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?

Answers:

1) Sweden
2) Boren, Terry, Bell, Olive (after Olive Bell), Virginia (after Virginia Bell), or Lenora (after Lenora Denny)
3) Yangtze
4) Texas
5) New York
6) Ecuador
7) Tanzania
8) Moscow, Russia
9) Pakistan
10) Seward Park

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.

Answers:

1) W
2) Mexico
3) Camano or Whidbey
4) Benjamin Franklin
5) China
6) Rhode Island (1545 sq m), King County (2307), Juneau (2715)
7) Venezuela
8) Los Angeles
9) Leipzig
10) Florence or Turin

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?

Answers:

1) The University District
2) India
3) Iraq
4) Maine
5) Lake Victoria
6) Toledo
7) Arkansas
8) French Guiana (which is part of France)
9) Honduras
10) Alaska, Colorado, California

1) What U.S. city shares a border with Tijuana, Mexico?
2) Six states make up New England. Name five of them.
3) What German city, home of BMW, was selected as the most livable in the world by Monocle magazine?
4) The area known as Kurdistan includes small parts of Syria and Armenia, plus large parts of three other countries. Name two of those countries.
5) What US state first applied for admission to the union in 1849 under the name Deseret?
6) Sure, Patagonia is a clothing company, but it’s also a region of South America covering parts of two countries. Name one of them.
7) The Erie Canal connects Lake Erie to what river in New York?
8) The world’s largest producers of silver are Mexico and what South American country, which has produced silver for European consumption since the 1500s?
9) There’s a Moxy Fruvous song that claims the US’s lowest highest point is in Delaware, but they’re wrong. Which state actually has that distinction, peaking at a mere 345 feet above sea level?
10) The Golden Shield Project is a government-sponsored effort to control all Internet traffic into and out of what country?

Average score, 17 teams: 7.47

Answers:

1) San Diego, CA
2) Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island
3) Munich
4) Iran, Iraq, Turkey
5) Utah
6) Argentina and Chile
7) Hudson River
8) Peru
9) Florida
10) People’s Republic of China (China is fine)

1) What country is the world’s leading producer of mangoes?
2) The smallest county by area in the continental US, New York County, is better known by what name?
3) What city is the oldest state capital in the US?
4) Which country has recorded South America’s record high and record low temperatures, in Rivadavia and Sarmiento, respectively?
5) Canadians who use the busiest border crossing into the US wind up in what city?
6) Which of these language families has the most native speakers: Germanic, Romance, Semitic, or Balto-Slavic?
7) Hitler established Germany’s Third Reich. By his reckoning, what nation, founded in 800 by Charlemagne, was the First Reich?
8) Upon winning the Spanish-American War, the United States was given sovereignty over two islands and an archipelago. Name two of these territories.
9) What Atlantic island nation is both the most populous and oldest remaining British overseas territory?
10) The American Institute of Architects recently released a list of Americans’ 150 favorite buildings. Two buildings from Seattle made the list. For 1 point each, name them. Hint: there’s no Space Needle to be found.

1) India
2) Manhattan
3) Santa Fe, New Mexico
4) Argentina
5) Detroit, MI (the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor)
6) Romance
7) the Holy Roman Empire
8) Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines
9) Bermuda
10) Seattle Public Library, Safeco Field

(Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on June 26, 2007.)