Even though the threat of severe thunder storms clouded the evening, the crowds turned
out at the Lion & Crown last night. It was nice to see R.O.U.S. again. (Fans of The
Princess Bride will get that one!) The Hilltoppers came and went early. It was probably
the final Double-or-Nothing that turned them out. And a big welcome to the newbies,
Thunda From Down Unda, who had the strength of a cricket team but only two axes who
actually played! Beer Logic and Rockerfeller also played, and well, too.
The Drama Queen Fairy made an appearance last night as Deadly Alliance (aka Blood, Bath
& Beyond/Ship It!) and Street Smarts duked it out for second and third place over a tie
breaker. DA won. Bar Guy (Sean carried that old banner) made an amazing win with a
first win by DoN on the last round! (Someone on the team had been in Band in High School
and knew what the components of a string quartet were!) Exciting stuff!
Hats off to our quiz writers once again. At first, the question set seemed a little too
easy. A lot of DoN's, successful ones at that, were being made. Then came Round Six and
specificity of matching solo artists to their bands daunted all but the music geeks. It
was a strategy. Possibly. The best moment of mirth came when a couple of the teams
substituted gesundheit for schadenfreude. Oy!
Have a nice weekend everybody. Peace.
* Won Tiebreaker
The Lion & Crown in Allen roared into action last night with its second edition of King
Trivia Pub Quiz for 2020. Gosh! The new year is still new at this point! One wonders
if we will be able to look back at it with 20/20 vision. It seems, at least to this
quizmaster, that the years are flying by faster than ever with a repetition of the cycle
that is demanding an obedience to the form, rather than the substance of remembrance.
Is Auld Lang Syne an ode, or just old? When we gaze back over the past, are we looking
through rose colored glasses or have we put on blinders?
Winning last night's quiz was a real horse race with Street Smarts gaining a great victory
after a faltering start. Shredder Squad, who had been poised to win until the Smarts
lurched ahead of them got shouldered into second place while Stealth Texas beat out the
Rockerfellers in a heated tie breaker for third place honors!
Deadly Alliance, Incognito and newbies The Bushwackers all performed well, with enough
vigor and enthusiasm to make it all worthwhile. More goodness from the quiz writers,
who gave us some devils to contend with, "forking" with our better angels, no doubt!
The theme to our Find-the-Connection Round eluded some teams, even though the answer
was in their hand (helds) the whole time. Quiz Master Lou wonders if that constitutes
a breech of the "No Cell Phones" rule? And for once, the literary set out performed
the cinematic with more successful Double-or-Nothings in the Hand Out Round (complete
the book title) than the Round Seven (top grossing films) round. Kudos!
We all take a deep breath as we prepare to dive into the murky waters of 2020. Perhaps
this past remembrance from the words of Abraham Lincoln will help...
"Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be."
Have a peaceful weekend.
* Won Tiebreaker
It was an exciting and happy new year as 2020 kicked off at the Lion & Crown in Allen
with a huge crowd of trivia players! Some of my social media buddies have touted that
the twenties are back. If that means the Roaring Twenties, I'll take speak easies,
flappers and the Charleston, but let's not have Prohibition, Black Friday or the Great
Depression, eh?
We had a huge assembly of veteran players and a good cross section of newbies, half of
whom dropped out before Round One finished. Ah, well... Sometimes the water looks
fine until you jump in. It was nice to see the Bastard Barristers again, although being
too long away from the court of trivia, they lost their case. A big welcome to the out-
of-towner's, the Young and the Restless Leg Syndrome (great name!), who performed well
but got sidled by some fairly stiff competition. Our old pals the Hilltoppers showed
up in strength, which almost got them into the winner's circle, but circumstances of an
historical magnitude (it's only the second time in this quizmaster's memory that it has
happened!) shut them out when a double tie occurred!!!
Deadly Alliance (Ship It!/Blood, Bath & Beyond) tied with Ninja Turtles for first place
while Beer Logic tied with the Hilltoppers. Results of a four-way tie breaker put DA on
top followed by NT then BL. Amazing!
Another great question set from our quiz writing overlords out west (with the possible
exception of Find-the-Connection). Identifying breakfast cereals was a fun challenge
and brought back memories for this quizmaster, who fondly recalls actually eating bowls
of Quisp. (Yes, at a young age I chose the Alien over the guy in the hardhat.) Style
points were awarded to the team that thought Boo Berries were asteroids. Can't say I
blame them, though. And the inspired selection of H.G. Wells as our Guess Who Round
afforded Quiz Master Lou the opportunity of reciting (and blowing it) from memory the
introduction to Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds prologue by Richard Burton. (Including
the music sting!)
Happy New Year!
* Won Tiebreaker
