Loads of fun, despite not winning. Aguecheek and his wife, Penguin and Cervaise joined my brother and me. (And herownself stopped by for a while in the middle, without playing.) Our final score was a respectable 27 out of 40; the winning team (Elvis) got 31.
The pub was packed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so busy – there were 36 teams competing, the place was packed, and it was loud as hell. Uncommonly loud, even for a pub.
If more people come, we’ll have to take the two-team option, which would be fine – but then someone else has to come early and claim a second table. We had a choice one. I think my brother got there about 6:00 to nab it.
I smell of others’ smoke. Time for bed.
pendgwen, not Penguin.
Like I said, it was loud.
Sample questions we got wrong:
What toy, based on a weapon, was once known as the bandelore? (It is not the slingshot.)
What’s the name for a female swan? (not cygnet, which we knew was wrong, but better a guess than a blank)
What war lasted from 1899-1902? (Not the Spanish American War.)
How many eyes does a bee have? (Not 2. Well, 2, but more than that.)
What’s the FBI motto? (Not “who watches the watchmen?”)
What’s the term for a barrel that holds 9 gallons? (Not a hogshead, which I found out later is at least 63 gallons.)
What’s a station wagon called in the UK? (Aguecheek’s brilliant suggestion of touring car turned out to be, sadly, false.)
What kind of pastry are profiteroles and eclairs made from? (Why no, puff is not the correct answer.)
In which decade was Route 66 completed? (1930s? No.)
If you knew the answers to those questions, where were you? Although you’d probably have been on another team anyway, given player counts.
Luckily, I don’t know the answers to those questions, so I don’t feel too bad about having missed it last night! But I’ll be there next week to take wild stabs at new questions I don’t know the answers to.
Although, to toot my own horn, my suggestion of “South Western Township” bore fruit. Toot, toot!
Wonderful time had by me and Lady Cheek. Like I said before, we need something to do out of the house on a regular basis, and this was just the ticket.
A pleasure to meet everyone (pendgwen, Cervaise, herownself, Interrobang!? and Interrobro!?), and we’re looking forward to the next time.
Had a great time. Looking forward to the next one, wherein we shall knock down Elvis and step on their necks.
I should have thought of the name Interrobro!? It’s a hard life being the younger brother of a clever person. Instead, I shall use my vanilla old handle. It was cool to meet everyone and to have a lot of laughs in-between questions.
I like the suggestion of taking out Elvis early. I think their answer runners should ‘disappear’ on their way to the questioner…
On the British term for station wagon, I’d probably have said “break” – but that’s the French term. It’s actually estate car.
And for Route 66 information, try this:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=275154
I might just have to join you all from Mukilteo one of these Tuesdays. Sounds raucous!
Bumping for a Tuesday reminder. Anyone coming this week? Everyone coming this week?
inkysplotchy will be there fairly early for a table, and is probably bringing a friend from work. I’ll be there, and Interrowife!? may join us as well. Which makes me think we’ll need two tables for two teams, so if someone else wants to get to the pub in the 6:30-ish or earlier range, that’d be great. I’d do it, but I doubt I’ll be able to get out of Auburn that fast, frankly.
And for the curious, last week’s answers:
Toy: yo-yo
Female swan: pen
1899-1902 war: Boer war (2nd, says further research)
Bee has: 5 eyes
FBI motto: fidelity, bravery, and integrity
9-gallon barrel? firkin
UK station wagon? estate car
Pastry? choux
Route 66 completed: 1920s (1926, specifically, per the quizzer)
Actually the pastry is Pate a choux
I’ve a friend who’ll be shipping out to Iraq soon and this is the last chance we get to see him before he goes off to training, so we’ll be spending the evening with him. Sorry.
I should be able to make it more regular in the coming weeks, though.
Have fun tonight!
I wish I could be there 
My husband is working and has the car tonight (Firefighter- 24 hour shifts)
I’ll be there in spirit. So if anyone guesses a right answer, I get the credit 
No problem – it’s supposed to be fun, not indentured servitude. I’m quite familiar with the last get-togethers before shipping out.
We ended up with a three-person team: amarinth, inkysplotchyp and myself. Major props to amarinth for approaching a table with two strangers and asking the question: “Is either of you Interrobang!?” Not your usual conversation starter, but it worked.
Elvis won again, with 31 points. We were 5 points back; third place got 27 points. The pub ended up supercrowded again – I got there around 7:00 and it hadn’t filled up, but by 8:00, the place was wall-to-wall brainiacs.
Most frustrating part of the night: the three of us trying to remember the name of the capital of Malaysia, whcih we all knew we knew, but no one could bring to mind. Curse you, Kuala Lumpur!
We got to my friend’s place last night and were thinking of a place to go for dinner. He looks at his girlfriend and says “Hey, the George and Dragon’s got pretty good food, doesn’t it?”
It was kind of fun giving the pros and cons about going to a bar that’s only five minutes away from him. I felt like such a local!
I think we ought to send a couple of people over to Elvis’ table next week and have a “word” with them…
Congrats on the 26 points!
I used to frequent trivia night at “The Old Pequliar” in Ballard several years ago. I don’t know if they still host, but it was great fun.
I’m really thinking we need a snazzy team name to offset Elvis. Costello was good, but too subtle. Maybe ‘The Fab Four’…the Beatles were the competetion with Elvis. Or, we could just rip off the TV commercial and call outselves “HEMI”. Sweet.
So who’s up for trivia next week? My wife, my brother and I are driving to Portland tomorrow afternoon, and we’ve still got pies to bake and clothes to pack. So trivia isn’t really fitting my schedule this evening. (inkysplotchy may still do trivia – I haven’t talked to him yet.)
I’ll be at the George & Dragon next Tuesday night, though – any Dopers up for it?
Sorry I wasn’t there last week; my wife was out of town and I was enjoying my faux bachelorhood. Underpants, beer, and hookers, oh my!
Next Tuesday is great. See you then.
I can’t make next Tuesday - but if anyone else isn’t doing last minute Thanksgiving preparation, I can be there tonight.
Cervaise: the single guy trifecta, eh? No need to apologize; this is supposed to be fun, after all, not a chore.
amarinth: sorry I can’t get there tonight – I held off until today to decide, but it ain’t gonna happen.
That said, I hope other people do go. See above comment about fun.