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December 2014 Topix
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Author:  zog741 [ Tue Dec 02, 2014 2:35 pm ]
Post subject:  December 2014 Topix
I had been out of the practice of doing a Topix thread for a few months. Since we now have the full month available, I'd might as well post it...

    Thursday Topix Themes:
    December 4: Silver and Red
    December 11: New Zealand
    December 18: Toys and Gifts
    December 25: Year in Review - News

    Friday Topix Themes:
    December 5: TV Siblings
    December 12: The Hobbit
    December 19: Classic Holiday Movies
    December 26: Year in Review - Entertainment

Finally, last but also least :mrgreen: are this month's Trendalicious...

    December 5: Winter Board Sports
    December 12: Walken in a Winter Wonderland
    December 19: Festivus for the Rest of Us
    December 26: Throwback Toys

-- RWM
Author:  Akbar71 [ Tue Dec 02, 2014 10:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
I have to say: I like all four Thursday Topix, although I'm a little worried about "Toys & Gifts" being all ripped from that week's Twitter feeds or whatnot. Sad that the "Year in Review" is on Christmas. I'm especially intrigued by "Silver & Red." Not something you can really prep for with a quick Wiki read. While I'm not really a Trendalicious guy, "Walken in a Winter Wonderland" is a great topic name.
Author:  Rhino [ Tue Dec 02, 2014 11:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
I'll probably go for a rare Fri Topix for The Hobbit, even though I expect all movie no book specific Qs. Other than that NZ is the only real draw for me although I agree silver and red may be intriguing.
Author:  Rhino [ Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
Red and silver turned out to be quite fun. A good non-crammable tough-to-borgable general knowledge game where I ironically lost most of my points on one of the easiest questions, somehow thinking the Lombardi Trophy was not silver
Author:  zog741 [ Thu Dec 04, 2014 11:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
My biggest mistake on Red and Silver was playing it as a guest (REBEL). I had no reason to think I'd do well at this Topix, and I wasn't on a team so I wasn't concerned about maintaining a bar average... Wound up with 12,410 for a score (19th on the network board). Bombed the very first question, and then aced the next 10. The Vince Lombardi Trophy question was an absolute guess, but I got it for 1000. Then I bombed questions 12 and 13 in what was otherwise a pretty good game...

The questions that I missed included the one about the American Flag, the one about Sterling silver, and another question that leaves much to be desired. ;)

Anyway, I agree with Rhino's assessment that this was a fun game, very difficult to anticipate what would be asked.

-- RWM
Author:  zog741 [ Fri Dec 05, 2014 10:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
Let's see how well I can remember last night's non-game... ;)

What do the red stripes in the American flag stand for?
Which fictional character had a horse named Silver?
Hematite is used in ___ _____. (As well as I can recall the question...)
What is the atomic number of silver? (I guessed correctly at this one.)
Which famous sports trophy is silver? (Another complete guess.)
Which red fruit is of the genus Fragaria? (Yet another guess.)
Which star is a red supergiant?
What, other than silver, is in Sterling Silver?
Anthrocyanins are what makes ______ turn red. (Recall my ;) on my last post...)
The computer code for red is?

The answers to the above, in order: hardiness and valor, The Lone Ranger, red ochre, 47, Vince Lombardi Trophy, strawberries, Antares, copper, leaves, #FF0000.

If I can recall more questions, I'll edit this post.

-- RWM
Author:  kaufman [ Fri Dec 05, 2014 1:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
zog741 wrote:
Let's see how well I can remember last night's non-game... ;)

...
Which star is a red supergiant?
...
The computer code for red is?

The answers to the above, in order: ..., Antares, ..., #FF0000.

If I can recall more questions, I'll edit this post.

-- RWM
I bled on Antares searching up and down the list for Betelguese. Sigh! But Buzztime actually had one other star listed among the five answers.

As for the computer question, they did specify the RGB hexadecimal code for red. I don't think the pound sign should have been included, given that they specified it was hex, and different systems use different means to identify hexadecimal numbers (I'm partial to seeing it as 0xff0000 myself).
Author:  zog741 [ Fri Dec 05, 2014 1:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
One question that I got for 1000 was the one on the atomic number of silver. My thought process on that one was that (a) the lower the atomic number, the less likely the element was to be radioactive, and (b) silver is not a radioactive element (as far as I know - my memory could be tarnished. ;)) So I picked the lowest choice, which happened to be 47 and the right answer.

I am positive that, had the choices been, say, 17, 27, 37, 47, and 57 on that question, I would have missed it.

-- RWM

p.s. - a quick Wiki scan reveals that silver has 28 radioactive isotopes.
Author:  Rhino [ Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
Credit where it's due - another solid Topix tonight. Fewer gimmes than usual and no 20% wild ass guess gotcha. Questions on Swannis and Tim Balme may have made it a bit more culturally distinct, but generally a fair and nicely challenging game.
Author:  pengwn [ Fri Dec 12, 2014 12:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
My crossword margin recap of the New Zealand! game

1. New Zealand's Maori name Aotearoa means land of the:
2. Cathedral Square is the center of which NZ city?
3. Which English explorer reached NZ in 1769?
4. Found on the Barrier Islands, Wetapungas are large:
5. This was a major event in NZ during the 1860s:
6. Found on North Island, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe are:
7. Auckland's ____ Tower is the tallest structure in NZ:
8. A much desired export of NZ is fresh ____ lamb:
9. Mangere, a suburb of Auckland, is home to NZ's largest:
10. Since 2008, NZ's Prime Minister has been:
11. The fascinating Waitomo Caves are lit by:
12. NZ's first settlers were the Maori, people from:
13. Wellington is often referred to as the:
14. Hokey Pokey ____ is a popular food in NZ:
15. It is the longest of NZ's many rivers:

Answers

1. Long White Cloud
2. Christchurch
3. Captain James Cook
4. Insects
5. Gold rush
6. Active volcanoes
7. Sky
8. Canterbury
9. Airport
10. John Key
11. Glowworms (well worth an image search, if you've never seen this)
12. Polynesia
13. Windy City
14. Ice cream
15. Waikato

My score was something like 11,269, good for third placing in the west rankings. ALBLKS, at R Pub in Edmonton, handily broke 14k for the top score. 1, 5, 8, 13, and 14 were the questions I faltered on
Author:  Rhino [ Fri Dec 12, 2014 9:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
Well the Hobbit topix was a bit of a dichotomy. I personally did well and with such a first-rank subject in both movie and book worlds it had to get a bit obscure to separate serious players but I think they overdid both. Only the most detailed and recent readings would have given a couple of answers (I am not sure either Gondolin or Esgaroth are mentioned more than once in passing) and only the most nerdish and obsessive movie fandom would have given a couple too (the songwriter who penned one background piece and the motion capture guy who wasn't a dwarf). Luckily I have the kind of memory that makes every reading detailed and more luckily I invested 20 minutes in an imdb/wiki scan of the movies but still that went a bit beyond the arcane IMO. That may be less noteworthy in just books or just movies but both? Not normal.
Author:  kaufman [ Sat Dec 13, 2014 1:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
And no Gollum questions, dammit!
Author:  Rhino [ Sat Dec 13, 2014 3:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
Yep I would have confidently predicted riddle questions pre-game.

Well that's me done for the year for Topix. While I might have been tempted by year in review news, which are fun games if well written, bars are not allowed to open on Xmas day here. None of the others hold the slightest interest.
Author:  zog741 [ Sun Dec 14, 2014 12:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
I probably will play on Xmas Day, as one of my local sites will likely open at 7:00pm, as they did on Thanksgiving. Again, I expect to be playing solo.

Thank you, pengwn for your write-up (along with answers) for the New Zealand Topix. Our bar did quite well (2nd in the East), even though I blew a few questions. One that I should not have blown was #9, where Airport was the answer, and if I had read the question more closely I would likely have chosen correctly. But I did read how Auckland was the only city in the world to be situated on an active volcanic field, and chose Volcano for that reason. Happily, my teammate chose correctly on that one. :) Our entire team (two players) whiffed on questions #4 and #14.

My (female) bartender did not appreciate it afterwards when I asked if they served Hokey Pokey. :lol:

I would love to get a chance to visit New Zealand some day.

-- RWM
Author:  poman [ Sat Dec 20, 2014 1:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
Rhino wrote:
Credit where it's due - another solid Topix tonight. Fewer gimmes than usual and no 20% wild ass guess gotcha. Questions on Swannis and Tim Balme may have made it a bit more culturally distinct, but generally a fair and nicely challenging game.


The Trendalicious game last night was very good, too, other than the semi-deceiving title. It should've just been labeled "Seinfeld" as it had nothing to do with festivus. The only festivus reference was in the post-question factoid on Q12, which cited "a festivus for the rest of us"

The last time Seinfeld was a Topix game, the board was full of 15000s. This time, not one perfect. There were a number of questions to bleed points on. The biggest one was probably "These were all nicknames of the women Jerry dated except" (the incorrect answer being a nickname of a woman that Kramer dated).

In the HOF for this game, I love the avatars from the player(s) at On The Boulevard. The handle names & avatars are all of the monsters on Pac-Man :lol: :lol: :lol:
Author:  lewser [ Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: December 2014 Topix
poman wrote:

In the HOF for this game, I love the avatars from the player(s) at On The Boulevard. The handle names & avatars are all of the monsters on Pac-Man :lol: :lol: :lol:


That is s good friend of mine, he is also VISHNU's brother. He left Vegas in July to become a professor at the Air Force Academy.

I don't know if anyone noticed it, but after 9 the Repeat Feed can't earn medals. So much for MORE competition that the dipshits at Buzztime promised with the split..
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