LearnedLeague 97 Match Day 22 Recap
Would this be a jubilant Match Day?
Match Day 22
I’m going to try something a little different with this Match Day because my opponents both got the same score, as you’ll find out later. First I’ll go through my thought process as I was answering, and then go through my reactions as I saw the answers come up.
A newborn Mandinka baby is held aloft by his father—a symbolic image of opportunity and freedom that will become bitterly ironic—during the iconic opening sequence in what miniseries (in a scene that would be replicated by Disney's The Lion King)?
One of the most iconic TV miniseries of all time was Roots, and while I haven’t seen it, this seems like it has to be the answer.
American artist Mary Beth Edelson's 1972 feminist appropriation of da Vinci, titled Some Living American Women Artists/Last Supper, includes, in its central portion, fellow painter Alma Thomas, who achieved a level of acclaim during her lifetime that has grown since her death in 1978. For most of Thomas's life, she worked and lived in what city, where she was associated with its "Color School" art movement, where she taught for 35 years at Shaw Junior High School, and where she was the first graduate of an HBCU's fine arts program?
I wasn’t sure about this at first, but the Shaw clue helped me out, as I used to go past “Shaw/Howard” Metro stop on the green and yellow lines every day when I worked in DC. And of course, Howard is one of the most prestigious HBCUs.
What dish, which consists of its namesake ingredient with liqueur (often kirsch) and is flambéed tableside and served over ice cream, was prepared for Queen Victoria in 1897 by legendary French chef Auguste Escoffier?
A flambéed dessert with ice cream and a namesake ingredient that I think has a French background? This definitely has to be bananas foster.
The 1999 film 10 Things I Hate about You and 2003's Deliver Us from Eva are loose adaptations of what comedy written in the late 16th century?
I have seen 10 Things I Hate about You too many times to count. This is definitely one of Shakespeare’s most screwballiest screwball comedies, The Taming of the Shrew.
The first known philatelist was very possibly a Briton named John Tomlynson, who became such on May 7, 1840, one day after the first-ever issuance of what?
“Philatelist” is a fancy name for stamp collector. Gotta be the postage stamp.
Carnegiea gigantea is the scientific name of what cactus, the largest of the cacti, reaching up to 70 feet in height and possessing a thick stem and candelabra-like branches? Found in the Southwest United States and Mexico, it's the typical choice for cactus logos and iconography (e.g., the logo for the MLB's Cactus League and a former secondary logo for the Arizona Wildcats).
The one type of cactus I can think of is the saguaro cactus. If it’s not that then I have no idea.
Alright, I’m feeling good about all of these, and it seems like I might have drunk the beer! Let’s hit that submit button and find out:
Q1: Roots. Got it. (78% of LL got it right)
Q2: DC. Nice! I used the context clues to get an art question I normally would’ve missed. (32% of LL got it right)
Q3: Cherries Jubilee?!?!?! What? Oh nooo, the Queen Victoria clue! She totally had that big jubilee back in the day, didn’t she. (38% of LL got it right)
Q4: Taming of the Shrew. Yep makes sense. (76% of LL got it right)
Q5: Postage stamp. Straightforward enough. (70% of LL got it right)
Q6: Saguaro. Yep, that old Arizona logo was pretty cool and reminds me of all those good basketball teams they had in the 90s. (68% of LL got it right)
Result: Loss to ShapiroP2, 8(5)-9(6)
Current Standings in Rundle A Byzantium: 26th of 30 (6-12-4)
Private Rundle Result: Loss to KeigerJ, 8(5)-9(6)
Current Standings in Private Rundle: 3rd of 10 (14-6-2)
Overall thoughts: I will never be able to think of cherries jubilee again without thinking of that question. Not only did I lose both games to opponents who drank the beer, but I’m also now two points away from staving off relegation from Rundle A, which means I need a couple wins and some help to stay put. And alas there are only 3 match days left, so time is running out!
I enjoyed this change up in the format!