After spending Thursday afternoon cleaning up in the basement and getting rid of some household crap, we decided a Thursday night trivia game might be in order! We didn’t make any real noise in the game, but it was a nice way to pass some time before playing some board games.

1. Reality TV – Of the current full-time coaches on The Voice, who is the SECOND-longest tenured, having been on the show for the past seven seasons? Ugh…reality TV again? Didn’t they just do a WHOLE MYSTERY ROUND about reality TV two days ago? Bleah…we guessed Keith Urban (whom I’m guessing is NOT related to actor Karl Urban). Miss.

2. Artwork – The Madonna of the Stairs, a relief sculpture in Florence, Italy, completed in the 1490s, is the earliest known work in marble by what artist? “So…which of the Ninja Turtles painted this?” Picked the right Ninja Turtle!

3. Beer – As of 2019, what country imports more beer to the United States than any other? A lot of teams thought “Oh Canada…” but instead we thought…”Ole!” Yup (not saying which one was correct)!

4. Monsters – (We were really excited about this category) – What classic movie monster is played by Gary Oldman in a 1992 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola? First movie my husband and I saw on a “movie date” when we were dating. I suspect he only wanted to see it because of his crush on Winona Ryder (really, who could blame him)? There was hardly a Gen X guy at the time who wasn’t smitten with her (he had pictures of her from magazines on his bedroom wall around when I met him). I didn’t ask him to take them down!

5. World Leaders – Who served as the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union for 18 years from 1964-1982? Have you SEEN this guy’s eyebrows? He looks like he could be related to Eugene Levy!

6. Chemicals – H2SO4 is the chemical formula for what highly corrosive substance?

7. Albums – Although better known as a rapper, what artist released The Dana Owens Album in 2004, which contains her birth name and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album? Mike didn’t want to believe me when I said I knew this woman’s stage name (oh the annoying bickering that can happen in a trivia game)!

8. Endorsements – One of the largest endorsement deals for any current NBA player is Steph Curry’s deal with what company? It’s NOT Nike. It’s NOT adidas. It’s NOT Puma. It’s that “other” company.

9. U.S. States – Within one, how many U.S. states have names that end in the letter “A”?NERD POINT: Get the number exactly correct.Got this for the points AND the bonus (woot)!

10. Announcers – Since 1996, who has been the primary play-by-play announcer for nationally televised World Series games, with the exceptions of 1997 and 1999? We put “Brockmire” since we didn’t know, but now that I think of it, I think the real guy was actually on that series at some point!

Mystery – Current Events

M1. According to data from the Gallup World Poll, what Nordic country was named the happiest in the world for the fourth consecutive year, ahead of Iceland and Denmark?

M2. On March 19, Samia Suluhu became the first woman president of what East African country, following the death of President John Magufuli?

M3. On March 22, what Canadian-born Star Trek actor celebrated his 90th birthday?

M4. What school in Oklahoma became the ninth to win a game in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament as a #15 seed in its region?

Not a good mystery round for us, we only got #3 correct.

We were in sixth with 52 points going into the final. There was a team with 63 points in first, which ALWAYS raises my suspicion in virtual games since it’s so easy to just look up answers without having an eagle eyed trivia host watching the room or other players watching other players! I know plenty of other longtime players who have the same concerns about the virtual trivia games, particularly the recent Harry Potter tournament which had an actual prize. Maybe the “Holy Grail” of trivia questions will be the answers that cannot be looked up using the Internet (dream on)!

Final Question Category: U.S. History

Final Question: What is the name of the theory first described by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954 that proposed if one Asian country were to fall to communism, others would quickly follow?

The theory was used by a number of administrations to justify American intervention.Got it, but so did the other teams ahead of us. Until next time, as always, Go Pods, and stay classy, anyone who cheats in a virtual trivia game (tsk, tsk)!