Bighound Strikes Again...

Purley Arms, Croydon
24th September 2015

Apparently we're on a run of (almost literally) hysterical Hound/Smiths pun blog titles and in my desperate attempt to conform I've gone and given away the result before I've even started - yes, we won - that's two on the trot now and more useful beer tokens to put towards this year's Xmas Xtravaganza.

Speaking of which topic, it formed part of the early discussion before the questions got underway - what is the collective Hound to do for Xmas this year?  I propose initial suggestions be submitted via a comment below for dutiful consideration and subsequent discussion.

Further 'pre-match' discussions included a de-brief on the annual, late summer, outing to the races with all who attended reporting an enjoying trip to Plumpton despite Robson of House Hound doing his level best to jigger the entire outing by forgetting the tickets.  Other discussion highlights included Robson, still of House Hound, declaring that he had played host to a house guest from Whiffenshire, G-Force and the Green one making Focused size comparisons and G-Force attempting to bring up the fact he'd bought a new washing machine for Mrs G-Force only for me to cut him off mid-flow, so to speak, as my washing machine had been, AND STILL IS, on the blink.  Please see the not-at-all-in-any-way-suggestive photo of my washing machine's filter below - an item with which I have spent far more time this last week than is good for anybody...

There was also contemptuous dismissal of the (actually) hysterical (online mostly) reactions to the lurid revelation about the Prime Minister's University initiation ceremony although it does allow me to continue the Smiths theme and link to the only satirical take on the bombshell that actually made me smile - an adapted take on a classic Smiths song, 'Pig's Mouth Strikes Again' by the long established tribute act, The Iain Duncan Smiths - song and lyrics to be heard and read here along with a charitable donation purchase as you see fit...

Onto the quiz then...

1 - Pictures - ten items of food - fortune cookies, Pineapple, Toblerone, Corn on the cob, Dragon Fruit, Artichoke, Terry's Chocolate Orange. bulb of garlic and dried apricots being the nine we got correct - the one we missed was some strange sort of squat, yellow pepper looking kind of thing - can't for the life of me remember what the given answer was...

2 - Current Affairs - more fairly standard stuff although we failed to get the King of Thailand (can't remember the question) and one of us *ahem* was overruled on a Bond theme related question so we ended up incorrectly putting Shirley Bassey and not Adele.  8/10

3 - Sport - I took my chance to immediately get my own back here (ultimately) incorrectly suggesting Fatima Whitbread when it should have been Tessa Sanderson and none of us got that 'Brown' is the belt in Judo awarded before the black belt is gained.  The round did contain a couple we were able to 'work out' so to speak as opposed to know - the actuaries amongst us disdainfully dismissed, 'how many shots would it take to compile a 147 break' with a hasty "36" and G-Force got into full on list mode to determine the most popular suffix for a Football Club...*   8/10

4 Connections - we struggled with a few specific answers but were confident enough of the connection by the end that we went back and filled in our gaps only to get a couple of them wrong!  The nine answers were Bernie Hyde (although we put Frank Bruno), George Michael, Stephen Fry, Lester Piggot, Ricky Tomlinson, Boy George, Ian Wright (although we put Mickey Quinn), Paul McCartney and Cynthia Payne - what connects them all...!? **   8/10

5 - 3 x 10 pointers - Who was Man of the Year in both 1939 and '42?  In which county is Toaster?  And which artist painted the Laughing Cavalier?  We returned a respectable but, with hindsight disappointing 20/30  ***

6 - all began with the letter 'O' - piece of cake with a clue of that significance - 10/10

7 - Jeopardy - a good few here we weren't 100% about so swerved - how many Jenga pieces are there in a box?  Which is the only US President to have served three terms?  And something I can't remember but for which the answer was Tom Collins!  ****   7/10

8 - Music - 18/20 failing completely to get either song or artist for 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars.  The bitterness of missing out on a full house sweetened considerably by the mutual satisfaction of collectively not having a clue about Bruno Mars or his music.

All of that was good enough for 138 points and first place with second place gaining 116.

The only other thing my crumpled sheet of notes reveals is, in very large writing, 'First Premiership Goalscorer?!?' which I vaguely remember was, for some reason that completely escapes me now, contentious.  Anyway, it was Brian Deane although I would've staked ten of your English pence on it being Teddy Sheringham.  Ho-hum...

And so to close with the earlier promised picture of the filter from my washing machine...

... oh, do stop giggling at the back of the class there you lot...




*  most popular Football Club suffix is 'City'

**  they all spent time in prison

***  Joseph Stalin (we said Adolf Hitler!?!), Northants and Frans Hals (special mention there to G-Force for sticking by his Laughing Cavalier artist shaped guns)

****  54 pieces in a box of Jenga and FDR was the 3-term US President apparently...