We signed on for our first virtual trivia game in a week Wednesday, and were strangely delighted about most of the questions! Except that pesky question about rasslers – if my husband had only listened to me when I gave a guess of one of the (maybe) five professional rasslers I can name, then maybe we would have finished a little higher!

It was kind of an “intimate” group for our 10 p.m. game Wednesday, and the scores were tight – with teams logging 50, 52, and 53 points respectively. Host John C. said it’s been a minute since he’s seen all of the participating teams ace two consecutive mystery rounds!

We had questions about the zodiac, musicals I actually know about (no I still have not seen Hamilton), ’80s movies, rasslers, writers who liked to mince their words, elements, TV series that did not need to be rebooted (IMHO) and measures. Or as my husband’s Uncle Mark who lives in the Central MI area would say, “MAY-zhures!” Most of these were decent categories for us, with us missing only the rasslers and TV question. Icing on the cake? The final category was about one of my all-time favorite trivia categories, which is (drum roll):

’80s Music!

What was not to love about ’80s music? There was virtually no autotuning, guy singers could belt out songs in ranges typically dominated by women (vis a vis Morten Harket of A-Ha) and didn’t sound like constipated old men like they did in the Grunge era, most hit songs had cool videos to go along with them, and last but not least – the hair and the fashions! It was a fun time to be a music fan.

Here were our questions:

Round One

1) Zodiac – What twin half brothers of Greek and Roman mythology represent the Western zodiac sign Gemini? Usually I’m the go-to on any zodiac questions, whether they be about astrology or the Zodiac Killer. Just kidding about that last part, I don’t actually know a lot about the Zodiac Killer, only that he helped inspire The Riddler in The Batman and nobody knows who he is to this day. My husband knew this answer, so max points.

2) Musicals – In what musical that made its Broadway debut in 1982 do the title characters gather to make the “Jellicle choice?” I saw this on a high school field trip in 1987. After sitting through it, I thought to myself, “What the f— did I just watch?”

3) Movie Firsts – What 1985 film was the first for which African American performers were nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards?

4) Rassling – What was the ring name of Mark Calaway over his 30-year career as an active wrestler with the WWE from 1990-2020? Our first miss of the night, though I did mention the guy!

Mystery One

The correct answer to each clue will contain the word “drag,” either on its own or as part of a word.

M1) Insect of the order Odonata that has been an inspiration for helicopter design

M2) Emmy-winning reality show on which Sharon Needles, Bianca Del Rio, and Sasha Velour, among others, have competed

M3) Martial arts movie released in 1973 that features the final performance completed by Bruce Lee before his death

M4) Top ten 1981 collaboration between Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Got all of these correct.

Round Two

5) Writers – What 20th-century American writer developed a technique called the “iceberg theory,” which uses a minimalistic approach, focusing on surface elements without explicitly discussing underlying themes? My almost useless literature degree from college actually helped out here. Though I honestly didn’t remember that there was a name for this guy’s style of writing. I just knew he was a “less chat, more splat” kind of writer that kind of fit with his personality. Now William Faulker on the other hand? Polar opposite kind of writer.

6) Elements – Name one of the two letters that are NOT found as part of a chemical symbol on the periodic table of elements.

NERD POINT: Name both.

Got this for the points and bonus.

7) TV Series – Penelope is the mother of Elena and Alex on what TV series that is based on a previous series of the same name, on which Ann is the mother of Julie and Barbara?

The name Julie should have been a clue for me, but alas, it wasn’t. Then we started talking about the creepy handyman that was in the original series.

8) Measures – What is the term for the type of pressure expressed by the first number in a standard blood pressure reading?

Mystery Two –

Each answer will be the number in the name of the band that has included the given members. Those numbers will add up to 32.

M1) Bono, Larry, Adam, and the Edge

M2) Adam, Jesse, James, Matt, PJ, and Sam

3) Frankie, Tommy, Nick, and Bob

4) Tyler and Josh

We had 50 points going into the final.

Final Category – ’80s Music

In the 1980s, there were seven songs with one-word titles beginning with “S” that reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The first was “Sailing” by Christopher Cross, and the last was “Satisfied” by Richard Marx. Name two of the other five songs.

We were the only team to put down one of the correct songs as our answer, which I remembered a friend in junior high hating because she had the same name as the song and it was ALL over the airwaves.

Tiebreaker:

In the decade of the 2000s, how many #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 had titles that include the letter “F?”

As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Stevie Nicks!