Poker players have their “tells,” and so do pub trivia games…and the players who play them! We could just “tell” that Thursday’s Sporcle Live game at Original Gravity Brewing Co. wasn’t going to give us much love. First off, there was a quarterbacks question, a question about hockey nationalities, and to top it all off, a visual round all about sports (that was also a “put these in order” question)! So those were three “tells” that…it just wasn’t going to be our night to make any noise (or win any prizes)! We’re no strangers to being long-term residents of Slump City, but we’ll do our best to move out as soon as possible! We are in third in the bar’s standings with 18 league points, behind two teams tied for first, who both have 24 league points – This is Sparta and Where’s Trey. It’s too early in the season to start crying to our mamas – and besides, there’s no crying in trivia! There may be whining, bitching, cursing, sulking, storming off in a huff after the game, banging one’s head repeatedly on the table or bar…but there is NO crying!
Tom Hanks was SO bossy in this movie!
Though it’s not OK to cry in trivia games, it’s perfectly acceptable to make little whimpering sounds when you hear categories being read such as “country music,” “children’s TV,” or “quarterbacks!” Read on to see how we fared on the rest of the questions…
Game One
1. Hockey Players – More than 45 percent of active NHL players are of what nationality? Miss for 2.
2. Actresses – What actress’ filmography includes Paddington, Moulin Rouge, Batman Forever, and The Stepford Wives? 10
3. Political Families – Two women have been both the wife and the mother of a U.S. president. Name one of those women (first and last name) – name two for an extra “nerd” bonus point. Got both for 9.
Michelle Trachtenberg, playing one of the two first ladies who had a son and husband serving as U.S. president in the TV series Sleepy Hollow.
4. Country Music – Audio clip of a country song, had to give the title. It sounded like a female singer, but I knew it wasn’t Shania Twain. Country music is not really anything I’ve ever listened to a great deal, but I didn’t want to turn in a blank slip. So I turned in this answer: “My Boyfriend Shot My Dog and Stole My Truck – Also I’m In Love With My Papa.” I added the last part because the song sounded kind of “lovey dovey.” Ah, what madness will desperation drive one to in a trivia game? Miss for 1.
5. Authors – What Scottish author wrote the following titles – Kidnapped, Treasure Island, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? FB clue, 8.
A rare moment when a character gets the better of Bugs Bunny…
6. Video Games – What video games series features a character named Commander Shepherd and has had spinoffs titled “Galaxy,” “Infiltrator,” “Data Pad,” and “Andromeda?” Miss for 3.
7. Native Habitats – The chinchilla is a small rodent native to what mountain range? 6
8. Same Name – Which sign of the Western zodiac shares a name with 13 Popes? 7
9. Kids’ TV – What children’s animated series features anthropomorphic characters named Marshall, Rubble, Chase and Everest – among others? Miss for 4.
10. Food – Due to the sound made when being cooked, what food is known as “bangers” in Ireland and the UK? 5
Mystery – Anagrams – The following anagrams will be names of films starring Meryl Streep in which she received an acting nomination
1. 1982 – Epic Ohio Chess
2. 2006 – Have a Straddle Wiper
3. 1983 – OK So Wild
4. 2014 – Toot Shoo Wind
Editor’s note: I did not write down #4 properly. When the answer was revealed, there was an “e” in it, so it should say “Toot shoe wind.” Next time I will ask the host to spell out all of these to avoid confusion!
Missed #4. Someone on another team yelled out, “Meryl Streep is overrated” during this round. Yes…I will agree!
Scores: Fourteen teams, scores 18 to 68, with a team using a really, really long name that incorporated the names of several league teams at the bar in its name (I did not write this down) in first. We were in seventh with 55 points, playing under the name “Ill Fated Sea Captain.” I used the Sporcle team name generator which gave me “Ill Fated Sea.” I just added captain to the end.
The host gave an extra point to all teams who put the word “trivia” on the back of their team name slips, which was outlined in one of her host page posts earlier that day. We didn’t find out about this “bonus” opportunity until game two, but wrote the word “trivia” on the back of our team name slip anyway so we could get an extra point in game two. For the record, I’m not a fan of these little social media point “gimmicks” in trivia games, but who am I to turn down a free point? Hell, I put on something resembling a Halloween costume a couple of years ago for a trivia game just to get bonus points! My only hope is that the host doesn’t require I juggle in front of the trivia crowd to get an extra point, lol! Moving on…
Final Category – Europe
Name four of the seven modern day countries that were created from the former Yugoslavia.
Mike and I named all seven “Yugo Land” countries just to be safe before picking four. This question did not seem too challenging to the other teams….
Game winners: Scrubs, 84; Multi-word team name (Where’s Trey?), 88.
I did not know anyone who drove one of these cars. But these cars will always make me think of poor Leslie Pluhar, who was driving one of these when she swerved off Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge to her death, which you can read about here
Game Two
1. Hit Songs – “Switch,” “Wild, Wild West” and “Getting Jiggy With It” are the highest charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts by what artist? 10
2. T.V. Actresses – What actress had small roles on “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island” and “Saved by the Bell” before being cast as Donna on “Beverly Hills: 90210?” Thank my female college roommates for “making” me watch this with them (seriously it’s helped in quite a few trivia games), 9.
Pretty easy to get a job on a TV series when your daddy is the producer! Actress from previous question on The Love Boat.
3. On Your Phone – Name either of the two words, besides Harry Potter, in a Harry Potter themed phone app released in April, 2018? Huh? Yeah, wrong number! Miss for 1.
4. SCIENCE words – What word describes anything that can be broken down by the actions of microorganisms or other living things? Double brain fart…miss for 2.
5. Companies – Volvo is headquartered in what country? 8
6. Monarchies – What country is home to the oldest continuous monarchy in the world? A song the host was playing provided a bit of a “clue” here (though she said it was only a coincidence..she said she is not doing musical clues). Got this, but not with much confidence, 3 points.
7. Mountains – From 1917 to 2015, the Alaskan mountain Denali was known by what other official name? 7
8. Voices – Name one film featuring Whoopi Goldberg that grossed more than $400 million at the U.S. box office, name two for an extra “nerd” bonus point. I think the qualifier “animated” was in the question but I am not 100 percent sure (both answers were animated movies). We missed this for 4.
9. Quarterbacks – Who was the most recent starting quarterback to be awarded the regular season MVP and be on a winning Super Bowl team the same year? My guy was not on the short list of quarterbacks I had written down..miss for 5.
10. Shakespeare – What play opens with the lines, “Two households…both alike in dignity?” Freshman English class, got this for 6.
Visual mystery
Nope, nope, nope and NOPE! Missed all of these.
The first place team had 60 points, but I’m not sure who they were. We were in sixth with 44 points.
Final Category – ’90s Kids’ TV
In the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Megazord was composed of five separate Dinozords, each based on a prehistoric creature.
Name three of those five creatures.
Wagered zero on this…managed to get two of the creatures correct.
Final scores: 72; 80 (do not know who they were).
We plan to play Saturday, so look for a recap on Sunday! As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Tori Spelling!
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