Just one more day to go after this…
1. What metal, the fourth most common element in the Earth’s crust, is the most common in the Earth’s core (both the inner and outer core)?
I considered the correct answer, iron, but then I had the following thought: That would make the Earth really heavy, wouldn’t it? Seriously, that’s what I thought. And then I went with nickel.
Note to self: THE EARTH IS HEAVY.
2. The Apennine Monte Titano is the home to what European microstate?
I said “Micronesia,” which is code for “I give up.” I never would have come up with San Marino.
3. Outlaw brothers Frank and Jesse James, as well as most other members of the James-Younger gang, were from which U.S. state, in which the gang was centered?
Do you know what? Only now, as I am writing this blog post, do I realize that I knew the answer to this question. Knew it for a cold fact. Back in April, I did a school visit in Kearney, Missouri, where you can’t drive two miles without seeing some reference to the fact that Jesse James was born there. (But not, apparently, Frank? I don’t know.) No fewer than three kids asked me if I was planning on going to the Jesse James museum while I was in town. I left Missouri fully aware that it was Jesse James’s home state.
But when I saw this question, my mind processed it as “Choose a midwestern state” and offered up Nebraska, and I shrugged and went with it. Even when I saw the correct answer, I didn’t immediately realize this was something I should have gotten.
I think I might be phoning it in a little at this point.
4. The TV characters Vincent Barbarino, Arnold Horshack, Freddie Washington, and Juan Luis Pedro Felipo de Huevos Epstein were all members of what fictional gang?
Welcome Back, Kotter was a mainstay show in my house growing up. Family viewing. I have fond memories of it, and remember vividly the bits the writers came back to again and again because they were bereft of any new ways to develop these paper-thin characters: Epstein’s notes from his mother. Barbarino’s asking “Who? What? Where?” Horshack’s “Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!” (Even as a kid, I didn’t understand how Horshack had gotten into this “gang.” He was no gang member. He was the kid getting beaten up three times a week in the cafeteria.)
I re-watched an episode or two of the show as a grown-up, and lordamighty was that a bad idea. Painful. Just painful. “Not funny” is bad enough, but nothing is more painful than “not funny but backed up by a rabid laugh track.” Here, take a gander:
My God, is that James Woods in a guest role?! It is!
Anyway, so. I sure as heck knew these were the Sweathogs.
5. The automobile pictured here, from a 1917 newspaper advertisement, was the inspiration for the name of what arena rock band popular in the 1970s/80s?
I had no idea for the longest time, and then an answer dawned on me — a beautiful answer, an answer that was followed by doves carrying a banner bearing the message “You have done it! You are so smart!”
My answer was: Thin Lizzie. Because the Tin Lizzie was a car! Right? Wasn’t it?
It was! Specifically, Tin Lizzie was a nickname for the Model T, which is not the car shown in this question’s picture. What I wanted was REO Speedwagon. Phoo.
Favorite REO Speedwagon song: “I Do’ Wanna Know”. I still like the video, too, despite the strange notion that they should attempt to transform the lyrics of the song into a “script” for the characters to speak/sing, whether or not that makes any sense at all.
6. What distilled alcoholic beverage, native to Mexico, is made from the maguey plant (a type of agave), and is differentiated from tequila by the process and location of production, type of agave used, distillation frequency, and taste?
Like the Jesse James question, I felt this was more than something I didn’t know — it was something I had no experience with at all, something so beyond my knowledge that to even try to come up with an answer would be a waste of time. And then on the drive to work my mind whispered to itself a single word: Mescal. Oh, right! I’m glad some part of brain kept working on this when the rest had given up. It doubled my number of correct answers.
Hey Eric,
Getting close to the end and future leagues won’t be as much fun without this space for discussion. Yesterday’s match pitting me against the 10th ranked player, but he was 3rd in Total correct answers. A very strong player, someone I would have to work very hard to beat.
1) Iron seemed right to me pretty quickly, we mine it in the crust but it’s not everywhere. Good for one point for me and my opponent.
2) San Marino was one of those small countries I picked up on the name from quizzes, and I believe from playing WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? years ago. I went with it as an educated guess and was happy with the resulting 2 points for me, 1 for my opponent.
3) Guessed Oklahoma, which I guess isn’t too far. I never would have guessed it but my opponent gave me 0 for this without knowing it himself (Perhaps he assumed incorrectly that I saw the Brad Pitt movie?)
4) Was too young to watch WBK but remembered the bit on THE SIMPSONS where Marge’s sister looks at a sperm bank brochure:Marge: “Ooh, one of the Sweathogs” to which Selma replies: “I checked, it’s not Horshack”. Good for 1 point.
5) I’m glad I thought of REO Speedwagon cos’ Thin Lizzie might have tripped me up, except I don’t think they really filled arenas even in their prime. Had to think about it for a while but it came to me. Good for 2.
6) Had no idea, guessed Guarana which is 1) Brazilian and 2) not always alcoholic.
Still, good enough to win, 6(4) – 2(2). I think being Australian gave my opponent trouble with the back 4 fairly Western Hemisphere-centric questions. I’ll take it, clinching 2nd position in Coastal D. I even have a shot at finshing as the Rundle D Coastal winner if I win Monday and the current top ranked juggernaut, OsherR loses, which seems unlikely, and more importantly, is out of my control.
Eric, in the unlikely event I come out on top this will be a Sherman win you didn’t predict.
Oh my god I actually won on defense! Which means I basically am going to finish out the season where I’ve been the whole time, at approximately 29th place. Oh well. I have heard nice things about the E League.
1. When I was a kid there was a book called “Why is the sky blue?” or some sort of children’s book of questions that had, among other things, really great illustrations including one of kids walking barefoot on the earth’s core. This made me nuts because of course the earth’s core is super duper hot and in that twitchy nerd way I could not get around how a book that has the ANSWERS could do something so erroneous. Also the core was Iron.
2. I don’t think I really know what a microstate is. I said Monaco because I know it is in Europe and is small.
3. I somehow went singing a song in my head about a different outlaw, Pretty Boy Floyd, and he is from Oklahoma.
4. RIP Robert Hegyes. I watched WBK enough so I was wondering “Are the sweathogs also part of a gang that I don’t know the name of?”
5. Answer clearly Thin Lizzie. Rrrrrrrr.
6. Filed under “alcohol I don’t like very much” I knew this one and I think my opponent thought that I would not.
So, thanks to perfect defense and an opponent with imperfect defense, I pulled a 5(3) 4(4) win out of this one.
1. Iron. I know there’s a touch of nickel in there too, but iron predominates.
2. Again with the stamp-collecting. I had some San Marino stamps and knew where ot was. Personally im more fond of microbreweries…
3. Frank was from Missouri too. Missouri is the Show Me State, and I’ve connected it with “show me your hands!”
4. WBK was first on when I was in eighth grade. The math teacher would regularly split the class into two and have a trivia game. He loved WBK and there were always questions about it.
5. Knew it immediately without looking at the picture, which confirmed it. I grew up in the Detroit area and cars were everything. A few years back I had 2nd row seats at a sold-out arena show featuring Styx, Journey and REO. It was a lot of fun! REO stands for Ransom E Olds (as in Oldsmobile) if anyone cares to know.
6. Not a fan at all, but I knew me(z/s)cal was what we were looking for.
An interesting season got even more so. With a 9(6)-7(4) win, I managed at least a 2nd place finish. InglebritsonC tied, so we are tied with 35 points each. I have exactly two fewer MPD. If I tie on Monday, I’ll stay in second place, barring an unthinkable loss by the leader, who has not yet lost this season. If I win and InglebritsonC were to tie, then I’d get the coveted virtual trophy. If we both notch a win, it will come down to MPD with advantage to the leader. This is fun!
1. I was pretty sure the molten core was mostly iron. I was correct.
2. The Apennines are Italian, so it was pretty much San Marino or the Vatican, and the Vatican is in Rome. I don’t think Rome is in the Apennines.
3. Guessed Kansas as a random Midwestern state (that I did think was correct).
4. I immediately wrote down “Welcome Back Kotter gang” as a reminder to come back to this. Sweathogs occurred to me eventually.
5. Guessed Thin Lizzie as well, despite the fact that I listen to a lot more REO Speedwagon.
6. If it’s made of agave and not tequila, it’s probably mescal.
Tied in points and MPD with the 3rd place person, so I have a chance for promotion, depending on how MD25 goes.
Not a strong day over here.
1. I had a strong gut instinct that it was titanium (which I went with). Further reflection wouldn’t have helped–my alternate answer was lead.
2. I went with Malta, which at least is a European microstate. Would have guessed Andorra had we not already had it.
3. Another strong gut instinct: alas, for Oklahoma. Stupid gut.
4. Gimme. The 0 for my opponent and myself.
5. Wow, was I sure this was Thin Lizzy. Good question, although I’m not sure how one would have picked if one had thought of both Thin Lizzy and REO Speedwagon (who I liked in junior high, but have not held up well at all).
6. Total blank.
That adds up to a 0(1)-1(2) loss, sigh, another in a long series of near misses. I am one step above relegation with a tough opponent on the last day. I haven’t distinguished myself this season–if I get knocked down to Rundle C, I’ll have earned it.
This was a peach of a day for me. A fetid, moldy, horrifying peach.
1 — The metal most abundant in the earth’s crust? Easy peasy — Aluminum. Next question. Wait what??!! *Fourth* most common element (not just metal) in the earth’s crust, and most common in the core?? Well, I easily know that’s iron. Now, if only I had read the question correctly. Sigh.
2 — I live in San Marino, California. So when I see “microstate, that’s typically my first guess, and it was here as well (and I even had it typed in). Unfortunately, not having a real basis for that guess, and knowing that Monte Carlo is in Monaco (so that at least I knew there were “Monte”s there), caused me to go with Monaco instead. Bad idea.
3 — This was perhaps my favorite question of the day, because I had no chance of getting it right, so it did not disappoint me. Said Arizona (for the OK Corral, not Jesse’s hangout but maybe he knew some guys) without thinking it was likely right, but you gotta say something.
4 — More questions like this, please, though really, did you have to give *all* the names? Better, perhaps, to give 3 names and ask for the fourth, or was the idea that “Sweathogs” was difficult? I guess, with only 51% correct answers, maybe it was. My opp was from Melbourne, so I chanced a 3 on this question, which turned out to be a good move (one of my few of the day).
5 – no, No, NO, NOOOO! First thing out of the box was REO Speedwagon, easy enough. But then a nagging voice — the bad one that says “but isn’t that too easy?” And then, somehow, 70′s felt a little early for some reason, and the car didn’t really look much like a “speedwagon,” *and* there was something about the name being “inspired” by the car as opposed to “took its name from” the car, so all in all I went against my better instincts and switched to Thin Lizzy. Never, never again (until the next time).
6 — I had both Mezcal and Ouzo at a bachelor party some 25 years ago. I don’t think I’ll forget them. Thankfully, that experience helped my get the point here, though I think I have run across it enough since then to have gotten it even without the bachelor party.
Looking at the answers after submitting hurt my hand, because of Q’s 1, 2, and 5 causing me to smack the desk repeatedly (should have gotten 1 and 5, and probably shouldn’t have talked myself out of 2, though that one was really a tossup for me). Scrambled to a tie, and — yippidee — am mathematically safe, making Monday an irrelevancy, but we play for pride, don’t we?
A solid enough victory actually makes my last match matter, with demotion or not riding on one game. More exciting, however, is the daily side-game I’ve been playing against Dave S. above, where we are now exactly tied, with it all coming down to Monday!
1) Iron made the most sense to me
2) Of the micronations I could think of, the Vatican isn’t on a mountain and the rest are all beachy. San Marino? Yes!
3) Name a western state. Wyoming? OK, no. I’ve spend a bunch of time in MO and never knew this.
4) Easy, and boy am I old.
5) “REO” came to mind as “old car”, and sure, that could be a “speedwagon”!
6) argh, shoulda had it. Went with “arack” though I know that’s more mideastern.
Also: good luck to Eric for all the marbles! A great season on your part, no matter how it ends.
4 of 6 for me today but it wasn’t enough against my opponent who currently holds the second spot in Rundle B.
1. Almost went with Nickel but changed it at the end to Iron.
2. San Marino was my only real choice but I had always thought it was on the coast and not a landlocked mountain enclave.
3. Went with Arizona even though I figured that Tombstone was not the stomping grounds of the James Gang. I just didn’t want to not guess Arizona and then have it turn out to be right.
4. Sweathogs, gimme.
5. REO Speedwagon was a gimme for me but I can see how people would have also considered Thin Lizzy.
6. Probably knew this in the back of my mind but couldn’t come up with the answer.
Lost 4(4)-7(5). I’m not safe on Day 25. If I lose by three or more points and there is a combination of wins and ties from the three people behind me I could end up back in Rundle C next season. At least I’ll be up against my brother there.
3. Where are all the Warren Zevon fans?
1. I remember from Grade 8 Geography class that the core is nickel and iron, but couldn’t remember which is more plentiful. Coins made out of nickel but *lots* of things made from steel, so the balance tipped to iron. (Note to Eric: check out the periodic table. A nickel core would actually make the Earth heavier than iron.)
2. Appenines put us in Italy, which leaves us with only two choices for small, small countries, and since Vatican City is inside Rome, it doesn’t sound like Vatican City, so….
3. Why did so many of us think it was Oklahoma? It was my instinctual answer, but with no sense behind it.
4. Wow, what a gimme.
5. I thought Thin Lizzie was a beautiful answer so long as you didn’t pay very close attention to the picture of the car.
6. Well, since “agave” and “tequila” are in the question so I seem to have run out of things to give as an answer. Came up blank.
A 4(3)-0(1) win nudged me up two spaces, at the very ceiling of the D-zone. If I win Monday’s questions and the player at the bottom of the C-zone loses, I replace him. On the up side, I’m not playing a high-ranking opponent. On the downside, neither is he.
1: Was thinking iron from the beginning, questioned it a couple of times, but never changed it.
2: Why, oh why, do the words “Pyrenees” and “Apennines” have to look so similar in my mind? I get them SO confused, in fact, that the following thoughts didn’t stop me from putting down Andorra: “that mountain name doesn’t sound particularly French OR Spanish” and “didn’t we JUST HAVE an Andorra question?” Sigh. My only consolation is that I’m not sure I’d have gotten San Marino even if I had properly relocated to Italy.
3: Questioned this one even more than the Earth’s core answer, but nothing seemed righter than Missouri.
4: If they ever played it on Nick at Nite in the early to mid-’90s, watch out, opponents.
5: Got this right away, just on the strength of “what band is named after a car?” The picture only helped confirm it for me.
6: I knew I would recognize the answer when I saw it, but that’s apparently not enough to get credit. I put down “sangria” just to have something in the blank.
8(5)-6(4) loss. I have no idea why both my opponent and I were so sure that each other’s hardest answer would be the Sweathogs.