Every year, one of the best times to be a tourist and worst times to be a resident of the DC area is sometime between March and April, when the famous cherry blossoms bloom around the Tidal Basin. The trees were a gift from the Japanese, and are meant to symbolize the friendship between our two nations, and so the Cherry Blossom Festival will be the theme to this game. Please enjoy.
Rules/Notes:
- Lowest point total wins; your score for each question is equal to the total number of players submitting that same answer.
- Pay attention to the first sentence in each question - it tells you what is required in your answer. Make sure you put all required information in your answer!
- Roosevelt Rule - In general, when your answer is a person's name, last name will be sufficient unless specifically mentioned, or when more information is required to distinguish your answer.
- You may use one DROP and take zero points for that question.
- You may use one SHEEP to take the sheep answer for that question.
- There will be a BONUS of (-4) for anyone who gives correct answers to all 10 questions, utilizing neither their drop nor their sheep options.
- There are three other opportunities for bonuses. Use questions 11 and 12 for those.
- Wrong responses (on Q1-Q10) are the higher of either +10 points or the "sheep" answer +3
- All answers are due by 10 AM ET on Tuesday, April 10th, 2018.
- Only the first submission per person is accepted; submit entries by PM or with this google form.
- No outside research is allowed.
- Feel free to ask for clarifications here if necessary.
1. CHERRIES - Letter and answer required. Choose a letter and answer the (possibly loosely) cherry-related question.
- What glam metal band is known for the song “Cherry Pie?”
- “Cherry snapper” is another name for what common fish?
- What is the name for a dessert normally made with cherries, flambeed, and served over vanilla ice cream?
- What liqueur is normally used in the preparation of the answer to (c)?
- What is the name of the children’s board game made by Hasbro, where the object is to pick ten cherries off your tree?
- What is the name of the best flavor of ice cream, a popular Ben & Jerry’s flavor featuring cherry ice cream, chunks of cherries, and fudge flakes?
- The rather mild cherry pepper is also known by what Spanish term?
- What term is used in basketball for the act of hanging out near the opponent’s goal with the hope of receiving a long pass and scoring an easy basket if the opposing team loses the ball, and also in public debate as another name for the fallacy of incomplete evidence?
- The cherry trees seen in Washington, DC were a gift from the Japanese in 1912. What is the Japanese term for the blossom of a Japanese cherry tree?
- Don Cherry is an announcer for what sport?
As a bonus (use Q11), there are a total of 19 Smithsonian museums and galleries (again, not counting the Castle). For -1 point each, name as many Smithsonian museums/galleries as you can that are NOT on the National Mall. Wrong answers will be penalized +1 point each.
3. BLOSSOMS - Letter and answer required. Choose a picture and identify the flower pictured:
4. JAPAN - Letter and answer required. Answer one of the following questions about Japan.
- What is the former name of the current capital of Japan?
- What prefecture in Japan is home to a nuclear power plant that was disabled after an earthquake in 2011 damaged reactors and caused radiation leaks?
- What is the Japanese term for this object?
- Japan is well-known for its cuisine – restaurants serving dishes like tempura, sushi, udon, and ramen are fairly easy to find in the West. Natto is another well-known Japanese food item, although its fame likely comes from being an acquired taste. What common food item is fermented to create natto?
- The Japanese archipelago is composed of almost 7,000 islands. In any order, what are the names of the FOUR LARGEST?
- Composed of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, what is the collective name for Japan’s bicameral legislature, their version of what we call “Congress?”
- Written in the 11th century by Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of whom is sometimes considered to be the world’s first novel?
- Sometimes referred to as “the Great Wave” or just “the Wave,” the full title of this work of art mentions what location?
- Who is the artist behind the work in (h)?
- Translated as “the way of warriors” and analogous to the European code of chivalry, what is the term for the “code” of moral values and conduct required of samurai?
6. 1934 – Letter and answer required. The first National Cherry Blossom Festival was held in 1934. Select a letter below and answer the question about another notable event, birth, or death that occurred in 1934.
- What city became the capital of Cote D’Ivoire in 1934 (although the political capital is not currently located there)?
- Still holding the career RBI record with 2,297, what baseball player was born on February 5, 1934?
- “Woman Haters” was the first short released by whom?
- What Disney character debuted in the animated short “The Wise Little Hen?”
- Dying in 1934, who was the first (and still the only) person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences?
- After the death of his father, King Albert I, who ascended to the throne in Belgium in 1934?
- Born in 1934, what activist and politician rose to prominence with the book “Unsafe at Any Speed?”
- Born in 1934, who is, as of the time of this game, the snowball-tossing senior Senator from Oklahoma?
- Shot and killed in 1934, Bonnie and Clyde were the two best-known members of what “gang” of criminals that also included Deacon Jones and Clyde’s older brother and sister-in-law?
- Dying in 1934, what composer is best known for an orchestral suite with seven movements, including ones originally titled, “the Bringer of War,” “the Bringer of Peace,” and “the Winged Messenger?”
- Writer of “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” who also pitched two no-hitters for the Washington Nationals in 2015.
- Actress who plays similar characters in both Arrested Development and Archer who is the namesake for a medical center in Bethesda, Maryland.
- A DC neighborhood south of the National Zoo, home to an investment banking firm that merged with Dean Witter in 1997.
- 38th President of the United States whose venue was the site of the most famous (or infamous) performance of “Our American Cousin.”
- A private school attended by both Chelsea Clinton and both of Barack and Michelle Obama’s daughters where Dewey Finn assembles a group of 4th graders to compete in a Battle of the Bands competition.
- A…umm…clothing…company that was initially founded in 1865 to combat counterfeiting of currency.
- Residents of a DC neighborhood named after a Civil War rear admiral and popular among the LGBT community sing the opening song from a 1994 Disney animated film.
- A Supreme Court Justice known for being a man of few words moonlights as the main character on a kids’ TV show narrated, most famously, by Ringo Starr and George Carlin.
- John Wall, Bradley Beal, and their teammates are employed by a game publisher best known for Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons.
- A brand name best known for packaged rice products such as “Ready Rice” takes over a DC restaurant known for its half-smokes.
9. JAPAN-US RELATIONS – celebrity name required. The title of this question was once a category on Saturday Night Live’s Celebrity Jeopardy sketch. Name any celebrity that has “appeared” as a contestant on SNL’s Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, hosted by Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek (actors appearing as themselves also count here; we are looking for the celebrities being parodied, and not the actors that played them, unless the actor is playing themselves).
As a bonus (use Q12), name as many possible answers to this question as you can (including your answer to Q9). You will receive a bonus of -1 point for every 3 correct answers (rounded down, regardless of how many wrong answers you put down). The player with the most correct answers without a miss will receive an additional bonus of -5 points. The player with the second most will receive an additional bonus of -3 points.
10. MOVIES – letter and movie title required. Name one of the following movies set in Japan: