The “crud” (aka upper respiratory infection) that’s been going around has effectively sickened nearly every person on our trivia team! A third player was unable to join us in our My Trivia Live game at Powell’s Pub Monday, making him the fifth person on our team to fall ill within the past month. Because of this, we have instituted a “no french kissing” rule to prevent the spread of illness! We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, we will let you all know when the kissing ban is lifted, lol. One bright spot was when we managed to get a particular trivia question right in a semifinal game earlier this month ONLY because I had been sick for a couple of weeks and went on a very desperate…and specific Internet search:
“The original trademark application in 1924 for what product was for absorbent sheets or pads used for removing cold cream?”
I remembered that my late great-great aunt used to have oversized versions of these at her house in Flint, and because of the mass quantities of…stuff my head was producing at the time, I wanted to know if such a thing still existed (they do still exist online, unsure if they do in stores). No, I did not order any of them! Long story short, I wound up reading some articles about this product, which allowed us to wager big points and get this question right! Too bad this sort of serendipity wasn’t anywhere to be found Monday when we had a tough final question about an actress who’s been on TV a really, really super long time on a series I’ve never, ever watched! Weird trivia fact, though, when I found out that actress’ name, I instantly remembered the name of her famous dead mother (if only that question had been worded a little more differently, then my “weird” brain might have been able to summon the correct answer).
The mother of the woman whose name we didn’t know in the final question is on the right, with actress Sophia Loren leering at what might wind up being a wardrobe malfunction later on (this really is why she was eyeballing her that way, apparently)!
Sigh…for the third week in a row, we were shut out of prize money and missed the final question 😦 Meh, we’re no strangers to riding out some slumps! On a bright note, we slightly widened our lead over the second place team, with just seven points now dividing us. So…small victory? It’s been a tough haul, so we’ll take it! Speaking of tough, let’s look at some of the questions that vexed us!
Round One
1. Slogans – What fast-food company has used the slogans “You Deserve a Break Today” and “Look For the Golden Arches?” 5
2. Technology – Debuting in the iPhone 4S in 2011, what is the name of the intelligent personal assistant that is part of Apple’s operating system? We had a harder version of this question a couple of years ago, and my “joke” answer was, “That pretty smart lady that lives inside my smart phone and tells me how to do things.” We got this one right for 3.
3. Measurements – What word is used to measure both the brightness of a star and the size of an earthquake? 1
Round Two
1. Alphabet – What code word assigned to a letter in the NATO alphabet is also the name of a sport? 5
2. Entertainment – TMZ, an entertainment news site, also stands for what three words describing an area around Hollywood? Dammit, we had this as a final Sporcle Live question before, and dammit if we didn’t miss it again! Shakes fist…never again! 🙂 Miss for 3.
3. Winter Olympics – The 2018 Winter Olympics in Peongchang are taking place in what country? For an extra three-point bonus, when a snowboarder leads with the right foot forward instead of the left, what is this stance called? Leading with the left foot, conversely, is called “regular.” Mike got this bonus for us, woot! I have no idea how he knew this answer, but I’m glad he did!
Round Three
1. States – New Mexico and Minnesota are two states whose postal abbreviations are reverses of each other. Name the only other two states sharing this distinction. 5
2. Same Name – In Homer’s “Odyssey,” what is the name of the island where Odysseus is from, which shares its name with the home of Cornell University? We put a city in New York, but not the right one. Those three extra bonus points we got in the last round…poof, gone! Poor Mike normally doesn’t miss questions like these, but the ibuprofen he took for some wrist pain earlier made him a little… “goofy.” Under normal circumstances he would not miss a mythology question as easy as this! Miss for 3.
3. Publications – In 1974, what magazine became the first to sell 1 billion copies? When the answer was revealed, it was SO obvious…we just didn’t think of it as a “magazine.” even though it is. Miss for 1.
Halftime – Movie Buddies
Given the release years and the names of one of the performers in the following movies, name the actor completing the “buddy” pair.
1. 2013, Melissa McCarthy, “The Heat”
2. 1974, Clint Eastwood, “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”
3. 1989, Sylvester Stallone, “Tango and Cash”
4. 1991, Susan Sarandon, “Thelma and Louise”
Here’s a scene from movie #2 above. Who knows the name of this actress, who will be in a series that debuted in the late 1970s?
Missed #2, though we put in a guess for someone looking KIND of similar to the right guy! Stumper…never heard of that movie. But the photo tie-in is from this movie…can anyone ID the woman, who appears in a TV series debuting in the late 1970s?
Halftime Scores – Nine teams, scores 27 to 39, with Hombres in first. We were tied with Dan Smith with 29 points.
Round Four
1. NBA – Which NBA player has the record for the most personal fouls in one season? Newsletter clue, 6.
2. Current Music (yikes!) – Camilla Cameo previously belonged to what girl group, who finished third on “X Factor?” Nope, miss for 2.
3. Companies – Nokia is headquartered in what country? 4
Round Five
1. Vanity Fair – Which singer has appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair the most times? 2
2. Animals – In animals, the okapi is native to Central Africa and has what other living animals as its only living relative? Mike again for the weird correct answer out of left field for 6.
3. Currency – Released in 2018, what is the only Michigan location featured on the “America the Beautiful” quarter program? Mike initially had the right guess, but guess who talked him out of it? Yup! I don’t know if his guess would have been specific enough…d’oh! Sorry Mike (hangs head in shame), miss for 4.
Round Six
1. Word Origins – Salarium, from which the word salary is derived, refers to the ancient Roman practice of paying laborers with what natural resource? For every big “hit” in this game we seem to have a miss…every action an equal and opposite reaction? Newton’s third law…SCIENCE! Yes, this seemed to be the playbook of this game! Miss for 4.
2. SNL (no…please….just NO!) – Who is the current announcer for Saturday Night Live? Miss for 2. Jeebus…can we finish this game with some points?
3. World History – Which French heroine dressed as a man at age 16 and was burned at the stake at age 19? 6
Finished this game with 53 points.
Scores heading into final:
Nine teams, scores 47 to 66, with Snopes in first. We were in fifth with 53 points.
Final Category – TV
Played by the same actress since 1999, what is the name of the longest-running female character in a non-animated prime time series? Host George specified that we had to have the CHARACTER’s name, not the actress’ name. Well, turns out we didn’t know either one! So we wagered zero.
Game Winners – Dan Smith, 98; Hombres, 126 and Homoerotic Trivia Montage, 130.
Until next time, which will be Wednesday. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Madonna!
hebspeaks 