First place in a virtual game Monday night! Sure, there were only three teams playing in this game, but…hey – the final was about businesses – and we got it right – which is definitely worth a fist-bump! Even if it was just Mike and I doing the fist bumping! Yeah, it doesn’t take much to excite us these days!

We’re still putting “in person” trivia on hold until further notice. We thought we were ready to go out for a game this week, but…we both decided “not quite yet.” We’ll send out a smoke signal when we’re really feeling ready for it.

But none of that is important right now…how about some questions?

1) Medicine – What form of alternative Chinese medicine using thin needles is commonly used for pain relief? Easy painless way to start the game.

2) Capital Cities – Which U.S. state capital city is the only one with a name ending in the letter “H”? We literally worked our butts off on this one – I started naming capitals going from west to Midwest to south to east and finally – finally – Mike managed to name the right capital (got it at the very last second).

3) Cameos – What professional wrestler who passed away in 2011 appears in the 2002 film Spider-Man as Bonesaw McGraw, who is defeated by Spider-Man in a cage match at a wrestling tournament? Oh YEAH, we got this right (but for lowish points).

4) Cocktails – According to the International Bartenders Association, what kind of fruit juice is used to make a Tom Collins? One of my favorite cocktails, though I prefer it with vodka instead of gin. And boy, oh boy – could I ever go for one of these at Knight’s west side (Ann Arbor, MI)! It’s been a long, long time…

5) Baseball – What is the most recent National League team to win back-to-back World Series?
NERD POINT: What was the FIRST National League team to achieve this feat?

Nope and nope. Didn’t get this right or the bonus.

6) European History – What European country split in two in 1993 in what is known as the “Velvet Divorce”?

7) Artists – The Red Vineyard at Arles is supposedly the only painting that sold during the lifetime of what artist? I really want to see that “immersive” exhibit of his works in Detroit sometime!

8) 1960s TV – On the 1960s TV series The Addams Family, which character could light up a light bulb by putting it in their mouth?

9) Stories – What story, part of the classic collection One Thousand and One Nights, popularized the phrase “open sesame”?

10) Musicals – A jukebox musical that begins previews on Broadway in December and is being advertised with the tagline “Startin’ Somethin’” is based on songs released by what solo artist? Yeah, yeah…we got this. I really loved this guy’s album when I was 11!

Mystery Category: Add ‘Em Up

Each answer will be a number. Those four numbers will add up to 64.

M1. The number of buttons on the front of Mickey Mouse’s pants in his traditional costume, which he is seen wearing at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World

M2. The number of pieces of flair Joanna is required to wear at Chotchkie’s, the restaurant in the 1999 film Office Space

M3. The number of rows of stars on the American flag

M4. The number of cups in a gallon in the U.S.

A bit of work, but we both managed to come up with the right numbers for all of these. We were in second with 62 going into the final.

Final Category: Restaurants

Ugh. We knew this wouldn’t be a good category for us, but we decided to wager it all.

Olive Garden and Applebee’s are the only full-service “casual-dining” chain restaurants to top four billion dollars in sales in the U.S. in 2019.

Name either of the other full-service “casual-dining” restaurant chains that earned at least $3.5 billion in sales in the U.S. in 2019, ahead of IHOP and Texas Roadhouse, which are the only others to reach three billion in sales.

For the purposes of this question, “casual-dining” and “family-dining” are both being counted as “casual-dining.” “Family-dining” is similar to “casual-dining,” but usually includes breakfast.

We started talking about restaurants from this category that are close to where we live, though we didn’t pick a restaurant that we’ve been inside for the past 10 years. Got it right, though!

We’ll be doing the “double game” virtually Wednesday. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Vincent Van Gogh!