This one is a mystery theme! I think some of the questions might play a bit hard, but the theme should be within reach. I've been playing with this one in my head for a bit, and was finally able to put it down on paper (screen?) as a TD. Hope you folks enjoy.
Rules/Notes:
- Lowest point total wins; your score for each question is equal to the total number of players submitting that same answer.
- Pay attention to the first sentence in each question - it tells you what is required in your answer. Make sure you put all required information in your answer!
- Roosevelt Rule - In general, when your answer is a person's name, last name will be sufficient unless specifically mentioned, or when more information is required to distinguish your answer.
- You may use one DROP and take zero points for that question.
- You may use one SHEEP to take the sheep answer for that question.
- 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.
- There are many other bonus opportunities on this one. Some will help guide you towards the theme.
- Wrong responses (on Q1-Q10) are the higher of either +10 points or the "sheep" answer +3
- All answers are due by 10 AM ET on Tuesday, July 17th, 2018.
- Only the first submission per person is accepted; submit entries by PM or with this google form.
- No outside research or help is allowed. Only your brain and pen and paper if necessary.
Q1. Good morning! Answer one of the following questions about Baltimore, the largest city in my current home state of Maryland. Letter and answer required.
- This past year, the University of Maryland at Baltimore County (UMBC) became the first 16th-seeded team to defeat a top-seeded team in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Name BOTH teams that they faced in this year’s NCAA tournament (the 1-seed that they beat, and the team that proceeded to defeat them in the second round).
- The city of Baltimore, Maryland is named after the 2nd Baron Baltimore (AKA Lord Baltimore). There were six people to hold the title of Baron Baltimore. They all shared a common last name. What was that last name (hint: it’s not Baltimore)?
- Within 1 year, when was the last time the Baltimore Orioles won the World Series?
- Everyone knows that Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the War of 1812. Over what fort did the Star-Spangled Banner yet wave as the British navy bombarded it?
- What brand is being advertised here?
(Link if it doesn't display: https://imgur.com/w76Cs47.png) - Edgar Allan Poe is often associated with Baltimore. Name a woman mentioned in the title of a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Correct answers will be graded separately.
- Who is this?
(Link if it doesn't display: https://i.imgur.com/YRKwaVp.png) - Baltimore is served primarily by BWI International Airport. Who is this airport named after?
- Baltimore is home to two historically black colleges. Name either one (scored separately).
Q2. Letter and answer required. Select and answer one of the following:
- A chipotle is a smoke-dried version of what?
- The McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana is best known for producing what condiment?
- Istanbul was Constantinople, now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople. In what country is Istanbul located?
- What type of sausage, also coming in Mexican and Portuguese varieties (among others), is most often associated with Spain, where it is seasoned with smoked paprika and salt, and can be spicy or sweet?
- In the mainland United States, you’ve probably most commonly heard of Puerto Ricans being referred to as Puerto Ricans. However, Puerto Ricans often refer to themselves by what term, from the Taíno word “Borikén,” translating to “The Great Land of the Valiant and Noble Lord?”
- Grilling or broiling food with a glaze of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar is best-known by what term? It comes from the combination of a term for the shine given by the sugar in the glaze, and a term for the cooking method.
- What is the term for a Spanish bacon, normally made from cubed pork belly, but sometimes from fried fatback? It is also commonly used in Filipino and Caribbean cuisine.
- Native to Australia, what nut, named after a chemist, teacher, and politician, is also known as a Hawaii Nut?
Q3 - Letter and answer required. You will be given a clue about an event and asked to identify something about it. Each of the events described occurred in the same month of the same year. For a bonus, name the common month and year.
- The first meeting of WHAT GROUP, consisting of, among others, Allen Dulles, Gerald Ford, and the sitting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the time.
- The first use of WHAT NOW-UBIQUITOUS TECHNOLOGY occurred during the Army-Navy football game, as commentator Lindsey Nelson told the television audience, “Ladies and gentlemen, Army did not score again!”?
- Americans got to see WHAT BAND for the first time, as a clip from one of their performances was shown on the CBS Evening News?
- The British Union Jack was lowered and a new black, red, green, and white flag was raised, symbolizing the independence of WHAT AFRICAN NATION?
- The UN General Assembly approved a resolution which stated, among other things, that no nation could lay claim to sovereignty any portion of WHAT LOCATION? It also stated that exploration there would be in the interests of all mankind, nations had jurisdiction over their own objects there, and that humans were to be rendered aid in case of emergency there, regardless of nationality.
- The British government granted independence to WHAT NOW SEMI-AUTONOMOUS REGION off the coast of Tanzania?
- The birth of WHAT ACTOR, who starred in the 2001 film “Ocean’s Eleven” and the 2011 film “Moneyball,” and produced “The Departed” and “12 Years a Slave?”
- The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland dissolved into what would become three present-day countries. Southern Rhodesia would become the present-day nation of Zimbabwe. Name EITHER OF THE OTHER TWO MODERN-DAY NATIONS composed of the land that once made up the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (graded separately).
- Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Higher Education Facilities Act. This was the first of a series of domestic programs best known by WHAT TWO-WORD NAME?
Q4 - Letter and answer required. Name one of the following people.
(Link if the album doesn't embed above: https://imgur.com/a/zupxy3T)
Q4 Bonus (-2 points) – what school do these people have in common?
Q5 - Letter and answer required. Select one of the islands or island groups from an area of the world that is asked about relatively rarely and tell me the sovereign nation to whom the territory belongs or is most closely associated.
- Galapagos Islands
- Tahiti
- Gilbert Islands
- Cook Islands
- Pitcairn Islands
- Rapa Nui
- Jarvis Island
- Admiralty Islands
- Norfolk Island
(Link if the album doesn't embed above: https://imgur.com/a/3qiC2Au)
Q6 Bonus (-1 point) – what team do these players share in common?
Q7 - Letter and answer required. Based on a (possibly redacted) line from the chorus (term might be used loosely), give me the title and artist. All of these were on the Billboard Year End Top 100 in the same year.
- “I wanna [title] / and party every day”
- “Ooh, [title], every day. / I wanna tell you [title], every day / I wanna be with you night and day”
- “Missing one angel, child, ‘cause you’re here with me right now.”
- “I’m not talkin’ ‘bout movin’ in / and I don’t want to change your life / but there’s a warm wind blowing, the stars around”
- “Yeah they was dancin’ and singin’ and movin’ to the groovin’”
- “I love you / I can’t explain, the feeling’s plain to me”
- “Oh I’d better learn how to face it, [title], oh I, oh I’d pay the devil to replace her”
- “Ooh, then I suddenly see you/ Ooh, did I tell you I need you / Every single day of my life”
- “Oh, [title] / I believe you can get me through the night”
- “[title] that make the whole world sing / [title] of love and special things / [title] that make the young girls cry / [title], [title]”
Q8 - Letter and answer required. What comes next? Select one of the following sequences and tell me who or what fills in the blank. The sequences are not necessarily complete, but the excerpts given are consecutive members (not necessarily starting with the very beginning).
- Henry Paulson, Timothy Geithner, Jacob “Jack” Lew, _________
- 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ____
- Atlanta, New York, Florida, New York, New York, New York, _______
- Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, _______
- Kaôh Rōng, Millennials vs. Gen X, Game Changers, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, ______
- A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, ______
- Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, _______
- Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, American Pharoah, _______
- Henry VIII, Edward VI, Jane Grey, _____
- Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television, North Korea, South Korea, _______
Q10 - Letter and answer required. Answer one of the following before and after clues. You know how it works – each answer is two phrases, where the end of the first phrase overlaps the beginning of the second. The overlap is usually one word, but some of these may have a longer overlap. Example: a current Supreme Court justice who also served as the third President of the United States would be “Clarence Thomas Jefferson.”
- William Sydney Porter plays Mondego in “The Count of Monte Cristo” and Superman in “Man of Steel,” “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” and “Justice League.”
- A German Shepherd quits his career as a movie star and tries to make it as a golf pro to try to win the affection of Molly Griswold, who is currently dating his old college golf teammate, David Simms, from the University of Houston.
- An unready king who promoted a fear of communism in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s.
- C.S. Lewis series of books on a mishap involving Janet Jackson.
- An American satirist known for collections such as “Men I’m Not Married To” and “Death and Taxes” goes to Hollywood and stars as Tess Shelby on “As the World Turns” and Darla Marks in “Dazed and Confused.”
- An area of the US known for a type of severe weather lobs the ball to a teammate, who jams it home.
- Longing to return to the familiarity of his own abode, Alan Arkin stars as John Singer in a film adaptation of Carson McCullers’s debut novel.
- A ship’s lookout tower is manned by a series of Russians, each fitting inside the next.
- In an alternate ending, after moving to Seattle, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling sing a duet asking, “Are you shining just for me?”
- A famous Dominican fashion designer known for having dressed Jacqueline Kennedy retires and takes a second job as a hired security guard.
Mystery Theme Bonus 2 (-3 points) - Name the most recent addition (as of the time of this game).