Wednesday evening started out innocently enough for the two of us – since I had an early shift, we decided to hit up what was left of happy hour at the “Corner Brewery.” That plan didn’t work out so well, since we didn’t get there before happy hour ended at 5 p.m.! Yeah, some happy hours sure aren’t what they used to be before the pandemic, are they?

So we ordered our drinks and…got a Messenger message from our longtime buddy Brad, whom incidentally is one of the few remaining “teammates” we have left these days. Long story short, we moved from the bar to a table close “enough” to the trivia area to be able to hear the quetions – and see them posted on the big screen. When Brad arrived, he said “sure” when I asked about whether or not he wanted to play, so…

Trivia then? All righty! Had I planned a bit better, my phone wouldn’t have been gasping at its last breaths of battery life toward the game’s end!

We didn’t win any prizes, but managed to finish in sixth in game one thanks to a cowardly wager on the category of Song Titles. Amazingly, we did get one part of the question correct just by wild guessing!

Here were our questions, some of which may be abbreviated when noted. Also, I didn’t get one of these mystery rounds down, but it had to with the alphabet and celebrity names (sorry):

Game One/Round One

1 Documentaries – McMillions is a 2020 limited series based on a scandal involving what board game? This question is abbreviated, I did not get it all in its entirety. Lucky guess…

2 Senses – Hyperopia is a condition that affects which of the five traditional senses?

3 Book Settings – In literary works by P.L. Travers, what family lives at 17 Cherry Tree Lane, where children named MIchael and Jane have caused a number of nannies to quit? “Family in Mary Poppins” was not accepted as a correct answer here!

5 Countries – Of the five sovereign nations that make up the Nordic countries, name one of the two that are not part of the European Union.

NERD POINT: Name both.

Nope and Nope…total miss for us.

Mystery Round One – Pixelated Sports Logos

Apologies, got these images piecemeal from my husband…

Got all of these correct, thanks to Brad! Woot!

5 Top Tens – Audio clue…had to ID the artist. Anyone who didn’t was Rick Rolled!

6 Celebrations – Chinese, Japanese and Korean cultures all have celebrations for when a child turns how many days old, an event that takes place prior to their first birthday? FB clue.

7 Food – What dish with a name from Greek usually served as a dip, soup, or sauce is made of yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil and herbs? Mike got all excited because he LOVES this stuff!

8 Magazines – What magazine co-founded by model Helena Christensen in 1999 has a five-letter name that was chosen as a reference to two major fashion capitals, but is also a term for a synthetic material? Good guess.

Mystery Round Two – Asian Actors

M1 I was born in South Korea and moved to the U.S. at one year old. My regular TV roles have included Jin on Lost, Chin Ho Kelly on Hawaii Five-O and Gavin Park on Angel. Who am I?

M2 I was born in California to a Thai father and Hmong mother. My regular TV roles have included London Tipton on The Suite Life with Zach and Cody and Madison Maxwell on Dollface. Who am I?

M3 I was born in Chicago and am of Indian descent through my father. My regular TV roles have included Abed Nadir on Community and Brad Bakshi and Mythic Quest. Who am I?

M4 I was born in Hawaii and am of Filipino and Native Hawaiian descent. Though best known for mmusic, I have also appeared on TV as a panelist on The Masked Singer and as a judge on the X Factor. Who am I?

Total goose egg this round. Anyone else hated mystery rounds with a theme connected to a “month?” We just tend to be awful at these every…damn…time!

We had 39 points going into the final, unsure what place this put us. We decided “nope” when deciding whether to wager on…

Final Question Game One – Song Titles

In the beginning of 2010, four different songs with titles beginning with the word “All” have reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Name three of the four artists who recorded those songs.

Game Two/Round Three

9 2023 Albums – In 2023, what band released the album “But Here We Area,” its first without drummer Taylor Hawkins sine the 1997 album “The Color and the Shape?” I just love it when Brad asks me point blank, “How do you know this one?”

10 Science – Lepidopterology is the scientific study of butterflies and what other group of insects? Speaking of Brad, Mr. Zoologist stepped in for the hit here.

11 Musicals – John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock are among the characters in what 1969 Broadway production that won the Tony Award for best musical?

I’d be lying if I said this was the first time that my mom’s old Mad magazines helped me get a trivia question correct! Yup, there was a parody of this musical mentioned in one of those old magazines! Another time the old magazines helped me get a question correct involved a final question – in which we had to name a Stanley Kubrick film named for people.

This was the question, which we had in 2016 at the YpsiAlehouse:

From 1960-1975, Stanley Kubrick directed four films with named title characters. Name two of those characters.

I seem to remember being the only team to have remembered the Ryan O’Neal film – and all because of Mad! Its parody name was “Borey Lyndon.” I remember having to really sell my teammates on how I knew this obscure answer!

Sorry, no mystery round…

12 Team Names – In May, 2024, it was announced that the Bay Area WNBA expansion team set to begin play in 2025 would have what team name, derived from Norse mythology?

I believe this is the ONLY time we’ve EVER gotten a WNBA question correct! 🙂

Mystery Round Three – Not the Capital

Answer the questions related to U.S. cities that share their names with the capital cities of different states other than the state in which they are located.

M1 Third most populous city of Massachusetts after Boston and Worcester

M2 Home to the Master’s Tournament is the third-most populous city in Georgia after Atlanta and Columbus

M3 The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumpter on April 12, 1862 near what city in South Carolina

M4 Hormel Foods headquartered in what Minnesota city which is home to the Spam Museum

Another poor, poor mystery round for us, only got one of these correct.

Round Four –

These questions will all be heavily abbreviated…

13 Remakes – Addison Rae stars in a 2021 film – a gender swapped version of what 1999 romantic comedy film – starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Freddie Prinze Jr.?

14 Video Games – Fire hydrants, storm drains, skateboarders, storm drains and the Grim Reaper are among the obstacles in what video game released in 1985?

Miss.

15 TV Actresses – Name two of the three series in which Alyson Hannigan appeared in more than 100 episodes.

NERD POINT: Name all three.

Got two, the third totally escaped us.

16 Mascots – In the 1970s, what brand of pickles featured a stork resembling Groucho Marx as its mascot? Anyone ever drive through the area where these pickles used to be made? Unsure if they’re still made there anymore, but yeah, they used to have a pickle factory in Imlay City, MI. Warning – if you dare to drive through this area, a three-hour drive will seem more like 10 because of all of the flat, flat, farm fields after farm fields after farm fields! Do NOT use the “avoid highways” option by Google if traveling in this area (trust me)!

Final Question Game Two:

During the 49th season of Saturday Night Live, which ran from October, 2021 to May, 2024, four former cast members served as host of an episode. Name two of those former cast members who returned to host during the season.

Nope, we had no clue here, but lots of teams wound up getting this one (good for you guys)!

We’ll be (gasp) doing ANOTHER trivia game tonight! IKR? Doing multiple trivia games weekly wasn’t no thing back in the day, now it just seems like a big deal when we can even do one game with teammates besides just my husband and I!

As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Mr. Banks and your snotty kids!