Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on July 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.94/10 (17 teams who know quite a bit about Ms. Spears)

1) The Daniel Edwards sculpture “Monument to Pro-Life” depicts Britney doing what?
2) Spears won a Worst Supporting Actress Razzie for her appearance in what documentary, where she encouraged us to “trust our president in every decision he makes” and “be faithful in what happens”?
3) Rumor has it that Justin Timberlake sang about Britney cheating on him in what 2004 Grammy-winning song? (Arthur Hamilton’s 1953 song does not involve Ms. Spears, however)
4) “My baby is my religion,” declared Britney in 2006, adding that she no longer studied what practice that she was introduced to by Madonna?
5) Before she became a Mouseketeer, Britney competed as a singer on what television series?
6) Britney’s first two albums include what punctuation mark in their titles?
7) Curious, Fantasy, and Believe are the names of three of Britney Spears’ what?
8) Newsstand sales for what 150-year-old magazine took a nosedive when they put Britney on the cover of their April 2008 issue?
9) Britney took two of her favorite places and combined the abbreviations for them to create what four-letter name for what Manhattan restaurant that she opened in 2002?
10) “Easy, boy,” says what Viagra spokesman, calming down his dog at the climax of a commercial where Britney sings an ode to the joy of Pepsi?

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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 3 at the Old Pequliar on June 3, 2008.
Average score: 6.13/10 (16 teams)

1) the Segway, one of the Spice Girls, and a castaway
2) a DC Comics supervillain, a children’s television show, and a kind of camera lens
3) a fruit-based dessert, a geologic term, and something a baseball player wants to avoid
4) Beatrice’s cousin, a role playing game system, and what they call a grinder in New York
5) a sign in the Chinese zodiac, something you’d find at a mall, and Splinter
6) a monster that lives in a maze, something funky you might see on TV, and a Whoopi Goldberg film
7) a women’s basketball team, a Peggy Lee song, and something to starve
8) an episode of the series Rome, an automotive company, and a Conan O’Brian character,
9) a recent celebrity autobiography, a truly creepy Japanese horror film, and an Adobe software title
10) a baseball stadium, a jazz-era synonym for hunky-dory, and the alligator man

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Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on May 6, 2008
Average score: 6.33/10 (12 teams)

1) In Toy Story, the little green aliens who live at Pizza Planet believe they’re destined be chosen to go to a better place — by what?
2) If you’re using a MetroCard vending machine, you’re probably planning to take public transit in what metro area?
3) “I hitched a ride with a vending machine repair man” is the opening lyric to what 1996 Sheryl Crow song?
4) If you travel to Japan to indulge your buru-sera fetish, you might be disappointed to discover that it’s against the law to stock vending machines with what?
5) Contestants competed to create the best amuse buche using $10 worth of ingredients from vending machines on an episode of what reality show?
6) You can buy black-and-white photos wrapped in cellophane from the original Art-O-Mat machine, a vintage vending machine that originally sold what?
7) AltaVista’s translation service takes its name from what small, yellow, highly improbable creature sold in vending machines in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?
8) What 1927 Edward Hopper painting is set in a restaurant where you could buy an entire meal from vending machines?
9) In the movie Airport, just before boarding an airplane with a bomb in a briefcase, D.O. Guerrero buys what from an airport vending machine?
10) Last week, over 700,000 people watched a video on YouTube of Hillary Clinton attempting to do what with a machine in a convenience store?

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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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1) Marvel Comics had its first major success in 1961 with an issue detailing the origin of what super group?
2) What scrappy X-Man first appeared October, 1974, brawling with the Hulk?
3) The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were created in the same accident that created what Marvel superhero?
4) What word, also the state motto of New York, did Stan Lee end most of his Bullpen Bulletins with?
5) What iconic superhero was recently shot to death in front of a federal courthouse?
6) Which of these Marvel characters was not co-created by artist Jack Kirby: The Black Panther, The Hulk, Spider-Man, or Thor?
7) Name two of the five founding members of the Avengers.
8) If a Marvel comics fan pointed out a mistake in an issue and came up with a plausible explanation for it, what did he win?
9) What occupation do the secret identies of She-Hulk and Daredevil have in common?
10) Which mystical Marvel character is most likely to say “By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth”?
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1) Which US state comes last alphabetically?
2) Who has had the most square miles of the earth’s surface named after him or her?
3) What’s the popular name for the intersection at Broadway and Seventh Avenue in New York City?
4) The community of White Center in unincorporated King County is being considered for annexation by Seattle as well as what other city?
5) As of 2005, which city had the busiest Amtrak station west of the Mississippi? (most passenger traffic to and from)
6) Which of these is longest: the second-longest river in Africa, the second-longest river in Asia, the second-longest river in North America, or the second-longest river in South America?
7) What’s the official state religion of Bhutan?
8) The US was the first country to detonate a nuclear weapon. The Soviet Union was second. Which country was third?
9) What state capital, named for a US president, is the city with the greatest number of Flickr users per capita?
10) If you’re at the spot exactly opposite Seattle on a globe, what ocean are you in?
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I’ll name a tourist attraction, you tell me what town or city it’s in.

1) OK Corral
2) Wall Drug
3) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
4) National Baseball Hall of Fame
5) Graceland (Elvis’ house)
6) Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
7) the Lowell Observatory
8) Glitter Gulch
9) Pimlico Race Course
10) Grant’s Tomb

Average score, out of 17 teams: 6.24.
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1) (multiple choice) The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre clinched Al Capone’s victory over which rival gangster: Pretty Boy Floyd, Bugs Moran, Abe Sarkis, or Dutch Schultz?
2) On May 10, 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was appointed head of the Bureau of Investigation by which US President?
3) Who was shot not long after seeing the movie Manhattan Melodrama?
4) What wild west lawman was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979, the year it was created?
5) What 1970s bank robber was pardoned by Bill Clinton on his final day in office?
6) What NBA player is a reserve police officer for the city of Miami Beach, Florida?
7) Which Steven Spielberg film is based on the autobiography of Frank Abagnale?
8) Which US president was a former New York City police commissioner?
9) Local labor leader Dave Beck was convicted in 1957 of stealing $1900 from the coffers when he was president of what union?
10) Who was the Seattle police chief during the WTO protests?

Average score, out of 17 teams: 5.71. Read the rest of this entry »

From the Old Pequliar on Jan. 23, 2007

1) What’s the most populous city on I-5 between Seattle and Portland?
2) As of 2006, according to the Economist Intelligence Group, what Scandinavian city is the most expensive in the world?
3) The total land area of Japan is closest to the total land area of which state: California, Michigan, Montana, or Oregon?
4) What river forms part of the border between Ontario and New York?
5) Which California city is the most populous city in the US that doesn’t contain at least 1,000,000 people?
6) Name one of the two Central American countries that borders Mexico.
7) Land’s End, the westernmost point in England, is located in which county?
8) Measured by total passenger traffic, which airport is the busiest on the European continent?
9) Name one of the two countries in the world that borders 14 other countries.
10) Seattle’s Empire Way was officially renamed in 1982. What’s it known as today?

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