LearnedLeague 91 — match week 3 recap
A very short match week this week, with only two matches before the league breaks for American Thanksgiving.
A very short match week this week, with only two matches before the league breaks for American Thanksgiving.
Matchday eleven
Q1. CURR EVENTS — H.R.3684, a $1 trillion bill that was passed by the 117th Congress after a bipartisan vote in the US House of Representatives on November 5, 2021, is officially known as the [REDACTED] Investment and Jobs Act. What word has been redacted? INFRASTRUCTURE
I couldn’t quite put my finger on this, though once I saw the answer it was obvious. I went with “coronavirus”, but I did assume that it was pretty well known among Americans, and given that my opponent was in the USA, I scored this a zero, as did my opponent for me. She scored, as did 77 per cent of players leaguewide, and I missed, but both for 0.
Q2. LITERATURE — One of 20th-century author Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh’s first successful short stories — a genre in which he is regarded as a master — was titled “Farsi shakar ast”, which translates to English as “_____ is Sugar” (fill in the blank). PERSIAN
Reasonably easy for me, knowing several Farsi speakers. There’s since been an entertaining discussion in the LL message board about whether “Farsi” itself should have been an acceptable answer, a splendidly nitpicky position with which I find myself agreeing. We scored each other 2 here, but my opponent missed.
Q3. GEOGRAPHY — The “city” of Nuuk (technically an illoqarfik and formerly known as Godthåb) is the most populous city on what island? GREENLAND
The image that popped into my head here was the moving map on various transatlantic flights, where the way to tell that you’re at least close to land, after the interminable north Atlantic great circle route, is seeing “Godthåb” on the map on Greenland’s western coast. I didn’t know that Nuuk was the same place, but was pleased with the extra clue. We scored each other 1 here and both made the points. It’s 3(2)-1(2) at half time.
Q4. SCIENCE — Belfast-born physicist and mathematician William Thomson, who is widely credited with clarifying the thermodynamic concept of absolute zero and determining its correct value, was elevated to the peerage in 1892, becoming 1st Baron what? KELVIN
William Thomson was Lord Kelvin, a fact somehow osmosed into me from GCSE physics lessons, so no trouble here, but no trouble either for my opponent, and we both score 2.
Q5. AMER HIST — What was the last name of the patriarch and self-made millionaire who was the first chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934, chair of the powerful US Maritime Commission in 1937, and the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1938? KENNEDY
I thought this was either Rockefeller or Getty and went for Getty. I would have scored 3 for it had I got it right, but the correct answer turned out to be (of course) (Joe) Kennedy. A nice little touch that this was clued on November 22, 58 years after the death of Joe Kennedy’s most famous son. Scored my opponent 1 and we both missed, so with a question to go, it’s 5(3)-3(3).
Q6. TELEVISION — Rebecca Rabbit, Suzy Sheep, and Danny Dog are among the close friends of what cheeky animated British ungulate? (Full name required.) PEPPA PIG
Another easy one here for anyone with school-age children. I foolishly underestimated how well known the programme is, though, and gave my opponent a 3 here, and she scored me 1. The leaguewide get rate is 62 per cent. We both get it right, and I’ve gone from a position of strength to an avoidable tie, at 6(4)-6(4). A learning opportunity.
Matchday twelve
Q1. MATH — In math, a “multiplicative inverse” can be defined, for a number x, as the number which when multiplied by x produces the “multiplicative identity” (i.e., one). In most scenarios, the multiplicative inverse is much better known by what other term? RECIPROCAL
A real head-scratcher, because having done GCSEs, A-Levels and part of a degree in mathematics, I’ve apparently forgotten the word “reciprocal” in the 20 years since I last did any proper maths. Again, as with yesterday’s Q1, I scored it 0 because I think it will be well-known and my opponent is very strong in “math”. I don’t think I’d ever have got to the correct answer (I put the definitely-wrong “inverse” just to put something down), so not much to be done here other than move on. He gets a 0 and takes it, while I miss a 1.
Q2. BUS/ECON — The name of what pencil model, produced by a company founded by American entrepreneur Joseph Dixon in 1827, comes from the discovery of a graphite ore in 1815 on Lead Mountain in upstate New York? TICONDEROGA
No idea here, and the answer is not something I could have pulled out of my memory. Assuming that the pencils themselves are well-known in the US, and knowing that my opponent is an American, I scored it 1, which he picks up, and I miss a 2.
Q3. FILM — The title of a 1988 stylized documentary by Errol Morris, when shifted on the visible color spectrum, becomes an ambitious 1998 war epic by Terrence Malick. Give the title of either film. THE THIN BLUE LINE/THE THIN RED LINE
I am an Errol Morris fan but without hte Terrence Malick part of the clue I couldn’t have placed the Morris film. The Malick film is terrific, however, and was an instant get. A 2 for my opponent who is medium-weak in film and who I’m hoping doesn’t remember either of these films. Turns out he does, though, and we end the first half on 1(0)-3(3).
Q4. ART — In a mock-epic poem published in The New York Review of Books in 1984 titled “The SoHoiad”, in which critic Robert Hughes pillories the commercialization and dishonesty of the New York art scene in that decade, he refers to two particular artists (rather unfairly) as “Keith Boring” and “Jean-Michel Basketcase”. What were the actual last names of these two individuals? HARING, BASQUIAT
I don’t know the poem, but the artists were reasonably easy to get, and I made a possibly unwise assumption that because Art is my opponent’s weakest category, this is where the 3 should go, which turns out to be about right, because he misses it, and I pick up a 2.
Q5. WORLD HIST — Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, and Kent are generally identified as four of the seven kingdoms in England from the 5th century until the 8th century. The other three are named after what Germanic people (specifically, their West, East, and South tribes), who entered Britain with the Angles during the latter stages of the Roman occupation? SAXONS
Another of those questions that reminds me not to complain about American-centric ones like Q2 above. An easy get, and a 2 for my opponent on the basis of weakness in Geography and a hope that he doesn’t know this, which he turns out not to. However, based (presumably and correctly) on my location, I pick up my 0 here. With one question to go it’s 3(3)-3(3).
Q6. LANGUAGE — Coca, guano, jerky, poncho, and llama are among the words that originated in what language, which was spoken by the Incan tribes around Cuzco and today has official status in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia? QUECHUA
The only question of the round, apart from the forehead-slapping Q1, where I was left wondering whether I should have let this sit in my head for a while. I went with “Andean” without any real clue, and I have heard of Quechua. One to think about. But my opponent is good on language, so a 1 for them here, which they miss, but I’ve also missed my 3, and we end up tied 3(3)-3(3).
Down a couple of places at the end of this short game week, I finish up in ninth position. Need to start picking things up next week to avoid sliding into the bottom half of the table.