TD 220: Italia

[barandall800]

Mamma mia! That pasta miss was a tough one...I love pasta so I thought I was home free on that question. I guess I'll just go eat some to ease the pain...

Grazie per un buon TD.*

(*Hope I'm conjugating right there...Google helped me out a bit. :p)

[Lampy]

In second, putting in an impressive performance and finishing with 52 points, a mere one point behind our winner, and winning a trip to the Matterhorn, another impressive place that is not quite the highest mountain in Italy, it's Lampy!

Thanks! Any chance I can swap for that Champs League ticket?

[ElendilPickle]

Thanks, that was fun!

[Ryno]

Really challenging, but good game to play. Thanks.

[jkbrat]

Thanks for the TD, tjconn! Was on a roll for a bit there before 2 incorrects in a row doomed me to my usual middle-of-the-pack finish.

Really enjoyed the questions, though -- a nice variety of topics with a good range of difficulty. Grazie!

[debramc]

Thanks, tjconn! It was fun, especially because I actually had multiple right answers to most of the questions (not including the Italian soccer question, which for me would have been 'Name a random large city in Italy.' But hey, that answered which one to drop. And clearly having multiple right answers doesn't ensure you won't sheep nearly every time.
One of these days I'll learn to go with the sure sheep over the close but wrong answer. I knew one of the Plinys recorded the eruption, and I debated it enough that I should have known to go with another sure thing. And the pasta was an example of why not to rely on incidental research. I knew most of the pastas, and I could tell one of them was "wagon wheel" but couldn't remember the Italian name, but no prob, just pick a different one. I literally was about to go to the computer and submit my answers when I decided to go get the mail first. What's there but a cooking magazine, and on the back, pictures of pasta with their Italian names. I immediately think to myself "this is incidental research, it's ok" but of course don't look too closely because I don't want to cross the line. One of the ones there, though, was fiori, which look remarkably like wagon wheels at a glance. I thought "Oh I guess fiori means flowers? But we call them wagon wheels, that's weird." But did I listen to this voice of reason and use orecchiette instead?? No, I forged ahead with my new erroneous discovery. Aargh!
On the other hand, I'm glad for the opportunity to learn about the Schengen region/territory/zone/whatever. I had not heard this word at all though I lived in Germany in the mid-80s when they were starting to set it up, and have since tried to stay in touch with what's up in Europe. I did know that they now have little to no internal border controls, but had assumed it was a matter of EU vs non-EU. Good to learn more about the situation.
Again, thanks for the fun quiz!

[Tigershark]

Thanks for the fun quiz. It brought back happy memories of the four and half weeks I spent in Italy during the summer of 2011.

[tjconn728]

Thanks to all of you for the compliments, these games wouldn't be worth hosting if you didn't enjoy them.

That question 16 was a doozy. What a great set of questions in general, too...very nicely done.

Agreed on both counts! I have a correct answer for 16 that I think is difficult to get, but if it sheeps it will have been the second time in 2014 that I have been burned in a trivia contest by that set of countries...

Story please! (Glad it didn't burn you this time too, though. I actually thought this one had potential to sheep, but as a former Epcot employee, perhaps my knowledge of the World Showcase is above average.)

Grazie per un buon TD.*

(*Hope I'm conjugating right there...Google helped me out a bit. :p)

Perfetto!

[Caboom]

16. To finish up our tour of Italy, let's take a look at how the modern nation fits into an increasingly interconnected world. In each map below, Italy is one of a set of countries highlighted in red that all have something in common. Choose one of these maps and identify that commonality. Please include the letter of your choice in your response.

I thought this was a wonderful question.

I got two of the answers from looking at the maps (countries beginning with I and countries with capital beginning with R), but I was able to reversely figure out four more (FIFA, Euro, NATO and the Olympics) by thinking about the different possibilities the maps could show and then finding the corresponding map. Also glad I picked, for once, the right choice.

The only map that bothered me was the Schengen map. I kept staring at it, knowing I should be able to figure it out, and it was obvious after the reveal. Also, L was a nice touch.

[debramc]

16. To finish up our tour of Italy, let's take a look at how the modern nation fits into an increasingly interconnected world. In each map below, Italy is one of a set of countries highlighted in red that all have something in common. Choose one of these maps and identify that commonality. Please include the letter of your choice in your response.

I thought this was a wonderful question.
...
Also, L was a nice touch.

Yes, I agree. I spent a lot of time on L. "What on earth do Brazil and Surinam have in common besides being in SA? Don't speak Spanish? But no, not sure about Guyana but French Guiana is part of France and it's not highlighted, but Spain is." So close, but not quite. (Not to mention most of the rest of the world doesn't speak Spanish either but they weren't highlighted...)

[clprez]

When I read that question, I looked at the first few and had no ideas. So I approached it by hoping that one of them would be countries that use the Euro, and looked for the map that best represented that, and luckily I was right.