After my last fairly unexciting poll about when people quiz, I thought I'd ask about something a little more exciting this time: stranger danger!
Melodramatic, perhaps, but at a quiz in Montreal earlier this year a never-before-seen event interrupted our evening: someone asked to join our team.
I'll admit, we were both caught completely off guard, and in our painfully British attempt to work out what to say the unwitting invader quickly decided (or, rather, worked out) we were a pair of weirdos and that maybe they were better off finding a more normal group to ask. Nevertheless, we were staggered: the idea of asking to join a random team seemed unthinkable, and we put it down to North American friendliness (or, perhaps more accurately, British stand-offishness) and got on with the quiz.
Still, I wanted to know if others had had this experience, and if so, what they do about it. The poll below presents a few options, so do please take a moment to select the one that applies to you. What's more, if none seem quite right there's a free text 'other' field for all your descriptive needs.
Thursday 23 July 2015
Pub Quiz Poll Results: Day of week
While the Ones That Got Away are still on holiday as we continue our tour of the UK, here's a rundown of the results of the latest Pub Quiz Poll: when do you most often attend a quiz?
While not the largest sample size (currently 77 votes) a three-tier structure seems to be emerging. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are the most popular evenings for a quiz, with Friday and Saturday predictably quiet. Sundays and Wednesdays, meanwhile, make up something of a middle ground.
It's surprisingly hard to find good data on when pub quiz nights are held. I've only managed to dig up one source that offers a day-to-day breakdown, but that's from eight years ago and based on just 230 Scottish pubs. In that survey Thursday was by far the most popular night for a pub to host a quiz, with Wednesday the least popular of the Sunday-Wednesday options. It's hard to say how strongly pub quiz attendance will correlate with which nights pub quizzes are on offer (market forces would perhaps suggest they should match up pretty well, at least), but it's certainly difficult to draw many conclusions from such limited data.
My own answer to this poll would have been Monday, but mainly because that happens to be the day of the week when our preferred Montreal quiz takes place. Back in the UK we would regularly quiz on Mondays and Tuesdays, with Wednesday a very occasional treat, so there at least my own experience matches up with the poll results.
As always, thanks to those who voted - a new Pub Quiz Poll will be up very soon!
While not the largest sample size (currently 77 votes) a three-tier structure seems to be emerging. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are the most popular evenings for a quiz, with Friday and Saturday predictably quiet. Sundays and Wednesdays, meanwhile, make up something of a middle ground.
It's surprisingly hard to find good data on when pub quiz nights are held. I've only managed to dig up one source that offers a day-to-day breakdown, but that's from eight years ago and based on just 230 Scottish pubs. In that survey Thursday was by far the most popular night for a pub to host a quiz, with Wednesday the least popular of the Sunday-Wednesday options. It's hard to say how strongly pub quiz attendance will correlate with which nights pub quizzes are on offer (market forces would perhaps suggest they should match up pretty well, at least), but it's certainly difficult to draw many conclusions from such limited data.
My own answer to this poll would have been Monday, but mainly because that happens to be the day of the week when our preferred Montreal quiz takes place. Back in the UK we would regularly quiz on Mondays and Tuesdays, with Wednesday a very occasional treat, so there at least my own experience matches up with the poll results.
As always, thanks to those who voted - a new Pub Quiz Poll will be up very soon!
Thursday 16 July 2015
Bonus Question: Canadian Alphabet Quiz!
While the doctor and I are off on our world tour of the UK, I thought I'd share a Canadian quiz I wrote for a quiz evening we had with some friends while we've been out here. (Yes, our coolness knows no bounds.) These questions are designed to be 'Canada 101' - I'd expect most Canadians to score close to if not exactly full marks - but still accessible to those not from the true north strong and free. As an extra help this is an Alphabet Quiz: there are 26 questions with each answer beginning with one letter of the alphabet (so one answer starts with A, one answer starts with B, and so on). To clarify some 'ground rules':
1) Ignore all preceding definite and indefinite articles (e.g. if the answer was 'The Answer' that would count as 'A', not as 'T').
2) If the answer is a person's name, then surname suffices (e.g. if the answer was 'John Smith' then you only need to get "Smith", and that answer would count as 'S', not 'J'). Except...
3) ...if the answer is a monarch, then the first name gives you your letter (e.g. if the answer was 'William I', that answer would count as 'W').
4) You may want to grab a pen (or electronic note-taking device) to cross off letters as you go along - the more you can cross off the more help you'll have on the remaining answers!
The questions
1) Which Canadian dish of chips, cheese curds and gravy (pictured), is spelled the same as the French spelling of the President of Russia's surname?
2) Most major Canadian airports are identified by three-letter codes all starting with what letter? (While a few other airports around the world also have codes beginning with this letter, the vast majority are located in Canada.)
3) Along with Scottish biochemist John Macleod, Canadian scientist Sir Frederick Banting co-discovered what glucose regulating hormone?
4) Who is the current (as of July 1st, 2015) Prime Minister of Canada?
5) Which Canadian singer, according to one of his most famous song's lyrics, bought his first guitar for 15 cents?
6) What term describes the method used to begin play in ice hockey?
7) Nicknamed “The Great One”, and considered by everyone to be the greatest player ever, who is the correct answer to every British quiz question about ice hockey?
8) Who is currently Canada's head of state?
9) Which Canadian singer's single 'Call Me Maybe' is (currently) the 21st most-watched video on YouTube?
10) What is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world (after Paris)?
11) Canadians Chris Haney and Scott Abbott invented what world-famous board game, first released in 1982?
12) Which sport was invented by Canadian James Naismith as a way to keep his gym class active on a rainy day?
13) Which character did (Canadian!) William Shatner play on Star Trek?
14) Established by the process of 'Confederation', who was the British monarch when Canada became its own country?
15) Known for his highly energetic, slapstick performances, which Canadian-born actor has starred in two feature film adaptations of Dr. Seuss books?
16) How do Canadians pronounce the 26th letter of the alphabet?
17) The Canadian motto is 'A Mari Usque Ad Mare', meaning 'from ____ to ____' - what single word fills in the blanks?
18) Which two-word province boasts this flag?
19) Unsurprisingly, Canada has won the most gold medals in (men's and women's) Olympic ice hockey, with 13. Which country (who have lost to Canada in 9 gold medal games) have the most silver medals, with 11?
20) Home to around one million people, what is the capital city of Canada?
21) Which is the only Canadian province to share its name with a letter in the NATO phonetic alphabet?
22) Following an early career as a teen star in the French-speaking world, which Canadian singer won the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland?
23) Stretching from New Mexico in the southwestern United States, to northern British Columbia in western Canada, what is the second-longest mountain range in the world?
24) Canada consists of three 'territories' and how many provinces? Give your answer in roman numerals.
25) Canada has two official national sports. One is (spoilers) ice hockey, which sport with Native American origins is the other?
26) Picture: Real name James “Logan” Howlett, who is being given a lesson in Canadian property values here? (As always, you can click for a bigger version.)
The answers
How did you do? In a change from tradition you can simply enter your numerical score in the poll below (and click 'Finish Survey'). 1 point per correct answer and no half marks - a perfect score is 26!
1) Ignore all preceding definite and indefinite articles (e.g. if the answer was 'The Answer' that would count as 'A', not as 'T').
2) If the answer is a person's name, then surname suffices (e.g. if the answer was 'John Smith' then you only need to get "Smith", and that answer would count as 'S', not 'J'). Except...
3) ...if the answer is a monarch, then the first name gives you your letter (e.g. if the answer was 'William I', that answer would count as 'W').
4) You may want to grab a pen (or electronic note-taking device) to cross off letters as you go along - the more you can cross off the more help you'll have on the remaining answers!
The questions
 |
| Question 1 |
2) Most major Canadian airports are identified by three-letter codes all starting with what letter? (While a few other airports around the world also have codes beginning with this letter, the vast majority are located in Canada.)
3) Along with Scottish biochemist John Macleod, Canadian scientist Sir Frederick Banting co-discovered what glucose regulating hormone?
4) Who is the current (as of July 1st, 2015) Prime Minister of Canada?
5) Which Canadian singer, according to one of his most famous song's lyrics, bought his first guitar for 15 cents?
6) What term describes the method used to begin play in ice hockey?
7) Nicknamed “The Great One”, and considered by everyone to be the greatest player ever, who is the correct answer to every British quiz question about ice hockey?
8) Who is currently Canada's head of state?
9) Which Canadian singer's single 'Call Me Maybe' is (currently) the 21st most-watched video on YouTube?
10) What is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world (after Paris)?
11) Canadians Chris Haney and Scott Abbott invented what world-famous board game, first released in 1982?
12) Which sport was invented by Canadian James Naismith as a way to keep his gym class active on a rainy day?
13) Which character did (Canadian!) William Shatner play on Star Trek?
14) Established by the process of 'Confederation', who was the British monarch when Canada became its own country?
15) Known for his highly energetic, slapstick performances, which Canadian-born actor has starred in two feature film adaptations of Dr. Seuss books?
16) How do Canadians pronounce the 26th letter of the alphabet?
17) The Canadian motto is 'A Mari Usque Ad Mare', meaning 'from ____ to ____' - what single word fills in the blanks?
18) Which two-word province boasts this flag?
 |
| Question 18 |
20) Home to around one million people, what is the capital city of Canada?
21) Which is the only Canadian province to share its name with a letter in the NATO phonetic alphabet?
22) Following an early career as a teen star in the French-speaking world, which Canadian singer won the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland?
23) Stretching from New Mexico in the southwestern United States, to northern British Columbia in western Canada, what is the second-longest mountain range in the world?
24) Canada consists of three 'territories' and how many provinces? Give your answer in roman numerals.
25) Canada has two official national sports. One is (spoilers) ice hockey, which sport with Native American origins is the other?
26) Picture: Real name James “Logan” Howlett, who is being given a lesson in Canadian property values here? (As always, you can click for a bigger version.)
 |
| Question 26 |
How did you do? In a change from tradition you can simply enter your numerical score in the poll below (and click 'Finish Survey'). 1 point per correct answer and no half marks - a perfect score is 26!
Friday 10 July 2015
On holiday!
Sorry for no update today - we're in the UK on a working holiday, so the blog will be taking a bit of a back seat for a few weeks. That said, I have prepared a special surprise quiz to mark our time back in the country, so keep an eye out for that!
In the meantime, you'll be delighted to hear that within 36 hours of being back in the country (and still rather jet-lagged) we were in a rural pub sitting down to our first pub quiz. We lost by a whopping 0.25 points (still taking home a similarly whopping £8 for second place), with some delightfully anglocentric questions. (Although disappointingly, none were about motorways.)
In the meantime, you'll be delighted to hear that within 36 hours of being back in the country (and still rather jet-lagged) we were in a rural pub sitting down to our first pub quiz. We lost by a whopping 0.25 points (still taking home a similarly whopping £8 for second place), with some delightfully anglocentric questions. (Although disappointingly, none were about motorways.)
Friday 3 July 2015
Only two national flags feature a crescent moon but no star: Maldives and Brunei
Your targets this week:
1+ out of 7: We won this week, but could you have done even better?
The attendees
1) The statistician
2) The doctor
3) The secret German
4) The metallurgist
5) The rich-person otherkin
The ones that got away
1) The croissant was invented in which country noted for its pastries?
2) Taxi-app company Uber launched a rental service for what type of vehicle in May?
3) In what month is Patriots' Day celebrated in the United States?
4) There have been at least two movies called The Patriot released over the years. Name the actor who stars in the 1998 movie The Patriot and the actor who stars in the 2000 movie The Patriot. (You don't need to match up the actors to the specific years, but you do need both for the point.)
5) Which of the following is not a real flavour of Doritos? a) Butter and Soy Sauce; b) Coconut Curry; c) Italian Seafood; d) Roasted Turkey; e) Spicy Kimchi
6) 2 point question: In what city was the Titanic built?
The answers
Our excuses
How did you do? Would you have beaten us (1 or more correct)? Let the world know with the poll below, then read on for my alternative questions (loosely) inspired by this week's Ones That Got Away!
My alternative questions
1) Commonly mis-attributed to Marie Antoinette, the quote 'let them eat cake' is in fact referring to which rich, bread-like foodstuff?
2) While we're thinking of the French, the word 'cab' (as in taxicab) is a contraction of what longer word for a type of horse-drawn carriage?
3) The Patriot missile takes its name via a bacronym (a reverse-engineered acronym). Beginning 'Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept On ______', what word completes it?
4) In the 1992 movie Patriot Games, Harrison Ford plays a character also played by Alec Baldwin in a 1990 movie. For 1 point each, name the movie and the character.
5) The original product that would go on to become Doritos today were first made at the delightfully named 'Casa de Fritos' in which California theme park? (They were made by taking surplus tortillas, cutting them up and frying.)
6) Infamously, the Titanic did not have enough lifeboats to save all of those on board. To within 10%, what proportion of the estimated 2,224 people on board could theoretically have been saved if all of its lifeboats been sent out at full capacity?
The answers
How did you do on my alternative questions? Have another poll!
1+ out of 7: We won this week, but could you have done even better?
The attendees
1) The statistician
2) The doctor
3) The secret German
4) The metallurgist
5) The rich-person otherkin
The ones that got away
1) The croissant was invented in which country noted for its pastries?
2) Taxi-app company Uber launched a rental service for what type of vehicle in May?
3) In what month is Patriots' Day celebrated in the United States?
4) There have been at least two movies called The Patriot released over the years. Name the actor who stars in the 1998 movie The Patriot and the actor who stars in the 2000 movie The Patriot. (You don't need to match up the actors to the specific years, but you do need both for the point.)
5) Which of the following is not a real flavour of Doritos? a) Butter and Soy Sauce; b) Coconut Curry; c) Italian Seafood; d) Roasted Turkey; e) Spicy Kimchi
6) 2 point question: In what city was the Titanic built?
The answers
Our excuses
How did you do? Would you have beaten us (1 or more correct)? Let the world know with the poll below, then read on for my alternative questions (loosely) inspired by this week's Ones That Got Away!
My alternative questions
1) Commonly mis-attributed to Marie Antoinette, the quote 'let them eat cake' is in fact referring to which rich, bread-like foodstuff?
2) While we're thinking of the French, the word 'cab' (as in taxicab) is a contraction of what longer word for a type of horse-drawn carriage?
3) The Patriot missile takes its name via a bacronym (a reverse-engineered acronym). Beginning 'Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept On ______', what word completes it?
4) In the 1992 movie Patriot Games, Harrison Ford plays a character also played by Alec Baldwin in a 1990 movie. For 1 point each, name the movie and the character.
5) The original product that would go on to become Doritos today were first made at the delightfully named 'Casa de Fritos' in which California theme park? (They were made by taking surplus tortillas, cutting them up and frying.)
6) Infamously, the Titanic did not have enough lifeboats to save all of those on board. To within 10%, what proportion of the estimated 2,224 people on board could theoretically have been saved if all of its lifeboats been sent out at full capacity?
The answers
How did you do on my alternative questions? Have another poll!
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