LL68: For the LLamas

[Linear Gnome]

I think I was subliminally influenced by the "complete set of female U.S. senators" question from a previous season--I think the correct answer occurred to me more readily.

[Lefty]

For me, it was GM (Barra) and HP (Whitman) and the later mention of Yahoo.

For me, Hewlett-Packard and Yahoo even if I didn't know it was "former" in the case of the former, and that her name was not Linda Fiorentino.

[nightreign]

I think I was subliminally influenced by the "complete set of female U.S. senators" question from a previous season--I think the correct answer occurred to me more readily.

Me too! Even better, that question was also on MD25. The only one of the set that I actually knew had a female CEO was Yahoo, but I couldn't think of anything else they could possibly have in common.

[cmp146]

And you'll get to face off across the kitchen table in A Mag next season (congrats to cmp146!). Sadly I won't be joining you there, as a disastrous* MD25 dropped me out of the promotion zone and landed me in fifth. But fifth in B is still quite an achievement, and I landed up with 90 TCA, which is my best showing yet. (I've slowly climbed from high seventies.)

(* As in... 'the only question here that I know the answer to is whether I'm coming back next season'. I eventually puzzled out Waltzing Matilda but nothing else. I have a whole sheet of paper with combinations like ARCHRA, ENTHLE, etc.)

I am sorry you won't be joining me, but I am excited to be playing former Horizon A folk and Boson. It was a lucky couple match days to end my run. I found out I got an oral presentation at a conference in Vienna, and noticed Osterreiche in the hotel addresses when making my reservation. I also have seen the abysmal statistics on female CEOs, with the few exceptions (including GM and Yahoo), so that one was a "this feels right, even though I don't know for sure" sort of answer. Asthma eluded me for the morning, going through my mental list of chronic diseases (eczema! NO! angina! NO!) It was a forehead slap when I finally figured it out.

This LL played a bit harder for me than the last two seasons, but being in Magnolia B rather than Horizon A was very refreshing. I had only one 9(6)-9(6) tie, and the whole played much better as far as wins and ties. I missed having some visual and audio clues, since recognizing the visual arts and music is a valid trivia area to me. However, I can understand the idea of moving towards more inclusiveness. It is just unfortunate that sight reading, identify the art from pictures, and identify the audio/video clips will be no more.

[Armandillo]

Lucky me. I miss going from Rookie to D by one slot. All I needed was a win, tie, person after me losing or tieing. *sigh*

I have learned that the WORST way to answer questions is to put down what you think you know and submit immediately. Waiting all day and thinking things over makes a world of difference.

Oh well, I should at least have an easier time in E than I would of in D.

Can't wait for more!!

[Bamaman]

I avoided demotion by the skin of my teeth. I took the last spot in Continental D, finishing one point ahead of a guy who forfeited twice. So I probably should have been booted, but I'll take it. A nightmarish last two weeks, hoping to do better in LL69.

I signed up for all three MLs, not expecting much.

[nightreign]

Just so you all know, these threads have become so popular that "llamas" is no longer a valid search term because it is too common.

[Cat Hammarskjold]

I don't know if you noticed, but Thorsten pushed many of the 1DSs back a week. This means that instead of my Haggadah 1DS being a few days before Pesach, it will be live from the first night through the third day, and anyone who would be participating in this 1DS knows why that's a problem. I think I have a solution that another 1DS smith and Thorsten will agree to that will make my quiz happen a few days later. I just hope that any rescheduling doesn't cause a similar problem to any of your 1DSs.

[quarterrican]

I managed to find myself in 2nd place at the end of the season, so I'm heading up to the C ranks next season. Had one less TCA than my high from last season, but was overall pleased with how the season went. LL69 will be my fourth season, and my fourth new rundle, so looking forward to the challenges that will bring.

[DadofTwins]

It was the best of LL's. It was the worst of LL's.

It was a season that ended up on the right side of the relegation bubble. It was season with a record low number of right answers.

It was an epic day when I got my first BWA. It was an epic failure when I had my second 0(0), and first W0(0)-0(0)F, in sixteen seasons.

We were all going direct to A Rundle. We were all going direct the other way.

[Turd Ferguson]

I thought Q4 and Q5 would both score in the teens at most. I had never heard of Faces, Small or otherwise, and I've got a pretty deep knowledge of 1960s music. Maybe it counts more as 70s music?

One of my favorites:

I've always preferred Stay With Me (although until now, I always thought it was simply a Rod Stewart solo song -- never heard of Faces).

"Stay With Me" is the one that got most play on Classic Rock stations up here. In the early 90s, the Faces were one of the bands the Black Crowes (my favorite band at the time) were most cited of being derivative of, so that's how I became familiar with them, especially after seeing a Crowes concert in '94 when they were joined onstage by Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood (he was part of some other little band by then)

[gnash]

Speaking of defense, I'm really surprised by how easy the women CEOs question played. I got it mostly by knowing that Indra Nooyi is the CEO of Pepsico, but I thought the question was tough and didn't see a strong TOM. I assigned it a 3 despite my opponent's solid Business history, which decision turned a win into a 5(4)-5(4) tie.

For me, it was GM (Barra) and HP (Whitman) and the later mention of Yahoo.

Yahoo and Xerox did it for me. I thought those two were huge hints - the question could have just been what those two companies have in common (other than that they may both be placed in the broad category of "computing technology") and it would be the only answer that comes to mind.

[gnash]

For me, the highlight of this season was my possibly best teased-out guess ever, in day 20 q5. I know a little bit of French, but not much, and la grenouille meant nothing to me. Not being someone who easily gives up, I approached the puzzle from a few different sides:

1) I went over animals whose French names I know, or at least would recognize. I realized that that took care of most farm animals, common pets, large beasts, and a few common European birds. While I probably had holes in those lists, I concluded the animal was unlikely to belong to any of those categories.

2) I assumed that being fluent in French was not a necessary condition for getting the answer - it never is with language questions, even with difficult ones. So I was thinking how one might know a French word for an animal without necessarily knowing French. Hmmm... what do you find on French menus? OK, I know what an escargot is... but how do you say "frog"? Aha! I don't know it, so it's a plausible candidate.

3) Any other way one might be familiar with the French word for frog? Maybe from The Princess and the Frog - DVDs usually have English, French, and Spanish options, and if you have the Disney movie you could have seen the French title - or you could have been exposed to the story in French in some other way.

4) A little more thinking... No other ideas I could justify as easily, plus if it really is the frog, the word is somewhat onomatopoeic.

This process earned me two points that made no difference to the match, which I won 7(5)-4(4) (primarily due to the far quicker and more desperate guess of "inning"). But it was immensely satisfying to squeeze the correct answer out of so little information I had at my disposal.

[Woof]

For me, the highlight of this season was my possibly best teased-out guess ever, in day 20 q5. I know a little bit of French, but not much, and la grenouille meant nothing to me. Not being someone who easily gives up, I approached the puzzle from a few different sides:

1) I went over animals whose French names I know, or at least would recognize. I realized that that took care of most farm animals, common pets, large beasts, and a few common European birds. While I probably had holes in those lists, I concluded the animal was unlikely to belong to any of those categories.

2) I assumed that being fluent in French was not a necessary condition for getting the answer - it never is with language questions, even with difficult ones. So I was thinking how one might know a French word for an animal without necessarily knowing French. Hmmm... what do you find on French menus? OK, I know what an escargot is... but how do you say "frog"? Aha! I don't know it, so it's a plausible candidate.

3) Any other way one might be familiar with the French word for frog? Maybe from The Princess and the Frog - DVDs usually have English, French, and Spanish options, and if you have the Disney movie you could have seen the French title - or you could have been exposed to the story in French in some other way.

4) A little more thinking... No other ideas I could justify as easily, plus if it really is the frog, the word is somewhat onomatopoeic.

This process earned me two points that made no difference to the match, which I won 7(5)-4(4) (primarily due to the far quicker and more desperate guess of "inning"). But it was immensely satisfying to squeeze the correct answer out of so little information I had at my disposal.

I think that my best get in this league was in my weakest category: TV. Alternative host to The Apprentice, a show that I've never watched (and, in all honesty, would chew my own leg off rather than watching)? I have seen the ads for it over the years and have a vague recollection of that alternative host. I seem to recall that it was a female, which would certainly make a clear contrast with The Donald. So, Oprah? No, too touchy-feely. Who would be a good female boss figure? Carly Fiorina? Nah... not famous enough. Wait, how about Martha Stewart? Would she have been in the slammer then? Let's give it a shot... And thus I get a less-than-fully-warranted 3 points.

Oh, and the way that I knew Grenouille was from a few French restaurants bearing that name and a Grand Cru vineyard in Chablis also so named.

[ThreeIfByAir]

Wait, how about Martha Stewart? Would she have been in the slammer then? Let's give it a shot... And thus I get a less-than-fully-warranted 3 points.

You were closer on the slammer part than you think. The show was taped during her house arrest, and they used various stratagems to cover it up. TA:MS is probably best known now for unleashing Bethenny Frankel on the world -- she was a contestant and came in second if memory serves.

[mrexley]

I enjoyed my rookie season, the questions were a good mix of material I knew, stuff I could reason out, and flat out impossible (vigesimal, Jujamcyn, Gibson girl).

Onward to B Horizon (at least I think so -- I've noticed that some players have moved laterally to other divisions?)

[mpahu]

I enjoyed my rookie season, the questions were a good mix of material I knew, stuff I could reason out, and flat out impossible (vigesimal, Jujamcyn, Gibson girl).

Onward to B Horizon (at least I think so -- I've noticed that some players have moved laterally to other divisions?)

I did some digging, and found that the Commissioner announced the branches that would be moving to new leagues for LL68 not long after LL67 had concluded. Assuming this offseason follows the same timeline, we should know pretty soon which branches are moving to Atlantic, Morningstar, and Tundra.

I guess at least for now, it's off to B Metro over here!

[cmp146]

I enjoyed my rookie season, the questions were a good mix of material I knew, stuff I could reason out, and flat out impossible (vigesimal, Jujamcyn, Gibson girl).

Onward to B Horizon (at least I think so -- I've noticed that some players have moved laterally to other divisions?)

Congrats on dominating your rookie rundle and winning the McDonnell trophy for best rookie in Horizon!

Congratulations also to: PatKav in Magnolia B for her Maso trophy and victory in Magnolia B (167 total match points), and JJWaymee for the Sandra trophy in Horizon (0.865 DE).

[mennoknight]

Ugh. Going to A Pacific next season. Not liking those odds.

[econgator]

I thought for sure I'd be moving, but nope.