We were once again foiled by our lack of knowledge about pop culture things pertaining to “the holidays” in a recent virtual trivia game! Though brainstorming the names of a bunch of John Cusack films helped us come up with a correct guess on a visual round featuring images from (you guessed it) holiday films!

Here’s how the brainstorming went down: “Better Off Dead? No. One Crazy Summer? No. Grosse Pointe Blank? No. Hot Tub Time Machine? No. That one movie with the haunted hotel room? No. Say Anything? No.”

Time was running out for us to submit our answers, so we put in a guess for a 2001 rom-com he starred in. I don’t think I ever watched the movie all the way through since it was a rom-com (LOL), but wow was it ever “serendipitous” that WE GOT IT RIGHT!

Best two points ever!

Yeah, those two points were pretty much the highlight of the game, but if you want to see what the rest of the questions were, read on:

Round One

1) Words – What five-letter “M” word, commonly heard in the holiday season, is defined as “full of gaiety or high spirits” or “marked by festivity and gaiety” and comes from the Old English meaning pleasing or agreeable?

2) History – On December 25, 1492, what ship, the largest of the three used by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, ran aground in Haiti? We knew the names of all three of the ships and we picked the one that “sounded the biggest and the most important.” This strategy was more successful than the doomed voyage of this ship (and off topic, can Haiti ever get a break on anything)?

3) Rappers – What man, known for his success on television, has released two rap albums, a self-titled one in 2003 and White People Party Music in 2014, though he has never had a top 20 single on the Billboard Hot 100? We picked a man whom is a rapper and has been successful on TV, but not the right man. Miss.

4) Production – As of the 2019-20 tracking period, what country produces 35% of the world’s virgin olive oil, over triple the volume produced by Italy?

NERD POINT: What African country produces the third-most? Miss and miss. We talked ourselves out of the correct country.

Mystery One – Visual

Round Two

1) Advertising – What coffee company released a commercial in 1985 titled “Peter Comes Home for Christmas,” as well as a much-maligned updated version in 2009 titled “Coming Home?” Curious as to what made this ad so maligned (which is easy to find on YouTube), I watched it. And here’s what Ed Rooney from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off would have to say:

2) TV Hosts – In 2017, Noel Fielding took over co-presenting duties on what TV series, which first aired in 2010?

3) Baseball Teams – In 1869, the Red Stockings became the first all-professional baseball team. What city was that team’s home, which is also the home of a current MLB team whose name was also originally the Red Stockings? Miss.

4) Science – At how many degrees Fahrenheit does water reach its freezing point? Softball to end the round.

Mystery Round: License Plates
Identify which U.S. state has a standard-issue license plate that includes the given phrases:

M1) Grand Canyon State

M2) Sportsman’s Paradise

M3) Great Faces. Great Places.

M4) Vacationland

We missed 2 and 4. We were in sixth with 39 points going into the final.

Final Question:
What 1950 publication, which includes sections named “Reason,” “Escape!” and “Evidence,” is set in the mid-21st century, and had a working title of Mind and Iron?

We put in what we thought was a good guess, but nope…only one team got it correct.

As always, Go Pods, Happy Festivus, and stay classy, Billy Bob Thornton!