Usually when we take the risk of betting zero on a final question – then realize it was an easy question and know the answer – we worry other teams will have bet it all and get the question correct. But that didn’t happen this past week at Ypsilanti, MI’s arguably hottest trivia spot – Arbor Brewing Company Microbrewery, known more commonly as “Corner Brewery” to the locals. Around 20 teams meet here weekly (give or take a few) and battle for trivia supremacy.

The trivia host reported that all of the tables in the designated trivia room had been spoken for as of 5:52 p.m., which is an hour and eight minutes before game time.

So what happened? Quite a lot of teams missed the Grammy Awards question (game one, for those who want to scroll ahead). It wasn’t enough of a lifeline to put us in the prize zone, but we did move up quite a bit! We finished in fourth overall for the night with 105 points, and moved up one spot on the season’s leaderboard from eighth to seventh.

Here were the questions, some of which may be very abbreviated:

Round One –

1 What company introduced its first K-Cup brewing system designed for office use – the B-2000 – in 1998?

2 Programming – “Caged in Fear” was the first TV show to air as part of what week-long programming block when it debuted on the Discovery Channel in 1988?

3 Royalty – The title of either Prince or Princess of Asurias, is used for the presumptive heir to the throne of what European country? Miss.

4 Hit Songs – Name the first two of the three singles to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart from Bon Jovi’s 1986 “Slippery When Wet” album. Name all three for a nerd point. Missed the nerd point.

Mystery Round One – Visual

Missed #3. The only books in this series I actually (shamefully) read was #4! Total soapy garbage, but fun, if were a teenager! And what’s not to love about a book series involving twins, where one is naughty – and the other is nice?

Round Two –

5 Mascots – Since 1969, which NBA team has a costumed mascot named Benny who wears red, black and white? Dave and Brad were all over this, thanks guys!

6 Countries -Which of the four constituent countries of the UK is third in both area – and population? We did a lot of hemming and hawing between two smallish constituencies, and ultimately we failed, miss.

7 Zodiac – Which sign of the Western zodiac’s name falls last alphabetically?

8 Toys – What iconic doll was created by businesswoman and inventor Ruth Handler in 1959? There were more qualifiers to this question, but this was a FB host clue, and I think everyone knows it anyway!

Mystery Round Two –

“You” Movies

Pick the movie featuring the following cast members and release years that have the word “You” in the titles.

M1 – 2013 – Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Woody Harrelson

M2 – 2007 – Hillary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow

M3 – 1997 – Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillipe, Sarah Michelle Gellar

M4 – 1967 – Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Desmond Llewellyn

We missed #1 and #2 (rom-coms are not in our collective wheelhouse, and we never heard of #1).

We were in twelfth going into the final with 43 points. We decided we had zero confidence in the category “Grammy Awards,” so we wagered accordingly.

The question:

Among the Grammy Award winners won by the same person more than once, name the two artists who won in the following years/categories:

Best Female R&B performance, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1975

Best Score/Soundtrack designed for Visual Media – 1978-1983

Best Male Country Performance – 1995-1999

Thank the trivia gods we didn’t have to name all three, we stayed the f— away from the country artist (you only know what you know)! We did hiccup a bit though, because I suggested Barbra Streisand for the first one, then my teammates reminded me of the R&B qualifier! As it happened, nobody picked the right country artist.

Round Three/Game Two

9 – 1990s Music – Name either song released by Will Smith in the 1990s that is also the title of a film in which he starred. Name both for a bonus point. Yay we didn’t miss all the music questions in this game!

10 – Volleyball, in volleyball, what is the term for a defensive movie that prevents a ball from touching the court after a spike? Before this question was even read to us, I designated Dave to be the point man on this question because his stepdaughter plays volleyball. And he was all over this!

11 Film Debuts – What singer made her film debut in the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues, in which she played singer Billie Holliday and received an Academy Award nomination?

12 Education – A group of small private liberal arts schools that include Amherst, Wesleyan and Vassar are collectively known by what nickname? Miss.

Mystery Round Three –

World Capitals – Pick ‘Em

Pick the four most populous world capital cities (city proper, not metro area) from this list – Hanoi, Tokyo, Baghdad, Moscow, Cairo, Berlin, Mexico City

Got all of these.

Round Four –

13 This was audio clue from a sitcom airing from 2013-2021 starring Andy Samberg and Terry Crews, among others.

14 Food – What French dish consisting of lobster, egg yolks, cognac and powdered mustard gets its names from a 1891 play that may have been playing in a theater near the restaurant when the dish was created? Dave again steps up for the points, yay!

15 Fabric – What type of fabric has varieties including duchess, messaline and charmeuse? Miss.

16 Words – What word is used when referring to some elusive criminals comes from the Latin “otherwise called?”

Mystery Round Four – Initials JO

The answers to all of the following clues will have the initials JO.

M1 – Winner of 1936 track and field events in Berlin Olympics

M2 – Host of Last Week Tonight since 2014 debut

M3 – Singer whose only charting hit on the Billboard Hot 100 was “One of Us”

M4 – Name of actress starring as title character in the Netflix series “Wednesday.”

Got all of these.

We were in sixth going into the final with 48 points. We decided to wager it all on the strange category title of “Self Worth.”

Name the three main credit bureaus used by lenders in the U.S. to assess an applicant’s credit rating.

Dave was all over this (can I say game MVP)? We finished in fifth with 63 points.

Unsure what our trivia plans, if any, are for next week. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Vince Gill!