Our “Plan B” midweek trivia adventures continued with a recent visit to a former regular trivia spot that is now only an occasional trivia spot – Ypsi’s Corner Brewery. We can’t get here two hours early every week, and don’t have enough players in our current rotation to properly compete here among the “gigateams.” We recently decided to start playing fairly regularly on Sundays at the YpsiAlehouse, though recent Detroit Lions playoff games also happening on Sundays have temporarily put a stop to that! Go Lions!

We finished in fifth overall out of 18-plus teams with 79 points, no prizes, wagered zero on both final questions.

Since this gal still likes to get her trivia fix even if a NFL playoff game conflicts with game time, well…

Game One/Round One

1 Same Name – What unit of frequency is also the name of a car rental company founded in 1918? Wonder what choices of cars they had back then? Model T, Benz, or maybe a Dodge? No, you can’t get a red Model T, you flashy lollygagger!

2 TV Characters – What TV character played by Mario López has the given first and middle name Albert Clifford, although he is most commonly called by his last name? Seriously, we need a brain chip filled with knowledge about this damn show that we never watched that we can plug in before each trivia game so that the knowledge doesn’t clutter our brains unecessarily when we’re not playing – and we can get the questions right for once!

3 1980s Music – According to the lyrics of a 1987 single by Belinda Carlisle, what is a “place on Earth?”

NERD POINT: she was also the lead singer of what band that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021?

Got this plus the bonus. .

4 Bodies of Water – Finland, Thailand and Honduras are among the countries that have what type of ocean inlet named for them? Miss. .

Mystery One – Ends in “99”

Name the year ending in “99” in which each historic event took place.

M1 French military officer discovers the Rosetta Stone during the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt

M2 English leader Oliver Cromwell is born

M3 Portugal hands over control of the territory of Macau to China

M4 The play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov premieres in Moscow

Missed #2.

Round Two

5 Mascots – A green parrot, who was derived from a character in the book Treasure Island is the mascot for which MLB team? Got this.

6 SCIENCE! – What 10 letter adjective describes the scientific process that releases energy into its surroundings, often in the form of heat? Miss.

7 Space Firsts – In 2023, Namira Salim became the first person born in what Asian country to go to space, aboard Galactic 04? FB clue.

8 Novels – What 2005 novel by Emily Giffen gets its name from the third item listed in a traditional rhyme that details what a bride should wear at her wedding for good luck? Got this.

Mystery Two – Visual

Had I known that I could have named individual band members for this, we would not have missed #4. Though I was close in my guess for the group name, remembered the first word in their group name.

We were in 13th place with 42 points out of 21 teams going into the final. Your Resume Sucks was in first with 52 points, just ahead of My Type on Paypah and Don’t Forget to Strip Your Bartender who both had 50 points and behind them three teams tied with 49 points – Hotter than Mordor, SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES (love that name) and dangerous nights crew. Six teams and six points separated the remaining teams ahead of us.

Final Category – TV Characters

Pamela Anderson is credited in more than 20 episodes of three TV series, all of which aired in the 90s. Give the first names of two of the three characters that she plays in these series.

We were binging the series where she was a lifeguard a couple of years ago, but sadly we didn’t get engrossed enough for her name to become lodged in permanent memory. And we knew Tool Time Girl was not enough to get us credit for the second answer.

It appears four teams got this, special shout out to sarcasm who moved from last to fourth and friends from out of town moving to third (we love a good underdog story on our team)! Even if we’re not the underdog team!

YRS held their first place lead (go figure an older all guys team of 9 can figure out Ms. Anderson’s character names, wink-wink)! DFTSYB moved up to second, friends from out of town finished third.

Game Two/Round Three

9 Rivers – Lake Itasca in the Northern US is the primary headwater of what river that is more than 2,300 miles long? Miss.

10 Game Shows – Audio clue…deal with it can’t recreate it… uh…Steve Harvey, Richard Dawson?

11 Musicals – What 1973 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim includes the song “Send in the Clowns,” which was written specifically for Glynis Johns, who originated the role of Desiree? I was very excited to know this one, though of course my trivia partner slash husband had to ask how sure I was… “Wager 8 on this or I’ll divorce you!” JK, JK! Seriously I remember some Sondheim tidbits from a musical theater class I took in college, but this is definitely a category where I really, really know the answer, or I’m totally slack-jawed and have no clue. And my musical theater knowledge ain’t very up to date!

12 Colors – Old gold and black are the official colors of what Big Ten Conference university? We didn’t have any of our sportsball experts on this night, so I did my best to step in, I started writing down all of the Big 10 teams i could think of, crossing off their names if the colors didn’t match. AND I CAME SO, SO CLOSE! The team we went with does have very, very similar colors, the gold just ain’t “old” enough. Trivia heartbreak moment!

Mystery Three – Before and After

Combine the following clue pairs to form a single answer

M1 Word guessing game now made by Hasbro that involves cards and a buzzer AND a hunting weapon used by Aboriginal Australians

M2 Billboard top ten hit in 1983 for Billy Joel AND 2023 food-related Tik Tok trend popularized by Olivia Maher

M3 Words that precede “Don’t Pollute” in an environmental slogan AND band that features Darius Rucker as its lead singer

M4 Actress eho played Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development AND US vice president under Jimmy Carter

Missed #2, guessed right BJ song didn’t know the other part.

Round Four

13 Directors – The 1967 independent film Who’s That Knocking on My Door was the first feature film directed by what prolific filmmaker who has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards for Best Director? Yay I knew this! Almost made up for my Hawkeyes flub a couple of questions back!

14 In the News – In March 2021, what container ship with a two- word name ran aground in the Suez Canal and was stuck for six days? Freighters have names? Well, I guess they do – Exxon Valdez, Edmund Fitzgerald, Brutus, Randy… uh no clue here, we missed this.

15 1970s Music – Name one of the two top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 by Sister Sledge, both of which were released in 1979?

NERD POINT: Name both.

Knew one, not both. Host Tim said on the mic that the group was made up of four real sisters (the kind that are actual sisters related by birth, like the Pointer Sisters, not just “soul” sisters). When I thought about this later, I imagined that they all had names Sledge and three other nicknames rhyming with it. Sister Sledge was their leader, and a sledgehammer was her weapon of choice; Sister “Wedge” loved wedge heels and wedge salads; Sister “Pledge” loved dusting and household chores and lastly Sister “Hedge” enjoyed landscaping and dispensing investment advice (about hedge funds in particular). None of this is true except that they were “family!”

16 Medicine – In medicine, the procedure known by the abbreviation EKG is used to monitor what specific part of the body? Whew this rough game almost over! Got this.

Mystery Round Four – Snacks In Order

Place the following snack items in order according to the number of calories in each beginning with the fewest.

Nacho Cheese Doritos, one ounce, 12 chips

Slim Jim Original, .44 ounces, 1 stick

Snickers, 1.86 ounces, single bar

Twinkles, two cakes

We flip flopped the last two…only four points for us here.

Shit We Need a Team Name was in first with 52 points, 24 Hour Brunch was in second with 47 and YRS was in third with 46. We were in eleventh with 37 points, with six points dividing us and the next six teams ahead us (besides the top three teams).

Final Category – Supreme Court Cases

What type of tax was central to the 1895 Supreme Court case Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. In which it was declared unconstitutional?

We moved up to seventh by wagering zero, DFTSYB moved to third, other top teams YRS and SWNATM were in second and first respectively, all got the question correct. judging from the final scores, it appeared that only three teams wagered and got this correct. Go you guys!

We were happy to finish in the top five overall at this joint famous for its “gigateams,” as a friend recently described teams of six or more to me! Not complaining, of course – it’s a popular trivia spot, and the real “pros” of playing here know three things – arrive at least two hours early, sit at the kiddie tables on the edges if you’re not bringing at least six playas to the party (yes really a six player minimum for occupying larger tables in the center although it does not seem to be enforced once even the kiddie tables start to all be occupied) and those metal chairs can really chill your ass in the colder months!

Teams with fewer than six players playing here will have to be crafty to survive – don’t expect too much, it’s pretty much David v. Goliath though sometimes David wins, embrace whatever lucky moments come your way, and pray to the trivia gods that occasionally wagering zero on final questions most teams get wrong can be your salvation. But on the up side, if you’re not a gigateam, enjoy the extra table space, the extra elbow room and not having to sit too close to that player who didn’t shower before the game! 😀

We may be back here next week, I’m going to try summoning at least a couple of helpers (one of them is vacaying in the ‘Ribbean this week and was unavailable, and the other just…couldn’t be fucked to show up for whatever reason, maybe it was too rainy and he just wanted a cozy night with his doggos)?

As always, Go Pods, Go Lions, and stay classy, all of you noisy Lions fans beating sound levels of a 1970s Who concert!