We finished in second place in a recent virtual game – and it’s been a rough past several games! We played the past seven virtual (including three in person) trivia games without having finished in the top three teams, and haven’t even managed another second place finish since December 6! November 30 was the last time we finished first. Did “the holidays” exact a whammy on my trivia brain? Truth be told, yes, I was a bit stressed in the three months or so leading into December because of my job, and have only recently started to feel a bit more normal again. But I’m not making excuses! What would Jon Taffer on “Bar Rescue” say?

“I don’t embrace excuses, I embrace solutions.”

OK, Jon Taffer, what’s the solution? Scores in trivia games aren’t really something I can easily solve, aside from thinking harder – perhaps thumping on my head like it’s a cantaloupe in the produce section – “Think, damn you, think! What is the capital of Burkina Faso? Who won the Grammy for best new artist in 1980?” Maybe that won’t work so well – chances are I’ll thump too hard and then not be able to think at all anymore!

But we can invite additional players when we play in person! That is exactly what we’re doing Thursday night when we head out for an in-person game – we’re bringing…a millennial! Us old folks need that younger folk smarts as much as we can get, yup! We may do just fine when the trivia gods ask us about Arthur Fonzarelli sitcoms, or “All in the Family” spin-offs, but we need a little help when they ask about those pesky reality shows, sportsball questions, and songs by artists whom have recorded their earliest – and most recent works – in the past 10 years. Now if they ask about recording artists from the ’80s, I’m usually pretty good! Which happened in a recent final question – read on to find out more…

Round One –

1 Pasta – What is the English translation of the type of thin pasta known as capelli d’angelo? Clearly that MUST be Beverly D’Angelo’s brother! Speaking of, we saw the movie Violent Night about a month ago or so, and it took me until the end credits to figure out Beverly D’Angelo was in that movie! Nicely done producers, putting in someone from the Griswold movie clan in a holiday movie!

2 Stars – In ancient Greek astrology, the “dog days of summer” followed the rising of what star with a six-letter name, which was associated with heat, storms, fever, and bad luck? Easy peasy.

3 Subtitles – Scheduled to be released in June 2023, Rise of the Beasts is the subtitle to the seventh film in what franchise? FB host clue (from a virtual host).

4 Audio clue for a song from an artist who recorded their first and last albums in the past 10 years, so we had no f—ing clue.

Mystery One

Below, the late Jan Hooks as seen in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure as an Alamo tour guide (one of the questions pertains to the Alamo):

The correct answer to each clue shares its name with a car rental company or agency.

1. Unit of frequency defined as one cycle per second

2. Latin word for “bird”

3. Mission and fortress remembered primarily for an 1836 event

4. Adjective between “cheerful” and “brave” in the Scout Law of the Scouts BSA (Formerly the Boy Scouts of America)

We needed our old teammate Sammy for the last one. Our combined Boy Scouts knowledge between the two of us wasn’t sufficient here – though my husband did think of the right word after we’d put in our answer!

Round Two

5 Technology – One common type of electrical outlet is a GFCI. What do any two of the four letters in GFCI stand for?

NERD POINT: What does GFCI stand for in its entirety?

Got the points and the bonus. Sometimes I get lucky with acronym questions.

6 Animals – What marine mammal native to the coastal regions of the North Pacific Ocean has the densest fur coat of any animal on Earth, with up to a million hairs per square inch?

7 Sports Siblings – Twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin each spent their entire NHL careers from 2000–2018 with which Western Conference franchise? Miss, we put in Ducks as our guess.

8 TV Actresses – Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, and Danai Gurira are among the actresses who are credited in more than 100 episodes of what AMC series? Mike made the right guess here.

Mystery Two –

Missed #3, we put dryad.

I was very happy that my trivia pardner was all over this round, though he hiccuped a bit with the last one. Good thing – I would have put in “Ursula from the Little Mermaid’s brother” as my guess for #2!

We were in third going into the final with 46 points. And we were not in agreement about wagering all of the marbles on the category of Video Music Awards. My arguments – “Videos were pretty much all made in the 80s and early 90s, I might have a shot,” and “They might ask about ’80s videos, so I might know it.” Despite his reticence, I just clicked on the “15” button. And crossed my fingers…

Final 

At the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, what artist earned nine nominations, including two for Best Female Video, two for Best New Artist in a Video, and one for Best Concept Video?

I remember having a similar question in a trivia tournament maybe about 8 years ago or so. And we got it wrong the last time we faced the question – this time we put in the right woman!

Moved up to second place for our efforts. That’s a big yay from us!

As always, Go Pods, and stay classy. Davy Crockett – or Daniel Boone – whichever one was at the Alamo!