We played our 50th Sporcle Live trivia game of the year Thursday at Sticks, which also happened to be our 30th game of the year we’ve played at Sticks. But who’s counting (me apparently)? We were just two points shy of finishing first for the night – even by virtue of wagering just three points on the final question in game two (which we got correct). We love nothing but a nicely competitive trivia scene! If it’s TOO easy to win, it’s no fun, is it? We won a first place/$15 gift card in game one, and a $10 gift card in game two. We had a whopping five ‘Pods show up for the game, with Dave even wearing his ‘Pods shirt! Joel also joined in on the fun, and strangely knew a correct answer involving  oysters that would have stumped the rest of us (you gotta love those “wild card” moments in trivia games)! Rounding out the “quintet” were myself, Mike and Evan (the latter of whom was definitely the MVP of the night)!

And here are the questions…assume they will be reasonable facsimiles of/abbreviated versions of the questions that were asked during the game, assume they were NOT all written down word for word, and assume that there may be additional qualifiers for some of the questions that were not written down. And my notes for one of these questions were so piss poor I just rewrote the question completely! Now let’s go to last night’s trivia game!

Game One

1. Olympics – What is the most recent U.S. city to host the summer Olympic games? 4

2. Video Games – The best-selling video game in the U.S. as of the end of July, 2019 is part of what media franchise originally introduced in 1992? Strangely enough, the very first answer I jotted down wound up being correct, but we still put a lot of thought into this – and ultimately handed in my answer within seconds of last call  – got this for 1.

Spoof of Gandhi sequel in UHF. No more “Mr. Passive Resistance!” This take on Gandhi eats steaks with gusto, loves violence and has a way with the ladies!

 

3. Actors – Krishna Bhanji is the birth name of what actor who won an Academy Award as the title character in the 1982 film Gandhi? 10

4. Words – What seven-letter word referring to territorial jurisdiction of a bishop comes from the Greek word for administrative division? Hiccuped a bit here, but eventually came up with the right answer. In a strange twist, this was right around when Dave (a Catholic school alumnus) showed up, though he was at the bar ordering a drink while the question was being asked. Got this for 9.

5. Food – Traditionally, before refrigeration became standard practice, people generally only ate oysters during months containing what letter? This question is very abbreviated…Joel knew this one for 8.

6. Stories – Calypso, Theft of Finding: Diaries (1977-2002) and Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls are the most recent collection of essays by what author/humorist? Evan slam-dunked this one for max points.

7. TV Networks – Name one of the two TV networks which combined to form the CW network in 2006. Name both for a bonus point. Got for 7 plus the bonus.

8. Money – From the 1600s until the adoption o the Euro, the Guilder was used as currently by what country? Joel plays “wild card” again…

9. Performers – In 2016, what woman became the first person to have performed at a Super Bowl, Grammy Awards and the Academy Awards in the same year? Evan jumped all over this, prefacing by saying “I was dating this one girl this year and…” Whenever a trivia player has a story like this explaining how they know an answer, nine times out of ten that means they will know it for sure! Kind of like when we had that question that specifically asked about a major world event that happened on my 18th birthday in 1990 that happened to be the subject of a final question (this was probably my biggest triviagasm moment ever).

I love any excuse to use a Looney Tunes image in a trivia recap!

10. Definitely Real – the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, is a cryptoid that is said to live in what mountain range? Seriously…how cool of a word is “cryptoid?” Sigh…if money were no object, I would want to study cryptozoology! Why go to work in a boring building every day when you can look for Chupacabras, Yetis and Bigfoot? Yes please!

Mystery – Before and After

M1 – Highest-grossing movie over Labor Day weekend in 2019 and subtitle of Christopher Pratt/Bryce Dallas Howard movie released in 2018

M2 – Senior senator from South Carolina and host of self-titled comedy show debuting on BBC in 2002

M3 – 2011 Hot Chelle Rae top 10 single and 1987 top 10 single by Genesis

M4 – 2011 Ernest Cline novel and 1962 Ken Kesey novel

This round was a bit frustrating for us – we only came up with both correct clues for #2 – yet had at least one of the correct answers for each of the others! The first Genesis song I wrote down would’ve been correct, I knew the Ken Kesey book name, and Evan knew the subtitle of the Chris Pratt movie. What’s the opposite of a triviagasm? Whatever it is, that’s pretty much what happened! And we had a perfect game up until this round (classic ‘Pods maneuver, LOL)!

Scores – Nine teams, scores 28 to 61, with A Sharpie Is Not a Magic Wand in first (that was our moniker in this game).

Final Category – 2010s movies

There was talk about wagering low on this category, but thankfully, that was not what actually happened…

Six people who appeared in a credited role in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises have also won an Academy Award for acting, as of 2019. Name three of those six performers.

Final standings: Dirty Mike and the Boys, 75 (won a tiebreaker with Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams), ‘Pods, 76.

Game Two

1. Taglines – What has been the Jolly Green Giant’s catchphrase since 1961? 10

2. Hospitals – What is the 10-letter word for a person who checks into a hospital and leaves the same day?

3. Streaming TV – What Amazon Video TV series debuting in 2016 starred Peter Serafinowicz was based on a New England Comics character introduced in 1986? Mike’s first big hit of the night…why oh why do they keep doing live action reboots of this series? Just reboot the animated series please! Or should I say… “Spoon?”

4. Songs – Audio clue of a song, had to ID the name of the song or the artist – both for a bonus point. Got both…

5. U.S. Cities – Which U.S. city, the 33rd most populous state capital, is last alphabetically among U.S. capitals and is in the 11th most populous state of the U.S.? Mike again for the points…

6. ’80s Movies – What 1987 film based on Cyrano de Bergerac starred Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah? There was more to this question, but this was our FB clue question, so…here ya go.

This guy will be asked about in a bit!

7. Baseball Players – OK, confession time…I really didn’t write down this question very well at all. But since y’all come here to read trivia questions, I’m going to present an alternate question: Which MLB player appeared in The Simpsons episode Homer at the Bat along with several other MLB players, and while playing himself in the episode he wound up drinking nerve tonic that caused gigantism? For you sports nerds who aren’t also Simpsons fans (pity the fools, LOL), this player made his debut in 1989 with the Seattle Mariners, ended his career with the Mariners in 2010 and also played with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox during his career? Want more? Also his father was a famous MLB player too.

8. Nursery Rhymes – In the nursery rhyme Hickory, Dickory Dock, at what time does the mouse run down the clock? Mike gets his hat trick here for max points.

9. Style – What style of dress cinches at the narrow point below the bust line and has a long, loose fitting bottom often worn to hide the middle portion of the body? Yay, my home-ec goddess mama taught me something that helped in a trivia game (though for the record Mike also would have known this – he is a wild card when it comes to fashion #spousemosis).

10. Stamps – What U.S. president has been featured on more U.S. postage stamps than any other? A bit of debate, but got the right guy…

Visual Mystery –

Missed #1.

Scores – Seven teams, scores 34 to 60 with us in first.

Final Category – NFL Players

It’s generally not our practice to get sports final questions correct, so we wagered “strategically” here – if our strategy paid off, we’d wind up in second. But didn’t want to blow the points if we missed it.

Since the 2000 NFL season, three players who have won the Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award have later won the regular season Associated Press NFL MVP Award. Name any one of those three players.

This all came down to Evan, whom was the only “sporto” in our mix while this question was being asked (nice work, bro)!

Final scores: ‘Pods, 63, One is the Loneliest Number, 74.

Until next time, which will be our regular Monday trivia night at Sticks. As always, Go Pods and stay classy, Nurse Ratched!