We had a rough set of trivia questions in Thursday’s trivia game at Original Gravity. What I’m going to do is “estimate” how I would have fared on these questions by myself! I will also indicate how we fared on these as a team. Some of these results might surprise you! I will do a “strikethrough” on question numbers that I would have missed playing solo.

1. Novels – Give the real name of either of the title characters in the novel that published in 1950 that begins with “Lucy looks into a wardrobe.” We got this as a team for 10. I would also get 10 points on this.
2. 2000s Music – What 2003 single was the only single by Fountains of Wayne to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 charts? Team got for 2. I would have missed this for 2 (would have saved 1 pointer for racing question).
3. Art Words – The second word in “papier mache” is French derived and means what? Chewed, glued, starched, or wet? Team missed for 3. I would have missed for 3.
4. Racing – Give the name of either major U.S. city in the names of any horses winning the Triple Crown. My team would have gotten this for 9, miss for 1 for me.
5. Europe –  Largely due to its indented coastline and more than 50,000 islands, what European country has the largest amount of coastline of all of the countries in Europe? My team missed this for 8. It would have taken me a bit, but I really think I would have written down the right answer for this. I suggested it while we were brainstorming and did not like the answer that Mike and Brad wanted to put down. But I would not have been more confident than 5 points.
6. Disney – What is the only Disney film title character that has no dialogue for the entire film? My team got this for 5, I would have been more confident playing solo and risked 9 on it.
7. SNL – What former SNL cast member portrayed Sean Connery in “Celebrity Jeopardy” skits? Evan was all over this one like The Colonel on fried chicken… My team got for 7, I would have missed for 4.
8. Desserts – What is the anatomical name given to slender sponge cakes used in tiramisu? My team got for 6, I would have gotten for 8.
9. Card Games – Post mortem (among other terms that I did not write down) is used to describe varieties of what card game? FB clue. I would have gotten for 7.
10. Amendments – What two words fill in the blanks of this line from the Fifth Amendment – “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without (two words)? My team got for 1, I would have gotten for 6.

Me playing solo would leave me with 48 points going into the mystery round, including the three point newsletter bonus.
Mystery – “L’il” artist – Given the names and release years of the following singles, name the artist with names beginning with “L’il.” Ugh…this sounded like a “recent music” category…glad I had a couple of players step up up to tackle these (nicely done, Evan and Kim)!
1. Bounce With Me, 2000; Let me, 2005; and Puppy Love, 2001
2. Get Low, 2003; Snap Yo Fingers, 2006; Turn Down For What; 2014
3. Save Dat $, 2015; Professional Rapper, 2015; Freaky Friday, 2018
4. Mild Pop, 2008; Six Foot Seven Foot, 2010 and No Frogs, 2017
Missed #3. Still better than I would do! The only “Little” artist I could match to a song title would be Little Richard! I would have missed this entire mystery entire round, so 48 points me solo, 53 points for my team.
Scores: Twelve teams, scores 33 to 63, with This Is Sparta in first. We were in third with 53 points, Big Heads Big Hearts were in fourth with 50 (tied with one other team) and Where’s Trey was in ninth with 40 (these are the main league teams in contention at OG).
Final Category – MLB Pitchers
Of the 24 Major League Baseball pitchers who have at least 300 wins, five of them pitched their last game in the MLB in the 1980s.
Name any one of those pitchers.
We wagered just two points on this one and missed. I would have wagered zero so 48 points going into game two.
Top finishers: ???, 64; and Big Heads Big Hearts, 70 (moved up from fourth).
Game Two
1. International Trips – Calvin Coolidge in 1928 and Barack Obama in 2016 were the most recent sitting U.S. presidents to visit what national capital city? Evan nails this for 5, I would have missed, but for only 3.
2. Film Duos – Name one of the actors playing either Bobby Riggs or Billie Jean King in the 2017 film “Battle of the Sexes,” both of whom also appeared in the movie “Crazy Stupid Love.” Name both actors for a “nerd” bonus point. Kim all over this for 10 plus the bonus. I would have missed this one for 1, no bonus point.
3. Cups – The “Territorial Cup,” first played in 1899; was a championship game for two rival colleges in what U.S. state, which was a territory at the time? My team got this for 2 since we teamed up. Me playing by myself would have missed it for 2, since I was leaning toward the state that was admitted to the union in 1907 instead of 1912.
4. Companies – George Foreman was the spokesperson for what auto repair company from 1993 to 2010? This company was founded in Houston, and is currently headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. Miss for 3 for my team. I would have missed for 4.
5. Harry Potter – Although he is mentioned in a previous book, in what HP novel does the character Sirius Black first appear? 9 points for my team, 10 for me playing solo.
6. Conditions – What is the medical term for the condition commonly known as low blood sugar? 8 for my team, 9 for me.
7. Comedians – What comedian appears as himself on a self-titled parody of a public access talk show on “Adult Swim?” Miss for 1 for team, miss for 5 for me.
8. ‘80s Hits – Identify the artist singing “Proud to be an American.” Team got for 7, I would miss for 6.
9. Cars – Other than the United States, name 1 of the top 2 other automobile producing countries. My team missed this for 6. I think had I given this some thought and not had any distractions I would have gotten this one and would have likely risked it for 8.
10. Gaming – In a standard six-dice set used in tabletop games (read….Dungeons and Dragons), how many faces does the die with the most faces have? My team got this for 4, I might have missed for 7 since that whole “faces” instead of “sides” thing kind of screwed up my brain.
Visual Mystery –

My team got all of these, I would have also known all of these for 8 points. So 35 points for me going into the final, 54 for my team.

Scores – Twelve teams, 25 points to 58 with Flannel PJs in first. We were in third with 54 points, This is Sparta were two points ahead with 56; Where’s Trey behind us with 52 points, and Big Heads Big Hearts had 50 points.
Final Category – Movie Music
Four of the last eight Grammy Awards for Best Song Written for Visual Media have been awarded to songs featured in animated films.
Name two of those four films.

My team wagered on this, and I would have wagered on this, too. But when my team thought about the answer, someone suggested the Lego Movie and we went with that one plus one correct one (one that I had thought of). I would not have thought of Lego Movie had I played solo, and one of the answers I suggested wound up being correct. Another movie I suggested (which would have been correct) was overruled. So 85 points for my team that night, 103 points for me. This would have put me in second place for the night instead of third and possibly gotten me a prize in game two. But the standings wouldn’t have changed, I would still be in third by a couple of league points.

I’m still not sorry I brought a team to this game! I had a really good time with this mix of players, and I’m also not mad at Evan for suggesting the Lego Movie for that final question answer in game two. Flubs like this from him are few and far between, and the poor dear does seem to feel pretty bad about it! He sent me a message the next morning saying that he was sorry. I really wasn’t even upset! But I’m glad it meant that much to him!

With trivia games, It goes to show you never can tell! Sounds better coming out of Chuck Berry!