Go ahead, take a look at the results of yesterday’s match: Identical defenses, plus we got the same three questions right, plus our answers make a nice right/wrong/right/wrong pattern. This is not something you see every day. If you gotta tie, this is the way to do it.
1. The first drug specifically licensed as antiretroviral, and the first to be approved by the U.S. FDA for treatment of patients infected with HIV (in 1987), is a drug known by what three letters?
There were so many plays on the subject of AIDS in the late 80s and early 90s that this can almost be considered a theater question. AZT was a total gimme.
2. Name the horse breed, first developed in the American colonies in the 17th century and the most popular in the United States today, which is named for its superior ability at sprinting short distances (specifically, those 1/4 mile or less).
My knowledge of horses comes entirely from picture books for babies: “This is a horse.” I guess at some level I was aware there are different horse breeds, but it’s not something I’ve ever given much thought to. I wrote Arabian at first, then decided that 17th-century colonists were not yet overfamiliar with the word Arab. Took that out and went with palomino instead. This was equally wrong: What I wanted was quarter horse. Oh, “1/4 mile or less.” Cute.
3. Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy begins with the novel of the same name. Give the title of either of the two subsequent novels in the series.
I knew the second book was _____ Fire, but I couldn’t think what gerund went into that blank. (“Catching.”) That’s okay: I knew the third book is Mockingjay.
4. Identify the sucralose-based product which is, by far, the best-selling artificial sweetener brand in the United States.
An easy gimme! Equal!
WHAT? The answer is Splenda?!
5. The term Bollywood is used informally to refer to the film industry of India, and specifically to the Hindi-language film industry based in what city?
An easy gimme! Bombay!
WHAT? The answer is Mumbai?!
Oh, wait, Bombay and Mumbai are the same thing. Okay, whew.
6. Which branch of Protestant Christianity, one of the largest today with about 75 million adherents worldwide, originated in Scotland, and is influenced primarily by Calvinist theological tradition (similar to Congregationalists)?
Unlike with horse breeds, here I could name a few different sects, stare at the list, and then choose one at semi-random: Episcopalian. Presbyterianism was on my list. I shoulda chose it.
Well, this was a train wreck of a day.
1 — Took me a few moments to conjure up AZT, but I did.
2 — Yeah, quarter horse seemed a little too obvious (remember this discussion for Q5), but really, what else could it be where it was *named* for that running distance? That, and it seemed to resonnate with me that I’d heard this before.
3 — I was dragged, er, privileged to accompany my wife, to The Hunger Games the second weekend of its release, and as I usually do, I looked up the movie on IMDB afterward to Find Out More. The next books of the series were listed there, and while I did not remember the second, the third stuck in my mind, because … really, she named a whole book after that stupid bird? So, confidently I put down Poppinjay. (time passes) Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I meant Mockingjay! What Have I Done?!?!?!?!?!
4 — There are a couple of famous-ish trademark cases involving the colors of artifical sweetener packets. It was pretty easy for me to get to Splenda, taking a few moments to make sure that I was correctly ruling out Equal as not being sucralose (in part because I would have guessed that Equal was the best-selling artificial sweetener). Sure, take time on this one, but don’t give Q3 a second thought. Freakin’ mockingjay.
5 — This was the Two of the One-Two punch for today. So, I read the question, which is basically zzzzzzzzzzz City in India zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Now, of course the first thing that comes to mind is Mumbai. But there is Just No Way (in my mind) that this question gets asked if the answer is Mumbai. Why would it? If that’s the case, then just ask … What’s a big city in India? So, I decide I can’t say Mumbai. Delhi and New Delhi seem unlikely. Agra seems too religious or stately or something. What’s that other one, the one that the AI Alternate Reality Game (from 11 years ago) involved? (Yeah, that’s how my mind gets there.) Oh, right, Bangalore. Yeah, that sounds like it could be it. And that’s gotta be a much better answer than silly, everyone-will-say-it, Mumbai, right? And so that’s how I missed a question that 81% got right. (In doing so, I violated my Pi Rule, developed when I missed a math question a few seasons ago becase “The answer can’t possibly be pi, because people who don’t have any idea will simply guess that, which would make it a silly question.” Though, to be fair, the rule is *mostly* about “Don’t worry if you think a *math* question is too obvious,” rather than “don’t worry if you think a guess-a-city-in-India question is to obvious.) Aaauughhh!
6 — Oh, who knows? (Well, evidently about 52% of you.) Had a few options, went with Episcopalian. Could have gone with Presbyterian, though was a tiny bit swayed away from it because it was referenced in the Britney Spears question in the Wordplay minileague not long ago. Not at all a good reason to be swayed from it, but all in all it was a complete guess, so any port in a storm. Freakin’ Mumbai mockingjay.
I certainly did not deserve to win this match, and the gods did not disappoint in that regard — a 3(3)-4(4) loss. I am sooo easy to defend against. But really, more thinking and less autopilot. I think I’ve gotten to the point of complacency (very unlikely to promote or relegate, so just treading water), but carelessness is gonna drop me into the purple zone if I don’t watch out.
Hmm .. seems like my bracketed words got themselves HTMLed out. Before the long No! for Q3, there should be a bracketed “(submit … check answers )” to get the full effect. Ah well.
1: Gimme, except for a small worry that I was transposing the letters. (I wasn’t.)
2: I immediately put down “quarter horse”, then worried a little that that was making it too easy, then reread the question and saw “named for its … ability” and relaxed.
3: My brain was vaguely in the area of remembering “Mockingjay”, but would only give me “Blackbird”.
4: I hopped from Sweet ‘N’ Low to Equal to Splenda, and felt pretty good that sucralose = relatively recent formulation = the newest one of those three.
5: I didn’t really know this, but Mumbai felt like a right answer.
6: About all I could do here was eliminate Baptist and Lutheran, then guess. Said Methodist.
6(4)-6(5) tie, which is also a tie I cannot complain about.
It’s always feast or famine where The Hunger Games are concerned. I was pretty confident about most of the answers and decided that I would probably get 5 questions right. I thought my opponent might also get 5 right in which case the match would come down to which one of us could defend better.
Q1. This came to me pretty quickly. The Three Letters really are a giveaway. Ertchin, given the way the question is worded I wonder if Thorsten would accept the letters even if they were given out of order. Scored this 2.
Q2. Looking for a horse that’s fast over short distances I decided the answer was a Charger (turns out that’s not even a breed). Having never heard the term Quarter Horse before the 1/4 clue was completely wasted on me. Scored it 2.
Q3. Haven’t read the book or seen the movie. Of course I’ve seen piles of books and displays but it’s always “Hunger Games”. The titles of the other two books are somewhat obscure to me. I recall reading in some reviews of the movie about the Mockingjay bird. That name stuck with me because it’s just so annoying. Was that the title of the third book? Yes, I think that’s beginning to sound right. My opponent has good Literature stats but the fact that he can identify A Separate Peace or opening lines from James Joyce doesn’t mean he’s been reading up on the latest in YA fiction. I decide to make this my 3 pointer since I have absolutely no recollection of the title of the second book so it must be even more obscure (Catching Fire? how lamely generic is that?).
Q4. I prefer Splenda to the other brands so this seemed like a gimme to me. Made it my 0 but then realized that a lot of people could get tripped up on this one.
Q5. Immediately thought Mumbai, then thought wait, maybe it’s not Mumbai. Fortunately I began to consider that Bollywood had to get the Bo sound from somewhere and Bombay was the most likely reason for the name. Should have made this the 0 but thought what if my opponent outthinks himself just like I almost did. Scored it 1.
Q6. There are a fair number of Scottish Presbyterian churches in Canada. So even though I thought it was way too easy, I had my answer here. Scored this a 1 as well.
In the end my Hunger Games gamble payed off and I won 8(5)-6(5).
1. Agreed, Eric, that this is essentially a theater question. Rent is an example. Still, I think I knew about it just from basic AIDS discussion.
2. Wow – I assumed this was a gimme of all gimmes with the answer sitting right there. I confidently assigned this a zero, and it’s the only one my opponent missed.
3. As a librarian, I didn’t dare miss this.
4. I was pretty sure it was Splenda, and was happy to see I got it. Sweet!
5. Totally knew it was Mumbai.
6. And here’s a gap in my knowledge I never really thought about. I knew it wasn’t Lutheran, as that didn’t start in Scotland. Episcopalian? Presbyterian? Methodist? It occurred to me I had absolutely no idea what makes any of these three doctrinally or historically distinct from the others. I went with the Methodists. My opponent assigned this a zero. Whew!
So, I settled for an odd 9(5)-9(5) tie and remain in third place.
I knew I was in for a tough day against GoodeM, but I submitted my answers confident that I had the six-pack, which should be good for a tie, at least.
What’s that? The best-selling artificial sweetener is not NutraSweet?
I fluffed that one; he didn’t know The Hunger Games. Unfortunately, he defended me perfectly and I assigned two points to his gap, so that was a close, frustrating 6(5)-7(5) loss. Before starting LL, I never would have guessed that “Food and Drink” would be my weakest category.
AZT was no gimme for my opponent. Knowing the results of today’s match, I can say I’ve given up two 8(4)s in a row. Before Monday I will write a small script to order the array [0,1,1,2,2,3] at random and I’m going to use it. Completely and utterly ridiculous.
1) a sad gimme
2) gimme; being in KY doesn’t really mean I’m immersed in horse culture, but still.
3) no idea. They didn’t accept “Still a Bit Peckish”.
4) Thought of Splenda first, and Nutrisweet and Equal felt less current to me for some reason
5) yeah, the Bo- is from Bombay, no?
6) Thought of Episcopalian first, then decided that was of English origin; thought next of Presbyterianism, which I believed to be Scottish, and on the verge of entering it, for no reason at all that I can tell, thought “maybe it’s Methodist,” and put that. Doh.
So a tie game puts my stats at a sinister 6 – 6 – 6.
1. Unfortunately not a gimme for me, since this was before I started Paying Attention to Things. I intuited my way towards three letters and even got one right in the right position.
2. Gimme but with trepidation. I’m still not used to the idea that trivia writers allows themselves to commit The Error That CanNot Be Named (i.e., using a word in the question that’s also in the answer, like “quarter”). My opponent gave me 3 and the match with this question.
3. This was after I started Paying Attention to Things. I had been aware of books in the store that had this interesting boxy typography and cover art that marked them as a series, but didn’t pay it much heed until all the buzz for the first movie happened. Then I made sure I knew what was in the series.
4. Waffled between Equal and Sweet ‘n’ Low until I noticed “sucralose” in the question and changed course.
5. I knew where the B came from. Gimme.
6. Whoops, there’s a weak spot. I didn’t even have a list to choose from, and I eventually said the easy-to-disprove Anglican.
With 5(4)-3(3) I beat the play in 4th place, but the people above me aren’t budging. Sixth place may be the best I can hope for.
1) I somehow knew this
2) Nope, guessed Derby, and with that, lost the 6 pack.
3) Well acquainted with the books, so I knew this one.
4) Most popular sugar substitute in our house too.
5) Knew this was Mumbai.
6) My wife is Scottish Presbyterian. Piece o’cake.
I got a nice win to move me up to 4th place. I suspect I’ll need it.
1. I knew I’d heard this (and I’ve seen Rent twice), but couldn’t come up with the letters. Ended up putting IDK in hopes of a best wrong answer.
2. Put Quarterhorse fully expecting that it couldn’t be that easy.
3. Read the books recently, so this was a gimme.
4. Knew Sweet & Low and Equal were saccharin and aspartame, so that left Splenda.
5. Wasn’t sure, but I guessed Mumbai.
6. Made a list and took a random shot. Presbyterian was on there, but I went with Methodist.
Four right, so I had a chance…oh, but my opponent was 15-2-0, 1st in the rundle. 4(4)-8(5) loss
And it appears I forgot to close my italics. Sorry.
I was going up against Rundle B’s thus far wire-to-wire leader (and past LL-blogger) Ben Bass, so this set of questions worried me. Especially when I saw that Hunger Games question.
1. AZT came to me before I got to “three letters”. Gave it a 1.
2. This is one of those question where I thought – it can’t be quarter horse, with both ‘horse’ and ’1/4′ in the question , can it? I once saw a match race between a thoroughbred and a quarter horse, which was neck and neck the entire race. Most exciting horse race I have ever seen (and I haven’t seen many). So I had heard of a quarter horse, but until this question, I didn’t know why it was named that. Thinking that Ben would either know it or figure it out, I gave it a 1.
3. Haven’t seen the film, and know nothing about the books, but I seemed to recall reading that one of the books had either ‘fire’ or ‘ashes’ in the title. So I went with “Ashes of Desire”. Well, it rhymes with ‘Catching Fire’! This one was hopeless for me. Gave it a 2.
4. I gave this one a 3, as I figured there are several to choose from, and knowing it for sure might be hard. The first thing to come to mind was ‘Nutrisweet’, though I associated that with certain sodas, none of which I have drunk in a long while. Splenda, Equal, and some other never remembered name were swimming around too. Went with my initial response, and was not rewarded.
5. A gimme for me, I see a lot of movies (just not ‘The Hunger Games’!). Gave this a 0.
6. I wrote down Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and Lutheran. Episcopalian I knew came from the Church of England. Lutheran I associated with Scandinavian countries (Garrison Keillor is always talking about the Minnesota Lutherans, originally from Scandinavia). Baptist just didn’t feel like the right answer for some reason. That left Presbyterian and Methodist. I guessed right. Gave this one a 2. Was fortunate the get a 3 on this.
Amazingly, I managed a perfect defense, Mr. Bass only managed three correct answers. So I took a 5(4)-2(3) victory from the Rundle leader. Very satisfying. My reward? I get to play Joon Pahk today. :-) I think Ben will still win this Rundle, and I will probably finish high, but out of the advancement range. Which is fine, because in the A Rundle, I think I would win very few.
1. I’ve seen Rent (the movie) several times. Got it.
2. Quarter horse seemed like the only reasonable guess there. I’m glad I didn’t overthink this.
3. Not a clue. Guessed “Escape”.
4. I wasn’t paying attention to the “brand” part of the question. I don’t think I would have gotten it either way, but I could have put something better than “saccharine”.
5. Guessed it.
6. Guessed Methodist, since John Wesley seemed like a plausible Scottish name. Would not have thought of Presbyterians without some sort of anagram clue.
Drew 6(3)-6(4). Thank goodness for defense.
1. Knew the A and the T, knew I was missing something. Went through the alphabet to X, couldn’t think of it. Decided it would come to me later and it did.
2. I like in the home of the Morgan Horse and overconfidently assume it is the answer to all horse questions but this one seemed either like a gimme [I see you, 1/4!] or tricksy. I figured that since it wasn’t about a usual LL trope it was probably overclued and guessed this one.
3. Sad that The Thirst Capades did not make BWA, but I’m embarrassed enough being a librarian and being unable to place this.
4. Guessed Nutrasweet which is maybe not an artificial sweetener brand? I only sort of understood this question. But now I know more about artificial sweeteners!
5. Mumbia seemed like the best guess for “Indian city I am very familiar with but only slightly sure why” category.
6. Thank you ex-boyfriend’s family for drilling this one into my head.
My opponent had anti-perfect defense (mine was middling) leading me to pick up 60% of my total PTS for the entire season in this one match and eke out a win.
@Andy,
I was your opponent! I knew I recognized MegaMan from somewhere…
That particular set of questions (except the protestant one was made for me. I’ve been working with a bunch of artificial sweeteners at work. AZT was a gimme because of related work. I read all the Hunger Games books over the week of Christmas. And then I was blessed with two of those questions that seemed to have popped up many times this season: the question to which I only know one thing. The horse was one was too obvious but in the end I didn’t have a better answer. And bizarrelly, I couldn’t think of any other Indian city at that moment in time. So… Mumbai it is!
Which actually makes me think there needs to be a term in the glossary added for when you get questions right, not because you have a broad depth of knowledge on the subject, but because you don’t but the one thing you do know ends up being the right answer. This season has been full of those for me.
“Equal” would have been correct if this were the 1980s and the ingredient were aspartame.
If I’d been playing, I would have said “Hm, it’s not Equal, that’s aspartame… it’s obviously that other one, which I see all the time in restaurants. Yeah, that one with the brand name. That one.
This is why I don’t play.
As a server, I often refill sugar caddies, and I can tell you that Equal is the least commonly used of all our sugar packets. Splenda and Sweet n Lo run pretty equal, and sugar’s sugar. We don’t ever get asked for Truvia or Stevia, the newest of the artificial sweeteners.