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”

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Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on Dec. 2, 2008
Average score: 5.67/10 (15 teams)

1) What US president, called Sharp Knife by the Creek indians, is the subject of the recent biography American Lion?

2) A Squared, The Breakfast Capital of the World, and the Paris of the Midwest are nicknames for cities in what state?

3) “Little Twelvetoes,” “Them Not-So-Dry Bones,” and “Sufferin’ Till Suffrage” all aired as part of what series of animated short films?

4) What famous Red Sox partisan was the most recent American to be named sexiest man alive by People magazine, before being displaced this year by Hugh Jackman?

5) Sherman’s March to the Sea covered the 300 miles between what two Georgia cities? (Half point each)

6) The Kim Carnes song “Above the Waterline” was the original theme song to what iconic TV series?

7) Machias Seal Island, the Dixon Entrance, and North Island are all areas currently subject to boundary disputes between the US and what other country?

8) What Beach Boys album, featuring “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” and “Sloop John B,” was named the second greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone, and spurred the Beatles to record Sgt. Pepper’s in an effort to equal it?

9) Flag, an encaustic, oil, and collage painting mounted on plywood, became a major influence on US pop art when it was released in 1955 by what artist?

10) Who Would Buy This? is the recently released story of what local [i.e. Seattle-based] business?

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What better way to celebrate 11/12 than with a question about Sesame Street’s beloved “Pinball Number Count” videos?

If you don’t remember them, the videos featured an animated pinball traveling through a deliriously complex pinball machine, illustrating the number of the day. The opening line went something like this: “One two three FOUR FIVE, six seven eight NINE TEN, eleven twelve.”

Question: The group who performed the song had a number of hits during the ’70s and ’80s. Their last single to hit the Billboard Top 10 was featured on the popular soundtrack for what ’80s movie?

Round 5 at the Old Pequliar on Sept. 2, 2008
Average score: 7.0/11 (11 teams)

1) 01_voiceovers_08sept02 (the first male voice)
2) 02_voiceovers_08sept02
3) 03_voiceovers_08sept02
4) 04_voiceovers_08sept02
5) 05_voiceovers_08sept02
6) 06_voiceovers_08sept02 (the woman)
7) 07_voiceovers_08sept02
8) 08_voiceovers_08sept02
9) 09_voiceovers_08sept02
10) 10_voiceovers_08sept02
11) 11_voiceovers_08sept02

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Round 2 at the Old Pequliar on Sept. 2, 2008
Average score: 5.95/10 (11 teams)

Given the famous spoiler or plot twist, tell me what work it comes from. (Spoilers ahead, naturally.)

1) (movie) Keaton wasn’t the mastermind after all — it was Verbal all along.
2) (graphic novel) The bad guy destroys New York City to avert nuclear war. But as one of the heroes reminds him, “Nothing ever ends.”
3) (movie) Katherine is her sister and her daughter. And her father-slash-babydaddy gets custody.
4) (TV) Number 1 is a chimpanzee. Or Number 6. Or maybe the screenwriter. It’s open to interpretation.
5) (book) He finds himself back in the desert where it all began, but this time he’s carrying the Horn of Eld.
6) (TV) She moves to New York, becomes a photographer, and dies in 2085 at age 101.
7) (novel) Each of the 12 suspects stabbed Mr. Ratchett once.
8) (play) Technically, he says he could have asked for the moment to go on forever — so he gets to go to heaven after all.
9) (movie) When Diane — or maybe she’s Betty — finds a blue key, she shoots herself. No one agrees what it all means, though.
10) (web series) Captain Hammer gets hurt, Penny gets killed, and the main character gets his wish: joining Bad Horse in the Evil League of Evil.

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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

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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

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Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on May 6, 2008
Average score: 5.25/10 (11 teams)

1) Women swoon over an earthbound angel because “he smells like cookies” in what 1996 Nora Ephron film?
2) The second-oldest performance to be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar appeared in what 2007 drama based on the New York magazine article “The Return of Superfly”?
3) Tobias Wolff wrote a memoir about growing up in Skagit County. Leonardo DeCaprio starred in the 1993 film adaptation. What’s it called?
4) A former star from NBC’s “must see Thursday” lineup plays the mother of Rilo Kiley’s lead-singer-to-be in what 1989 comedy?
5) What family film, written by two creators of Reno! 911 and based on a picture book by Milan Trenc, became the second-highest-grossing movie of 2006?
6) Jet Li kills Jet Li over and over and over again — and only Jet Li can stop him — in what 2001 action film?
7) The poster for what 1993 comedy parodied the famous painting American Gothic, with the star holding a pitchfork, and used the tagline “He’s a relative nightmare”?
8) The Secretary of Defense is shot and Nicolas Cage has to figure out whodunnit in what 1998 Brian DePalma thriller?
9) George Clooney plays the head spy in the Office of Strategic Services in what 2001 Robert Rodriguez film?
10) What actor or actress appears in all nine of these films?
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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 3 at the Old Pequliar on May 6, 2008
Average score: 6.33/10 (12 teams)

From the audio clip, identify the TV show and the speaker (half point each).

1) TV Speeches: Clip 1
2) TV Speeches: Clip 2
3) TV Speeches: Clip 3
4) TV Speeches: Clip 4
5) TV Speeches: Clip 5
6) TV Speeches: Clip 6
7) TV Speeches: Clip 7
8) TV Speeches: Clip 8
9) TV Speeches: Clip 9
10) TV Speeches: Clip 10
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