful of dollars. The only spaghetti western I’ve watched. I figured it would be wrong as I had misread the question and assumed the western was from 1961 when AFOD was a few years later. D21

2 : ) Magenta. Simple printing question. D00

3 : ) Glastonbury. Figure it plays tough in US, although in the news this week in the Dolly Parton obituaries as the most popular act ever at the Pyramid Stage. D23

4 : ( Weaker. Nope. D32

5 : ) Lux. In a different time in my career I would travel to LUX airport to visit the European Investment Bank. D12

6 : ) Louis Vuitton. I figure this plays easy. D11

Marcus LL110 Match Day 14 -- Confirmation

5 yet again 

Player: BrowningM

1. "Signor Leone, I have just had the chance to see your film. It is a very fine film, but it is my film." This is a quote from a letter sent from Akira Kurosawa to Sergio Leone, in reference to the latter's unofficial spaghetti western remake of the former's 1961 samurai film. Name either of these two films.
Correct Answer: A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, YOJIMBO
Your Answer: magnifcent 7
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

i thought the “obvious” answer could be wrong and my second guess would have been the good the bad and the ugly so i had no chance 

2. What standard color of modern printing is named after a battlefield in northern Italy, from the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859? It was originally named fuchsine and is indeed similar to the color fuchsia.
Correct Answer: MAGENTA
Your Answer: magenta
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

RGB model 

3. The Pyramid Stage, and also arguably vast quantities of mud, are trademarks of the music festival originally called the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival in 1970, and now named after what nearby market town in the southwest of England?
Correct Answer: GLASTONBURY
Your Answer: glastonbury
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2
 

ive a been a few times but not for 30 yrs

4. Simone de Beauvoir's famous line "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman" opens Volume II of her 1949 book on gender roles as a learned social construct rather than biological destiny. The book's title labels women as The [BLANK] Sex. What word fills the blank?
Correct Answer: SECOND
Your Answer: second
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

easy if you know 

5. What word, used for the SI unit of illuminance (defined as one lumen of luminous flux incident on one square meter), is coincidentally also the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for a European nation?
Correct Answer: LUX
Your Answer: lux
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

good clue 

6. While its product line today spans handbags, leather goods, shoes, accessories, watches, jewelry, and fragrances, what eponymous luxury brand built its early reputation in the 1850s with its innovative flat-topped stackable trunks that revolutionized long-distance travel at the time?
Correct Answer: LOUIS VUITTON
Your Answer: louis vuitton
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 

gimme 

Jesse Day 13

5/6

1. Fauntleroy is the middle name of what animated character, a nod to the sailor suit he wears that was allegedly inspired by the title character of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel Little Lord Fauntleroy?
Correct Answer: DONALD DUCK
Your Answer: Donald Duck
Points Assigned: 0

I have heard this trivia at some point.  

2. With 29 strokes, the character for "utsu" (鬱, meaning depression or gloom) is infamous among Japanese students for its complexity and difficulty to recall from memory. This character is in what writing system, which is adapted from Chinese characters and literally means "Han characters"?
Correct Answer: KANJI
Your Answer: Kanji
Points Assigned: 2

I was hoping it wasn't one of the other Japanese writing types. 

3. The sport of rowing is divided into two disciplines: one in which each athlete holds one oar, and one in which each athlete holds two oars. Give the common name for either of these disciplines.
Correct Answer: SWEEP, SCULL
Your Answer: Stroke
Points Assigned: 3

I had no idea.

4. In an alphabetical list of capital cities of the countries of South America, which city comes first?
Correct Answer: ASUNCIÓN
Your Answer: Asuncion
Points Assigned: 2

I have been to Paraguay! 

5. In pre-decimalization British currency, a pound consisted of 20 shillings, a shilling consisted of twelve pennies, and a penny consisted of four what (at least until 1960, by which time they were nearly worthless)?
Correct Answer: FARTHING
Your Answer: Farthing
Points Assigned: 1

Only word that came to mind. 

6. The 1990 docuseries The Civil War, a landmark PBS production that helped define the prestige historical documentary format, popularized the technique of moving a camera slowly across still photographs. This effect is closely associated with, and commonly named after, what director of The Civil War?
Correct Answer: KEN BURNS
Your Answer: Ken Burns
Points Assigned: 1

Gimmie?

Brian Day 13

 4/6

1) Donald Duck 0/1   After discarding Popeye as being more of a comic strip than a cartoon, I got there very quickly

2) Hanoform 3/3  No clue, though I think this has been asked before and I'm looking forward to missing it again in a few years

3) sculling 2/1   Was either crew or sculling, crew felt like the broader term

4) Bogota  2/2  There are three South American countries I don't know the capitals of.  Now there are two. Surely a gimme for the rest of you.

5) Farthing 1/0    The only other unit I know is a half penny.  (Glad i didn't think of pence! would've been a coin flip)

6) Burns 1/2  The only real gimme for me today.   Still haven't seen any of his miniseries, but he's a legend, and Baseball, The Civil War and Jazz are in the queue.

David S Day 13

 Bounced back from yesterday with 5/6. 

1. Mickey Mouse :(, D21. I guess this counts as close, though I really had no idea. 
2. Kanji :), D12. Gimme, especially since I worked at a Japanese bank for 2 and a half years. 
3. Scull :), D32. I had no idea what the other one was. 
4. Asuncion :), D00. Just have to go through all 12. 
5. Farthing :), D11. Econ/history gimme. 
6. Ken Burns :), D23. He’s the best, and this is his best documentary in my opinion. 

Dave M day 13

A solid 5/6 today but not sure it will be enough given my woeful defense so far this season.

1 : ) Donald Duck. Don’t know of any other animated characters typically found in (half of a) sailor suit. D01

2 : ) Kanji. I learnt Japanese for a few miserable weeks in high school. D13

3 : ) Scull. Rowing is reasonably common in NZ. D22

4 : ) Asuncion. Brute force required. It struck me while running through all the capitals just how many start with B or C. D10

5 : ) Farthing. UK gimme, hopefully plays hard for Americans. D31

6 : ( Pan. No idea and never heard of Burnsing. D22  

Marcus LL110 Match Day 13 -- Confirmation

5 again 

Player: BrowningM

1. Fauntleroy is the middle name of what animated character, a nod to the sailor suit he wears that was allegedly inspired by the title character of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel Little Lord Fauntleroy?
Correct Answer: DONALD DUCK
Your Answer: stewie griffin
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

i donald ducked it up …

2. With 29 strokes, the character for "utsu" (鬱, meaning depression or gloom) is infamous among Japanese students for its complexity and difficulty to recall from memory. This character is in what writing system, which is adapted from Chinese characters and literally means "Han characters"?
Correct Answer: KANJI
Your Answer: kanji
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

not sure how hard this plays 

3. The sport of rowing is divided into two disciplines: one in which each athlete holds one oar, and one in which each athlete holds two oars. Give the common name for either of these disciplines.
Correct Answer: SWEEP, SCULL
Your Answer: skulling
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

they just call it rowing and sculling in the uk

4. In an alphabetical list of capital cities of the countries of South America, which city comes first?
Correct Answer: ASUNCIÓN
Your Answer: asuncion
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

in this the 3rd time Asuncion has been the answer ?

5. In pre-decimalization British currency, a pound consisted of 20 shillings, a shilling consisted of twelve pennies, and a penny consisted of four what (at least until 1960, by which time they were nearly worthless)?
Correct Answer: FARTHING
Your Answer: farthings
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

gimme for a brit and they weren’t that worthless in 1961 the were worth about 3 new pence when adjusted for inflation and we still have a 1 penny coin in circulation today 

6. The 1990 docuseries The Civil War, a landmark PBS production that helped define the prestige historical documentary format, popularized the technique of moving a camera slowly across still photographs. This effect is closely associated with, and commonly named after, what director of The Civil War?
Correct Answer: KEN BURNS
Your Answer: ken burns
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0


i seem to remember this question or similar before as well

Brian Day 12

 4/6

1) We Are the World 0/0  Gimme for an 80s kid

2) Aromatics 2/2  Lucky educated guess. Felt like odors was the clue, played around with synonyms until one rang a bell.

3) Basquiat 2/1  Another 80s gimme, even art is easy if it's NYC

4) King cake 1/2  I can picture the stacks of boxes, but couldn't pull the name.  I think will be a gimme for most

5) woman 3/3  went with woman and man.  Didn't think to stick with the theme of the book

6) chyron  1/1  I hear it used for the crawl all the time, no idea why

David S Day 12 vs. Marcus (CLL)

Terrible 1/6 against Marcus. Can’t think of a day I less wanted that!

1. Bohemian Rhapsody :(, D03. I had nothing here. 
2. Polyene :(, D32. I actually thought this was right. I must have gotten mixed up here. 
3. Herring :(, D12. No idea. 
4. Fruit cake :(, D21. I’ve never heard of this. 
5. Mountain molehill :(, D21. Nope!
6. Chyron :), D10. Managed to avoid a goose egg. 

Dave M day 11

Just 3 for me today

1 : ( Do they know it’s Christmas. Right idea wrong song (and a year out it transpires). D23

2 : ) Aromatics. I had to learn these sorts of things when I was at BP. D21

3 : ( Lopez. No idea. I’ve heard the name Basquiat but had not linked him to 1980s New York. D32

4 : ) Panettone. Gimme of the day. D00

5 : ( Man Mouse. Nope. D12

6 : ) Chyron. Picked this up somewhere. D11

Marcus LL110 Match Day 12 -- Confirmation

5 vs Seif ,  i don’t think he will know the Milton so prob get away with the chiron shambles 

Player: BrowningM

1. "CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR" was posted by producer Quincy Jones on a sign at the studio entrance in Los Angeles for the artists recording what song in 1985?
Correct Answer: WE ARE THE WORLD
Your Answer: we are the world
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

he should be old enough to get this 

2. Petrochemicals are commonly divided into two major families. One is the olefins, such as ethylene and propylene, named for their historical description as "oil-forming". What name for the other family, which includes benzene, toluene, and xylenes, reflects the distinctive odors of many compounds originally placed in the group?
Correct Answer: AROMATICS
Your Answer: aromatics
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

the only part of organic chemistry i liked was August Kekule’s dream about a snake eating its tail.

3. SAMO© was the tag under which two teenage graffiti writers spray-painted cryptic aphorisms around lower Manhattan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. One was Al Diaz; who was the other, who by his mid-twenties was selling paintings for hundreds of thousands of dollars before dying of a heroin overdose in 1988?
Correct Answer: JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Your Answer: Basquiat
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

surely a gimme

4. In the 1920s, Milanese baker Angelo Motta reinvented the recipe for what centuries-old Christmas bread by introducing a triple-leavening process and a tall paper mold called a pirottino, which forced the dough upward into its now-signature dome shape?
Correct Answer: PANETTONE
Your Answer: panatone
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

not the best spelling but close enough

5. In addition to introducing the word "pandemonium" and popularizing numerous other terms and phrases, John Milton's Paradise Lost included the famous quote: "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a x of y, a y of x." What words (in either order) replace x and y in this quote?
Correct Answer: HEAVEN, HELL
Your Answer: heaven and hell
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

guessable but not straightforward if you don’t know. I discovered Blake first back in the day and Milton after 

6. While it was originally a company's name (and before that, in its original spelling, a figure from Greek mythology), what word became a generic broadcasting term for a text graphic appearing at the bottom of a television screen?
Correct Answer: CHYRON
Your Answer: chimera
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

I think this is hard in the U.K. i had vaguely heard of it but guessed wrong 

Jesse Day 12

4/6

1. "CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR" was posted by producer Quincy Jones on a sign at the studio entrance in Los Angeles for the artists recording what song in 1985?
Correct Answer: WE ARE THE WORLD
Your Answer: We Are The World
Points Assigned: 0

Gimmie for anyone who is at least 45?

2. Petrochemicals are commonly divided into two major families. One is the olefins, such as ethylene and propylene, named for their historical description as "oil-forming". What name for the other family, which includes benzene, toluene, and xylenes, reflects the distinctive odors of many compounds originally placed in the group?
Correct Answer: AROMATICS
Your Answer: No Idea
Points Assigned: 3

Damn, I was thinking something like aromatics, but I assumed it would be something more technical. 

3. SAMO© was the tag under which two teenage graffiti writers spray-painted cryptic aphorisms around lower Manhattan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. One was Al Diaz; who was the other, who by his mid-twenties was selling paintings for hundreds of thousands of dollars before dying of a heroin overdose in 1988?
Correct Answer: JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Your Answer: Basquiet
Points Assigned: 2

Misspelled, but I think this will be accepted. 

4. In the 1920s, Milanese baker Angelo Motta reinvented the recipe for what centuries-old Christmas bread by introducing a triple-leavening process and a tall paper mold called a pirottino, which forced the dough upward into its now-signature dome shape?
Correct Answer: PANETTONE
Your Answer: Panatone
Points Assigned: 1

Misspelled, but I think this will be accepted. I lived near an Italian supermarket that had lots of Panettone at Christmas time. 

5. In addition to introducing the word "pandemonium" and popularizing numerous other terms and phrases, John Milton's Paradise Lost included the famous quote: "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a x of y, a y of x." What words (in either order) replace x and y in this quote?
Correct Answer: HEAVEN, HELL
Your Answer: Right, wrong
Points Assigned: 2

I never read Paradise Lost. 

6. While it was originally a company's name (and before that, in its original spelling, a figure from Greek mythology), what word became a generic broadcasting term for a text graphic appearing at the bottom of a television screen?
Correct Answer: CHYRON
Your Answer: Chyron
Points Assigned: 1

Gimmie?

Jesse Day 11

4/6

1. An October 1731 fire at (the unfortunately named) Ashburnham House near Westminster Abbey, which housed the private library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, damaged numerous important historical documents. One such document is known as the Nowell Codex, which contains the only known manuscript of what Old English poem?
Correct Answer: BEOWULF
Your Answer: Beowulf
Points Assigned: 1

The only answer I could come up with. 

2. In a standard two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, the horizontal distance (the x-coordinate) is formally termed the abscissa, while the vertical distance (the y-coordinate) has what other name, which is credited to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the late 17th century?
Correct Answer: ORDINATE
Your Answer: Leibcissa
Points Assigned: 3

I had no chance of getting this. 

3. The emblem for the International Committee of the Red Cross was adopted in 1863 in part to honor Henry Dunant, a businessman and humanitarian who helped found the movement after witnessing the carnage of the Battle of Solferino. What country was Dunant from?
Correct Answer: SWITZERLAND
Your Answer: Switzerland
Points Assigned: 0

Gimmie?

4. Long before the discovery that vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, the British Navy used citrus juice (often mixed into grog) to cure and prevent the disease, which in turn led to the use of what word, now an antiquated insult, for British sailors?
Correct Answer: LIMEY
Your Answer: Limeys
Points Assigned: 1

Gimmie?

5. What was the name of the series of camera models produced by Eastman Kodak beginning in 1900 that is widely credited with popularizing snapshot photography? It was invented by company designer and "father of the modern camera" Frank A. Brownell, but actually named after comic characters popular at the time.
Correct Answer: BROWNIE
Your Answer: Brownie
Points Assigned: 2

I was a film major at the University of Rochester and interned at the George Eastman House for a semester. Easy for me. 

6. The 2015 documentary All Things Must Pass tells the story of the rise and fall of what retail record chain, which was founded in Sacramento in 1960, opened its flagship on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in 1970 and its Greenwich Village flagship in 1983, and closed its last U.S. location in 2006?
Correct Answer: TOWER RECORDS
Your Answer: Sam Goodys
Points Assigned: 2

Damn, I shopped at both when I was young. Sam Goodys came to my mind first.

Brian Day 11

 5/6 and the one I missed is my best subject, so hoping for a 9(5)..   Welcome back Diane!

1) Beowulf 0/1  The only old English poem I can name

2) Charybdis  3/3  Usually I hate missing math questions, but not this one.  Never in a million years would I have pulled this from my 7th grade memory

3) Switzerland 1/2  went with the flag

4) Limey 2/2  Didn't see what else it could be.  

5) Brownie 1/0  familiar trivia nugget?

6) Tower Records 2/1  Considered Sam Goody and Record World, but I thought those might have been regional NY chains, plus I've been to the Tower Records in the Village.

Diane Day 11, 3/6

Sorry for being sporadic: I'm in the "What do you mean my sabbatical is over and I need to prepare classes??" stage of the summer.

But I had to write today-- I literally teach about the Beowulf Manuscript in *all* my classes as an example of how random history can be. It's actually an even better story than you get in the question: for one thing the manuscript only survived because it was close enough to the window to get chucked out when the fire hit.

Anyway... Today was a rough day for my guesses. I knew for sure about three of them, guessed on the other three, and struck out each time.

1. ✅ Beowulf:) I assigned this 2 points because literature is not my opponent's strong suit, but since everyone had to read Beowulf in HS and that's the only Old English thing most people know, I wouldn't be surprised if they guess it.

2. ❌ Descissa. Totally made up, totally wrong. D0 because my opponent's best category is Math.

3. ❌ England. I was going to guess Switzerland, but changed to England at the last second because Henry sounded more English:(

4. ✅ Limeys. Thank you Mr. Shultz 😂

5. ✅ Brownie. Here's where my love of historical novels pays off:) D3 because I feel like this isn't as commonly known as the others.

6. ❌ Borders. I forgot about Tower. Borders lasted a few more years and was never jsut a record store... D1

David S Day 11

 3/6 unless Thorsten is in a generous mood. 

1. Beowulf :), D02. Only poem I could think of in Old English since I’m pretty sure Canterbury Tales is neither a poem nor in Old English. 
2. Coordinate :(, D13. I assume this won’t pay. I remembered Leibnitz being responsible for this term but must have added “co” in my mind. Too bad. 
3. Switzerland :), D21. Pretty clear given the Red Cross emblem. 
4. Limey :), D11. Easiest of the day, I think. 
5. Konica :(, D32. I had nothing here at all. 
6. Woolworth :(, D20. Nope!

Dave M day 11

4/6 today

1 : ) Beowulf. Only old English poem I know. Risky D33

2 : ( Onscissa. No idea. D22

3 : ) Switzerland. I was pretty sure there was a link to the Swiss flag. D11

4 : ) Limey. I think this is widely known? D11

5 : ( Snappers. Ignored the obvious answer for some reason. Risky D22

6 : ) Tower Records. Only possible answer I think. D00

Marcus LL110 Match Day 11 -- Confirmation

first 6 pack of the season 

Player: BrowningM

1. An October 1731 fire at (the unfortunately named) Ashburnham House near Westminster Abbey, which housed the private library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, damaged numerous important historical documents. One such document is known as the Nowell Codex, which contains the only known manuscript of what Old English poem?
Correct Answer: BEOWULF
Your Answer: beowoulf
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

name another old english poem…

2. In a standard two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, the horizontal distance (the x-coordinate) is formally termed the abscissa, while the vertical distance (the y-coordinate) has what other name, which is credited to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the late 17th century?
Correct Answer: ORDINATE
Your Answer: ordinate
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

school maths 

3. The emblem for the International Committee of the Red Cross was adopted in 1863 in part to honor Henry Dunant, a businessman and humanitarian who helped found the movement after witnessing the carnage of the Battle of Solferino. What country was Dunant from?
Correct Answer: SWITZERLAND
Your Answer: switzerland
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

i knew the red cross was founded in switzerland 

4. Long before the discovery that vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, the British Navy used citrus juice (often mixed into grog) to cure and prevent the disease, which in turn led to the use of what word, now an antiquated insult, for British sailors?
Correct Answer: LIMEY
Your Answer: limey
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

gimme 

5. What was the name of the series of camera models produced by Eastman Kodak beginning in 1900 that is widely credited with popularizing snapshot photography? It was invented by company designer and "father of the modern camera" Frank A. Brownell, but actually named after comic characters popular at the time.
Correct Answer: BROWNIE
Your Answer: brownie
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

i knew without the brownwell clue 

6. The 2015 documentary All Things Must Pass tells the story of the rise and fall of what retail record chain, which was founded in Sacramento in 1960, opened its flagship on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in 1970 and its Greenwich Village flagship in 1983, and closed its last U.S. location in 2006?
Correct Answer: TOWER RECORDS
Your Answer: tower records
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

again, the only one i could name 

Hey Brian didn’t realise it was you!

Made no difference to the defence tho as we both D3’d the hard one

Brian Day 10 vs Marcus (CLL)

 5/6  on what should be an easy day for Marcus... Managed a 6(5)-6(5) tie. 

1) Welsh 2/2  I just read about this a few weeks ago.  Wasn't 100% but I remembered it was in the southern UK.   

2) Psycho 1/2 early plot twist, legendary director

3) yolkolo 3/3   I've heard of ocarina but never knew what it was

4) gold 2/1  Rare art get for me because of The Kiss

5) Billy Elliott 1/0  Tom Holland on the brain b/c Spider-Man.... David S, you were closer than you think, Tom Holland, the current Spider-Man, began his career as Billy Elliott.  I was surprised he wasn't one of the actors named in the question, I guess he took over soon after.

6) Midway 0/1  better answer than Bikini

David S Day 10

4/6. Unlike yesterday, I thought I’d done worse today. 

1. Welsh :), D21. This jogged some old memory deep down. Otherwise I think I’d have guessed Maori. 
2. Psycho :), D02. I didn’t expect to get this. That said, I think given the time and “plot twist,” it’s the obvious guess. 
3. Flaute :(, D12. I had nothing here. 
4. Gold :), D31. Definitely the one I’m most excited to have gotten this season. I knew “The Kiss” is mostly yellow/gold, and gold sounded better to me than yellow. I figured 80% chance it was one of those, so I’m also slightly surprised to get this one.
5. Spider-Man :(, D10. Nope!
6. Midway :), D23. Gimme. Hopefully this plays pretty hard (at least to my opponents, if not to this crowd).

Dave M day 10

Damn, 5/6 today, with only a misread question keeping me from a 6 pack

1 : ) Welsh. I know Welsh has the 2^nd longest place name in the world, I also know the (NZ Maori) longest one, and the story behind the NZ one is different to the story described in the clue. D11

2 : ( Hitchcock. Should have read the question properly. D11

3 : ) Ocarina. Lucky to have Zelda be popular when I was playing video games. D32

4 : ) Gold. I remember the movie but had forgotten the name, but with early 20^th C Klimt the color could only be gold. D22

5 : ) Billy Elliot. Teenagers + physically grueling could lead in only one direction. D23

6 : ) Midway. Simple WW2 Q. D00

Marcus LL110 Match Day 10 -- Confirmation

5 yet again

Player: BrowningM

1. The village with a name translated to English as "Saint Mary's Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel near a Rapid Whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio by the Red Cave" is famous for its full single-word name in its native language. What is that language?
Correct Answer: WELSH (CYMRAEG)
Your Answer: welsh
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

i bet i’m the only one here who can pronounce it!

2. The legendary director of what 1960 film instructed theaters not to admit latecomers, in order to protect the film's famous plot twist and ending? This policy helped establish now-universal scheduled showtimes, replacing the earlier continuous-loop model.
Correct Answer: PSYCHO
Your Answer: psycho
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

had no idea about the films on a loop but i did know psycho was about 1960

3. What small and simple egg-shaped musical instrument belonging to the flute family, made from terracotta and featuring a protruding mouthpiece with multiple finger and thumb holes, was a central element in a popular video game released in 1998?
Correct Answer: OCARINA
Your Answer: pass
Points Assigned: 3
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 3

hmmm nah 

4. Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, looted by the Nazis from a Jewish family, was returned to the family's heir in 2006 after a long legal battle and later sold for $135 million. This story inspired the film Woman in [BLANK]—what color, strongly associated with Klimt's work especially from 1901 to 1909, fills in the blank?
Correct Answer: GOLD
Your Answer: gold
Points Assigned: 2
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 2

was the most expensive painting ever bought last time it changed hands 

5. Teenagers David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish shared the 2009 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, splitting the physically grueling, near-constant demands of one particular role among them. What is the full name of that character?
Correct Answer: BILLY ELLIOT
Your Answer: billy elliot
Points Assigned: 1
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 1

teenagers and jumping about so it wasn’t Hamilton …

6. The sunken Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu are associated with what Pacific atoll and wildlife refuge?
Correct Answer: MIDWAY
Your Answer: midway
Points Assigned: 0
Points Assigned to Private Opp: 0

history gimme