We wound up finishing in third place in a virtual trivia game Friday night after wagering “zero” on a final question in the category of “wealth.” This category – “wealth” – was actually kind of a sore subject for the pair of us playing on that night – as we had received a letter from our condo association earlier that day telling us that we’d have to fork over $5,400 for future private road repairs in our association. So…our moods weren’t very high on this night, and obviously “wealth” isn’t something we know too much about if a freak $5,000 punch in the face gives us pause, right?

We’re going to look at various options for paying for this – but have decided to rule out buying ski masks and jacking a local convenience store. With so many people using credit cards and EBT cards to pay for their purchases, how can we be sure we’ll get enough cash by employing this method? We have until October 1 to come up with the first leg of the payment, so we’ll see what kind of “wealth” we can squirrel away until then! We’ve decided to cancel one of our upcoming camping trips – and that boat cruise in Tahiti will just have to wait (just kidding about that second thing, although we do have a trivia teammate who went on a boat cruise in Tahiti a few years ago)! No comment on whether I called it a “big gay boat ride!”

1) Song Families – The only song by Fountains of Wayne to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 is about the mother of a girl with what name? Fountains of who? Sounds filthy. Miss.

2) Animated TV – What animated TV series features posters for the fictional soft drink Slurm that provide the key to decrypting alien languages on the show? Yay got to use our 10 point wager!

3) Language – What Latin phrase, which translates to “it does not follow,” refers to something that is said that does not relate to what was said prior to it? And thus commenced a series of questions very favorable to my husband’s nerdy brain…

4) Speeches – In a State of the Union address in 2002, what three-word term was used by George W. Bush to refer to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea?

5) Abbreviations – Which U.S. state shares its postal abbreviation with the chemical symbol of the periodic table element manganese?

6) Mythology – In Greek mythology, what ship did Jason sail on his quest for the Golden Fleece? My joke guesses included “USS Minnow?” “USS Excelsior?” Then Mike proceeded to type in the right guess (we missed the bonus).

NERD POINT: What is the name of the granddaughter of the sun god, Helios, who helps him find the Golden Fleece?

7) Games – What party game, first published in 1985, originally came with cards with categories labeled “P,” “O,” “A,” “D,” and “AP”? We knew it wasn’t Trivial Pursuit, since that has six categories. So we picked the other game that was popular at the time and had a good time making up dirty meanings for the abbreviations – oral, anal, etc… (we can be so immature)!

8) Universities – Which Ivy League school is located in the U.S. state that comes second in an alphabetical list of states that are home to an Ivy League school?

9) Sports Awards – The Davey O’Brien Award is presented annually to the NCAA college football player judged to the best at what position? We decided to overlook the most obvious “popular” football position. Miss.

10) Slogans – What last name fills the blank in the following advertising slogan, used for a heavy equipment company founded in 1837?
“Nothing Runs Like a _”

Mystery – Twisted Titles – World Cities

The correct response to each part is the name of a world city with just ONE letter changed. Give the name based on the description.

(For example, if I said “Taylor Swift’s seventh studio album inspired the name of Delaware’s capital,” you would answer “Lover,” which is one letter different from “Dover.”)

M1. A world capital in Southern Europe traces its roots to a Dallas Cowboys quarterback who became an enthusiastic broadcaster

M2. The names of a Central American capital and a California city have origins that might relate to a type of flower, or possibly a type of wine

M3. The National University of San Marcos, one of the oldest universities in the Americas, is located in a city known for its chauffeur-driven luxury vehicles

M4. The 2022 World Cup is scheduled to be played at several venues in and around a city named for an animated seven-year-old girl

Only got one of these. Came up with right city for #4 at the last second, but forgot to switch the letters (d’oh)! And clearly we need to brush up on Central American capital cities! 😦

Final Category – Wealth

We both looked at each other and said “Nope!” No points…

According to the Forbes 400 list in 2020, of the top 15 richest women in the United States, five of them share what last name? They are among the heirs to a privately held company founded in 1911 and currently headquartered in Virginia.

We moved up from eighth to fifth by our “sucker” bet of zero. Small victory?

And here’s the final from game two, which we would have fared far better with (though it was not in the game we played):

GAME 2
What song has reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart twice: The first time in 1972 after it was released on an album titled Still Bill, and the second time in 1987 after it was released on an album titled Life, Love & Pain?

Well that rounds out the week for our trivial pursuits – unless we play tonight. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Slurms MacKenzie!