Gideon Day 14

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

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

Ben Day 13 & 14

Today:

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

2 :) Sia.  Thanks daughter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2 :) France. My opponent got.

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

5 :( Never heard of Maastricht. Opponent got.

Dave M day 14

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steiny Day 14

A rare win yesterday!

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

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

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

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

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

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

3/6

Jesse day 14

5/6

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

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

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

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

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

I had no idea.

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

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

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

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

I watched the original office and own it on DVD. 

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

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

Gideon Day 13

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

Jesse day 13

5/6

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

Ciccone gave it away for me. 

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

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

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

My film major pays off. 

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

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

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

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

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

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