# The Bricker Challenge #4 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 7, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591 "2000-02-07T19:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/61 "2000-02-08T23:11:00Z")
Shayna. Territory:State::New South Wales:?? Just a guess – then again, I can’t figure out where I am missing 1.5 points so what do I know? Don’t make me recite the tapioca paen again!! My only prayer is that if someone gets 50 Bricker will declare teh contest complete and put me out of my misery. * * * - The best lack all conviction The worst are full of passionate intensity. \* ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/62 "2000-02-08T23:13:00Z")
Ok, we change our answer to #17 to be Fuller White. Are we done yet? LOL ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/63 "2000-02-08T23:30:00Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. “Ma, ma, where’s my pa? Gone to the White House! Ha, ha, ha!” > The Republicans used the campaign slogan, “Ma Ma, Where’s my Pa?” The controversy about public service and private morality raged across the nation. The choice was between a man of personal immorality and public service integrity (Grover Cleveland) and one of a model family man guilty of using public office for personal gain (James G. Blaine). Cleveland narrowly won. After his election the Democrats answered the Republican ditty with “Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!” * * * - The best lack all conviction The worst are full of passionate intensity. \* ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/64 "2000-02-08T23:33:00Z")
Make it stop!!! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/65 "2000-02-08T23:40:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Shayna: > \*\*Ok, we change our answer to #17 to be Fuller White. > > Are we done yet? LOL\*\* I declare Bricker Challenge #4 over, with the Shayna/Chocolate team having posted fifty correct answers. Congrats to the So. Cal. Dopers - where do you want your beer, and what would you like it to be? - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/66 "2000-02-08T23:42:00Z")
Yaayyyyyy!!! Congratulations Shayna/chocolate. Now, Bricker, post those explanations before I track you down and explode my head at you. * * * - The best lack all conviction The worst are full of passionate intensity. \* ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/67 "2000-02-08T23:47:00Z")
Chief justices!!! Doh! (You mean you were letting 62/64 AND the state/territory thing slide? Yer gettin’ soft, Brickster.) * * * - The best lack all conviction The worst are full of passionate intensity. \* ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/68 "2000-02-08T23:48:00Z")
John C.: A word of explanation for you… you said: > [@](#): > > 1. In accord with c. 1246, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops decrees that the holydays of obligation to be observed in the United States are the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God; the solemnity of the Ascension; the solemnity of the Assumption; the solemnity of All Saints; the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception; the solemnity of Christmas. The solemnity of the Epiphany shall transferred to the first Sunday following January 1st; the solemnity of Corpus Christi shall be on the second Sunday following Pentecost. When the solemnities of Mary, Mother of God, the Assumption, and All Saints fall on a Saturday or a Monday they will not be observed as holy days of obligation. That is an admirable summary of the Holy Days of Obligation – but you neglcted to also mention Sundays! That was 1/2 a point… I also nicked you a half a point for saying the law of cosines “has to do with calculus,” - it’s not exactly wrong, but it’s more of a trigonometry thing. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/69 "2000-02-08T23:48:00Z")
Damn it! Chief Justices! And I was so close. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/70 "2000-02-08T23:52:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried: > **Damn it! Chief Justices! And I was so close.** Arnold, you were VERY close. I reconsidered this question after both you and Shayna got only the 1/2 point… but since there were others that picked up on the Chief Justice theme… and I figured that since I named six Supreme Court guys, going all the way back to 1789 for one of them… and all of them were CJs… it was a fair distinction. 🙂 Spiritus - are there any still unclear? - Rick ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/71 "2000-02-08T23:53:00Z")
Rick said: > [@](#): > > That is an admirable summary of the Holy Days of Obligation – but you neglcted to alsomention Sundays! That was 1/2 a point… That’s what I get for becoming an agnostic… > [@](#): > > I also nicked you a half a point for saying the law of cosines “has to do with calculus,” -it’s not exactly wrong, but it’s more of a trigonometry thing. Sigh. That’s what I get for not having touched higher math in 10 years… So when’s the next one? (d&r) * * * JMCJ This is not a sig. ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/72 "2000-02-09T00:01:00Z")
Well, I lose .5 for the Chief Justice thing, but where do I lose the other point? Also – I still can’t believe you make the distinction between Justice and Chief Justice but not between State and Province, but that’s just me whining. I am confused, though – I looked over Arnold’s answers pretty carefuully and thought that he had also left Sundays out of #9. That threw me off when hunting for places our responses/scores were different. * * * - The best lack all conviction The worst are full of passionate intensity. \* ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/73 "2000-02-09T01:28:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Spiritus Mundi: > \*\*Well, I lose .5 for the Chief Justice thing, but where do I lose the other point? > > Also – I still can’t believe you make the distinction between Justice and Chief Justice but not between State and Province, but that’s just me whining. I am confused, though – I looked over Arnold’s answers pretty carefuully and thought that he had also left Sundays out of #9. That threw me off when hunting for places our responses/scores were different. > > \*\* Crap. Well, you lost 1/2 a point for #4 by saying, “An actor performing in Finnian’s rainbow.” I asked WHO, implying I want to know the character singing. If you had named an actor that did the role, I’d have given full credit too. You lost 1/2 a point for Hiroshima. Then you fixed both of them with your post of posted 02-08-2000 10:56 AM. And I didn’t catch the fixes. Dang it. I’m sorry, Spiritus. You were also at 49 1/2 after that point. Mea culpa. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/74 "2000-02-09T01:34:00Z")
Oh - the Justice/Chief Justice vs. State/Province thing… … truth told, I wasn’t too hip to the differences between the two in the Land Down Under. I didn’t know if it was a substantive difference or more akin to our state vs. commonwealth thing. So I let it go. And I already explained the thought process on the Justice question. See, when I create these, I just sort of let my mind wander until I think of something. So the questions tend to be very me-centric 🙂 If I know something, it’s important; if I don’t, it’s trivial! 🙂 - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Derf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Derf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derf)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/75 "2000-02-09T04:49:00Z")
1. Wilbur. Got caught with his pants down. 2. Buhdda. 3. Guildenstern & Rosencrantz of Hamlet and their own play. 4. - 5. - 6. Pythagorrus? 7. Vincent & Theo Van Gogh 8. Tennis 9. Sunday? 10. - 11. Uncle Sam, in the US Navy 12. - 13. - 14. Bewitched :: ??? 15. - 16. - 17. - 18. - 19. - 20. Dr. Dolittle 21. Wilson 22. ABBA 23. The last Plague in Exodus. The Angel of death took all First Born sons unless the door to the house was painted with blood. 24. - 25. The G-Spot 26. 62 27. - 28. - 29. WWII is over 30. New South Wales 31. Andy Warhol 32. - 33. - 34. - 35. Nothing 36. Mike Judge, their creator 37. - 38. Vince Lombardi Trophy 39. - 40. Eskimo words for snow 41. US Dept of the Treasury 42. - 43. Confession was ruled illegal thus the Miranda warning 44. Quayle 45. an angle that is less than 90 degrees 46. the 15th (Saturday, this year) 47. Because loans aren’t trig 48. Pomegranete seeds that she ate after Hade’s captured her 49. Sublimation is when ice goes straight to gas, bypassing the liquid stage 50. Mixing them * * * “To be great is to be misunderstood” – Ralph Waldo Emerson ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/76 "2000-02-09T05:03:00Z")
WOO HOO!!! Go Us!! It feels good to finally win one after all the hard work we’ve done on all of these. Thank you to everyone whose answers helped us out 🙂 Rick, you don’t have to send me any beer. I play these games for the fun, the challenge and the quest to gain knowledge. You can’t send my sister beer because she lives in Canada, but I won’t speak for her - perhaps she’d rather have something else. Thanks again for a fun, fun game! Will there be another? Please? * * * “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/77 "2000-02-09T06:09:00Z")
Bricker, thanks for the clarification. Missing the points was not a concern, but I was going crazy (Hey! no comments from teh peanut gallery.) trying to figure out what I was missing. Truthfully, I have no clue as to how substantive the territory vs state deignation is in Australia, I was just yanking your chain to ameliorate my shame at missing the Chief Justice thing. I apreciate the work you put into these things. I’m just happy I actually found one before the thread closed. MPSIMS generally spawns threads too quickly for me to keep up. * * * - The best lack all conviction The worst are full of passionate intensity. \* ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/78 "2000-02-09T10:36:00Z")
Derf: late entry, but 24 1/2 correct! 🙂 Chocolate, let me know what you’d like to do. Shayna joins Omni (who had TWO cases of beer coming!) in giving up her prize… and I thank you both for the kind words of appreciation… but I kinda like to see people get rewards for outstanding levels of effort! Ah, well… There will be a B.C. #5, perhaps as early as this weekend. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/79 "2000-02-09T16:18:00Z")
Hey Rick, just some observations and thoughts… > [@](#): > > Bricker posted re the bridge question: > Yes. And what amazed me is that you quoted the correct rule, but gave the wrong answer initially! You’re right, I don’t play bridge. And even though I had the right rule, even re-reading it still confused me as to what the correct answer would be. As I read it, a bid of a larger number of tricks always outbids a bid of a smaller number regardless of the suit. So in my mind, 5 clubs _would_ beat 4 spades even though clubs rank lower than spades. And I know you asked for the **minimum** bid necessary, but being a bridge moron, I took that to mean that could mean bidding one additional trick in a **lower** suit. Glad to have learned something new. I still probably won’t take up the game ;). As far as missing the Chief Justices question and not picking up on that sooner, I sortof point my finger back to you, Rick. 😉 😉 Arnold did, in fact, omit “Sundays” from his answer to question #9. Therefore, knowing he’d answered the question about Hiroshima wrong, I believed that the only other place he could be missing that half point was from #9. That left me believing that you **had accepted** his reply of Scalia Rehnquist as fully correct. Since Scalia is not a Chief Justice, I didn’t think to change Thomas in our answer either. > [@](#): > > Bricker posted: > There’s a game which I’ve always called “Three Minute Mysteries,” I used to play those too! And the baseball player one was the only one that ever really stumped me. That was a good one! > [@](#): > > Bricker posted: > …but I kinda like to see people get rewards for outstanding levels of effort! Well I’d feel kindof bad accepting a prize when I didn’t really win it based solely on my own efforts. At the very least I’d have to split any winnings with my sister (who told me you don’t have to send her anything either), and Spiritus helped us with the network answer and I stole the bridge answer from Arnold. Granted, doing that is acceptable per the rules, but… You know what I mean. If/when I get the 50 points by my own knowledge and research skills, I’ll let you send me a prize, how’s that? > [@](#): > > Bricker posted: > There will be a B.C. #5, perhaps as early as this weekend. Yippee! * * * “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591/80 "2000-02-09T16:35:00Z")
Shayna: > [@](#): > > You’re right, I don’t play bridge. And even though I had the right rule, even re-reading it still confused me as to what the correct answer would be. As I read it, a bid of a larger number of tricks always outbids a bid of a smaller number regardless of the suit. So in my mind, 5 clubs would beat 4 spades even though clubs rank lower than spades. And I know you asked for the minimum bid necessary, but being a bridge moron, I took that to mean that could mean bidding one additional trick in a lower suit. Glad to have learned something new. I still probably won’t take up the game. Well, it’s the bridge-playing world’s loss. At the risk of jumping to conclusions, your analytical ability as shown here would probably make you an excellent bridge player. Bridge is really two games: bidding the contract and then playing it out. I think you’d be great at both, and a good bridge player is truly a pearl beyond price. > [@](#): > > As far as missing the Chief Justices question and not picking up on that sooner, I sortof point my finger back to you, Rick. Arnold did, in fact, omit “Sundays” from his answer to question #9. Therefore, knowing he’d answered the question about Hiroshima wrong, I believed that the only other place he could be missing that half point was from #9. That left me believing that you had accepted his reply of Scalia Rehnquist as fully correct. Since Scalia is not a Chief Justice, I didn’t think to change Thomas in our answer either. _sigh_ Good point. I need to be more careful in counting answers, or (the lazy answer) to deemphasize the importance of the interim scoring I provide. I once had a physics professor who told the entire class at the beginning of the year that we were responsible for all the material on the syllabus. Before an upcoming test, he told us the test would be on subject ‘X’. So we all went home and studied ‘X’. Imagine our surprise when we sat down for the test to discover it didn’t mention ‘X’ at all, but was all on material ‘Y’. To the outraged protests from the class, his reponse was, “Well, I guess I lied.” As irritating as it was at the time… I have to admit that applying his cavalier approach would save me some time on these!! 🙂 In any event, I’m about a quarter of the way through #5, which will have some new and interesting twists! Cheers, Rick [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bricker-challenge-4/13591.md?page=5)