QUIZ RECAP

This week's intrepid trivia pioneers not only had to contend with nerve-wracking decisions about whether to risk Double-Or-Nothing, but they also managed to weather through some self-admitted discombobulation on the part of your esteemed host. But with some goodhearted positivism and friendly cheer, these intellectual troopers managed to overcome typos and mispronunciations alike as they scaled up the mountain of ephemeron factoids.

Our contestants on this Post-Observed-Veterans Day-Day, were Team Flaming Farts 69, Team Better Than Chad, Team Mostly Not Transplants, Team Baker, and last week's victors, Team Smooth Hands Crew (+Karen). Things kicked off with a narrow sprint through the first two rounds, with only 5 points between 1st and 3rd place. And a proper shoutout to the Smooth Hands Crew for selflessly pointing out a typo on the "Picture Round" handout for the rest of the teams.

Things continued with a strenuous Round 3 themed around "Months". No team was able to crack above 50% accuracy in their answers, but it provided everyone an opportunity to learn about "Juneteenth", a holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery in Texas on June 19th, 1865. As 1st through 3rd continued to be separated by only 5 points, a cheeky rivalry between Team Baker and the Smooth Hands Crew began to develop in the background.

Our "Guess Who" Round left a few teams kicking themselves for not realizing faster that they were dealing with a fictional Greek. Better Than Chad, Mostly Not Transplants, and the Smooth Hands Crew were all practically submitting Apollo before Clue #3 was done being read, and our seemingly unbreakable 5-point spread continued into Round 5's "Find the Connection". But as only the Smooth Hands Crew (+Karen) and Better than Chad were able to correctly identify the link between answers as NBC's "The Office", the contest for 1st was squarely between these two rivals with 34 and 27 points.

And while your MC may have forgotten to announce a general 'Spoiler Warning' before the teams began matching famous plot twists with their respective TV shows, everyone managed to shake off their initial shock and astonishment and turn in a solid round of answers, with an average accuracy of 70%. Better Than Chad and Smooth Hands Crew (+Karen) both intensely debated the merits of going 'Double-or-Nothing' in this round, and while Better than Chad astutely refrained from doubling down given some wrong answers, the Smooth Hands Crew's decision to play it safe left 10 bonus points on the table after they turned in a perfect answer sheet.

Unfortunately for Better than Chad, they weren't able to capitalize on this in the final round, and the Smooth Hands Crew (+Karen) were able to pull out with another victory at 48 points against Better than Chad's 41. Thanks to everyone for coming out and playing, even our unofficial team who joined in just for fun in Round 7, hopefully we'll see you at a future night! My substitute hosting has come to an end, so your regularly scheduled quiz-master should be back next week.