Boston quiz recap: Monday, Jan 7

Wow, what a show. A packed house at that palace of quizzical joy, Oberon, as we welcomed in 2013. (It's not too late to do that, right? Officially not a week down yet.) Big crowd, great crowd. Thanks for being there, everyone.

 

You're actually not seeing the full hugeness (that's what she said…)

It was the world debut of an audio round I'm particularly proud of, "Maraca Musing (a.k.a. Anagram Music)." No spoilers—NYC's getting its fill of it in less than 24 hours—but it was gratifying to see people appreciate my smart-ass anagramming of boy-band names. You're a truly discerning crowd.

Speaking of Smart-Ass, during the "Year in Manipulative Movie Trailers" video round, absolutely no one could recall the name of the bizarre 2012 film that is officially being considered the biggest cinematic bomb in history. (It's called The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, and I'd like to say that bizarro title was part of the problem, but plenty of people went to see The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.) No matter: It inspired mucho Smart-Ass Points: Some people IDed it as The Hangover III, some said it was Justin Bieber's Last Bong Hit, others said The Muppets' Ishtar. Creative, I like it.

And with a whole mess o' teams, the Three-Way Finale was especially exciting. It came down to Tippecanoe and Tyler II: Electric Boogaloo (the every-successful "Quips" team, now onto a new pun theme), along with two squads that have never won before: (Less Than) Elegant in Our Simplicity and Downton Julie Brown (not, as I initially believed, "Downtown," which did seem like a random reference). A little back-and-forth—the players tied it up at one point apiece—but TAT2EB claimed sweet victory, and the $200 jackpot, by knowing that the '80s British band named for a French fashion mag was these guys, not these guys.

The standings:
1. Tippecanoe and Tyler II: Electric Boogaloo: First win in more than six months, believe it or not. Also their largest team yet, but that is neither here nor there.
2. (Less Than) Elegant in Our Simplicity
3. Downton Julie Brown
4. Show Us Your Tips: Best showing by the staff team in some time.
5. Jack Klugman Kicks Ass!!
6. Ladlefoot: The True Story of an Underdog
7. The Monstrous Humanoids
8. Ice Cream Antisocial/Longshoremen (tie)
10. Incognito

Next: February 4, then March 4, then April 1. Meanwhile, if you care, plenty going on elsewhere: We're monthly in Chicago and L.A., and prepping for our NYC-only TV show, glory of glories. Jump on the Facebook and Twitter bandwagons to share in the love.