Tie-Break Hound

So it came down to this. The Anoraks 147, The Hound 147. An impasse had been reached after two hard hours of quizzing and it would be decided by one question. The pub had been offered the choice of whether the money should be split but they wanted a tie-break. One question would decide our destiny, one question to rule them all.

Earlier in the evening such an outcome had seemed so unlikely. Daren, Kevster, Graham and myself had assembled and as usual, the weighty topics of the day were under discussion. As such, had anyone actually seen George, the Purley Arms ghost? Why does asparagus make piss smell so bad and are McBusted really the ultimate supergroup? Why, even is there a name for a surely impossible 6 under par on a golf hole (a phoenix) when the far more common, in my experience, two over is a prosaic double-bogey?

We were pondering such imponderables when in walked Pete! Maybe it would be one of those nights?

So the key question was, which was the first band to make 50 TOTP appearances?. The Stones had their supporters but were maybe too global by 1967. Taking the Purley factor into account, we plumped for Status Quo. It was in Siobhan's hands now.

The quiz itself had taken an unfamiliar start, we were initially presented with a sheet of company and organisational logos. Most were simple but we failed on a very odd thing, though we were told we'd probably get the marks anyway. How strange. Round 2, the usual current affairs, we'd done our homework and were only flummoxed by a seemingly extinct fruit found in South America. Round 3 was World War 1. I enjoyed this round and we performed well, failing only to pinpoint a monument in Belgium.

Round 4 and we'd all had a punt at the connection. Maybe lasting longest was Graham with Dickens characters but we got to the end and didn't have a darn clue. The fictional Marty McFly seemed the key but we weren't getting it. Turned out we got two wrong which didn't help at all, it was paper.

Ten pointers are where it can be won and lost and we acquitted ourselves well. Daren proffered "fear of one's self" for auto phobia and Pete confidently provided "Annie Get Your Gun" for the film featuring There's No Business Like Show Business. Always found Pete's encyclopaedic knowledge of musicals a bit odd frankly. The third was a simple question on Canadian provinces and we reached half time in good shape.

So, awaiting the answer and there was good news and bad news. The good news, it was the Quo! Bad, The Anoraks knew it as well and there would be another question, a nearest the pin. Hoping for a mathematical one, we had our wish with "how many sides has an enneadecagon"? Not so good, none of us knew it. Graham offered the only solution, 11 and we awaited our fate.

After the oranges and we were greeted with a top ten of the highest earning women in music. Now being mature quizzers we eschewed the obvious double entendres so comments like "we have to have Rihanna", "there's got to be room for Katy Perry" and "I fancy Nicole Scherzinger" were nowhere to be heard. There were different approaches to strategy though. Kevster favoured mature artists with substantial back catalogues, Madonna, Bush etc. while Graham went more for the teen options, Swift, Trainor and the like. My own preference was for the Latinos, J Lo, Shakira et al, Pete was strangely silent. It made no difference though and the usual 7 resulted.

Jeopardy and a confident start was derailed by which year premium bonds were introduced. All thoughts of going for the max were over but we still collected 8 swerving only the war including the Battle of Edge Hill. Probably English Civil and was English Civil.

Music, can't remember and we won the chocolates but I don't know how, lifts in the Empire State. It would surely take a good score to live with the Hound this week.

And so it proved, we had gone 7 rounds toe to toe with The Anoraks and the judges couldn't split us. The enneadecagon, it had 19 sides and the Anoraks had got it. The Hound had given everything but met it's match.

At this point the tiebreaker had meant we'd missed last orders so I was off.

Lilly livered liberal Hound...

Purley Arms
30th October 2014
*posted by 'me' but written by G Hound*

My cryptic note for the pre-quiz discussion simply says 'Race Debate'. I'm pretty sure this related to a race that Kevin never ran when he was a cub, but nevertheless received a badge for. That must be it, what else could it mean?

 

Best first round for some time. No pictures of reality TV favourites or kitchen implements. Instead, film anagrams. All well-known films, all gettable eventually but made us work hard.

No notes for a lacklustre current affairs round, all I remember is that we weren't asked about the tree of the year, but we were asked about a baseball match where Kansas City lost in the final.

Halloween round, fairly routine except note for future reference;

31 October - Halloween

1 November - All Saints day or All Hallows     

2 November - All Souls day.

Great shout by Steve on the Dennis Wheatley question as well.

Connections - We got there eventually, all people/bands who have their own brand of perfume/after shave. We only missed some French bloke who makes things out of car hoods. So what.

A certain amount of confusion between Mickey Mouse and the Pope led to only 20 from the ten-pointers. 

Top 10 largest cities in the USA by population. After starting with New York you only need to name any city that you know in California or Texas to do well.

Most successful Jeopardy round for some time, answered and got right 7 out of 10. We dodged ornithophobia which turned out to be a fear of the things that ornithologists study. A bear trap if ever there was one. Apparently Ingmar Bergman, Scarlet Johannsson and Niall from One Direction all are/were ornithophobes.. Also dodged and didn't have a clue about Tonto's horse (Scout) or smallest US state by population (Wyoming).

The Jeopardy round also threw up a highlight when the quizmaster had to attend a call of nature JoLu (as I am now calling her) took over and what a sexy delivery she hass. Long distance flirting ensued until normal order was regrettably restored. No offence intended to Siobhan.

Romped home in the music for a routine victory overall.

To round off, a few of my cryptic notes that I never used this week;

Aitch not Haitch

Tabloid Sh**e

Jack the Lad Swinging

Charlton

Dean Farley

Cr*p Larry's Band 

Teenage cr*p

Most of the asterisks seemed oi stem from Robson's pre-quiz snifters at the KA. None of it offensive though.

Onto Saturday night when it is hoped that a Hound quorum will attend and behave reasonably at a quiz in the Scout Hut..... 

G-Hound

Wired For Hound

Hounds present this week, Graham, Kevster, Daren and myself. Questions for the day:

1. What's going on at the Purley Arms?

There seemed to be a general change of ambience, plus a clearing out of the bar staff. Frankly some of the other lot were damn miserable so we didn't dwell too long on this one.

2. Were our actions of last week justified?

Can't quite remember our logic here but we came to a unanimous conclusion of "yes".

3. What is an arthropod? How does it differ from a gastropod? Or a cephalopod?

Daren looked to derive it from the Greek, we knew pod was foot, what we didn't know was arthron was joint. After a while we gave up and wikied it. An inverterbrate with an exoskeleton, segmented body and jointed limbs apparently. So includes insects, spiders etc.

4. Do giraffes swim?

Firstly we thought this question might be slightly moot, they're not the shortest characters and their natural habitat isn't known for being that watery. Turns out they not only swim but dive! Witness http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nPrWo5pEvyk or just google diving giraffes.

Impressive tuck positions for such tall creatures but had to mark one down for slight over-rotation prior to entry.

The world being put to rights we welcomed old adversaries from the Jolly Farmers, The Hamsters! How would we compare without the comfort blanket of Theo's marking system. Quite a few others as well, the pub was busy tonight.

First round, dingbats. Not a personal favourite but a team effort saw us get all but one, a collection of small i's in the top left.

Next round, current affairs. The only point collectively remembered was the motorcycle in Easy Rider. It went for a lot.

Connections, we thought this was difficult at the time and in retrospect, it was. The theme was Cagney and Lacey. The only thing I remember is one of them was called Mary-Beth. I don't think that came up.

Geography and a Hound favourite, if we had a joker, we'd have played it here. The only one that really vexed us was the country with most active volcanoes? "Active" in this context can be tenuous and we went USA but the more logical answer of Indonesia prevailed.

Ten pointers, anthophobia definitely featured, we got this, fear of flowers. (I mean really, who out there is afraid of flowers? And if you were, would you own up to it?) We also got the first televised sporting event in 1931. Having circled around in a bit, it was the Derby. Didn't get the other one, maybe it was the volcanoes?

Took the predictions to the top 10 and Fifa top 10, UK banks by profit, flavours of jelly and Enid Blyton books were postulated. None of the sort, turned out to be most recognisable actors. In true Hound style we crossed out at least two right answers, failing to get even the usual 7.

The jeopardy and we correctly swerved something about miosis. We failed to swerve "fastest goal in the FA cup final", something Louis Saha didn't as it was he. Boom, second cup final jeopardy question blown.

Music and my notes are getting really scratchy here, I've got "Nev", "Bazza" and "Christopher Cross (Jump Jump)".

For the chocolate question I've got "The Color Purple" but that might have been my jumper.

No reprieve this time, Robbie Di Matteo was wrong and we knew it; everyone knew it. Imagine then our amazement when a jeopardy-less 114 was enough to win! Go Hound!. With slightly less reason for sheepishness this week we hung around a bit longer. Cash pot up. Somewhere along the way there was a badger.

Lucky, lucky, LUCKY Hound...

- apologies all round for my late posting of this -

Thursday 16th October 2014
Purley Arms

Sometimes when a team is struggling for form and results it'll take anything it can get and grasp it as a totem of changed 'luck' - a football team will readily take a penalty wrongly awarded that enable them to scramble a one nil win - an out of form batsman will happily stay put in his crease knowing he's nicked an edge but not been given and then greedily go on to maximise that fortune with a match-winning, and season changing, knock.

And so it was that the miserably out of form Hound were gifted one small answer in last week's quiz that had a disproportionate impact - but first the background...

We were gathered as a team of five Hounds - without a win in over a month and frankly quizzing like a team of stumbling newly born puppies as opposed to the trained, sleek, *ahem* winning Hounds we had become used to being.  We warmed up in the usual manner - certainly if there was to be a change in our performance and result this week it wasn't going to come as a consequence of us changing our routines...

We despatched a strangely easy opening picture round for a full ten points (famous buildings and/or landmarks - Alcatraz, Sydney Opera House, Mount Rushmore, etc) but had to settle for seven out of ten in the current affairs (not knowing the $ price per barrel that oil had fallen to, the name of the then incoming hurricane and the name of a film banned at the Cannes film festival).

Round 3 was Food & Drink - another solid but unspectacular set of answers - two wrong (apparently it's grape skins that give the purple colouration used in meat stamps and the name of a paella cooking pan is, somewhat disappointingly, a paella...).

Predictions across the team as to what the connection would be in the traditional fourth round were; Dad's Army (Robin), Belgium (Graham), Parts of a castle (Daren), Steven Spielberg films (Steve) and Walkers Crisps flavours (my bad self).  Thankfully no points are actually at stake for this daft predictions as, somewhat unsurprisingly we got nowhere close - the actual connection was 'record labels' which we successfully identified along with all nine of the clues.

And so we rounded out the first half of the quiz with two of the ten pointers correct - we didn't know the name of Linda Blair's character in The Exorcist (Regan).

The general feeling over the half-time refreshment was that we, again, hadn't covered ourselves in glory in the first half and needed something BIG in the second half to secure the much desired win - and so to the pivotal Jeopardy round...

The questions passed quickly and we were increasingly confident in our answers - so we bit the bullet and went with all ten of our first answers, knowing that just one of them being wrong would ruin us for another week - and sure enough, we got one wrong...  In answer to the question, 'Which Shakespeare play featured the line, 'A horse, a horse my kingdom for a horse...'?' we had supplied the answer Henry V - it is actually, of course Richard III.  Hey-ho...  Another week another loss.

The Top Ten round was Supermarkets - we got our traditional 'most of them but not all of them'.  And we got a couple of artists and one song title wrong across the musical round.

And so to the marking - we didn't come last, or second last - in fact we didn't feature at all as the list of entered teams was read out.  Until the end.  Right at the end.  '... and winning the quiz this week with a score of 166 - the only team to get all ten of the Jeopardy round right - it's The Hound...'

Cue some very embarrassed looks at our totally undeserved fortune and some very rapid and sheepish drinking up and departing with 50 totally undeserved £s clutched tightly in sweating palms.

Did we deserve it?  Nope.
Did we own up?  Nope.
Did we hang around debating the morals of the situation?  Nope.
Are we all going to hell?  Tune in next week to find out...

Go fourth Hound and multiply

(DN: I asked for suggestions last night as to the style that I should write this week’s TQSR in and the answers I received were: a Poem, Sports Journal in the Style of Alan Partridge, a Rap and a Foreign Office Travel warning – Obviously this is no easy task on a Friday morning with a hang over but here goes……)

It was an Autumnal Thursday night in Purley

And 5 hounds gathered for the quiz, quite early

Robson, Kevster, Daren and Steve Green

Graham too but ‘Pig’ & Pete were not to be seen

So onto the picture round, this as always is round one

10 photos of Kitchen Implements which promised much fun;

I wandered lonely as an egg whisk

If you can keep your Fish slice when all about you are losing theirs and blaming you

How do I love thee? Let me count the melon ballers.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately Garlic Press decree

Come friendly colanders and fall on Slough

And so on…………

On to Round 2, this was current affairs

There were lots of people sitting on chairs

9 out of 10 is the score we got

But Clacton on Sea had Graham quite hot

*****************************************************************

You join me now in the helicopter as we look down on these Quiz Teams, who look like cattle in a mad way—but cattle doing a quiz.

The next round is Science and Nature – Surely a chance for Robson to flex his intellectual organ and leave it out there for all to see.

Dry Ice – textbook

Lactose – back of the net

Fetlock – kiss my face

Twat! That was liquid quizzing

Round 4 is connections

The atmosphere here hangs heavy, like a big smell. The smell of men together. The smell of cats' musk.

All 10 answered correctly including the connection which was; all items mentioned in ‘We Didn’t start the Fire’, Billy Joel’s ode to Pyromaniacs.

Eat my answers! The quiz mistress has got Hound pie all over her shirt

10 pointers?  2 out of 3, Like a rabid, raging, nuclear hound on heat, who’s gone to a quiz and done quite well, at half time.

As I sit through the round they call the top ten
I take a look at my answer sheet and realize we’ve 7 again
'Coz I've been answerin' and laughin' so long, that
Even my team thinks that my mind is gone

But I ain't never crossed an answer that didn't deserve it
Me be treated like a Hound you know that's unheard of
You better watch how you're talkin', and where you're walkin'
and answer what the Top 10 Spielberg films be by grossin’

Jeopardy

May I have your attention please?
I'm not afraid (I'm not afraid)
of writers cramp (of writers cramp)
Everybody (everybody)
Come take my Penalty (come take my Penalty)
We'll walk through Purley Arms together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm

His Korean war was sweaty, legs rough, toilets are smelly
There's food on his table already, Mr Benn's wotsits
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to get writers cramp,
But he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down,

And I am, the Merchant of Venice
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?
In the paper, the news everyday I am
Radio won't even play my jam
'Cause I am, the Merchant of Venice
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?
In the paper, the news everyday I am
I don't know it's just the way I am

So lets go back
Follow the  Pope’s plane as we go on another quiz
Journey with me as I take you through Purley Arms
I once used to call home sweet home

Well, gotta go, I'm almost at Trinidad now

And when I'm gone, its just writers cramp, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my sweaty Korean war
Just know that I'm looking down on you and drink
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just talk rubbish

*********************************************************************

Music

Over 9 Hit records were played twice. Most tracks and artists were identified trouble-free, but incidents of uncertainty (sometimes violent) were witnessed. The FCO is aware of an error on at least 2 questions involving a certain Mr Barry White and a song containing advice to ‘Runaway’.  British nationals on 2^nd October 2014 were advised to do their best and have a guess where they weren’t sure, however The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all but correct answers.

At approximately 22:27 GMT The Hound were
advised of a score 18/20. A number of media outlets were taken off air and some internet sites were blocked.

Despite an apparently high number of well considered answers the Hound were deemed to have scored a relatively paltry 125 points placing them 4th in the table when compared against other teams.It’s illegal to criticise the Quiz Mistress and you should be wary of questioning the scoring in public.

You should monitor this Blog, local news and social media for developments.