Let’s pretend Thursday’s Sporcle Live trivia game at Original Gravity Brewing Co. was like a day at school and I was asked to summarize it for my parents while sitting at the dinner table, surreptitiously feeding little pieces of pork chops (so, so gross…) to the cat Alice, who is sitting under the table, eagerly eating the scraps. “Well, I did really well in U.S. history, social studies, world geography and spelling, but I didn’t do so well in math. And I guess I didn’t pay enough attention the last time I watched ‘Sleeping Beauty.'” Yup, that just about sums up the game! I didn’t have any teammates able to join me this time, so I went out for my first “solo” outing in a few months, finished with a kind of sad 95 points for the night, no prizes. Talked myself out of TWO possible correct answers for final question #1, but managed to get final question #2 correct. Scores are still kind of tight around the top teams right now, with This is Sparta in first with 51 league points, and Big Heads Big Hearts right behind them with 49. My team is in third with 42 points (ha ha this is fitting since apparently this is “Towel Day,” which is some kind of Douglas Adams thing…

Since this is “Towel Day,” (or was it the day before…honestly, I can’t keep track of all of these “days” we have for things), here is my beach towel, which I’ve had since 1986. This means this is one of my oldest possessions. Here it is posing on a grassy area in Suttons Bay (northwest of Traverse City) near a lovely beach.

Back to the game after this little digression (ahem), shout out to trivia host Lauren, who has kind of a cool music request thing set up (I gotta say I like it and will be using it)!

And the questions…

Game One
1. Title Roles – Who has played title roles in November Man, Robinson Crusoe and The Thomas Crown Affair? Good guess for 4, I wasn’t sure which Thomas Crown Affair guy I needed…
2. NFL Players – What NFL player attended college at Miami University of Ohio and was drafted in the first round by the Steelers in 2004? I literally named the ONLY Steelers player I could think of for ONE point. And got it. And this kind of pissed me off for some strange reason, lol…
3. Drinks – What ingredient differentiates a martini from a dirty martini? I was “pretty sure,” but not “real sure,” got for 5. What’s with all of the martini questions lately? We had one last Monday in our MTL game at Powell’s. The closest thing to a martini I’ve had recently was a cosmopolitan (yes really), when they were on special at Aubree’s for $4. It was pretty good!
4. Opening Lines – What 1976 book opens with this line: “Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a man child was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte?” Yay I got to use my 10 pointer with confidence (spoiler I will blow a question for 10 in game two – are you sure you want to read on)!
5. TV Loves – What actor has played Sarah Gilbert’s love interest on two different TV sitcoms? I put down “That Big Bang Theory guy who is not Sheldon and is not that Indian guy,” which Lauren read on the mic (I’m nothing if not a little desperate when I don’t know an answer but I “kind of” know it). Miss for 2.
6. Companies – Give the word represented by any of the letters in the ADT company. Give two for an additional “nerd” bonus. I managed to get one correct but not both for 3 points.
7. Europe – Corsica is a region of what European country? I was kind of torn between two possibilities, picked the right one (and I didn’t even flip a coin this time) for 6.
8. Kids’ Games – Introduced in 1967, what game currently produced by Milton Bradley involves players placing what items in a suspended plastic pot – with the object being not to cause the pot to spill over? So obvious when the answer was revealed, but I was a big “duh” on this one, miss for SEVEN.
9. 2010s Music (I had a 9 and 8 point slip remaining, and this category made me a tad nervous) – Audio clue of 2010 song played backwards. THANK THE TRIVIA GODS THAT I KNEW IT! Got for 8.
10. Memorials – Which U.S. state shares its name with a sunken battleship that serves as a memorial in Hawaii? Abbreviated – got this for 8 (whew sigh of relief)!
Mystery – TV Theme Songs – ID the TV shows based on the following theme song lyrics
1. “And if you threw a party Invited everyone you knew You would see, the biggest gift would be from me.”
2. “So let’s make the most of this beautiful day…would you be mine…could you be mine?”
3. “So get a witch’s shawl on…a broomstick you could crawl on…” (I’ll bet Brad would know this one)
4. “The crow flies straight on the devil’s bed until you die.”
Missed #1, #3, and #4 – only got #2 after quite a bit of thinking, so only two points.
Scores – Ten teams, scores 37 to 62, with This is Sparta in first. I was in fifth with 52 points playing under the name “This Is How We Do It In Mother Russia.” It’s a quote from a very funny (and memorable) scene from “Deadpool 2.” Sounds better coming out of Colossus!
Final Category – Crops
The United States is the fourth-largest producer of peanuts in the world. Name two of the three nations that produce more peanuts.
Our bar only had to name one nation. I came up with two correct nations when I was thinking, but wrote down a third one that wasn’t correct…awww NUTS!
Game Winners: Hail, 78; Big Heads Big Hearts, 81.
Game Two
1. Wonders – Khufu was the Egyptian name of the monarch responsible for the building of which of the Seven Wonders? Right guess but not confident for 4 (I was torn between a couple of possibilities).
2. Disney – What 1959 Disney animated film features characters named Flora, Fauna, and Meriweather? Miss for TEN. I was torn between two Disney joints from the 1950s. Is there a spell that will make the pain of this go away, Flora, Fauna and Meriweather? 🙂 So glad to not have teammates around to tsk-tsk me for this blunder!
3. Spelling Test – What is the correct spelling for the item named for a French clip for holding hair in place? Got this for 9.
4. Math Test – On a two-dimensional cartesian plane, which numbered quadrant represents negative X values and positive Y values? I’ll bet Mike would know this, I failed for 1 (faling math is the story of my life…)
5. Backing Bands – The Jordanaires were the backing band for what artist between 1956 and 1972? Educated guess for 2.
6. NHL Teams – What NHL team plays its home games in Amalie Arena and has Steven Stamkos as its captain? Miss for 3.
7. Nintendo – Released in 1985 as a Nintendo accessory, what does the letter “B” stand for in the ROB toy? FB clue, 8.
8. World Geography – Name either country located along the southern end of the Arabian peninsula. Name both for a “nerd” bonus point, got both for 7. I refer to them as “geographic twins,” like Togo/Benin, Uruguay/Paraguay, etc…
9. Comic Strips – Introduced in 1931, what comic strip character’s first lines are, “How’s the delicatessen business, Mr. Trueheart?” This took me a minute, but my brain decided to remember this – got for 6.

Actress Glenne Headly in the 1990 film version of that comic strip. I just learned that she died in 2017 and am actually kind of bummed about that! I liked the characters she played in some of her movies – who typically possessed a unique combination of girliness and street smarts…In Sgt. Bilko, she held her own with her gambler boyfriend played by Steve Martin – and in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, she managed to out-con both con artist characters played by Steve Martin and Michael Caine.

10. Soap Operas – What soap has aired on ABC since 1963 and focuses on families with the last names Quartermaine and Spencer and is set in the town of Port Charles, NY? I was just talking about this soap with my mom a couple of days ago and how she sent recaps of this soap to me when I was at summer camp in the early 1980s (so very funny to read them now), 5 points.
Mystery –

Kind of tanked here. I’ll bet Mike would have been a help (see what happens when you take the night off from trivia)? Managed to get two of these right.
Scores heading into the final: Twelve teams, scores 20 to 62 with ??? in first (did not catch the name). I was in third with 52 points.
Category – Famous Lawyers
Christopher Darden is an American lawyer most-closely associated with what article of clothing?
Got this…but wagered just one point shy of being able to win SECOND PLACE! Some “strategic” wager, that! You’re welcome, Big Heads Big Hearts, I essentially gave second place to y’all, lol…
Game winners: BHBH, 71; This is Sparta, 73.
Until next time, which will be Saturday. Look for a recap on Sunday morning. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Elvis Presley!