We’ve been attempting to get at least a few members of the “old trivia gang” together on Friday nights – with old friends – and other trivia “helpers” added. Last Friday was no exception, and in this game, we had three players from the Great Lake State (me, Mike and Kevin S.), a player from “Vegas, Baby” (Michelle) a couple of Minnesotans (David and Rachel C.) – and a couple of Virginians (Sam and Angela). We wound up finishing in third place at the end – which wasn’t too bad for a pretty competitive trivia night featuring teams from all over the U.S.! We wound up getting the final question correct, but not for the reasons you’d expect (read on to find out more).

1. Rap Songs – The song “Ninja Rap” by Vanilla Ice is performed in a 1991 sequel film starring what title characters?

2. Fairy Tales – In what fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen does the title character live on a farm, in a house with an old woman, and in a cave before later flying away with a flock of swans? Swan Princess was our incorrect guess…

3. Numbers – In Roman numerals, what is the first number written using three different characters?

(Note: Not just three characters, but three different characters)

4. Magazines – The traditional “Seven Sisters” group of magazines included McCalls, Ladies’ Home Journal, Woman’s Day, Redbook, Family Circle, and two others. Name one of those other two magazines. One of our players (Michelle) works for this company’s real estate arm!

5. Inventors – Harry Coover is credited as the inventor of a type of adhesive originally sold as Eastman #910, although it is better-known by what name? This was an instance where our first guess wound up being correct – though we did discuss lots of different adhesives and could have found ourselves in a sticky situation…

6. TV Settings – Beacon Street Pizza is a main setting for part of the run of what TV series that aired from 1998-2001?

NERD POINT: The show is primarily set in what U.S. city?

I don’t think any of us actually watched this, but we got this for the points and the bonus.

7. NHL History – In what decade did a non-NHL team last win the Stanley Cup? GOAL! Do they yell that in hockey – or is that just a football/soccer thang?

8. 1970s Albums – Elton John’s 1973 studio album has a title and album cover that reference an element of what film released more than 30 years earlier?

9. Breweries – In 2013, St. Joseph’s Abbey in Massachusetts became the first brewery outside of Europe to be associated with what Catholic religious order? And our man Sam (whom is a home brewer and mead maker by trade) had the chance to regale everyone in the meeting about the beer style this order is best known for making.

10. Board Games – In what board game are pawns moved by drawing numbered cards, with additional cards instructing players to “Move from Start and switch places with an opponent, whom you bump back to start”? Funny, we predicted the question would be about this game, which I think we all played as kids (and some of us might play with kids now).

Mystery – Initials

Give the first and last names of each of the people described by the following clues. Their first and last initials will be able to be rearranged to spell an animal that can be described as “duck-billed.”

M1. Palestinian politician who led the Fatah political party from 1959 until his death in 2004

M2. British actress whose self-titled comedy series featured the first appearance of the Simpsons

M3. 19th-century French biologist and chemist renowned for his breakthroughs in preventing disease

M4. Actor who delivered the line “They call me Mr. Tibbs!” in the film In the Heat of the Night

Final Category – 21st Century Movies

In the 21st century, three films that include the word “land” somewhere in their titles have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, including 2021 winner Nomadland.

Name the other two “land” movies, neither of which won the award.

We came up with one correct one right away, then Michelle suggested the name for the second one (which happens to have a shared name with a movie released recently about a deceased singer and sexual abuse allegations at his ranch). It doesn’t matter HOW you come up with a correct answer, it only matters that you come up with a correct answer (nicely done, game VIP Michelle)!

Unsure what our trivia plans are for the next week, it’s always a “game day” decision – unless a particularly interesting theme becomes available! As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Peter Pan!