Rules/Notes:
1) Lowest point total wins; your score for each question is equal to the total number of players submitting that same answer.
2) Pay attention to the first sentence in each question - it tells you what is required in your answer.
3) You may use one DROP and take zero points for that question.
4) You may use one SHEEP to take the sheep answer for that question.
5) There will be a BONUS of (-4) for anyone who gives correct answers to all 10 questions, utilizing neither their drop nor their sheep options.
6) There are two additional opportunities for bonuses (up to -15 points!). Use questions 11-12 for those.
7) Wrong responses (on Q1-Q10) are the higher of either +10 points or the "sheep" answer +3
8) All answers are due by 10 AM ET on Tuesday, January 9th, 2018.
9) Only the first submission per person is accepted; submit entries by PM or with this google form.
Question 1: Letter and answer required. Name one of the following pictured people who died in 2017:
Question 2: Letter and answer required. See question 11 for a related bonus opportunity. Select one of these sports awards and name the team or individual who is the holder of the award, as of December 31, 2017 (i.e. the award was given to the recipient in the year 2017).
- AFCA National Championship Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Commissioner’s Trophy
- Green Jacket
- Heisman Trophy
- Larry O’Brien Trophy
- Lombardi Trophy
- Stanley Cup
- Venus Rosewater Dish
- Wooden Award
- New Horizons
- Gemini
- Voyager
- Mercury
- Pioneer
- Curiosity
- Magellan
- Mariner
- Apollo
- Launched in 1977, these were unmanned missions to explore the solar system towards the edge of the Sun’s influence. One of these spacecraft is now the farthest man-made object from Earth.
- This program was a series of 10 missions, the last of which resulted in the first close-up pictures of Mercury.
- Launching in 2006, and using Jupiter for a boost in 2007, it did a flyby of Pluto and its moons in July of 2015.
- This program was the United States’ first foray into manned spaceflight, launching Alan Shepard into orbit in 1961.
- This program had the goal of accomplishing a manned lunar landing, which was fulfilled on July 20, 1969.
- Launched in 2011 and arriving on the surface of Mars in August of 2012, this craft aimed to study the climate and geology of Mars and determine if conditions there have ever been favorable for life.
- Beginning as a series of lunar orbiters, the spacecraft bearing numbers 10 and 11 in this program later visited Jupiter and Saturn on their way out of the solar system.
- Also known as the Venus Radar Mapper, this craft was launched in 1989 with the goal of mapping the surface of Venus. It arrived at Venus in August of 1990, performing various mapping tasks and experiments before being sent crashing into the surface in 1994.
- Flown in 1965 and 1966, the fourth of these missions brought us the first spacewalk by a U.S. astronaut. Other flights on these missions proved NASA’s ability to connect two spacecrafts while in space and tested the effects of long spaceflights on astronauts.
Question 5: Letter, title, and artist required. On August 21st, a total solar eclipse dazzled viewers all across the United States for the first time since 1918 (while the U.S. has seen total eclipses since then, none have traversed the nation as this one did). Select a letter and name the title and artist of one of these songs, perhaps loosely related to an eclipse, below.
Question 6: Letter and nation (or potential nation) required. On October 27th, Catalonia declared independence from Spain, although it was not recognized by any sovereign nation. Select a letter below, each describing a relatively recent effort at creating a new sovereign nation, and name, in the case of a success, the nation that arose from the effort or, in the case of a failure, the region, province, or state that was proposed but never formed as a sovereign nation.
- Literally translating to “east east,” this nation originally declared independence in 1975, but was annexed by Indonesia soon afterwards. Its independence was restored in 2002.
- As a result of a 1993 independence referendum that finished with 99.83% of voters in favor, this nation was formed, and Uganda was supplanted as the world’s most populous landlocked nation.
- As a result of a 2014 independence referendum that finished with 55% of the voters against, this country did NOT become its own sovereign nation. However, after an unrelated referendum in the news in 2016 (where 62% of its voters voted AGAINST what would be the final result), its First Minister has said that a second independence referendum is "highly likely."
- One half of a peaceful 1993 split whose capital is NOT Bratislava.
- Over 70% of its residents speak its namesake dialect of French, and have a fairly unique culture in comparison to the rest of its country, but as of 2017, this North American province has yet to become its own nation.
- The most recently established nation in the world, finalizing independence in 2011, this African nation has been in civil war in 2013.
- Also known as the Tskhinvali Region, it declared independence from Georgia in 1991, but is only recognized by four UN member states as of 2017.
- The half of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia whose capital is NOT Podgorica.
- Gaining independence from another country on this list in 2008, this landlocked country in the Balkan Peninsula is recognized by 110 members of the U.N.
- An island nation in the western Pacific Ocean with capital Ngerulmud, it gained independence from the United States in 1994.
Question 8: Token name required; see question 12 for a related bonus opportunity. In March, the Internet voted and added the rubber ducky, T-Rex, and penguin to the list of Monopoly tokens, retiring three existing classic tokens, and keeping the total number of tokens at eight. Previously, the cat was introduced as a token in 2013, replacing one of the classic tokens. In 2007, three tokens were retired without replacement, one of which was a fairly short-lived one, and the other two of which were classic tokens. Name any of the eleven tokens that came with a classic Monopoly set, just prior to the 2007 retirement. As a clarification – the cat was introduced in 2013, so it is not a valid answer for this question. However, the token that it replaced would be valid, as would any of the three tokens retired in 2007.
Question 9: Number and term required. Based on a definition (from Merriam-Webster.com) below, select one of the definitions below and name the word or term that Merriam-Webster announced was added to their dictionary (or had their articles expanded) in 2017. Note that these words were not necessarily first used in 2017, but had their definitions added or updated in 2017. The first letter of each is terms given as a hint.
- (A) - rounded balls of cooked rice with savory fillings (such as mozzarella cheese) that are coated with bread crumbs and deep-fried
- (F) - the space between the legs of a goaltender
- (P) - to begin drinking alcohol before an event or activity (such as a party or a night out)
- (B) - to watch many or all episodes of (a TV series) in rapid succession
- (P) - to move into the frame of a photograph as it is being taken as a joke or prank
- (H) - the collective mental activity expressed in the complex, coordinated behavior of a colony of social insects (such as bees or ants) regarded as comparable to a single mind controlling the behavior of an individual organism
- (M) - a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (such as a racial minority)
- (N) - the idea, principle, or requirement that Internet service providers should or must treat all Internet data as the same regardless of its kind, source, or destination
- (S) - a medium-sized, multipurpose kitchen knife of Japanese origin that has a lightweight blade with a straight or slightly curved cutting edge and a spine that curves downward to the tip
- (G) - to abruptly cut off all contact with someone (such as a former romantic partner) by no longer accepting or responding to phone calls, instant messages, etc.
- Doug Jones wins the special election in Alabama to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions; AOL discontinues AIM, its 20-year old instant messaging application; Wildfires, including the record-setting Thomas Fire, helped by the Santa Ana winds burn across Southern California.
- Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, is assassinated in a chemical attack in Malaysia; the United States Senate votes to silence Elizabeth Warren during debate over the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General; Adele’s “25” wins the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
- After a 2016 referendum, the United Kingdom invokes Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union, starting negotiations for the UK to leave the European Union; the United States wins the World Baseball Classic final, 8-0 over Puerto Rico.
- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is caught sunbathing on a beach closed to the public after a state budget crisis; Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci has a ten-day tenure as White House Director of Communications
- Christopher Wray confirmed as director of the FBI; Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas.
- The March for Science occurs in response to, among other things, the Trump Administration’s perceived ignorance of science in favor of ideology; the Cleveland Browns use their annual first overall draft pick to select Myles Garrett from Texas A&M University; Robert J. Bentley resigns as Governor of Alabama.
- Brooks Kopeka wins the U.S. Open; James Comey testifies before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; North Korea releases Otto Warmbier back to the U.S. after over a year in prison.
- Fifty-nine people are killed and over 500 injured when a gunman opens fire over a concert in Las Vegas; Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne win the Nobel Prize in Physics for their contributions to the discovery of gravitational waves; Shinzo Abe re-elected as Prime Minister of Japan.
- The Houston Astros clinch their first World Series title, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deciding seventh game; Robert Mugabe steps down as President of Zimbabwe after a military coup; a meme is born as the Weather Channel’s efforts to film the implosion of the Georgia Dome are thwarted by a MARTA bus parking in front of their camera as the demolition occurred.
- With marches occurring in 420 cities across the country, the Women’s March becomes the largest single-day protest in US history; Moonlight wins Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
- Hurricane Maria makes landfall over Dominica; the Cleveland Indians snap a 22-game winning streak, the longest unbroken streak in Major League history; Apple announces the iPhone X.
- Emmanuel Macron sworn in as President of France after winning the French presidential election in a runoff against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen; Takuma Sato is the first Japanese driver to win the Indianapolis 500.
- Most correct without a wrong answer: -6 points
- Second most correct without a wrong answer: -4 points
- Third most correct without a wrong answer: -2 points
- All (including those who receive bonuses a-c, and those who put down at least one wrong answer): -1 point per 3 correct answers, not including your actual answer on #2, rounded down (e.g. 8 correct will guarantee you -2 points, plus any bonus from a-c that you receive).
Ties for bonuses a-c will be awarded the better point value (i.e. all players who tie for most correct will receive -6 points). Ties may cause certain point values to not be awarded (i.e. if two players tie for first, then the next most correct will get -2 points for third most; if three or more players tie for first, they all get -6 and bonuses b and c are not awarded).