We hadn’t done a Friday night virtual Stump! trivia game for quite a while, and thought we’d take a chance with a host we’ve never played with before (or if we did, we didn’t remember them). So we chose a show hosted by a person named “Epic,” whom we learned had quite a loyal following of players! The Zoom’s “main room” was a lively hub of conversation among his “regulars,” for one. For another, his show was almost sold out by the time we got our tickets a couple of hours beforehand. And being boring Midwesterners as the two of us players were, we enjoyed hearing Epic speaking in his distinctive East coast accent. He pronounced the word “fluffernutter” in the traditional “Boston” way – changing the “ers” to “ahs.”

I’m not pointing this out to make fun, of course! Especially since us Midwesterners have our own odd ways of pronouncing words, too – like calling carbonated sugary drinks “pop” instead of “soda” like they do in the East (which is the right way, of course). Some folks even put in an extra “r” in the middle of the word “wash,” or say “pellow” instead of “pillow.”

Even within the Midwest itself there are regional quirks. If you are from the Blanchard, MI area (in Central Michigan), you may be very likely to pronounce the word “measure” as MAY-zhure (my father in-law and my husband’s uncle does this). I work with a native Minnesotan woman whose accent is so pronounced she could’ve been the on-set dialect adviser for the cast of Fargo. Apparently cast members had to read a book called How to Talk Minnesotan (yes that is a real book). She was talking about this with me one day at work, and she said though it’s been years since she’s lived in Minnesota, she still can’t kick the habit of saying “Uffda.” Don’t ask me what it means, I’m guessing it’s an all purpose exclamation of some sort. I’ll bet if you read How to Speak Minnesotan you’ll learn all about this expression!

Before this recap becomes a novel about regional dialects, how about some trivia questions from the game?

Round One

1) Sandwiches – In addition to bread, what two ingredients are in a fluffernutter sandwich?

2) TV Families – On a TV series that originally aired from 1987-1995, Candace Cameron and Jodie Sweetin played the elder daughters of a father played by what actor? I didn’t immediately know his name, but I said “He was that home videos show guy and had a foul mouth in real life.” We eventually remembered this guy’s name for the points.

3) Landmarks – What U.S. landmark was originally painted Galaxy Gold, Orbital Olive, Astronaut White, and Re-entry Red for its 1962 opening? We thought of the right thing, but not hard enough to actually put in as our answer – miss.

4) Magazines – In most years since 1949, what magazine, which uses the tagline, “The Magazine for a Motoring World,” has awarded a “Car of the Year” award?

Mystery Round One

Round Two

5) Albums – 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?

6) U.S. Cities – Which state is home to the most populous city in the U.S. with a name that begins with the letter “K”?

NERD POINT: What is the second-most populous “K” city in the U.S.?

Got both.

7) Language – What nine-letter word, from French meaning a housing for domestic animals or a yard or enclosure in which wild animals are kept, means the same in English, and is often used interchangeably with “zoo?” My trivia pardner Mike thought of this – which was good because I was stumped…

8) NHL Teams – Which NHL team plays its home games in the Broward County city of Sunrise? We picked a Florida hockey team, but not the right one, miss.

Mystery Round – This Day In History –

Answer the questions about events that have taken place on this day in history (3/18).

M1) On this day in 1766, British Parliament repealed what taxation measure following widespread protest in the American colonies?

M2) On this day in 1962, a peace agreement was signed, ending a seven-year-long war between France and what North African country that became independent later that year?

M3) On this day in 1898, which planet’s moon, Phoebe, became the first to be discovered using photographs, which had been taken beginning months earlier?

M4) On this day in 1990, thirteen works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in what city? The theft remains unsolved, and the works remain unrecovered. The only time we visited this museum was in 1993, so there is no way we could’ve been responsible for those art thefts (jussayn).

Final Category – TV Shows

We were in seventh place with 47 points going into the final. We wagered zero on this category since it is so hit or miss for us. Had we known it would be a “hit” instead of a “miss,” we might have wagered differently – but that would be a waste of using a time machine, wouldn’t it?

Although it went by several names during its original run from 1959-1964, the TV series that featuring segments titled “Peabody’s Improbable History” and “Fractured Fairy Tales” most commonly references what two characters in its title?

Yay we are super old and knew this, d’oh!

Top teams had this question for a tiebreaker:

To the nearest million dollars, what was the domestic box office gross of the 1999 film Dudley Do-Right?

As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Boris and Natasha!