Monday, May 23, 2011

rec.games.trivia - 11 new messages in 3 topics - digest

rec.games.trivia
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trivia?hl=en

rec.games.trivia@googlegroups.com

Today's topics:

* Calvin's Quiz #128 - 2 messages, 2 authors
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trivia/t/9378c10886547233?hl=en
* Rare Entries contest MSB71: Final reminder - 1 messages, 1 author
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trivia/t/9f368f6df23a05af?hl=en
* Calvin's Quiz #129 - 8 messages, 8 authors
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trivia/t/40ef2d0613f3b737?hl=en

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Calvin's Quiz #128
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trivia/t/9378c10886547233?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, May 21 2011 2:38 pm
From: Jeffrey Turner


On 5/18/2011 10:17 PM, Calvin wrote:
>
>
> 1 Harrison Ford played the character Rick Deckard in which 1982 movie?
> 2 How many on-court players are there in an ice hockey team?
Six
> 3 Bright Eyes was the theme song to which 1978 movie?
> 4 Who became chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1969?
Arafat
> 5 Who was the female lead in the 1989 film 'When Harry met Sally'?
Meg Ryan
> 6 Kent Brockman is a character on which animated TV series?
> 7 Which historical event does the 1858 film A Night to Remember recount?
The fall of Paris
> 8 Holyrood Palace is located in which British city?
> 9 What is the key ingredient in the dish Babaganoosh?
Eggplant
> 10 Who rules in a plutocracy?
Rich people

--Jeff

--
It is very easy for rich people to preach
the virtues of self-reliance to the poor.
--Winston Churchill


== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sun, May 22 2011 6:21 pm
From: Calvin


On Thu, 19 May 2011 12:17:11 +1000, Calvin <calvin@phlegm.com> wrote:

> 1 Harrison Ford played the character Rick Deckard in which 1982 movie?

Blade Runner
7/11

> 2 How many on-court players are there in an ice hockey team?

6
9/11
Should it be "on-ice" then? "on rink"?

> 3 Bright Eyes was the theme song to which 1978 movie?

Watership Down
6/11

> 4 Who became chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1969?

Yasser Arafat
10/11

> 5 Who was the female lead in the 1989 film 'When Harry met Sally'?

Meg Ryan
8/11

> 6 Kent Brockman is a character on which animated TV series?

The Simpsons
7/11
Most of the guesses went for South Park for some reason.

> 7 Which historical event does the 1858 film A Night to Remember recount?

Sinking of the Titanic
6/11
And it should be 1958 of course sorry.

> 8 Holyrood Palace is located in which British city?

Edinburgh
5/11
At one end of the Royal Mile

> 9 What is the key ingredient in the dish Babaganoosh?

Eggplant / aubergine
5/11
LOL @ camel meat :-)

> 10 Who rules in a plutocracy?

The rich / wealthy
9/11


Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 TOTAL Quiz 128
1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 8 Chris Johnson
1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 6 Dan Tilque
1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 6 David
0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Erland S
0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 5 Jeffrey Turner
0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 6 John Masters
1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 8 Marc Dashevsky
1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 6 Pete Gayde
0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 7 Peter Smyth
1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 9 Rob Parker
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 9 Stephen Perry
7 9 6 10 8 7 6 5 5 9 72 TOTAL
65%

Rob and Stephen lead on 9.

--

cheers,
calvin

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Rare Entries contest MSB71: Final reminder
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trivia/t/9f368f6df23a05af?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sun, May 22 2011 6:08 pm
From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader)


This is the final reminder of Rare Entries contest MSB71. Entries must
reach here by Tuesday, May 24, 2011 (by Toronto time, zone -4) -- as I
write you have 2 days and a bit under 3 hours left. As always, reply
ONLY BY EMAIL to msb@vex.net; do not post to any newsgroup. Entries
already received will be acknowledged shortly, and future ones will be
acknowledged when I see them.

Everything below this point is the same as in the revised original
contest posting. See below the questions for a detailed explanation,
in which rule 2.2 has been corrected and the example in rule 2.1
has been changed to conform. These corrections implement a change
I announced at the time of contest MSB69 but forgot to then actually
put into the rules, regarding wrong answers that relate to specific
correct answers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
0. Pick one: "Conservative", "Liberal", "New Democratic", or
"Quebecois".

1. Name a newspaper which at some time in the 20th century
was published daily (at least 5 days per week) in London,
in English, for national distribution for sale in Great
Britain. (Papers that were given away rather than sold do
not qualify.)

2. Name a chemical element whose name in English starts with C.

3. Give a single word in English, used in the grammar of English
to designate a part of speech.

4. Name a movie title containing at least three different
(unequal) digits, *excluding* digits that form part of a
date or time. The title must be the primary title of the
movie in the Internet Movie Database <http://www.imdb.com>.
The movie must be a feature film telling a fictional story,
not a short or documentary. See also rules 4.2 (for "movie")
and 4.3.3 (for "digit"). Of course rule 4.3.4 does *not* apply
(since this is about characters, not words or numerals).

5. Name two adjacent countries (see rule 4.1.1) now existing,
whose entire mutual border is (or formerly was) an *inland
water border* (i.e. consisting of lakes and/or rivers), or an
inland water border plus one or more offshore continuations
of the border into seawater.

6. Name an author who wrote 50 or more works of fiction featuring
the same major character. You must name the character, but
this does not form part of your answer.

7. Give a surname that is shared by (1) someone who has been
president of the US and (2) someone who has been nominated
for an Oscar in one of the four acting categories.

8. Usually each athlete in the Olympic games is said to compete
as part of a "team" representing one independent country.
Name such a team at any past Olympics that did *not*
represent one then-independent country (again, see rule
4.1.1). (You must mention which year you have in mind,
but this does not form part of your answer.)

9. Give an adjective, in English, which can be applied to an
object or person being described or discussed, in order to
express the fact, claim, or possibility that this object or
person never actually existed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

* 1. The Game

As usual, for each of the questions above, your objective is to give
an answer that (1) is correct, and (2) will be duplicated by as FEW
other people as possible. Feel free to use any reference material
you like to RESEARCH your answers; but when you have found enough
possible answers for your liking, you are expected to choose on your
own which one to submit, WITHOUT mechanical or computer assistance:
this is meant to be a game of wits.


* 2. Scoring

The scores on the different questions are MULTIPLIED to produce a
final score for each entrant. Low score wins; a perfect score is 1.

If your answer on a category is correct, then your score is the number
of people who gave that answer, or an answer I consider equivalent.

A wrong answer, or a skipped question, gets a high score as a penalty.
This is the median of:
- the number of entrants
- the square root of that number, rounded up to an integer
- double the highest score that anyone would have on this
question if all answers were deemed correct

* 2.1 Scoring Example

Say I ask for a color on the current Canadian flag. There are
26 entrants -- 20 say "red", 4 say "blue", and 1 each say "gules",
"white", and "blue square". After looking up gules I decide it's
the same color as red and should be treated as a duplicate answer;
then the 21 people who said either "red" or "gules" get 21 points
each. The person who said "white" gets a perfect score of 1 point.

"Blue square" is not a color and blue is not a color on the flag;
the 5 people who gave either of these answers each get the same
penalty score, which is the median of:
- number of entrants = 27
- sqrt(27) = 5.196+, rounded up = 6
- double the highest score = 21 x 2 = 42
or in this case, 27.

* 2.2 More Specific Variants

On some questions it's possible that one entrant will give an answer
that's a more specific variant of an answer given by someone else.
In that case the more specific variant will usually be scored as if
the two answers are different, but the other, less specific variant
will be scored as if they are the same.

In the above example, if I had decided (wrongly) to score gules as
a more specific variant of red, then "red" would still score 21,
but "gules" would now score 1.

If a wrong answer is clearly associated with a specific right
answer, I will score the right answer as if the wrong answer was a
more specific variant of it. In the above example, if there were
3 additional entrants who said "white square", then "white square"
would be scored as wrong, but the score for "white" would be 4, not 1.

"More specific" scoring will NOT apply if the question asks for an
answer "in general terms"; a more specific answer will then at best be
treated the same as the more general one, and may be considered wrong.


* 3. Entries

Entries must be emailed to the address given above. Please do not
quote the questions back to me, and do send only plain text in ASCII
or ISO 8859-1: no HTML, attachments, Micros--t character sets, etc.,
and no Unicode, please. (Entrants who fail to comply will be publicly
chastised in the results posting.)

Your message should preferably consist of just your 10 answers,
numbered from 0 to 9, along with any explanations required. Your
name should be in it somewhere -- a From: line or signature is fine.
(If I don't see both a first and a last name, or an explicit request
for a particular form of your name to be used, then your email address
will be posted in the results).

You can expect an acknowledgement when I read your entry. If this
bounces, it won't be sent again.

* 3.1 Where Leeway is Allowed

In general there is no penalty for errors of spelling, capitalization,
English usage, or other such matters of form, nor for accidentally
sending email in an unfinished state, so long as it's clear enough
what you intended. Sometimes a specific question may imply stricter
rules, though. And if you give an answer that properly refers to a
different thing related to the one you intended, I will normally take
it as written.

Once you intentionally submit an answer, no changes will be allowed,
unless I decide there was a problem with the question. Similarly,
alternate answers within an entry will not be accepted. Only the
first answer that you intentionally submit counts.

* 3.2 Clarifications

Questions are not intended to be hard to understand, but I may fail
in this intent. (For one thing, in many cases clarity could only be
provided by an example which would suggest one or another specific
answer, and I mustn't do that.)

In order to be fair to all entrants, I must insist that requests for
clarification must be emailed to me, NOT POSTED in any newsgroup.
But if you do ask for clarification, I'll probably say that the
question is clear enough as posted. If I do decide to clarify or
change a question, all entrants will be informed.

* 3.3 Supporting Information

It is your option whether or not to provide supporting information
to justify your answers. If you don't, I'll email you to ask for
it if I need to. If you supply it in the form of a URL, if at all
possible it should be a "deep link" to the specific relevant page.
There is no need to supply URLs for obvious, well-known reference
web sites, and there is no point in supplying URLs for pages that
don't actually support your answer.

If you provide any explanatory remarks along with your answers, you
are responsible for making it sufficiently clear that they are not
part of the answers. The particular format doesn't matter as long
as you're clear. In the scoring example above, "white square" was
wrong; "white (in the central square)" would have been taken as a
correct answer with an explanation.


* 4. Interpretation of questions

These are general rules that apply unless a question specifically
states otherwise.

* 4.1 Geography
* 4.1.1 Countries

"Country" means an independent country. Whether or not a place is
considered an independent country is determined by how it is listed
in reference sources.

For purposes of these contests, the Earth is considered to be divid-
ed into disjoint areas each of which is either (1) a country, (2) a
dependency, or (3) without national government. Their boundaries
are interpreted on a de facto basis. Any place with representatives
in a country's legislature is considered a part of that country rather
than a dependency of it.

The European Union is considered as an association of countries, not
a country itself.

Claims that are not enforced, or not generally recognized, don't count.
Places currently fighting a war of secession don't count. Embassies
don't count as special; they may have extraterritorial rights, but
they're still part of the host country (and city).

Countries existing at different historical times are normally
considered the same country if they have the same capital city.

* 4.1.2 States or provinces

Many countries or dependencies are divided into subsidiary political
entities, typically with their own subsidiary governments. At the
first level of division, these entities are most commonly called
states or provinces, but various other names are used; sometimes
varying even within the same country (e.g. to indicate unequal
political status).

Any reference to "states or provinces" in a question refers to
these entities at the first level of division, no matter what they
are called.

* 4.1.3 Distances

Distances between places on the Earth are measured along a great
circle path, and distance involving cities are based on the city
center (downtown).

* 4.2 Entertainment

A "movie" does not include any form of TV broadcast or video release;
it must have been shown in cinemas. "Oscar" and "Academy Award" are
AMPAS trademarks and refer to the awards given by that organization.
"Fiction" includes dramatizations of true stories.

* 4.3 Words and Numbers
* 4.3.1 Different Answers

Some questions specifically ask for a *word*, rather than the thing
that it names; this means that different words with the same meaning
will in general be treated as distinct answers. However, if two or
more inflectional variants, spelling variants, or other closely
related forms are correct answers, they will be treated as equivalent.

Similarly, if the question specifically asks for a name, different
things referred to by the same name will be treated as the same.

* 4.3.2 Permitted Words

The word that you give must be listed (or implied by a listing,
as with inflected forms) in a suitable dictionary. Generally
this means a printed dictionary published recently enough
to show reasonably current usage, or its online equivalent.
Other reasonably authoritative sources may be accepted on a
case-by-case basis. Words listed as obsolete or archaic usage
don't count, and sources that would list those words without
distinguishing them are not acceptable as dictionaries.

* 4.3.3 Permitted Numbers

Where the distinction is important, "number" refers to a specific
mathematical value, whereas "numeral" means a way of writing it.
Thus "4", "IV", and "four" are three different numerals representing
the same number. "Digit" means one of the characters "0", "1", "2",
etc. (These definitions represent one of several conflicting common
usages.)

* 4.3.4 "Contained in"

If a question asks for a word or numeral "contained" or "included"
in a phrase, title, or the like, this does not include substrings or
alternate meanings of words, unless explictly specified. For example,
if "Canada in 1967" is the title of a book, it contains the numeral
1967 and the preposition "in"; but it does not contain the word "an",
the adjective "in", or the numeral 96.

* 4.4 Tense and Time

When a question is worded in the present tense, the correctness of
your answer is determined by the facts at the moment you submit it.
(In a case where, in my judgement, people might reasonably be unaware
of the facts having changed, an out-of-date answer may be accepted as
correct.) Questions worded in the present perfect tense include the
present unless something states or implies otherwise. (For example,
Canada is a country that "has existed", as well as one that "exists".)
Different verbs in a sentence bear their usual tense relationship to
each other.

You are not allowed to change the facts yourself in order to make an
answer correct. For example, if a question asks for material on the
WWW, what you cite must already have existed before the contest was
first posted.


* 5. Judging

As moderator, I will be the sole judge of what answers are correct,
and whether two answers with similar meaning (like red and gules)
are considered the same, different, or more/less specific variants.

I will do my best to be fair on all such issues, but sometimes it is
necessary to be arbitrary. Those who disagree with my rulings are
welcome to complain (or to start a competing contest, or whatever).

I may rescore the contest if I agree that I made a serious error and
it affects the high finishers.


* 6. Results

Results will normally be posted within a few days of the contest
closing. They may be delayed if I'm unexpectedly busy or for
technical reasons. If I feel I need help evaluating one or more
answers, I may make a consultative posting in the newsgroups before
scoring the contest.

In the results posting, all entrants will be listed in order of score,
but high (bad) scores may be omitted. The top few entrants' full
answer slates will be posted. A table of answers and their scores
will be given for each question.


* 7. Fun

This contest is for fun. Please do have fun, and good luck to all.

--
Mark Brader | "Europe contains a great many cathedrals, which were
Toronto | caused by the Middle Ages, which means they are very old,
msb@vex.net | so you have to take color slide photographs of them."
| -- Dave Barry
My text in this article is in the public domain.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Calvin's Quiz #129
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trivia/t/40ef2d0613f3b737?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 8 ==
Date: Sun, May 22 2011 6:24 pm
From: Calvin


1 What was the theme song to the 1988 movie Beaches?
2 Where would one find a fresco painting?
3 Which American invented bifocal spectacles?
4 What is the largest Canadian province by population?
5 Who did Brad Pitt marry in 2000?
6 Are Formula One races usually run clockwise or anti-clockwise?
7 K is the chemical symbol for which element?
8 In which English building was Thomas Beckett murdered in 1170?
9 The site of the ancient city of Carthage is located in which modern day
country?
10 How many different B vitamins are there? (allowing 2 either way)


--

cheers,
calvin


== 2 of 8 ==
Date: Sun, May 22 2011 7:35 pm
From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader)


"Calvin":
> 1 What was the theme song to the 1988 movie Beaches?

"Wind Beneath My Wings"?

> 2 Where would one find a fresco painting?

On an exterior wall.

> 3 Which American invented bifocal spectacles?

Franklin. Although I'm not sure if he was American at the time.

> 4 What is the largest Canadian province by population?

Ontario.

> 5 Who did Brad Pitt marry in 2000?

Angelina Jolie?

> 6 Are Formula One races usually run clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Clockwise. And if not, they should be. :-)

> 7 K is the chemical symbol for which element?

Potassium.

> 8 In which English building was Thomas Beckett murdered in 1170?

Winchester Cathedral?

> 9 The site of the ancient city of Carthage is located in which modern
> day country?

Tunisia.

> 10 How many different B vitamins are there? (allowing 2 either way)

At least 5, and I think a couple of others are counted, so I'll say 8.
--
Mark Brader | "...there are lots of things that I don't remember,
Toronto | but if you ask for an example, I can't remember any."
msb@vex.net | --Michael Wares


== 3 of 8 ==
Date: Sun, May 22 2011 8:06 pm
From: Marc Dashevsky


In article <op.vvwt7vuiyr33d7@04233-jyhzp1s.staff.ad.bond.edu.au>, calvin@phlegm.com says...
>
>
> 1 What was the theme song to the 1988 movie Beaches?
> 2 Where would one find a fresco painting?
On a plaster wall or ceiling

> 3 Which American invented bifocal spectacles?
Benjamin Franklin

> 4 What is the largest Canadian province by population?
Ontario

> 5 Who did Brad Pitt marry in 2000?
Jennifer Aniston

> 6 Are Formula One races usually run clockwise or anti-clockwise?
counterclockwise

> 7 K is the chemical symbol for which element?
potassium

> 8 In which English building was Thomas Beckett murdered in 1170?
> 9 The site of the ancient city of Carthage is located in which modern day country?
Libya

> 10 How many different B vitamins are there? (allowing 2 either way)
12

--
Go to http://MarcDashevsky.com to send me e-mail.


== 4 of 8 ==
Date: Sun, May 22 2011 10:05 pm
From: John Masters


On 2011-05-23 02:24:57 +0100, Calvin said:

> 1 What was the theme song to the 1988 movie Beaches?

Wind beneath my wings

> 2 Where would one find a fresco painting?

On a wall

> 3 Which American invented bifocal spectacles?

Smith

> 4 What is the largest Canadian province by population?

Ontario

> 5 Who did Brad Pitt marry in 2000?

Angelina Jolie

> 6 Are Formula One races usually run clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Clockwise

> 7 K is the chemical symbol for which element?

Potassium

> 8 In which English building was Thomas Beckett murdered in 1170?

Canterbury Cathedral

> 9 The site of the ancient city of Carthage is located in which modern
> day country?

Iran

> 10 How many different B vitamins are there? (allowing 2 either way)

23
--
I don't like the place at all. It's all wrong. An imposition on the
Landscape. I reckon that Stonehenge was build by the contemporary
equivalent of Microsoft, whereas Avebury was definitely an Apple circle.
(Terry Pratchett)

== 5 of 8 ==
Date: Sun, May 22 2011 10:29 pm
From: Dan Tilque


Calvin wrote:
>
>
> 1 What was the theme song to the 1988 movie Beaches?

California Girls

> 2 Where would one find a fresco painting?

on a wall

> 3 Which American invented bifocal spectacles?

Ben Franklin

> 4 What is the largest Canadian province by population?

Quebec

> 5 Who did Brad Pitt marry in 2000?

Angelina Jolie

> 6 Are Formula One races usually run clockwise or anti-clockwise?

clockwise

> 7 K is the chemical symbol for which element?

potassium

> 8 In which English building was Thomas Beckett murdered in 1170?

Canterbury Cathedral

> 9 The site of the ancient city of Carthage is located in which modern
> day country?

Tunisia

> 10 How many different B vitamins are there? (allowing 2 either way)

4

--
Dan Tilque


== 6 of 8 ==
Date: Sun, May 22 2011 11:40 pm
From: "Rob Parker"


> 1 What was the theme song to the 1988 movie Beaches?

Wind Beneath My Wings

> 2 Where would one find a fresco painting?

on a wall

> 3 Which American invented bifocal spectacles?

Benjamin Franklin
[According to today's "On This Day" column in 'The Age', he revealed this in
a letter to a friend on 23 May 1785]

> 4 What is the largest Canadian province by population?

Ontario (?)

> 5 Who did Brad Pitt marry in 2000?

Mrs. Pitt

> 6 Are Formula One races usually run clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Clockwise

> 7 K is the chemical symbol for which element?

Potassium

> 8 In which English building was Thomas Beckett murdered in 1170?

Canterbury Cathedral

> 9 The site of the ancient city of Carthage is located in which modern day
> country?

Tunisia

> 10 How many different B vitamins are there? (allowing 2 either way)

12


Rob

== 7 of 8 ==
Date: Mon, May 23 2011 12:03 am
From: "Chris F.A. Johnson"


On 2011-05-23, Calvin wrote:
>
>
> 1 What was the theme song to the 1988 movie Beaches?
> 2 Where would one find a fresco painting?

On a wall

> 3 Which American invented bifocal spectacles?

Ben Franklin

> 4 What is the largest Canadian province by population?

Ontario

> 5 Who did Brad Pitt marry in 2000?

Jennifer Aniston

> 6 Are Formula One races usually run clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Yes!

Clockwise

> 7 K is the chemical symbol for which element?

Potassium

> 8 In which English building was Thomas Beckett murdered in 1170?

Canterbury Cathedral

> 9 The site of the ancient city of Carthage is located in which modern day
> country?

Tunisia

> 10 How many different B vitamins are there? (allowing 2 either way)

8 (but numbered 1..3, 5..7, 9 and 12)

--
Chris F.A. Johnson <http://cfajohnson.com>
Author: =======================
Pro Bash Programming: Scripting the GNU/Linux Shell (2009, Apress)
Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (2005, Apress)


== 8 of 8 ==
Date: Mon, May 23 2011 12:31 am
From: Erland Sommarskog


Calvin (calvin@phlegm.com) writes:
> 2 Where would one find a fresco painting?

In the ceiling

> 4 What is the largest Canadian province by population?

Ontario

> 5 Who did Brad Pitt marry in 2000?

You are really obsessed with marriages, aren't you? I guess he married
his fiancé. I mean, who else would it have been?

> 6 Are Formula One races usually run clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Clockwise

> 7 K is the chemical symbol for which element?

Potassium

> 8 In which English building was Thomas Beckett murdered in 1170?

The Tower

> 9 The site of the ancient city of Carthage is located in which
> modern day country?

Tunisia

> 10 How many different B vitamins are there? (allowing 2 either way)

12

--
Erland Sommarskog, Stockholm, esquel@sommarskog.se


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