From: dtilque@frontier.com   
      
   On 10/4/23 22:54, Mark Brader wrote:   
   > These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2023-09-18,   
   > and should be interpreted accordingly.   
   >   
   > On each question you may give up to two answers, but if you give   
   > both a right answer and a wrong answer, there is a small penalty.   
   > Please post all your answers in a single followup to the newsgroup,   
   > based only on your own knowledge.  (In your answer posting, quote   
   > the questions and place your answer below each one.)  I will reveal   
   > the correct answers in about 3 days.   
   >   
   > All questions were written by members of the Usual Suspects and   
   > are used here by permission, but have been reformatted and may have   
   > been retyped and/or edited by me.  The posting and tabulation of   
   > current-events questions is independent of the concurrent posting   
   > of other rounds.  For further information please see my 2023-05-24   
   > companion posting on "Questions from the Canadian Inquisition   
   > (QFTCI*)".   
   >   
   >   
   > I wrote both of these rounds.   
   >   
   >   
   > * Game 1, Round 4 - Sports - And in Last Place   
   >   
   > In each case name the team.  Either the place name or team name   
   > will be sufficient, like "Saskatchewan" or "Roughriders", unless   
   > we say otherwise.   
   >   
   > 1. While exact information is not available, in its first 63 years   
   >     of operation this professional team won maybe 3 games, and lost   
   >     about 16,000 games.   
      
   Washington Generals   
      
   >   
   > 2. Please decode the rot13 for this question only after you have   
   >     finished with the previous one.   Gur erfg bs guvf ebhaq pbapreaf   
   >     grnzf cynlvat va beqvanel cebsrffvbany yrnthrf.  Nyy gur grnzf   
   >     ner fgvyy cynlvat gbqnl, naq vs gurl unir punatrq anzrf, jr jvyy   
   >     npprcg gurve pheerag anzr.  Va gur AON, qhr gb n ynobe qvfchgr,   
   >     gur 2011-12 frnfba jnf bayl 66 tnzrf ybat.  Guvf Fbhgurnfg   
   >     Qvivfvba grnz svavfurq gur frnfba jvgu 7 jvaf naq 59 ybffrf.   
   >     Gurve yrnqvat fpbere jnf Trenyq Uraqrefba We.   
   >   
      
   Charlotte Hornets   
      
   > 3. The worst record in major-league baseball since World War II   
   >     belongs to this National League team in 1962, when they won   
   >     40 games and lost 120.  Jimmy Breslin's book about that season   
   >     was titled "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?"   
      
   New York Mets   
      
   >   
   > 4. The worst baseball record in recent years was this American   
   >     League Central Division team with 47 wins and 114 losses in 2019.   
   >   
   > 5. Considering only home games for each team, the all-time record   
   >     home losing streak for *all* professional sports in North   
   >     America was the 20 consecutive home losses suffered by the   
   >     St. Louis Browns in June and July 1953 -- until *this* team   
   >     exceeded it by losing 22 consecutive home games from October   
   >     2019 to August 2023.  Obviously this isn't a baseball team --   
   >     what team is it?   
      
   Detroit Lions   
      
   >   
   > 6. In the 1976 NFL season, this team lost all 14 games.  Despite   
   >     their location, they were then playing in the AFC West Division.   
   >     Their head coach was John McKay and their primary quarterback   
   >     was Steve Spurrier.   
      
   New Orleans Saints   
      
   >   
   > 7. In 1974-75 this NHL team in the Norris Division won 8 games,   
   >     lost 67, and tied 5.  Four of their losses were by 10 goals   
   >     or more.  Their primary goalie, Ron Low, had a goals-against   
   >     average of 5.45.   
   >   
   > 8. In 1992-93 this team in the NHL's Smythe Division won 11 games   
   >     and tied 2, but their 71 losses are a record that still stands   
   >     today.  At one point they lost 17 games in a row; in one game   
   >     they scored first and lost 13-1.  Their leading scorer was   
   >     Kelly Kisio with 26 goals on the whole season.   
   >   
   > 9. This English soccer team was promoted into the Premier League   
   >     in 2007, but had clinched relegation back to their previous   
   >     league 6 weeks before the 2007-08 season was over!  That season   
   >     they won 1 game, drew 8, and lost 29.  They scored 20 goals in   
   >     the whole season to 89 for their opponents.  Billy Davies was   
   >     replaced as manager by Paul Jewell, who lasted only a little   
   >     over a year.   
   >   
   > 10. On this continent, the record for losses in Major League Soccer   
   >     was set in 1999.  Including games decided by shootout,   
   >     this Eastern Conference team won just 7 games and lost 25.   
   >     They scored 35 goals in the season, 7 of them by Eduardo Hurtado;   
   >     Bora Milutinovic was the coach.   
   >   
   > After completing the round, please decode the rot13: Ba dhrfgvbaf   
   > 1 naq 9, gur shyy anzr vf erdhverq -- cynpr anzr naq grnz anzr.   
   > Gur fnzr nccyvrf ba dhrfgvba 10 vs lbh tvir gur cerfrag-qnl anzr.   
   > Ba dhrfgvba 3, gur grnz anzr vf erdhverq.   
   >   
   >   
   > * Game 1, Round 6 - Literature - The Title Character   
   >   
   > In each case we will name a book whose title refers to a specific   
   > character, and you must name *that character*.  For example, we say   
   > "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, and you say Sauron.   
   > In some cases the character's first name will do, but we won't   
   > tell you which questions.  Note that the title character is not   
   > necessarily the lead character of the book.   
   >   
   > 1. "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.   
      
   Bilbo Baggins   
      
   > 2. "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway.   
   > 3. "Rabbit, Run" by John Updike.   
   > 4. "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov.   
   > 5. "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.   
   > 6. "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare.   
      
   Antonio   
      
   >   
   > 7. "Lady Chatterley's Lover" by D.H. Lawrence.  We want the second   
   >     title character, of course.   
   >   
   > 8. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling   
   >     ["Rolling"].  We want the second title character, of course.   
   >   
   > 9. "The Stranger", also known in English as "The Outsider", by   
   >     Albert Camus.   
   >   
   > 10. "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein.   
      
   Michael Valentine Smith   
      
   >   
   > After completing the round, please decode the rot13: Vs lbh whfg   
   > dhbgrq gur gvgyr nf lbhe nafjre sbe bar dhrfgvba, tb onpx naq gryy   
   > gur gvgyr punenpgre'f *erny* anzr.   
      
   --   
   Dan Tilque   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)