Featured as round 1 at the Old Pequliar on June 2, 2009

Trivia meets wordplay. I’ll give you three definitions. You tell me what word or term all three of them could define.

Example: Wonka’s successor, a kind of list, and something a walrus might have?
Bucket (Charlie Bucket, the bucket list, and the LOLcat walrus and his beloved bucket)

Got it? Good! Here we go:

1) a kind of poll, swine construction material, and where you might find a turkey

2) a single, a Nobel Prize-winning author, and Mr. Rogers

3) a kind of postage stamp, part of a Star Trek warp drive, and something mortal

4) an album by the Cure, a bone, and something that comes in threes

5) a variety of blues, to capture your opponent’s piece, and something crowds might yell

6) something you can do with a TV signal, to take off quickly, and Motocross

7) one way to sell, a vowel sound, and 8 oz. of espresso

8) a mille-feuille, a famous pig, and Pedro’s friend

9) a kind of touch, a metaphorical hand, and an asset not found in financial statements

10) a smidgen, to steal, and an emergency

ANSWERS (no peeking)

1) straw

2) buck

3) coil

4) wish

5) jump

6) scramble

7) short

8) Napoleon

9) invisible

10) pinch

Average score in the pub: 6.44/10 (18 teams)
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Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on April 7, 2009

Trivia meets wordplay. I’ll give you three definitions. You tell me what word or term all three of them could define.

Example: an after-dinner cocktail, a kosher insect, and a synonym for padawan? Grasshopper.

Got it? Here we go:

1) a kind of Republican, a presidential birthplace, and something you might put on pancakes

2) a sketchy version of the lottery, a crime drama, and a book of the bible

3) Barbie’s younger sister, an employment agency, and a shade of green

4) one of Pee-wee’s friends, a kind of chick, and what Alabama is the heart of

5) something a bird does, a Lonesome Dove character, and to name the pocket you’re shooting for

6) a Yahoo! website, a haircut, and something the Simpsons might drink

7) a boxing measurement, a measure of audience size, and a toothbrush

8) one of Beetle Bailey’s brothers in arms, a bet in roulette, and a white fudge candy bar

9) an obsolete Chrysler car, a Carpenters album, and Alaska’s sister

10) Morse code for “e”, part of a URL, and an Animaniac

ANSWERS:

1) log cabin

2) numbers

3) kelly

4) Dixie

5) call

6) buzz

7) reach

8) zero

9) horizon

10) dot

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on March 3, 2009
Average score: 6.71 (14 teams)

Premise: Given three definitions (in the loose sense of the word), give me the term that fits them all.

Example: an after-dinner cocktail, a kosher insect, and a pop cultural synonym for padawan are all “grasshopper”

Here we go:

1) a type of photography, a Rick Astley album, and the opposite of landscape

2) a Samsung cell phone, a kind of Mac OS file, and an espionage TV series

3) a kind of dog collar, something you might see in a parking lot, and part of a volcano

4) a kind of steak, an Adam Ant song, and a daily dose of Peanuts

5) a kind of wire, a thorn in Robin Hood’s side, and something you might burn in Britain

6) a piece of chocolate, Dale’s partner, and a buffalo byproduct

7) a kind of play, an episode of Buffy, and Peter Gabriel’s soundtrack to Last Temptation of Christ

8) a typesetting term, having a lot of money, and a poker hand

9) Wonka’s successor, a kind of list, and something a walrus might have

10) a Thomas Pynchon novel, the middle of many court cases, and the invasion of the lizard people

ANSWERS:

1) portrait

2) alias

3) cone

4) strip

5) guy

6) chip

7) passion

8) flush

9) bucket

10) v

Round 3  at the Old Pequliar on Feb. 3, 2009

I give you three definitions, you provide the one term that fits them all. Example: a porn studio, Elphaba’s story, and Bostonese for “extremely” are all wicked.

1) a kind of neuron, a character in Snow White, and a copy of a website

2) a sea monkey, Boogaloo’s last name, and another word for butterface

3) a kind of wall, a kind of bread, and an emotion related to surprise and awe

4) a force central to fluid dynamics, something you do with a mouse, and a kind of king or queen

5) something that bites, a well-known Jack, and a television interviewer

6) Nemo’s mom, a venemous snake, and a pinkish gemstone

7) a Kennedy, a Dr. Who character, and a word that Gertrude Stein was fond of repeating

8) a breakdancing move, a music magazine, and something a Sufi might do

9) what we call the movie Hana-bi in America, a Schoolhouse Rock! song, and an Adobe product

10) a battle cry, an indie rock band from Austin, and to snuggle

ANSWERS:

1) mirror

2) shrimp

3) wonder

4) drag

5) frost

6) coral

7) rose

8) spin

9) fireworks

10) spoon

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on Dec. 2, 2008
Average score: 6.07/10 (15 teams)

Triangulation is the product of an unholy union between Wikipedia’s disambiguation pages, seldom-used dictionary definitions, Urban Dictionary, and whatever words catch my fancy. I’ll give you three definitions, you tell me the word or phrase that fits them all.

Example: A Canadian music award, a Roman goddess, and Roger Ebert’s favorite film of 2007: Juno

1) a kind of wine, a kind of rock, and where Hewlett-Packard got its start

2) a British drink made of fruit juice and soda water, a non-Olympic racquet sport, and a zucchini

3) something you build while hunting, a forced bet, and a slat-driven device

4) five and a half yards, something you’d find near a cone, and a character from Avenue Q

5) Snoopy’s sister, a Disney princess, and Sebastian’s dog

6) a wrestling lineup, a wag or wit or joker, or something you punch

7) a kind of bug, a field, and Jennifer’s middle name

8) part of a whip, a British crime TV series, and a racial slur

9) a tour guide, to summon someone, and a 1950s Playmate of the Month

10) a porn studio, Elphaba’s story, and Bostonese for “extremely”

ANSWERS:

1) garage
2) squash
3) blind
4) rod
5) Belle
6) card
7) love
8) cracker
9) page
10) wicked

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on Nov. 18, 2008
Average score: 6.47/10 (15 teams)

Given three definitions, find the one term that fits them all.

Example:
Something you’d see on a slot machine, a U2 song, and a name you’ll hear on Must-See Thursday: Lemon

1) Part of an engine, a Chuck Palahniuk novel, and what the Patriots did in Super Bowl LXII

2) A Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album, paramnesia, and home of 1000s of beautiful girls and 3 ugly ones

3) A Radiohead song, a project management hazard, and the Committee to Re-elect the President

4) A kind of bowl, a kind of bunny, and the source of T.S. Eliot’s fear

5) An infantry weapon, a freshwater fish, and a starfleet captain

6) The fictional criminal agency opposed by MASK, a toxin, and a Topher Grace role

7) Mr. Wilson, a cocktail that includes an egg, and a somersault

8) Burt Reynolds’ autobiography, a Michael Keaton film, and a presidential autobiography

9) A Cirque du Soleil show, a hug, and Mr. Henry

10) A key, a Prime Minister, and a resident of Fawlty Towers

ANSWERS:

1) choke

2) déjà vu

3) creep

4) dust

5) pike

6) venom

7) flip

8) My Life

9) O

10) major

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on October 7, 2008

Triangulation is the product of an unholy union between Wikipedia’s disambiguation pages, seldom-used dictionary definitions, Urban Dictionary, and whatever words catch my fancy. I’ll give you three definitions, you tell me the word or phrase that fits them all.

Example: A Canadian music award, a Roman goddess, and Roger Ebert’s favorite film of 2007: Juno

1) An SUV, a bar on Capitol Hill, and an East Coast WNBA team
2) The opposite of double, an indefinite pronoun, and the force that threatens Fantasia
3) A honeycomb holder, a story that contains stories within itself, and 1/24th of a second of a movie
4) The average value of a force multiplied by the time during which it acts, a jazz record label, and when a man you never met before suddenly gives you flowers
5) A Unix command, an octothorp, and a kind of brown
6) Police Woman, a warm-up exercise, and a Gwyneth Paltrow character
7) A British lad mag, a really good poker hand, and a WWII quote
8) Two out of three games of bridge, a gumshoe, and a french letter
9) Clarissa’s last name on Clarissa Explains It All, Lady’s owner in Lady and the Tramp, and a Julie Christie film
10) Chutzpah, the website that described itself as “literate smut,” and what the Cowardly Lion sings for

Answers:

1) liberty
2) nothing
3) frame
4) impulse
5) hash
6) pepper
7) nuts
8) rubber
9) Darling
10) nerve

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on Sept. 2, 2008
Average score: 8.18/10 (11 teams)

I’ll give you three definitions, you tell me what word fits all of them.

Example: an after dinner cocktail, one of the few kosher insects, and a synonym for padawan? Grasshopper.

1) one way to fly, a leather merchant, and Ernie Pantusso
2) part of a skateboard, something you make in PowerPoint, and something you hit
3) a popular cut for diamonds, a character on Battle of the Planets, and Grace
4) a defense, a low-carb diet, and somewhere an athlete can be
5) a book of the bible, a unit of currency, and conman lingo
6) Julian Lennon’s nursery school classmate, a five-cent psychologist, and an Australopithecus afarensis
7) a muscle spasm, BDSM, and Ray Davies
8) the moon, Poland from 1948 to 1990, and a Toshiba notebook
9) part of a violin, part of a song, and a card game
10) a hip-hop sound, the devil, and cash money

Answers:

1) coach
2) deck
3) princess
4) zone
5) mark
6) Lucy
7) kink
8) satellite
9) bridge
10) scratch

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on August 12, 2008
Average score: 4.82/10 (11 teams)

Triangulation is my tip of the hat to Wikipedia’s disambiguation pages and the seldom-used tertiary and sub-tertiary definitions in the dictionary. Given three definitions, tell me the word or phrase that fits them all.

Example: A Canadian music award, a Roman goddess, and Roger Ebert’s favorite film of 2007: Juno

1) a sequel by Alexandra Ripley, a G.I. Joe, and Barack’s email pen pal
2) something you’d yell at a dog, sentimental stuff, and porridge
3) a British car model, a fictional FBI agent, and a Project Mercury astronaut
4) a knotmaking term, a fingerprint pattern, and part of a roller coaster
5) a kind of railway freight car, an American painter, and a Pixar villain
6) an album by Jewel, the crimefighting identity of Denny Colt, and something you’d find at a pep rally
7) a movie about skiing, Jughead’s pet, and the goodbye song on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
8) a corporate mascot elf; a football term; and an exclamation of dismay, disbelief, surprise, or joy
9) something a Jungian psychologist discusses, a pulp hero played by Orson Welles, and Sonic’s rival
10) a professional degree, a character on MASH, and a TV trucker

Answers:

1) scarlett
2) mush
3) Cooper
4) loop
5) hopper
6) spirit
7) hot dog
8) snap
9) shadow
10) BJ

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on July 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.41/10 (17 teams)

Triangulation is my tip of the hat to Wikipedia’s disambiguation pages and those seldom-used tertiary and sub-tertiary definitions in the dictionary. I’ll give you three definitions, you tell me the word or phrase that fits them all.

Example: A Canadian music award, a Roman goddess, and Roger Ebert’s favorite film of 2007: Juno

1) a kind of wrench, something you can make from socks, and something you spank
2) a novel by Irvine Welsh, a byproduct of horses, and the opposite of rubber
3) a documentary by Diane Keaton, a place where nothing ever happens, and a place on earth
4) the author of The Bonesetter’s Daughter, a key on a calculator, and a George Hamilton accessory
5) the shipboard computer in a science fiction classic, a John Lennon song, and something that turns wine to vinegar
6) one third of a popular hip-hop trio, a product formed by the neutralization of an acid by a base, and what we talked about when we talked about nukes
7) something you’d see on a slot machine, a U2 song, and a name you’ll hear on Must-See Thursday
8) an Edith Wharton novel, a lake in Oregon, and a lifeguard on Baywatch
9) Christopher Martin’s hip-hop alias, the NY Times’ online sports magazine, and “the work of children”
10) a celebritot, a unit of Smurf measurement, and a Newtown Pippin

Answers:

1) monkey
2) glue
3) heaven
4) tan
5) mother
6) salt
7) lemon
8) summer
9) play
10) apple