We played our eighth game of 2024 on a bright, sunny, AND warm early March afternoon Sunday. We logged our worst scores of the year for the second game in a row on the mystery rounds alone, with us getting only 14 of the total 32 points correct! One of these days…one of these days…maybe the mystery rounds will be about stuff we actually know! You may say that we’re dreamers, but we’re not the only ones!

For the eighth consecutive game…no prizes. It’s official – we’re in a slump! Do we blame it on a curse? Something about a goat wandering into a trivia game? No? Do we just suck? Uh, yeah! At some topics, apparently!

Read on to find out which topics weren’t so bad for us!

Round One

1 Rock and Roll – Guitarist Jimmy Page has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice – once as a member of the Yardbirds, and once as a member of what other band?

2 Literary Characters – What is the first name of the title character in a 1964 novel who is the fifth in a group that also includes Augustus, Veruca, Violet and Mike?

3 Mythology – Name EITHER the legendary founder of Rome, OR his twin brother, whom he killed following a disagreement.

NERD POINT: Name both.

Wow, killing your brother because you disagree with him? I may not agree with my own brother on everything, but I’ve never contemplated killing him! Oh those feisty Romans…

4 Stars – Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is located in a constellation that represents what animal?

Aced this first round. Don’t worry, though – the mystery round coming up will (spoiler alert) utterly destroy us!

Mystery Round One – Visual

Total goose egg on this…zero points.

Round Two

5 1990s Movies – What 1997 film, directed by and starring Kevin Costner, takes place in the year 2013, where a post-apocalyptic event has decimated the world and destroyed most technology?

6 Bodies of Water – What sea gets its English name from a phenomenon whereby sandstorms from the Gobi Desert turn the surface of the water a certain color?

7 Fast Food – In what decade did Wendy’s first introduce a vanilla-flavored Frosty after more than 36 years of only offering chocolate?

8 Golf – What famed Scottish golf course has hosted the Open Championship (British Open) more times than any other course, most recently in 2023?

Missed #8, though Brad’s guess was close!

Mystery Round Two – Game Rules

Name the board or table top game based on the “object of the game” as set out by its instructions.

M1 To list, within three minutes, as many words of the highest point value as you can find among the random assortment of letters in the cube grid.

M2 The last player to stack a block without making the tower fall wins the game.

M3 As soon as the Great Power controls 18 supply centers, it is considered to have gained control of Europe

M4 The object of the game is to capture your opponent’s flag

Missed #3.

We were in fifth place going into the final with 42 points. Street Smarts was in first with a perfect score of 54, with 24 Hour Brunch behind them with 49.

Final – 1970s Spin-Offs

I was so, so hoping that “Maude” would be the correct answer! Sadly, it was not, but on a bright note, we knew the answer (yay we’re old).

The Mary Tyler Moore Show spawned three spin-offs, each named for its main character. Name two of those sitcoms, which debuted in 1974, 1975 and 1977?

I knew one right away, and thankfully Brad knew the second one (teamwork)! Neither of us could name the correct third answer (we did not need to name three so it was all good).

We moved up to fourth, not enough to put us in the prize zone (yet again), standings did not change. Seriously, we’re going to have to start rounding up other players from the street just to help us with these pesky mystery rounds! Trouble is the bar we play these games is right by a bus depot, AND a strip club (though technically the strip club isn’t open…yet, we keep hearing that it’s supposed to open again).

Game Two/Round Three

9 Song Lyrics – What Yiddish phrase meaning “good luck” appears in the lyrics of the song “I gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas?

10 Lakes – The largest freshwater lake above 7,000 feet in North America is located in, and shares its name with, what Western U.S. National Park?

11 Olympics – Name either of the gymnasts who were part of the “Fierce Five” in 2012 and the “Final Five” in 2016.

NERD POINT: Name both.

12 Radio – What radio personality known primarily by her first name has hosted a nightly syndicated request and syndication radio show since 1996 that has an estimated weekly listenership of more than 8 million?

Missed #10 and #11.

Mystery Round Three – Election Pick ‘Em

From the following list of seven U.S. states, choose the four whose electoral votes went to George W. Bush in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election

Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Virginia

Managed to pick three correct states, six points for us.

Round Four

13 Studies – What letter is found in the ten-letter term for the study of insects but NOT in the nine-letter term for the study of words and their origins?

14 Sports Movies – The 2013 Ron Howard film Rush centers on competitors in what sport?

15 Couples – Since 2006, musician Keith Urban has been married to what actress?

16 Colors – Which of the following best describes the color puce – light blue, bright yellow, dark red, or light gray?

Missed #14.

Mystery Round Four

“Leap” People

Give the first and last names of the people described by the following clues, all of whom have initials found in the word leap – L, E, A and P.

M1 Actor who plays Viktor Hargreaves on The Umbrella Academy

M2 Basketball Hall of Famer whose number 33 is retired by the New York Knicks

M3 Brazilian model who was named the most valuable Victoria’s Secret Angel in 2017

M4 Jazz musician and trumpeter known for his renditions of “Hello, Dolly!” and “When the Saints Go Marching In”

Only got #4 correct.

And how exactly does a Victoria’s Secret Angel prove herself to be “most valuable?” Questions abound!

We were again in fifth place out of seven teams going into the final, this time with 39 points. Solo player Mike was in first with 51 points, tied with 24-Hour Brunch, and Isla’s College Fund was right behind them with 49 points. Street Smarts had just a slightly less rough time of it than us, with them in fourth with 44 points. They’ve been the top dog team at this place for a couple of seasons, they are always THE team to beat (though of course not the ONLY team to beat)!

Final Category – Capital Cities

Brad was hoping it would be about European capital cities, but he was not disappointed in the question at all (in fact, he was our game MVP for knowing the answers)!

Name two of the three Canadian provinces whose capital cities are named in honor of royal women.

And that’s what we’d call a “Bradagory!” Categories about stuff that Brad knows! You should hear him talk about sports teams moves, ABA teams, European capital cities (when he was in the hospital in 2012 we quizzed him on European capitals when we visited him). He enjoyed it!

All but one of the teams that were ahead of us before the final got this, so again, no prizes for us! We have not won any gift card prizes during this calendar year yet, except that one random $5 music bingo prize I won a few weeks ago! Trivia prizes? What are those?

We wound up finishing in third overall, which for us? Not TOO bad! The last time we finished this high overall was January 14. Like our cephalopod mascots, we’ve proven to be rather slow at crawling out from under our rocks and scaring away any of the other predators! Except maybe with our horrible, horrible fashion sense!

Our Sunday games will be a near game day decision from here on out. And we don’t know if trivia will be canceled for St. Patrick’s Day, which falls on a Sunday. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Adriana Lima!