Holiday quiz December 2, 2005
OK, heres the skinny on the annual holiday quiz in Joe Andrews November
euchre column on MSN:
1.
In which country is a
version of Euchre played with a Joker (called the Benny ) ?
Thats easy:
The Land of Benny Hill.
2.
What is the most
popular format of Euchre featured at live tournaments with large numbers of players?
Joe is puffing here:
He runs all
the tournaments.
Its his own 8-by-8
progressive format eight rounds of eight hands with each of eight partners.
(But its not real popular with Joes favorite euchre player, Harvey Lapp.)
3.
Besides yours truly,
name four other authors who have published Euchre books during the past fifty years.
Yours Truly, Gary Martin, Joseph P. Wergin, Tom Gallagher, John Ellis, and
Joe Andrews, in chronological order.
And now we have a confession from Joe:
He
published his own book (it wasnt published by the United States Playing Card Company,
or Bicycle).
4.
Where in the United
States did the French originally introduce the game of Euchre?
The French did not introduce euchre to the United States.
The Pennsylvania Dutch did (and they were German, not Dutch).
They introduced it in Pennsylvania.
Some say euchre came up the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
But even if thats the case, the French did not bring it.
As R. F. Foster, the foremost early author on euchre, wrote, The French
know nothing about euchre, in any form!
But see Q&A No. 6 below.
5.
Name five of the six
U. S. states where Euchre is most frequently played.
This is the most interesting question in the quiz.
How would anyone know?
It would take the assistance
of the Census Bureau (and a question I think they dont ask).
But maybe Joe is reckoning by where he likes to hold his tournaments or by his book
sales.
Even reckoning by book sales is not easy:
I
dont know where Amazon.com sells my book (they send me checks and reports, but the
reports do not reveal their trade secrets).
I
can tell you rather easily, though, the top ten states in PayPal sales of The Columbus Book
of Euchre since Borf Books went on line in 1998, in order:
1.
Michigan
2.
Indiana
3.
Ohio
4.
Illinois
5.
California
6.
New York
7.
Kentucky
8.
Minnesota
9.
Pennsylvania
10.
Florida
To get a more representative picture, though, you ought to weight the results by population.
The weighted results, in order, are:
1.
Michigan
2.
Indiana
3.
Ohio
4.
Illinois
5.
Kentucky
6.
Minnesota
7.
Iowa
8.
Wisconsin
9.
Oregon
10.
New York.
[The above does not include Australia, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand.
Ive forgot whether they are states.
Its been a while since I took fifth grade geography.]
Are you a little surprised to see New York and Pennsylvania so low on the list?
I dont think thats attributable to the Hoosier theme of my book.
Talking about Indiana more likely would depress sales in the neighboring states of Ohio,
Michigan and Illinois (and in Indiana too, for that matter, with the specific Columbus locale
theme).
Heres what I think we need to consider:
1.
Most people in New York already know it all.
They dont need a book.
2.
Many people in Pennsylvania dont know
how to read.
6.
Who is John Scarne?.
What is his claim to fame?
John Scarne is quoted in The Columbus Book of Euchre.
He was a gamesman, author, and compiler of
Hoyle encyclopedias.
Hes the
idiot who gave Joe Andrews the idea that the French introduced euchre to America in Louisiana.
7.
What was the Number 1
card game in the United States from 1850 - 1900?
Joe wants you to say euchre; so lets say euchre.
Thats probably right, anyway.
(But, again,
who knows?
And how?)
8.
What is the
Dutchmans hand?
(Be specific!)
A Dutchmans hand holds the three highest trump.
So says Wergin.
But you dont know who held the three highest trump until the hand has been played, and
the Dutchmen I have known want to know whats happening long before the cards are on
the table.
So lets just say right bower,
left bower and ace of trump.
The only Dutchman I ever spent much time with did not know how to play euchre.
Maybe thats why they call it a Dutchmans hand:
Its the only one he can win with.
9.
What is the difference
between a March and a Sweep?
No difference:
Some people say march;
some say sweep.
The technical term
is march.
It means taking all five
tricks in a hand.
10.
If you are sitting in
the South seat as Dealer, in what direction (North, West or East) does the Eldest
hand sit?
West (if you deal clockwise, as you should).
It
is called eldest, or the age, because it has had the first card and
all the others, including a full hand, longer than anyone else.
11.
In tournaments which
require possession of a natural trump in order to be able to pick up/or order the
top card, is the singleton left bower in your hand considered a natural trump?
No.
It is not a trump until trump is made (and
you dont need the word natural to ask or answer this question).
12.
Barring hackers, why can there never be a renege (revoke) or lead out of turn when playing on-line?
Well, duh, the programs wont let you.
Its not for lack of trying.
Believe me.
13.
The word bower comes
from which similarly-sounding German equivalent?
Bauer.
I cheated, you say?
I waited for the
answers?
Well, no, actually.
Joes December column, with his answers, was posted as I was writing this.
I was on No. 13 when Joes column came up.
Trust me.
I havent changed any answers.
Sorry I didnt get them to you in time to win the contest.
But you would have lost with my answers:
I got
Nos. 3, 4, 10 and 13 right, and Joe got them wrong.
His answer to No. 13 is close:
bauer.
But German nouns are
capitalized.
Joe forgot the format of his question No. 10:
He asked in what direction (North, West or East) does the Eldest hand
sit? and he answered to the immediate left of the dealer (emphasis
added)!
Duh!
Let me see if I can find that on a map. . . .
No. 4 where euchre landed in the U.S., and who brought it
is amply discussed above.
In his answer to No. 3 (four other authors who have published euchre books during
the past 50 years), Joe mentions the same authors I did and John Keller, to
name a few (emphasis added).
John Keller
has not had a book published on euchre since 1887.
Thats 118 years ago, if my calculator is still working (I know; I know; the batteries are
low).
John Keller wrote the first book
published on euchre, not any of the latest.
I have caught a lot of flak for criticizing Joseph D. Andrews and other euchre authors,
and I have caught a lot of the flak in Kids Reviews on Amazon.com.
A recent (and nominally signed, but actually anonymous) review on Amazon.com complained
of
the never-ending and persistent effort of Natty Bumppo and/or his cronies
to discredit most other euchre authors. . . .
Look at the eight pages of put-downs . . . (thats a reference
to the section Reviews
of Other Books on Euchre in The Columbus Book of Euchre).
There are ten pages of reviews.
What is good
about the other books is pointed out.
That goes
for Joe Andrews, Tom Gallaghers, Gary Martins and Joseph P. Wergins
books.
The only big put-down is of
Euchre: The Grandpa Lou Way (any objections?).
Eight of those ten pages, it is true, are highly critical.
But what the reviewer seems to have overlooked and what other critics of this part of
my work have overlooked is that the reviews I have written are not merely
put-downs or put-ups:
They are instructive.
For example: