It almost felt like being in school again! Well, the paper note-taking part, anyway…not drinking beers in the parking area of the shopping/restaurant district of Plymouth, MI!

Like many other urban areas, the “Old Town” area of Plymouth (not to be confused with its downtown area along Main Street) – has expanded seating of its bars/restaurants into adjacent streets to comply with Michigan’s executive order to limit indoor capacity because of COVID-19. It was a pretty decent setup for a warm – but not too hot – summer evening. And the bugs weren’t too “buggy!” From what I hear, plans are to continue the outdoor (or “al fresco,” if you prefer fancy Italian terms) games 8 p.m. Monday nights when weather allows. There was also talk of putting up a screen and displaying the questions for players via PowerPoint! Maybe using this vacant – and pink – storefront? We speculated about what this business may have been in the past…a beauty salon? Brothel? Probably something “girly!”

As for the game, well – game one was what we like to call a “warm-up game!” Apparently my note-taking/handwriting skills have gotten a bit… rusty by virtue of not having been used much in the past four months – I’m going to have to work on being able to jot down my lists of presidents much, much quicker! I hang my head in shame for missing what should have been easy question about presidents because I didn’t write my list quick enough (hey quarantine has been rough on everyone)!

Game two turned out to be much, much better for us – with us winning first place/$25 prize (thanks partially to a final question category very, very favorable to my nerdy husband).

The only other team we recognized in the mix of six teams that were playing was “You’re Killing Me Smalls,” whom we remembered from having played previously at Johnny’s Grill in Belleville. They took first place in game one, shout out to them!

Here are the questions – which will be very, very abbreviated versions of the questions that were asked – I did not write them down word for word, some qualifiers may not be included which may make them more clear (deal with it, folks)!

Game One

1. TV Episodes – What AMC series debuted in 2010 with a pilot episode called “Days Gone By?” We picked an FX series that debuted two years earlier, miss for 2.

2. Europe – Which of the following European cities (multiple choice) is farthest north – Berlin, London, Paris or Brussels?

3. Teen Movies – “The Plastics” are a cliquish group of North Shore High School students in what 2004 film?

4. Albums – What 1999 album featured guest artists including Lauryn Hill, Rob Thomas and Eagle Eye Cherry, among others? I knew who the “main” artist was, but the album’s name escaped me…miss for 1.

5. Web Sites – “Where’s George” dot com allows users to track what item?

6. Presidents – Of the four presidents whose first and last initials are the same letter, which one served first? Miss for 4. Came up with three of the four presidents, and of course the fourth president was the one we needed (Mike was a big help on this one though).

7. Shakespeare – Shylock is a character in what Shakespearean play?

8. Video Games – Among the eight playable characters in the 1991 version of “Street Fighter 2,” which one’s name means “crafty or artful deception?” Miss, our bad – we didn’t think to look for the FB clue…did I mention we’re rusty?

9. MLB Teams – Name one of the two MLB teams that began play in 1969 and have never relocated to another metropolitan area – both for a bonus point. I had to pretend to be the “sports person” for this question and got close on getting at least one of them by picking a team that got its start as an expansion team in 1962 and hasn’t moved…though I was way off on my second guess. Miss for 5.

10. Cereal – What type of animal was the mascot for Honey Smacks cereal?

Mystery – Before and After

M1 – Supreme leader of North Korea from 1997 to 2011 and 1994 Beastie Boys album

M2 – Section of Central Park dedicated to John Lennon’s memory and prize awarded to mathematicians under the age of 40 by the International Mathematical Union

M3 – Film earning Steven Spielberg his second Oscar for best director and NFL player from 1998 draft drafted right after Peyton Manning

M4 – 2013 Hit Song by DJ Snake and Li’l John and 1991 comedy film starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss

That was ROUGH! Not our wheelhouse…at all. Only got #1 correct. The game was a bit rough for all of the teans – we were in third with 41 points – behind two first place teams tied with 44 points! Maybe this was a “warm-up” game for the other teams, too?

Final Category – Populations

The ten most populous countries have short-form English names that end in A, S, N, L, H, and what sixth letter?

Nope…we were split between two different countries, neither of which would’ve been correct.

Game winner – You’re Killing Me Smalls, 64 points (unsure who took the second place prize).

Game Two

1. Oscar Winners – Who became the first Israeli-born woman to win a an Academy Award for best actress in 2011?

2. Comic Strips – Akbar and Jeff were recurring characters in what comic strip which ran from 1977 to 2012?

3. Stocks – The ticker symbol for Nike consists of all of the letters in Nike except which one?

4. Women in Music – Maureen Tucker was the drummer in which Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame inducted band which released their debut album in 1967? No teams got this one, we guessed Jefferson Starship.

5. Olympics – An Olympic decathlon consists of four running, three throwing and two jumping events in addition to what other event? Mike with the right guess (way to step into Brad’s knowledge area, LOL).

6. Vitamins – What six-letter word is also a form of a B3 vitamin?

7. TV Creators – Audio clue of a TV theme song for a 1997 legal comedy, had to identify the series’ creator. Knew the series, but his name escaped me…why oh why couldn’t it have been a Steven Bochko series? 😦

8. Symbols – What U.S. state has the road runner for its state bird and the Yucca for the state flower? For a nerd point, what is this state’s official nickname? Got both.

9. Art – What painting technique describes the process of applying water color on wet plaster which becomes fixed when dry? We picked another painting technique which was incorrect, miss for 5.

10. Slogans – What Johnson & Johnson product’s slogan includes the words “gets the red out?”

Visual Mystery –

Got #1 and #2 correct.

We were in first heading into the final with 52 points, just ahead of Wise Beyond Our Beers, who had 48.

Final Category – Mythology

Of the Greek gods and goddesses who can be considered to be among the Twelve Olympians, five of them have Roman counterparts who are the namesakes for five of the eight planets in the Solar System. One of those is Zeus. Name three of the other four.

I think ours was the only team getting this correct!

We may continue checking out the Monday games when weather is agreeable to us (depending upon work schedules as well). As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, The Plastics!