OT - I'm With Stupid #71 - Results

[QuikSand]

I’m With Stupid # 71 – The Reckoning

Okay, there was much pain to go around this time. Some of the questions were hard, causing you some pain. One of the questions I intended to be hard wasn’t because of my sloppiness… causing me some pain. And the final results hinged on a close-call decision… potentially causing one of our also-ran finishers some pain. Ouch.

Here’s the rundown:


1. Name a great painter.

11 Leonardo da Vinci
9 Pablo Picasso
5 Vincent Van Gogh
4 Michelangelo
3 Claude Monet
1 Rembrandt

I thought his would be more of a three-part race, with Van Gogh getting a little more respect. I suppose that the recent eclipsing of Van Gogh’s record sale by a painting by Picasso had some effect… or perhaps I was just wrong to begin with. Leonardo, perhaps boosted by Dan Brown’s bestselling jaunt, locks up the top spot – but this question was not an “eliminator.”


2. Name a great sculptor.

28 Michelangelo
4 Auguste Rodin
Leonardo da Vinci

Now here’s an eliminator. I figured that Rodin would make it more interesting, but alas. I also contemplated asking for a specific sculpture – which might have actually generated a better smattering of answers (it almost couldn’t be any worse).


3. Name an opera.

8 Carmen
5 Phantom of the Opera
5 The Marriage of Figaro
3 Don Giovanni
3 The Barber of Seville
2 The Magic Flute
2 Madame Butterfly
Aida
La Traviata
Le Boheme
Swan Lake

Okay, gang. I won’t quibble with Carmen – it’s a fine piece of work. And nearly everything else on the list – okay, fine. I might argue that some of the single responses are even “better” than the top ones, but that’s not really the point. But Phantom? Ummm… I’m sorry, but that’s a crying shame. It’s a musical, people! Not an opera, a musical! Oh, dear.

Sorry, I try not to editorialize this way…


4. Name a work of classical music.

16 Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony
7 Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
3 The 1812 Overture
2 Ride of the Valkyries
The Messiah
Fur Elise
Also Sprach Zarathustra
Eine Kleine Nachtmusic
Rhapsody in Blue

So, Ludwig wins the day, with a rare IWS 1-2 sweep. Fine. Interesting result, I thought – I didn’t see the landslide coming here, really. I think I would have responded with the 1812, but it turns out I wouldn’t have done too well on this edition had entered, anyway.


5. Name a great work of architecture.

9 Eiffel Tower
5 Pyramids
4 Parthenon
3 Empire State Building
3 Colisseum
2 Sydney Opera House
Sistine Chapel
Statue of Liberty
Golden Gate Bridge
Falling Water
Sphinx
Guggenheim Museum
Petronus Towers

Okay, a pretty nice spread here – I think pretty much every non-American submitted the Eiffel Tower, which I found interesting. Those of us looking stateside had to do some head-scratching. I thought the ESB would do better, and I actually (naively) expected that Frank Lloyd Wright’s much-ballyhooed “Falling Water” property would garner some attention here… but once again, the point is not to really answer the question, it’s to answer the way you think your friends here will. Alas. Nice answers, overall.


6. Name a museum not located in Paris.

16 Smithsonian
11 Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
2 Guggenheim Museum, NY
Prado
Anne Frank house
Holocaust Museum
Museum of Modern Art, NY

Okay, I [i]meant[/u] art museum. I really did. When I got my responses from Mrs. Q, and saw that she put “Smithsonian” I essentially corrected her and told her it’s technically the “National Gallery of Art” – then she revealed that the question didn’t specify art. Oops.

However, I feel a bit better, since the results here suggest that had I included the word “art” we might have gotten just a load of “Met” answers, and this one would have been an unfortunate eliminator as well. So, maybe it’s better that I erred – though I tend to think that the big separation here was not really between people with the “right” and “wrong” answers, but rather those who stuck with the art theme (deliberately or otherwise) and those who didn’t.


And with that – we have our results.

First, the also-rans… or for you sports fans who are used to seeing the polls, here are the “others receiving votes.”

VPI97	       931,392 
Alf	       776,160 
RPI-fan	       705,600 
DukeRulesMAB	       630,784 
cartman	       516,096 
TredWel	       465,696 
Desnudo	       349,272 
Barkeep49	       348,480 
Mrs. Albionmoonlight	       295,680 
mordheim	       258,048 
Nol	       236,544 
Solecismic	       107,520 
gstelmack	        91,476 
albionmoonlight	        77,616 
Kwhit	        64,512 
wademoore	        42,240 
henry296	        27,720 
TurnerONU22	        21,504 
Rdo	        21,120 
faltasticflyingfroggies	        19,008 
Dutch	        16,128 
ntndeacon	        12,096 
Stevew	          9,856 
finkenst	          4,480 
General Mike	          2,464 
Cuervo72	             840 
MIJB#19	               45 

Thanks for playing. Sorry, Matthijs.

On the honorable mention list are some entrants who broke the elusive one million point barrier here:

kingfc22	    1,576,960 
Wolfpack	    1,270,080 
ahbrady	    1,146,880 

Well done, lads.

A special note of congratulations to Wolfpack, who gets my personal prize of the highest score with all six answers being factually correct


Now, we have two identical entries, which arrived literally moments apart. Coincidence? You be the judge. Actually, the two were not quite identical – I had to make a judgment about one answer, but ultimately decided that a person submitting the name of one of the great pyramids deserved to be lumped in with the rest of the people who named them generically. So, these two ended up in a tie for second place.

TheLionKing	    1,971,200 
TazFTW	    1,971,200 

And that leaves us with our champion. The funny thing is – as I was first tabulating the scores, it appeared that my favorable ruling on the “pyramid question” from above would cost this entry the top spot. However, I got one more late entry, and when I entered that one it added some points to this score – giving us one honorable and rightful champion – as it should be.

I present to you, your new king…

Glengoyne

Glengoyne	    1,995,840 

This wasn’t a perfect score, in fact he only got three of the “top” answers (which has to be a first for the IWS contest, I’d think) – but Glengoyne’s responses were always among the top of those submitted, and that’s what keeps you in the hunt in this game, as we know. Congratulations!

[QuikSand]

A quick look verifies that this is Glengoyne's first win. Huzzah!

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, Amadeus wins the day.

Or Ludwig, if you're scoring at home.

[VPI97]

Damn it...when I scrolled to the results and saw my name at the top, I thought I had won...

ARGH!

[TazFTW]

Crud. Carmen was my first choice but I figured "stupid" would go with Phantom since it has the word Opera in the title.

[DukeRulesMAB]

Damn...I got the "right" answer on 5 of the 6...and got nothing on the 6th. I knew the architecture one was gonna screw me up.

[VPI97]

Damn it (part 2)...I submitted a revised list and now realize that my original would have won...

ARGH! ARGH!

[albionmoonlight]

Nice to know that Mrs. A can do better than me on her first one of these, considering that I have been practicing for 45 of them or so.

I knew that I should have gone Smithsonian.

Congrats, Glengoyne.

[JeeberD]

Congrats, Glengoyne.

Well, my answers got in too late, but I think I would have done well. I got the top four answers right but the last two would have hurt me a bit...

[MIJB#19]

Last second switch from Michelangelo to Leonardo Da Vinci, not good.
How about changing from Beethoven's Nineth to something from Mozart.

Where's that thread where I proclaimed that I would return to IWS-suckiness?
Back to life, back to reality...

[Wolfpack]

So close, yet so far. Thanks for the Miss Congeniality equivalent award.

I had thought about Rodin for the sculptor, but I figured less people knew he did The Thinker than people knew Michaelangelo did David. Truthfully, if it was sculpture as opposed to sculptor, I'd say the results would have been identical, though probably The Thinker would have won as opposed to David.

[General Mike]

If I had said Beethoven's 5th, I coulda been a contendah

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I’m With Stupid # 71 – The Reckoning

A lot of text...

I present to you, your new king…

Glengoyne 1,995,840

This wasn’t a perfect score, in fact he only got three of the “top” answers (which has to be a first for the IWS contest, I’d think) – but Glengoyne’s responses were always among the top of those submitted, and that’s what keeps you in the hunt in this game, as we know. Congratulations!

1995840 of the max 5677056 makes a little over 35%.

I haven't tracked down for a long time, but my memory says there hasn't been such a low score in a long time, but I can look up the lowest winning percentage in the first 48 IWS events.

Sublime won IWS#25 with only 26.3% of the maximum; maybe it helped that QuikSand hosted that event, or did it help that it was the first IWS I missed?
What makes it tricky is that Sublime did hit 3 top answers and had a multiplier of 7 where 10 and 6 where the top two scores. It looks like the multiplier should have been 6, handing Sublime a possible victory at an historical low at 22.5%. There's nothing to backup the story as this IWS was played on the previous board...

For your interest, the all time worst second place was recorded in IWS#42 at just 7.1%, guess who took the honors...

[GoSeahawks]

Hmm, I sent in my IWS answers yesterday but it doesn't appear I'm listed in the standings. Either way I wouldn't have won this one so it doesn't matter.

update: I checked my PM box and it seems I never sent my answers. Well, I think I tried but had some connection issues. Ah well

[QuikSand]

Sorry if I somehow missed your entry... I'm pretty sure I went through every PM I received, but I suppose I could have inadvertently deleted yours. Glad you didn't have the winner, at least (no offense).

[RPI-Fan]

Incidentally, looking back at my comments when I initially saw the question set...

I was correct on one that I thought would be easy (Michaelangelo), not nearly as correct on the other one (painter/Picasso), and correctly identified the one QS was surprised by (Smithsonian).

Unfortunately, I couldn't cash in on any others, and went home with a modest 9th place finish.

[gstelmack]

Woot! Out of the bottom 5!

[Alf]

What's the "Smithsonian" ?

[JeeberD]

A huge complex of museums in Washington DC. I've never been there but I certainly want to before my time here on earth is done...

http://www.smithsonian.org/

[kingfc22]

Damn. Thought I had this one. Eiffel Tower???? Stupid French.

[Alf]

Originally Posted by VPI97

Damn it...when I scrolled to the results and saw my name at the top, I thought I had won...

ARGH!

Me too, I thought I finished 2nd... 6th isn't bad if you take into account I didn't know the existence of the Smithsonian.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Damn. Thought I had this one. Eiffel Tower???? Stupid French.

Blame the Americans (me) too. Picasso people, think! And The Met!

[Dutch]

This one was out of my league.

I don't know anything about this stuff.

But I was willing to give it a go. I actually thought michaelangelo was a painter and not a sculptor, but couldn't figure out who any sculptors were so I put michaelangelo again. Go figure that was the only one I'd score well on.....oh and picking the Eiffel Tower with the non-American crowd. Worst IWS for me ever!

[Alf]

Dutch : Leonard and Michelangelo could have been put in both categories. I even thought Leonard could have a shot as sculptor.

[Alf]

dola, for Beethoven Symphony I hesitated betwen 9th & 5th and as 9th came up first I sticked with it.

And the "Eiffel Tower" is a great answer I went to a Gustave Eiffel high school in Bordeaux !

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

A quick look verifies that this is Glengoyne's first win. Huzzah!

Woo Hoo!

Finally out of the Cellar!

I think I am starting figure out how this game works. When you say things to yourself like "The Smithsonian isn't really a museum" or "The Phantom of the Opera isn't really an opera" you are working toward elimination. Just by adding the phrase ", but I think a good number of people will submit it", you can earn some cheap points. It is called "I'm with Stupid" afterall.

Now comes the moment I dread. I need to actually come up with questions!

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Incidentally, looking back at my comments when I initially saw the question set...

I was correct on one that I thought would be easy (Michaelangelo), not nearly as correct on the other one (painter/Picasso), and correctly identified the one QS was surprised by (Smithsonian).

Unfortunately, I couldn't cash in on any others, and went home with a modest 9th place finish.

Interesting follow-up RPI... seeing as I answered Rodin (and butchered the spelling of it I might add), Michaelangelo, and The Met respectively and finished in the middle of the pack... you can see why I did not agree with you

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Blame the Americans (me) too. Picasso people, think!

I have four words for you:

Mo
Na
Li
Sa

[finkenst]

woo...

4th from bottom..

i almost put michelangelo answers three times... (painter, sculptor, Sistine Chapel)

[TLK]

Another what could of been...

[ahbrady]

I first thought of Leonardo for the first question, but when I read the second one I thought that a lot of people would put the same person for both. So I went with Michelangelo. I should know to always go with my first instinct in this game. I guess that means my first instinct is stupid.

[TurnerONU22]

I really thought the Sydney Opera House would gather some more attention, who was the other one besides me who voted for it? I figured since the question before had to do with 'opera' that more people would pick what I did. I finished in the middle of the pack, so what do I know?

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by ahbrady

I first thought of Leonardo for the first question, but when I read the second one I thought that a lot of people would put the same person for both. So I went with Michelangelo. I should know to always go with my first instinct in this game. I guess that means my first instinct is stupid.

I have learned that my second instinct is usually better in this game. My first thought for Painter was Rembrandt. Then I went into toss up between Picasso and Da Vincci. I picked Picasso because I thought more folks would think of him first. My first thought on the Sculptor was Rodin, but then I decided to approach it from thinking of famous sculptures, and that brought me to The David and Michelangelo. I nearly Guggenheimed the Architecture question, but opted for the Eiffel Tower. For Operas, my first thoughts went to La Traviata and Madame Butterfly....then I settled for The Phantom.

I have come close to winning a few times, only to have been foiled by my own personal preferences. Knowing your enemy is a very good principle of this game.

[rdo]

Originally Posted by TurnerONU22

I really thought the Sydney Opera House would gather some more attention, who was the other one besides me who voted for it?

I was the other person to vote for the Sydney Opera House. I had absolutely no idea what the popular answers were going to be for that question, so I went with a local pick.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Sublime won IWS#25 with only 26.3% of the maximum; maybe it helped that QuikSand hosted that event, or did it help that it was the first IWS I missed?

Somehow I failed to mention that IWS#25 also featured a painters question, though the results were a little bit different then, mainly due to the formatting of the question as "Name an artist whose paintings are sold for huge amounts of money":
10 - Picasso
6 - Van Gogh
3 - Warhol
2 - Monet
1 - Rembrandt

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

For Operas, my first thoughts went to La Traviata and Madame Butterfly....then I settled for The Phantom.

The best part of this game is how people keep saying "This would be the intelligent answer, but all the stupids out there will put that, so I'll put that down as an answer." So no one is really matching stupid, they're all just double-thinking like each other

[Radii]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

2. Name a great sculptor.

...

I also contemplated asking for a specific sculpture ? which might have actually generated a better smattering of answers (it almost couldn?t be any worse).

I suspect then you would just have gotten ~28 "The David" and ~5 "The Thinker" answers and that would have been that. I was looking forward to entering this one when I first read the questions, I can't believe I forgot about it :P

[albionmoonlight]

MIJB--

Have you ever thought to change your designation to "IWS Historian." It fits you a lot better than "starter."

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Radii

I suspect then you would just have gotten ~28 "The David" and ~5 "The Thinker" answers and that would have been that.

I don't know - someone above thought "The Thinker" woudl have been the runaway winner.

And no Venus de Milo? Not even one?

I'm not naive enough to expect to get The Burghers of Calais or Cubi XVII... but don't you think we'd squeak in one or two oddballs?

Feh... probably not. Stupid would probably say "Mona Lisa" anyway.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

MIJB--

Have you ever thought to change your designation to "IWS Historian." It fits you a lot better than "starter."

Go ask SkyDog, I'd say.

[ahbrady]

Originally Posted by TurnerONU22

I really thought the Sydney Opera House would gather some more attention, who was the other one besides me who voted for it? I figured since the question before had to do with 'opera' that more people would pick what I did. I finished in the middle of the pack, so what do I know?

I thought about changing my answer from the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House. I thought that people might think more modern than the pyramids. I didn't even think about the Eiffel Tower. When I read the answers, I couldn't believe I didn't put that as my answer.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

I have four words for you:

Mo
Na
Li
Sa

MNLS oaia. Really makes one think. How about greatest painter of the 20th century?