March 24, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Book Guy, Music Guy.
We scored 16 out of 20. This is enough for a two-point win.

The Missed Questions

1. Jargonelle is a type of which fruit?
2. What band announced their forthcoming album 'Turn Blue' via Mike Tyson's Twitter account?
3. What beer was released in 1939 by the Latrobe Brewing Co.?
4. Name the 2007 Tim Burton movie starring Johnny Depp.

The Right Answers

1. Pear
2. The Black Keys
3. Rolling Rock
4. Sweeney Todd

Our Wrong Answers (and some Excuses)

1. Melon. This is the second week of "fruit variety" questions. None of us had any real clue, other than to name something with a lot of varieties. I think we'll keep choosing melons until it works.
2. The Black Kings. This was a rare misstep from the music guy. He knew the band, he knew the tweet, but he mis-recalled the name. Ah, well, it happens.
3. Pabst Blue Ribbon. None of us are major drinkers, nor have any alcohol trivia in our brains. I ventured to name an old beer that is still current, but a bit obscure. This is a lesson: stay away from hipsters.
4. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Tim Burton and Johnny Deep collaborations have come up before. Our mistake here was simply a gap in our knowledge: no one could recall that this movie existed. Apparently, this is a good thing, as our quizmaster calls it a terrible movie based on a terrible play.

My Favorite Right Answers

1. Name Alexander Dumas' novel sequel set twenty years after the events in 'The Three Musketeers'
2. What 16th century fleet was almost entirely laid to waste at the Battle of Gravelines?

1. Twenty Years After. Our book guy could not remember if it was Twenty Years Later or Twenty Years After. We went with the latter, thinking it to be a semi-trick question. We were also prepared to argue for different French translations of the title if we were wrong.
2. The Spanish Armada. To be fair, there aren't too many 16th century fleets to choose from. However, this gives me a chance to link to a relevant question: What was the Spanish Main? Was there a Spanish Backup?

Notes
There was no quiz for March 17 (St. Patrick's Day, which means every pub is packed).
This update was late because I am a lazy person. Regular posts will resume after tonight.

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!

March 10, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Book Guy. Both Game Guy and Music Guy called in sick because of video games.
We scored 15 out of 20. There were three teams at 16 points, which led to a tiebreak.

The Missed Questions

1. Who won the 2013 Conn Smythe award chosen as MVP of the Stanley Cup Finals?
2. The musa genus of plants yield what fruit?
3. Name the former Texas Rangers second baseman who was traded to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Prince Fielder
4. Name the only quarterback in NFL history to complete two passes over 95 yards
5. Name the TV show featuring the characters Raymond Eddington and Elizabeth Keen
6. (Tie Break): Earlier today (March 10), during a Dallas Stars game versus the Columbus Blue Jackets, center Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench with a cardiac event during the first period. He is recovering and the game was postponed. What is his uniform number?

The Right Answers

1. Patrick Kane
2. Bananas
3. Ian Kinsler
4. Joe Montana
5. The Blacklist
6. (Tie Break) 17

Our Wrong Answers (and some Excuses)

1. Jonathan Quick. Book guy doesn't know sports, and I have a really basic knowledge in hockey (but this backfires). For whatever reason, I thought the LA Kings won the 2013 Stanley Cup, and I named a very important person on that team. (The LA Kings won the 2012 Stanley Cup, and Jonathan Quick was the Conn Smythe winner.) In reality, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2013. Even if I remembered that, I wouldn't be able to name anyone on that team, alas.
2. Berry. Neither of knew the derivation of Musa (it comes from the Arabic), so it became a game of "Name a fruit with lots of species". Berry and Melon were our guesses, with neither being that interesting.
3. Cooper. Book guy again declines to guess on the sports question. I read this story, and completely forgot about it, as it's about some other team that I don't care about. For background, Ian Kinsler says a lot of things, but claims it was out of context.
4. Joey Harrington. A lot of sports questions this week. Neither of us knew the answer off the top of our head, so it boiled down to "Name a popular quarterback" vs. "Name an obscure quarterback.". I wrote Joey Harrington for obscurity (and his appearance on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me), and Book Guy selected Joe Montana for someone popular (who had some really really good receivers). I asked if he wanted to change it, and he declined, since everything was a guess at this stage. Montana threw a 95 yard touchdown pass in 1989 and a 96 yard touchdown pass in 1988. Indeed, he is the only player to have thrown 95+ yard touchdown passes.
5. Walking Dead. For a moment, I thought it was Everybody Loves Raymond, but Book Guy correctly noted that Ray Romano's character is named Raymond Barone. This was a guess of "Name a popular TV show", and a toss-up between Walking Dead or True Detective. (I don't watch TV, but that's out of busyness instead of hipsterism. I swear. I also don't care much for dramas, as TV is more than dramas.)
6. (Tie Break): 15. We weren't in the tiebreaker, so this was just a guess for fun. The actual story is quite interesting. Fortunately, he is recovering quietly, and I appreciate the decision to postpone the game instead of playing through it. The 15 was a blind guess from Book Guy.

My Favorite Right Answers

1. Ocean View Ave. in Monterey, CA was renamed to match its nickname used in the title of what 1945 John Steinbeck novel?
2. What Shakespearean play was adapted into a 1993 film starring Kenneth Branagh, Keanu Reeves, and Denzel Washington?

1. Cannery Row. For some reason, I completely blanked out until Book Guy gave the answer. And he knows books. It was a great "blinding flash of the obvious" moment.
2. Much Ado About Nothing. I'm mostly bringing this up to link to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of Hamlet, riffing on a spartan German production (dubbed into English). They refer to Ophelia's brother was Loser-tes, and Lamer-tes, and that's worthwhile.

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!

March 3, 2014 - Trials Pub

The Quiz, The Players, the Results

Standard Trials Pub Quiz
Lab Coat Guy, Music Guy, Book Guy
We scored 19 out of 20, our highest score ever. This was enough for a win. So, this blog will be very short.

The Missed Question

1. What's the current name of the oldest U.S. military decoration?

The Right Answer

1. Purple Heart

Our Wrong Answer (and some Excuse)

1. Medal of Honor. This was a mean question, but completely fair. The phrase "current name" should've been a clue, but we were thinking between "Medal of Honor" and "Congressional Medal of Honor", with one as a successor name of the other. (In fact, they refer to the same thing, the former is the proper name). The Purple Heart is the successor medal to the Badge of Military Merit, which was given out to only three people during the American Revolution. You can see that it is indeed a purple heart.

My Favorite Right Answers

1. What whale is the largest toothed predator in the world?
2. What microwavable snack did some idiot "make love to" and then post video of on Vine?

1. Sperm Whale. Since this was looking for a whale with teeth, our Book Guy reasoned that we needed a whale that can completely close its mouth. Something that chomps. He nominates Moby Dick, as it chomped off Ahab's leg, and Moby Dick is a sperm whale. We couldn't argue against that line of reasoning, so it was the answer we wrote.
2. Hot Pockets. I had not heard of this, and I'm sort of glad I haven't. But this gives me the excuse to link to Jim Gaffigan's routine about Hot Pockets. If you want the Vine, you should search for it yourself.

Post your scores in the comments! Tell me how much smarter you are!