QUIZ RECAP

Even as I approached the entrance to Brouwerij West, I could sense the difference. It was in the air. The sound, the lights, the electricity -- that was the feeling of 21 teams.

It was like a red-alert suddenly flashed across the bridge of my inner spaceship. "Captain, we're getting readings of a massive game brewing."
"Brewing! Good one, ensign."
"No, Captain, this is serious -- it looks like... 21 teams."
"21 teams?!"
"Twenty... one... teams."
"Dear god. This is it. This is what we've trained for."

AND WHAT A GAME IT WAS. Bold risks, careful strategy, wild triumphs, and soul-crushing defeats. Many attempts at doubling were successful, rocketing teams forward into the stratosphere. Many were unsuccessful, bringing teams crashing back down on the launchpad. But in the end, there can only be three winners -- and this week, it was Thin Mints in first, $130,000 Later close behind, and The Bar in third. As The Bar cannot take a prize, however, it went to Coastline -- who was only a point behind them anyway.

Highlights include the Guess Where? round, in which 12 of 21 teams guessed bravely but incorrectly. The gauntlet had been thrown. That call to arms was responded to in the Animal Book Titles round, in which 10 teams got every answer correct, and 5 of them doubled -- many of the same daring souls who had lost the Guess Where? point just two rounds earlier.

One thing is for sure: Don't Panic. I've got a very good feeling about this. We're gonna need a bigger boat. (I know that one is a water ship. Close enough.)