A couple of teammates declined our suggestion of going out for a trivia game Thursday night, but since the two of us felt like going out – we picked a booth by the window and watched some wintry mixing happening outside. Inside, I was somehow fascinated with someone wearing a pair of pleather pants. Are those back in style? Or were these pants a thrift store find? If so, I hope plenty of disinfectant wipes were used to clean them! Can you wash pleather? Ah, what do I know about fashion, anyway? We wound up stumped by a fashion question later in the game, which is funny, because the answer we needed – like “pleather” – started with the letter P!

We finished in third overall for the night with 100 points – no gift card prizes, getting both final questions correct, though we cautiously wagered on the first final question about U.S. politics. We were too confident on a recent final question in this subject, which made us gun-shy this time around.

Here were our questions, please assume they are abbreviated versions of the questions that were asked…

Game One

Round One –

1 Phrases – The acronym YOLO stands for what?

2 Sequels – What 2001 film starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews has a 2004 sequel subtitled “Royal Engagement?” Correct guess with not much confidence.

3 Audio clue of a TV series theme song for a drama series primarily set in the 1960s featuring Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks. Is that enough info for you?

4 Superb Owls – The Superb Owl XLII featured a player named Tyree making what was called “the helmet catch,” which helped lead what team to victory in the final minute? Miss.

Mystery Round One –

“Heart” Songs

Based on the following lyrics, identify the songs featuring the word heart in the titles.

M1 – (Turn around) Every now and then I get a little bit lonely
And you’re never coming ’round…

M2 – Hey…wait…I got a new complaint…forever in debt to your priceless advice

M3 – If you fall for me, I’m not easy to please, I might tear you apart

M4 – Got a wife and kids in Baltimore Jack, I went out for a ride and I never went back – like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing, I took a wrong turn and I just kept goin’…

Missed #3.

Round Two –

5 Biographies – What catchphrase of Charlie Brown is also the title of a biography of Charles Schulz by Rheta Grimsley Johnson?

6 U.S. Cities – Also referred to as the Doorway to Freedom, what U.S. city served as the last U.S. stop on the Underground Railroad? FB clue.

7 Fashion – In fashion, what is the “p” term for a flared piece of fabric that sits at the waist of a jacket, skirt, or dress? I think I actually have one of these “p” jackets in my closet, which I bought cheap for a friend’s wedding and did not end up wearing – though I wore it later for another wedding. Miss, we guessed “pleat.”

8 Elements – What element, used in nuclear power, has the highest atomic number of any element with a single letter symbol? Nerd bonus point, what is this element’s atomic number? Knew this, but missed the bonus.

Mystery Round Two –

Car Quickfire –

Car and Driver magazine named its top 25 selling vehicles in 2022, including the Honda Civic and Nissan Altima. Name any of the other top selling vehicles on this list, which do NOT include SUVs, trucks or CUVs.

Fail. We only named one correct vehicle.

We were in the middle of the pack with 39 points going into the final.

U.S. Politics

The 17 U.S. senators who have gone on to become president represented 13 different states. Name two of the four states that have been represented by two different senators who went on to become president.

We gambled a bit here, and leaned on our general – rather than specific – knowledge about senators who became president. We picked two different states that have birthed a large number of presidents. It worked! Too bad we only wagered eight points on this. Had the category been listed as “presidents”: and NOT U.S. Politics, we might have been more adventurous. Practice game? On to game two!

Game Two

Round Three –

9 Bands – What pop rock band, which had its first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 2019, is made up of siblings, Kevin, Joe and Nick? We initially thought of the right band, but talked ourselves out of the answer because we thought the band we were thinking of were hitting charts earlier than this. Miss. We must trust our guts in situations like this!

10 Beverages – In 2010, what fruit-based drink was designated as the official state beverage of New Hampshire? Made right guess here.

11 TV Characters – What TV title character was first played from 1985 to 1992 by Richard Dean Anderson – and again by Lucas Till in a reboot airing from 2016 to 2021?

12 Wonders – In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers compiled a list of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Name one of the two that are located in the U.S., both of which were completed in the 1930s. Was this a nerd point question? I don’t remember, but we got one of these correct, incorrectly guessed Hoover Dam for our second guess.

Mystery Round Three –

Midwest City Rhymes

Given the clues, identify the rhyming phrases that include names of Midwestern U.S. cities.

M1 – A mushroom in the most populous Ohio city

M2 – Headquarters of Berkshire Hathaway and a noisy overexcited reaction to something insignificant

M3 – Capital of state that has first caucuses for U.S. president and cut of beef known as rump steak in Britain

M4 – Second most populous city on Lake Michigan chats through handheld receiver

We missed #2 and #4. Picked wrong second word for #2 that also rhymed with the city. No complaints from us, though – we LOVE mystery rounds like this! We’ll accept defeat when the questions are this good! Do we kick ourselves for not remembering which big city is on Lake Michigan’s coast? Maybe a little! Would watching a lot of reruns of Happy Days help? 🙂

Round Four –

13 Shoes – What California based manufacturer of skateboarding shoes was the longtime sponsor of the annual Warped Tour Music Festival? I might not have remembered that “p” word in the fashion question a few rounds earlier, but I knew this one.

14 Japan – Much like the U.S. has administrative districts called states and Canada has provinces – what is the name for such things in Japan? My trivia pardner Mike really, really racked his brain on this one – and he was so bummed that he couldn’t think of the word. I’m willing to bet he wasn’t the only one in the room who couldn’t think of this answer!

15 Oscars – Actress Quenzhani Wallis was the first person born in the 21st century to be nominated for an Academy Award, doing so for her role as Hushpuppy in what 2012 film? I think we’ve probably missed trivia questions about this movie before. Maybe I need to watch the damn thing (or just read the Wikipedia summary)!

16 Ingredients – the most common active ingredient in insect repellents is known by what four letter term that is an acronym? And this is the only thing that even slows down rampaging mosquitoes when I’m outdoors in Mosquitoland…the “natural” and “kid friendly” repellents just don’t work on me.

Mystery Round Four – Visual

Not a good round for us. We only got #4 correct.

We had 38 points going into the final question category.

The Beatles

Name two of the three songs on The Beatles’ Abbey Road album that were not written by Paul McCartney or John Lennon. I honestly didn’t expect this question to be this easy. One of these songs was inspired by a boat trip that the songwriter took with actor Peter Sellers while the “White Album” was being recorded.

We would truly hang our heads -and tentacles – in shame – if we missed a question involving this song!

Unsure what live games we may venture out to play next week, if any. We’re not getting into any real planning involving live games these days, which is pretty delightful! As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Jack Johnson!