LearnedLeague 91 — match week 2 recap

Here we are, back for the second week of recaps. My first week was a bit late and I’m going to try and make these a bit more timely from…

Here we are, back for the second week of recaps. My first week was a bit late and I’m going to try and make these a bit more timely from now on. Abiding by the LearnedLeague rules, I won’t publish them until after the answers and scores have been published on the LL website, which happens at about 7.45am UK time the day after the questions are asked.

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

Matchday six

Q1. FOOD/DRINK — Among the vast contributions to American culture and cuisine by Jewish immigrants from Romania in the 19th century is what spiced, smoked, and steamed delicacy and delicatessen staple, whose name comes from the Romanian verb for “to preserve”? PASTRAMI

I was struggling with this one. I initially alighted on “bagel” and then re-read the question and realised the first two adjectives count it out. And then I remembered my friend The Picky Glutton writing about pastirma, so maybe pastrami is the answer. It’s certainly spiced and smoked, but I didn’t realise until afterwards that it’s steamed as well (which distinguishes it from pastirma). My opponent gives me 1 for this. She’s in Ohio which as far as I know isn’t pastrami country, but she’s strong on Food/Drink so I score her 0 which she misses.

Q2. GAMES/SPORT — Point guard and NBA All-Star Richie Guerin led the visiting New York Knicks with 39 points in a high-scoring affair played in the Hershey Sports Arena on March 2, 1962. What Warrior led all scorers that night? WILT CHAMBERLAIN

Absolutely no idea. Another US sport question, and I gather (afterward) that this is a famous game, but I’d never even heard of Wilt Chamberlain. I put Kareem Abdul Jabbar here on the usual “name a basketball player” basis. I mainly know him from Airplane, and it turns out he was 15 at the time of this game. Oh well. My oppo looks weak on sport so she gets a 3, and I got a 2, but we both missed.

Q3. FILM — The Best Actor winner for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Best Years of Our Lives, the director of The Heartbreak Kid and Ishtar, and the writer/director of Me and You and Everyone We Know and Kajillionaire — these three individuals have last names that share what distinction, most notably? MONTHS

I couldn’t place any of these except Ishtar, and for that I could only remember Dustin Hoffman’s name. Without a clue, I went (along with nine per cent of players) with “hyphenation”. This is a good question, I think, with plenty of “ins”, so I’ll chalk it up to experience and move on. We scored each other 1 and both missed, so at the half it’s 1(1)-0(0).

Q4. LITERATURE — One of the first American magazines targeted toward women (in 1884) and the first American magazine of any kind to reach one million subscribers ceased monthly print publication in 2014, with its last newsstand issue published in 2016. What was the three-word name of this “Seven Sisters” periodical? LADIES’ HOME JOURNAL

I spent a long time on this one, but it turned out I was barking up the wrong tree anyway. I was thinking “women’s magazines” in general and was heading for Cosmopolitan, Elle, etc, but “seven sisters” turns out to refer to “homemaker” magazines: Better Homes and Gardens (1922-), Family Circle (1932–2019), Good Housekeeping (1885-), Ladies’ Home Journal (1873–2016), McCall’s (1873–2002), Redbook (1903–2019), Woman’s Day (1937-)

I would only have been able to name Good Housekeeping and Family Circle, which I think are the two that made it to the UK. Ladies’ Home Journal didn’t, as far as I know. My answer here was “The Vanity Fair” which I was pretty sure was wrong but was at least a valid answer by the terms of the question. My opponent hit this for 1, and I would have scored 3 had I done the same, which of course I didn’t.

Q5. WORLD HIST — The Chinese nationalist party founded and led by Sun Yat-Sen shortly after the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty in 1911, and still today a prominent party in the politics of Taiwan, is often referred to in the west by what three-letter abbreviation? KMT

Annoyed with this one. Where I would never have got question 2, and can’t really fault myself on question 4, I should have got this but couldn’t quite pull “Kuomintang” out of my head. I ended up going with PNC, which, once it had stuck in my head, wasn’t leaving. It turns out it’s the name of an American bank and nothing to do with China, so I’m not sure why it suggested itself so strongly to me. I’ve been to Taiwan — it’s a glorious country and well worth visiting. And I read up on its history and on the KMT. But managed to forget it. Nevermind. I’d have scored 0 for it anyway, and my opponent missed the 2 I scored her. So we have one question to go and it’s 1(1)-1(1). Nail-biter.

Q6. SCIENCE — The two-empire system of biological classification divided all cellular life into prokaryota and eukaryota. The more current and prevailing three-domain system retains eukaryote and splits prokaryota into two domains. Name either of these two. BACTERIA, ARCHAEA

“Archaea” suggested itself in my head as soon as I read the question. I couldn’t remember the other bit of the prokaryota, but it didn’t matter. I was fairly confident in the answer, and my opponent and I scored each other 2. I scored, she missed, and we finish up 3(2)-1(1). A win, but too close for comfort.

Matchday seven

Q1. FOOD/DRINK — Yogurt diluted with water and flavored (with fruit, cumin, mint, or numerous other options) and sometimes sweetened is a refreshing drink of Punjabi origin best known as what? LASSI

One of those questions that I suspect is a lot easier for Brits than for Americans. I do wonder whether opponents clock my name as south Asian and score appropriately (which they should, usually), but I got a 0 for this. Scored my opponent 1 and she picked it up.

Q2. AMER HIST — Identify the university in New Jersey named after the first canonized native-born American and founder of the first order of nuns in the United States (the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph). SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

Another “never heard of it”. Racked my brain to think of a suitably named university. I figured Columbia might be St Columba, who I was fairly sure wasn’t American (and wasn’t a nun, but might a man have founded an order of nuns? Stranger things have happened). I couldn’t think of a good answer so went with that. Wrong, of course, and would have picked up a 3. Scored my opponent 0 and we both missed.

Q3. GEOGRAPHY — The mountain range known as the Lion Mountains, whose highest point is Picket Hill at just under 3,000 feet, is located on the Atlantic coast entirely within what nation? SIERRA LEONE

It wasn’t until the day after these questions that I finally remembered that “sierra” is Spanish for “mountain chain”, but after a few thoughts in South America, I finally thought the “Leone” bit of Sierra Leone might make sense. Of course on reflection a day later, the whole thing is an obvious clue to the right answer. I picked up 2 for this, and scored my opponent a 3 which she missed. So we’re 2(2)-1(1) at the half.

Q4. CLASS MUSIC — What is the two-word term, a phrase from Italian that idiomatically means “from the beginning” and is often abbreviated “D.C.”, which indicates in musical notation that the previous section of music should be repeated? DA CAPO

As a classical guitar player in my youth, this one came easily having seen it on countless pieces of sheet music. Usually “da capo al fine”. I picked up 1 for this and gave my opponent a 2 for a miss.

Q5. SCIENCE — In 1958, a Swede named Arne Larsson became the first recipient of an implanted artificial device whose natural function is normally provided by a mass of muscle fibers called the sinoatrial node. This device is most commonly and colloquially referred to by what word? PACEMAKER

We both scored 1 here. The pacemaker came to me fairly quickly and while the sinoatrial node didn’t mean anything, I couldn’t come to a better answer. Though “atrial” suggested “heart” to me, so that was an additional point in its favour. We’re 4(4)-2(2) with one to go.

Q6. LIFESTYLE — Which derived unit in the International System of Units would fit best in a particular list that includes a Latin word for “bird”, the location of Davy Crockett’s last stand, a certain fictional spacecraft, and a comic book/cartoon dalmatian-like dog? HERTZ

Annoyed with myself here. I had “avia” as the latin rather than “avis”, and I had “Alamo” correct. The spacecraft is of course “Enterprise” and the dog might be “Dollar” but I didn’t get those. Fixed on the av- and al- beginnings, my mind was already ploughing the “begins with a” furrough — the danger of incorrect anchoring, there. So I ended up with “ampere” which I didn’t think was derived, but I tricked myself into thinking, from V=IR, that it might be. So I didn’t pick up my 2 here — of course, with the other clues, Hertz is the other car rental company — but my opponent collected hers. Good question, and we end on a tie, at 4(4)-4(3).

Matchday eight

Q1. POP MUSIC — What was the last name of the brothers who operated a haberdashery for many years on the corner of 49th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, in a building they would come to own for decades (and name after themselves), and which would become a locus for American popular music? BRILL

Today’s opponent was at the top of the league (called a “Rundle” in LearnedLeague jargon) at the time of this match so I wasn’t hopeful. But this was a good start. I knew that I knew the name, but couldn’t initially pull it out. I had “Tin Pan Alley”, but after a while remembered Brill. I scored it as a 2 which my opponent missed, and I picked up 1 for it.

Q2. WORLD HIST — The October 1986 summit meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, which defied expectations by nearly ending the Cold War arms race and bringing about nuclear disarmament, took place in what European capital city? REYKJAVIK

I remember quite a few news events from my childhood and this — the Reykjavik summit — was one of them. It put in place (more or less — the talks failed but led to the treaty anyway) the INF nuclear test ban treaty which stood until 2019. I didn’t know any of that at the time, of course. I think the name Reykjavik just stuck in my head when I was a child. But I picked up 0 for it and my opponent took her 2.

Q3. GEOGRAPHY — Until October 2018, the name of a famous bridge (originally the Narrows Bridge) was officially misspelled for more than fifty years due to a typo in a construction contract (as it properly has two double letters, not just one). What was this misspelled word (correct spelling not required)? VERRAZZANO

Another one I knew, having spent a lot of time in New York City, and even some time on Staten Island, the borough that is connected to the rest of New York by the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. I scored my opponent 3 for this, and given a relatively low get rate of 56 per cent, and her profile suggesting no obvious New York connection, I can’t decide whether that was a bad move on my part. Either way we both picked it up, for 1 in my case. So we’re 3(3)-5(2) at the half. It’s not looking great for me, but I still have my 2s and the 3 in play.

Q4. GAMES/SPORT — The best-selling American football video game is known by the shorthand “Madden”; the best-selling basketball series is “2K’; baseball’s is “MLB the Show”. What is the common short name for the best-selling soccer video game series of all time (and by far the biggest for any sport)? FIFA

Another of those “easy if you’re British” questions, though with a league-wide get rate of 87 per cent, it’s clearly well known across the world, even in the soccerphobic USA. My opponent misses, but only for a 0 anyway, and I pick up 2 here.

Q5. SCIENCE — What is the meteorological term for a brief, sudden, violent windstorm, lasting longer than a gust (at least a minute) but shorter than a sustained wind? (It is derived etymologically from a Nordic term — perhaps nautical, perhaps meaning to “cry out” — and is at the center of a 1996 Ridley Scott box office disappointment.) SQUALL

VERY annoyed with myself here. Couldn’t work out a good answer, and neither the “Nordic” clue nor Ridley Scott helped (I hadn’t heard of the film, White Squall). “Squall” did pop into my head, mainly from the term “squally showers” which is often used on the weather forecast and which always feels like it might be the name of a minor character in a Chandler novel. BUT then I left the answer blank, ignoring the cardinal rule of quizzes such as this which is: always answer the question. Either put something in if you think it could be right, or go for a good joke answer if not. My opponent collected her 1 here and I missed the other 2, but crucially I missed the chance of my first 9(6), when you get all the questions right and so collect all the points. Anyway, we’re now 4(4)-6(3) and I need to pick up my 3 in the next question.

Q6. LITERATURE — The Nadine Gordimer novels The Late Bourgeois World (1966), Burger’s Daughter (1979), and July’s People (1981) were set in, and banned in, what country? SOUTH AFRICA

Which turns out to be straightforward. I’ve never read Nadine Gordimer but I do know that she was South African, so in it goes, for the 3. My opponent misses her 1 and we end on 7(5)-4(4).

Matchday nine

Q1. TELEVISION — Rent-a-Car Crash-up Derby, Alligator Tightrope, Shopping Cart Attack, Wasabi Snooters, and Golf Course Airhorn are a few of the dozens of segments from a 2002 film. Name that film, or the earlier television series from which it spun off. JACKASS: THE MOVIE/JACKASS

I was struggling with this for a couple of minutes until I closely re-read the segment titles and then it became clear. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full episode, but my flatmates at the time watched Jackass religiously so in it goes. My opponent forfeited this match so I had no points assigned. I assigned him 1 for this.

Q2. SCIENCE — Although mass and energy can be converted into one another, the total quantity of mass and energy in a system must remain constant. This conservation law in physics is reflected in Einstein’s famous equation where e is energy, m is mass, and c represents what? SPEED OF LIGHT (IN A VACUUM)

Another quick get for me, and I scored my opponent 0 as although he looks weak in science, this is well known, isn’t it? The league-wide get rate is 80 per cent here, so I was probably about right, on balance.

Q3. GEOGRAPHY — Unimak, Umnak, and Attu are among the largest islands in what island chain and volcanic island arc, known natively as Unangam Tanaa? ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

This is a “can’t decide” question — I can’t decide whether I should have got this or not. I’ll know it now, but in the end, without a real clue, I went with Tuvalu. Assigned my opponent 1.

Q4. CLASS MUSIC — Prussian Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, an 18th century composer and harpsichordist to Russian Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlingk of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, died of tuberculosis at age 29 in 1756, and is most remembered today thanks to a 1741 composition by whom? JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

I wasn’t totally sure here, but reasonably confident it was a Bach, probably the Bach (JS, of course). The LL rule is that unless a first name is specifically asked for in the question, you don’t need to provide one, so I didn’t. I assigned my opponent 3 on the basis of him being middling-to-weak in classical music. It’d be interesting to know whether that was “correct” or not.

Q5. WORLD HIST — What is the term used for the underground burial galleries of the Roman Empire, used most often (but not always) for Christian burials? The word today is often used for any subterranean cemetery and sometimes for underground passageways in general. CATACOMBS

This one came to me quickly as well. I figured the MCWA (most common wrong answer) would be “crypt” which is was with 11 per cent. But crypt comes from the Greek for “hidden” (same as “cryptography” for codes being things used to hide other things), and there would have been a clue to that in the question had it been the correct answer. I scored my opponent 2 here.

Q6. LITERATURE — In 1673, during his performance in the title role of a play he wrote while ill, Molière collapsed, and he died later that day. The play, perhaps ironically, has a title often translated into English as The _____ Invalid (provide the adjective — a direct cognate from the original French title — that fills in the blank). IMAGINARY

I hadn’t heard of this play, but I should probably have worked it out. I went with “false” (/faux) which I think was a reasonable guess. But with a bit more thought I might have got to imaginary. I assigned a 2 here but of course it didn’t matter, and I end up 6(4)-0(F).

Matchday ten

Q1. SCIENCE — What is the two-word phrase for the property of a liquid where the molecules at its exterior edge show a strong inward attraction, with these cohesive forces forming an apparent outer membrane across the edge? SURFACE TENSION

I was a bit uneasy about this question but then the answer “surface tension” reminded me of itself, and it seemed to fit. Nothing else seemed to fit better, so I went with it, fairly confidently. I gave my opponent 2 for this, possibly foolishly, he gave me 1 and we both picked up our points.

Q2. FOOD/DRINK — Derived from the French verb meaning “to spin thread”, what is the four-letter name of the herb — dried sassafras leaves reduced to powder — that can be used to thicken and flavor soups, stews, and, most notably, gumbo? FILÉ

On the other hand, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get this. The only four letter foodstuff associated with Louisiana and New Orleans was okra, and once it had lodged in my head it refused to leave. So although it isn’t a herb and I was sure isn’t sassafras I went with it. I hadn’t heard of Filé but I’ll know it now. It certainly makes more sense of the line “jambalaya, crawfish pie, filé gumbo” from Jambalaya (On the Bayou) by Hank Williams (or the Carpenters, or Gerry and the Pacemakers, if you prefer). We scored each other 1 and neither of us got it right.

Q3. LITERATURE — The Nereids, Naiads, Dryads, Oceanids, and Napaeae were among the groups of minor divinities in Greek mythology who are collectively classified by what term, from the Greek for “bride” or “young wife”? NYMPH

Kicking myself on this one. I went with “Nubia” on the basis of “nubile” meaning “of marriageable age” but being fairly sure it wasn’t correct. And of course it was nymphs, which I should have remembered. My opponent got it right, for 1, and I missed a 2 here. It’s 1(1)-3(2) at half-time.

Q4. GAMES/SPORT — With the christening of the Chiefs’ home in March 2021 as GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, there remain exactly three stadiums that are primary homes to NFL teams and are not named after a corporate entity. Give the full name (city and team name) of any one of the three teams that play in these three stadiums. CHICAGO BEARS, CINCINNATI BENGALS, GREEN BAY PACKERS

This one, though, I was never going to get. Luckily it wasn’t “name an American football stadium”, but I could at least get to “name an NFL team” and have a nine per cent chance of getting it right. Went with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and though I could have named any of the other three, there’s no reason to think I would have, so I’m happy to just move on. I’ve never been one for revising general knowledge, so I’m not going to spend time learning the names of teams and their stadiums, so I’ll be content with taking the loss on this sort of question in future. That said, neither of us got this for 2, against a high league-wide get rate of 73 per cent.

Q5. WORLD HIST — Although originally included in the 1963 establishment of the Federation of Malaysia, which of the country’s fourteen states was forced to secede — and form its own nation — in 1965 due (at least in part) to fears that its largely Chinese population would challenge Malay political dominance? SINGAPORE

No real question about this one in my mind — it was fairly clearly Singapore so I went with that. Unfortunately it was clear to my oppo as well, and we exchanged zeroes here. So with one question to go, I’m losing 1(2)-3(3) and both our 3s are in play on the next question.

Q6. TELEVISION — Rose Marie, George Gobel, Vincent Price, and, most centrally, Paul Lynde were stars that appeared regularly on the classic version of what game show? HOLLYWOOD SQUARES

I was quite confident that the answer was “What’s My Line” which I went with — the clip of Salvador Dali appearing on that programme is well worth your time — and I couldn’t think of another good answer. I have heard of “Hollywood Squares” but I don’t think I could have pulled it out given the clues in the question, so I’ll chalk this one up. In retrospect I’m not sure why I scored my opponent 3 here if I thought it was so obvious, even if he’s weak-ish on Television questions. One to think about for future defenses. In any case, I miss, he scores and from a fairly close position going into this question I end up being thumped 1(2)-6(4).

Having finished week 1 in 16th place, I finish week 2 in 7th, which should feel like a win, but my poor final game of the week meant I slipped from the heights of 5th, one off the promotion places. But it’s my first season in LL proper and so I should be thinking about a steady mid-table finish, not promotion into a rundle from which I’ll get dumped straight back out again after one season. So I’m happy with my placing. See you next week.