Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on Nov. 18, 2008

1) 43 companies in the 2008 Fortune 500 are headquartered in what city, the Fortune 500 home-base champ?

2) The Sunshine Factory, the Heart of Historic Route 66, and the Town Too Tough to Die are all nicknames for cities in which state?

3) Before Obama, the president born furthest west came from Yorba Linda, California. Who was he?

4) What body of water is the largest remnant of Lake Bonneville, which once covered the area now known as the Great Basin?

5) According to the 2000 census, what is the most commonly spoken Native American language in the US?

6) If you start in Georgia and walk the entire Appalachian Trail, you’ll end up at Mt. Katahdin in what state?

7) Sugar Land and Baytown are the two smaller cities in the metropolitan area that includes what Texas city?

8) Eight of the ten largest islands in the United States are located in what state?

9) The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is stored in underground salt caverns at four sites located in what two states? (half point each)

10) The Bible Belt is bursting with Protestants. The Rust Belt is losing jobs in the steel industry. What’s the defining characteristic of the Jell-O Belt?

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Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on Sept. 2, 2008
Average score: 7.77/10 (11 teams)

1) Which Seattle suburb claims to be “ahead of the curve”?
2) What popular nickname for Santa Clara Valley comes from a series of articles written for Electronic News in 1971?
3) If you’re visiting the formerly Hindu, now-Buddhist temple of Angkor Wat, what country are you in?
4) What river starts in Lake Tanganyika and flows through the Lualaba River and the Livingstone Falls before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean?
5) What territory separated from the Northwest Territories in 1999 to become the newest and largest Canadian territory?
6) The Queen City of the Ozarks, the BBQ Capital of the World, and the Gateway to the West are all nicknames for cities in what state?
7) The Mozambique Channel separates continental Africa from what nation?
8) The Anatolian peninsula makes up most of the area of what country?
9) Türkmenbaşy, Rasht, Baku, and Atyrau are all port cities on what body of water?
10) The Sioux City metropolitan area (such as it is) covers part of three states. Name two of those states for half a point, all three for the full point.

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Round 1at the Old Pequliar on August 12, 2008
Average score: 7.18/10 (11 teams)

1) Three lakes within Seattle city limits lie north of the Montlake Cut. Name two of them for one point.
2) What two European countries recently engaged in armed conflict over the territory of South Ossetia?
3) What country contains the westernmost point in continental Europe?
4) Bharat and Aryadesa are alternate names for what country?
5) What Canadian city lies across the Detroit River from Detroit?
6) The Cook Strait, also known as Raukawa, separates the two largest islands in what country?
7) The vast majority of Yellowstone National Park lies within what state?
8) Electric City, the Weather Capital of the World, and the Sweetest Place on Earth are nicknames for three cities in what state?
9) Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste all share land borders with what island nation?
10) What’s the second-highest mountain in Washington?

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Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on July 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.29/11 (17 teams)

1) What country does the Onion’s Our Dumb World atlas describe as the “Nobel Prize Winner for Great Cheekbones”?
2) Seven Seattle streets are named for members of the Denny Party who arrived at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. Other than Denny Way, name one street for one point, or three streets for 2 points. (Don’t write down more than 3 answers!)
3) The Three Gorges Dam is under construction on what river?
4) The Helium Capital of the World, the Execution Capital of the World, and the Live Music Capital of the World are nicknames for three cities in what state?
5) What’s the most populous US state with a Democratic governor?
6) What South American country, one of two that doesn’t border Brazil, is the world’s leading exporter of bananas?
7) If you’re visiting scenic Zanzibar, you’re in what African nation?
8) What’s the most populous city in a country that was a member of the Warsaw Pact?
9) What Asian nation’s name means “land of the pure” in Urdu, its national language?
10) Bailey Peninsula in Lake Washington is entirely taken up by what Seattle park?

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Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on June 3, 2008
Average score: 3.38/10 (16 teams)

So, yeah, this round’s a little too difficult.

1) None of the United Nations member states start with the letter X — or what other letter?
2) What’s the most populous country in the world where Spanish is a national language?
3) Name one of the two largest islands in Washington’s Island County.
4) 37 towns share the most popular place name in the US. Which founding father inspired most of them?
5) After the breakup of the Soviet Union, what country became the world’s leading producer of potatoes?
6) Put these three places in order of total area, from smallest to largest: the city of Juneau, Alaska; King County, Washington; and the state of Rhode Island
7) Maracaibo, Valencia, Barquisimeto, and Mérida are cities in what South American country?
8) Which US city contains the world’s largest population of Iranians outside of Iran?
9) Birthplace of Goethe, Bach and Nietzsche, what was the second-most-populous city in East Germany?
10) After the 1861 unification of Italy, two cities were capitals before Rome. Name one of them.

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Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on May 6, 2008
Average score: 6.42/10 (12 teams)

1) Which neighborhood was known as Brooklyn at the time Seattle annexed it in 1891?
2) What’s the most populous country in the world that considers English an official language?
3) What country contains the site of the ancient city of Ur?
4) What part of Massachusetts became the 23rd state in 1820, becoming the largest in New England?
5) Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania are the three countries that border what lake?
6) What’s the most populous city in Ohio that doesn’t begin with the letter C?
7) Hillary Clinton’s strongest victory so far came when she won 69.7% of the Democratic primary vote in what state?
8) What region of South America uses the Euro as its currency?
9) O. Henry coined the phrase “banana republic” to describe what Central American country, where these days a $140 dress from Banana Republic costs 2650 lempiras?
10) There are 16 mountains in the US taller than Mt. Rainier. In what three states will you find them?

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Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on Feb. 5, 2008
Average score: 3.78/10 (too hard!), 9 teams playing

1) Two cities have been among the 10 largest in America every census from 1790 to 2000. Name them both.
2) The Mackinac Bridge connects the cities of St. Ignace and Mackinaw City in what state?
3) What’s the only part of Arizona that observes Daylight Saving Time?
4) What city on the Black Sea is the largest port in Ukraine?
5) What national capital straddles the Han River?
6) What country launched Operation August Storm on August 8, 1945, invading Manchukuo?
7) It’s part of the Arab League and the Francophonie, but one African country does not belong to the African Union. Which one?
8) According to the 2007 Global Peace Index, what European kingdom is the most peaceful nation in the world?
9) What’s the most populous city in New England?
10) What Seattle suburb was founded as the town of East Seattle in 1904, but renamed itself in 1924 after an early settler?

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Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on April 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.76/11 (21 teams)

1) What country is described in the Onion’s Our Dumb World atlas as “a shortcut with its own national anthem”?
2) What Pacific Northwest region centered around Spokane shares its name with a region in California, as well as a David Lynch film?
3) If someone asks “Will it play in Peoria?” what state are they concerned about?
4) Washington, Utah, California, Vermont, Kentucky, Cyprus, and Mars are each home to a mountain with what name?
5) The only Celtic Nation on the European mainland is what former kingdom and current French province?
6) The Dead Sea borders Israel and what other country?
7) Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, and Schiermonnikoog are four of the Frisian Islands that are part of what country?
8) For the first half of the civil war, Mesilla, New Mexico, was the capital of what Confederate territory?
9) Two US state mottoes are in French: Union, justice, et confiance and L’étoile du Nord. For one point each, which states have those mottoes?
10) What Asian country is described by Our Dumb World as “where a kid can be a kid prostitute”?

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1) Which US state has the longest freshwater coastline?
2) What’s the only country that presently includes Afrikaans as one of its official languages?
3) Washington State’s borders include two rivers — the Columbia, to the south, and what other river to the east?
4) What heavily Baptist Gulf Coast state has the lowest rate of cremation in the US?
5) Isla De La Juventud is the second-largest island in what Caribbean nation?
6) What country is divided into thirteen peripheries, including Thessaly, Attica, and Epirus?
7) On February 17, the Republic of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. The new nation borders three other countries. Name one of them.
8) What lake, the largest in Africa, is the source of the White Nile rivier?
9) The Moscow Canal connects the Moskva River to what other river?
10) Which Puget Sound city took its name from an earlier name of Mount Rainier?

Average score (20 teams): 7.35 Read the rest of this entry »

1) The combined area of all Wal-Marts in the world is approximately equal to the area of which of these islands: Manhattan, Maui, Nantucket, or Vancouver Island?
2) Name one of the two states that border a record 8 other states.
3) Paris is the most populous French-speaking city in the world. What’s the second-largest?
4) What present-day country is home to most of the territory of the ancient Etruscan civilization?
5) Multiple choice: which of these distances is the longest: Moscow, Idaho to Moscow, Russia; San Juan Island to San Juan, Puerto Rico; Sun City, AZ to Sun City, South Africa; or Toledo, OH, to Toledo Spain?
6) What Pacific Ocean country is the most linguistically diverse in the world, home to over 820 languages?
7) Angola, East Timor, Macau, and Mozambique are all former colonies of what European country?
8) What country has the world’s second-largest sheep population, but is the world’s largest exporter of wool?
9) What’s the largest city located within the Mojave Desert?
10) What building was the tallest in Seattle for 48 years, from its construction to when the Space Needle was built?

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