Here are some notes on the January, 2023 contest hosted by Masters of Subduction.
The contest was run by an on-campus team for the second time in a row. Masters of Subduction was fronted by Gwyn Chilcoat. Most of the other members of the team had graduated shortly after winning in May 2022, so Gwyn did a lot of the work herself, and wrote a lot of the questions. Hence the oddly Iowa-biased on-airs.
The IRC chat system needed to be rebuilt the afternoon before the contest, and then it was discovered that the IRC client we've been using since 2013 (Kiwi) no longer worked with the new system. So a new client had to be linked in at the last minute. It worked, but the result was about an hour's delay in starting the contest. Once running, there were no more technical glitches to speak of.
For the first time, the contest was won by a team from Brown University. We welcome them, and look forward to seeing what they come up with!
Finally, near the start of the contest, we were all saddened to hear of the passing of Frank Ferry, the founder of Williams Trivia. What a gift he gave all of us. Thank you, Frank.
Here are some messages from the Trivia mailing list:
Congrats to the Masters of Subduction for their contest-running efforts! It would not be a Trivia Contest, it seems, with a technical-glitch-delay, but they came through with good humor (and some really bad humor, too) and kept spirits up until the post-11 PM start. Nicely done! And a lively contest it was, after it got going!
Amazing personal effort from Gwyn on top of the team effort! On the mic all night (so I'm told), and it appears she authored many, if not all, of the questions! I have thusly learned a great deal about Iowa and geology! Well done, Gwyn!
And, if the scores are final, and they appear to be, congrats to the Whoppers from Brown for winning! If there are any Whoppers on this chain, please let us know now, so we can confirm the contest is in good hands for May. And if no one responds, Gwyn, please record their contact info before you take it down, we may need it!
There is some history here which I am tracking down. I've asked my brother -- I seem to recall he and other BOMO's trekking down to Brown to either win or run (or both) a trivia contest there modeled on ours back in the 1970s. Perhaps we have come full circle on a 50-year arc!
The contest was well-attended. By one rough measure, there were 34 teams who scored 20 or more points, the most since January, 2018, when we had 39. The most we've had this century is 41, back in January 2016.
I played until 2 AM, my norm these days. At some point I'll do the whole contest again, but I have not done it since that Jan 2018 contest. Oddly, I (BOMO) finished in 26th place for the third time in the last four contests. BOMO is roughly 50 years old now, which makes me....well...a seasoned player, let's leave it at that! (I did start playing when I was in high school!)
My sources tell me that Subduction did indeed play "Five O'Clock World" by the Vogues (of course) at 5 AM, and for that I am truly grateful.
I may have more to say once the full contest is shared, but I did very much enjoy the match of LBJ's dogs ("Him and Her") with "I Could Have Been Your GIrl" by She and Him! Delightful!
Everyone should celebrate that a true trivia legend, Dick Weinberg '74, played in his first contest since 1980, a gap of 43 years that must be a record. Des? And -- he played all night!!!! (My own gap was a mere 20 years, from May 1980 to May 2000, when I discovered the Make Way for Ducklings-run contest and telephoned in a few answers to get on the board, ending my Rip Van Winkle-esque slumber). Dick played under the name of RCA, which stands for Rick's Cafe Americain, which needs no further explanation. Good trivia does indeed detonate megatons of nostalgia, and that name alone did it for me!
The megatons quote is from Frank Ferry '69. I was saddened to learn last night that he passed away in December. RIP, oh ye mighty Trivia Contest Founder. Another Frank quote sits atop the Trivia Archive. Go find it!
Well, we were on the Eve of Subduction just two nights ago (a reference to the Barry Maguire 60's anthem, "Eve of Destruction," which at least some you know), and now we are on the other side. Congrats again to Gwyn and the team, to the Whoppers times four, thanks to TJ, my chat room host for his patience -- especially with my many guesses that the song artist was William Shatner -- and see you all in May!
Best,
Tom Gardner '79
BOMO
I have to agree with Tom-- a very fine effort by the Subduction folks made for a most enjoyable contest. I hadn't planned to play more than a few hours, but for various reasons ended up staying right through to 6 A.M. Trivia-induced adrenalin, perhaps?
After the previous contest, I'd scanned the archives only to find the questions leaning heavily toward what we, back in the day, called "minutia," as opposed to "Bona Fide Nostalgic Trivia." The difference? Minutia answers, when revealed, leave the majority of listeners saying, "so what?," whereas BFNT questions result in some degree of emotion when the answer is either recalled or revealed. Example: how many NHL goals Gordie Howe scored before retiring (801) is minutia in that it lacks any degree of emotional attachment; what announcers are talking about when they refer to a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" (a goal, an assist, and a fight) is BFNT, because if you DID know that, you relish remembering it, and if you DIDN'T know it, you get a kick out of learning it.
Humor and/or irony also often mark BFNT questions. In "Casablanca," what line follows Louis declaring that he's "shocked... shocked to find that gambling is going on in here?" The answer, delivered by the croupier, "your winnings, sir" always makes me smile. Moreover, the look Bogie immediately gives the croupier is priceless. And the question right away brings the entire scene to mind.
Which brings us to last night's contest. What a pleasure that so many of the questions were much more Bona Fide than minutial (yes, it is a word). I especially enjoyed the "once 10,000 locations, now just one store-- in Bend, Oregon" question, the corn question, the "independent rear suspension" question, and the Broadway shows with songs titled "Maria" question, among many others. Also, a scan of the hourly boni showed them to be of quite reasonable length. Archives had shown a trend toward boni that included several hundred parts, which is way too many.
Again, congrats to Gwyn, all the Subductioneers, and to the WhoppersX4-- I look forward to May!
Trivially Yours,
Dick Weinberg '74
Greetings all,
Thank you kindly for participating in the trivia contest; I had a lot of fun with it and I hope you did too.
Many thanks to Louis and Mark for helping us with the technology that makes the contest possible; to Arielle, Tom, and others on the listserv for their tips; to WCFM for being so helpful and letting us use their space; to my teammates and folks from Poker for helping write questions and boni; and to the beverage fairies who visited us around the 3am slump. And of course to the room hosts, chat managers, and bonus scorers who may or may not speak to me ever again.
Scores are now final, with one change since the contest:
Aaaaaaaaaalphabetically jumped from 12th place to 8th with the scoring of a glitchy bonus.
Looking forward to reclaiming the trivia title from The Whoppers come spring!
Obviously I coerced my entry into playing, and though they didn't make it very far into the night, they put a commendable effort towards the first hourly bonus (did you notice that #16 was already in its simplified form, and that 3 and 13 are inverse? hehehe).
Thanks for all the effort, Gwyn and co! My teammates and I have been playing since arriving at Williams in 1979 (originally as members of Giga, and then Phasers on Stun) and it's great to see the tradition continue on campus today.
Looking forward to May!
Bruce Leddy, Williams '83
Subduction included an homage to BOMO (unfortunately, after I went to bed!) by including Q94 from the contest we ran in 1978, my senior year and the last contest we ran until 2012. The song we paired with it in those pre-songmatch days was the classic "Itchycoo Park" by the Small Faces. Subduction paired it with "On Top of Spaghetti" to presumably match with the "marshmellowed meatballs" that required Alka Seltzer featured in the question/answer. That song was written and performed by Tom Glazer (the script does not include this, for some reason), who happened to come from my home town of Briarcliff, New York. Trivia wheels spinning through the ages....
Thanks, Subduction!