Twenty questions, round 474

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Expand view Topic review: Twenty questions, round 474

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Aristocrat » Sat Feb 22, 2025 6:49 am

This was a fun round. Next one is up!

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Aristocrat » Sat Feb 22, 2025 12:37 am

I will put up a new round later tonight. Probably won't be super difficult but will try to think of something interesting nonetheless.

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by damo666 » Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:49 pm

I also went down the weird first name route.

Never heard of the case/man tbh. How many non-Americans/non-lawyers playing have?

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Aristocrat » Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:42 pm

Spartaculous wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:26 pm
Aristocrat wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:14 pm
 William Marbury
Very good! "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is." - Marbury v. Madison (one of the most important Supreme Court cases of all time).

Note that he is most famous for *not* serving in government.
Aristocrat wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:14 pm
 Edit: at first I thought "I would be impressed if any of you knew his first name without looking it up" meant it was a weird first name. But this also fits...
I have to ask - did you know his first name?
I didn't know his first name, I had to look it up.

I pulled up some Wikipedia list of famous 18th century Americans and, based on your clue, looked for people with weird names starting with V/W/X/Z and didn't find anyone who I thought would be the pick (though I did see the ones Ernst Brenner found). William Marbury was not actually on these lists as far as I remember, though I skipped over everyone named William or Walter or similar.

Then I read Hominidae's posts and kind of put one and one together that it might be someone we generally only know their last name, and not someone with a weird first name. I am a lawyer and am familiar with Marbury v Madison (as you already know, it's probably a top-5 famous legal case in US history, along with Brown vs Board and other more recent ones) so I searched to see what Marbury's first name was and then guessed it.

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Spartaculous » Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:26 pm

Aristocrat wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:14 pm
 William Marbury
Very good! "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is." - Marbury v. Madison (one of the most important Supreme Court cases of all time).

Note that he is most famous for *not* serving in government.
Aristocrat wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:14 pm
 Edit: at first I thought "I would be impressed if any of you knew his first name without looking it up" meant it was a weird first name. But this also fits...
I have to ask - did you know his first name?

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Ernst_Brenner » Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:19 pm

"Progressive" slave-owner Zebulon Vance? Oh wait, no he was born too late.

How about Willis Alston, who had some sort of relationship with John Randolph which involved Randolph calling him a puppy and beating him bloddy with a cane in the House of Representatives, for which Randolph was fined $20 by the House?

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Aristocrat » Fri Feb 21, 2025 11:14 pm

William Marbury

Edit: at first I thought "I would be impressed if any of you knew his first name without looking it up" meant it was a weird first name. But this also fits...

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by damo666 » Fri Feb 21, 2025 10:16 pm

I give up

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Hominidae » Fri Feb 21, 2025 10:05 pm

I am guessing this is someone whose last name is the namesake for something really famous.

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Aristocrat » Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:39 pm

Aristocrat wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:38 pm
 Free Guess: Wentworth Cheswell
Scratch born in NH

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Aristocrat » Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:38 pm

Free Guess: Wentworth Cheswell

Edit: scratched (see next post)

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Spartaculous » Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:33 pm

damo666 wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:20 pm
Aristocrat wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:10 pm
damo666 wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:46 pm
 Asking the audience, what about the following as a question:

Was he ever a senator or Governor?
That looks fine to me
OK

Official Q: Was he ever a senator or Governor?
No.

Free hint: You all spent several questions asking about the first letter of his first name. While there is nothing unusual about his names (he has a clearly-defined first name and a clearly-defined last name, just like the two people already guessed), I don't think that narrowing down his first name is likely to help you figure out the correct answer - I would be impressed if any of you knew his first name without looking it up.

Now it is time for (more) free guesses.

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by damo666 » Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:20 pm

Aristocrat wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:10 pm
damo666 wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:46 pm
 Asking the audience, what about the following as a question:

Was he ever a senator or Governor?
That looks fine to me
OK

Official Q: Was he ever a senator or Governor?

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Aristocrat » Fri Feb 21, 2025 9:10 pm

damo666 wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:46 pm
 Asking the audience, what about the following as a question:

Was he ever a senator or Governor?
That looks fine to me

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by damo666 » Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:46 pm

Asking the audience, what about the following as a question:

Was he ever a senator or Governor?

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Spartaculous » Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:32 pm

Hominidae wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:29 pm
 William Montgomery
No, not him.

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Hominidae » Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:29 pm

William Montgomery

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Spartaculous » Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:28 pm

damo666 wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:24 pm
Hominidae wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:21 pm
damo666 wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:12 pm
 Free guess William Houston
He died too early.
Sorry I meant William Houstoun.
No, not him.

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by damo666 » Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:24 pm

Hominidae wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:21 pm
damo666 wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:12 pm
 Free guess William Houston
He died too early.
Sorry I meant William Houstoun.

Re: Twenty questions, round 474

by Hominidae » Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:21 pm

damo666 wrote: ↑
Fri Feb 21, 2025 8:12 pm
 Free guess William Houston
He died too early.

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