We visited a trivia spot Sunday evening that we hadn’t visited for trivia since 2019. For a number of years, (I don’t know exactly how many) Powell’s Pub, which calls itself a “Five Star Dive Bar” or something to that effect, had a lively Monday night trivia scene, until those came to an end sometime before the Plague. When we played there, the trivia scene featured a mix of completely trivia-addicted “barhop” teams (hey I’m not judging), who play several times a week as a means to advance straight to finals and avoid semifinal games. Also in the mix were a handful of “regular” teams whom, for the most part, played exclusively at Powell’s, or claimed it as their “home bar.”

We threw our hats in the ring at Powell’s for a couple of seasons in 2018, and managed to be top home team both times. Sometimes we get lucky?

These days, there really aren’t any “regular” teams playing week after week exclusively at Powell’s. Host Stacy has some teams from her other shows coming out to fill the ranks, and a couple of barhop teams, too. She told me that four of her shows had to be called off for lack of players.

So we answered Stacy’s plea for us to pretty please come out – and I “guess” I’m not sorry we did it! I recruited two of my longtime trivia compadres to help me out – my husband Mike, and our eccentric buddy Brad. Who am I kidding – all three of us are pretty eccentric!

Here’s a pic of all of us from several years ago (at a different bar) looking cooler than we actually are (lol)! Please note that we’re NOT “cool” at all – we are complete dorks!

We didn’t end up knowing the final question answer (big surprise), but we finished with a respectable 67 points and a second place/$20 prize.

Now how about some very heavily abbreviated questions that I absolutely did not write down word for word? OK!

Round One

Firsts – Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on what heavenly body?

Fast Food – A McDonalds Quarter Pounder is how many ounces in weight before cooking?

Retail – What Ann Arbor, MI based retailer operated Waldenbooks before declaring bankruptcy in 2011?

Round Two

Instruments – A Taiko is a percussion instrument native to what island nation?

Social Media – MySpace was the most used social media site until what other social media site took over?

SCIENCE! – In its most basic form, anything containing volume and mass is considered what? Miss.

Round Three

Racing – Gazoo Racing is a racing division of what automaker? Miss.

TV Actors – Who played President Bartlett on The West Wing?

Animated Animals – On the animated series Tiny Toon Adventures, what kind of animals are Hekkyl and Jekkyl?

Halftime – Vegan – or Not?

Indicate whether or not the following four things are vegan or not.

H1 Caesar Salad dressing

H2 Crocs (in their current form)

H3 Nutella

H4 Wool socks

Missed #3.

We were in third going into the final with 31 points.

Round Four

Unusual Disasters – A massive molasses spill occurred in 1919 after a 2 million tank of it exploded in what U.S. city? This was clearly an “either ya know it or you don’t” question (thankfully we did).

Same Name – What is the three letter name for a broad flat area of desert in the Sahara and also a unit of work in physics?

Mike was thankfully all over this (Mr. Crossword)! Sometimes he really saves our asses on obscure word questions!

2000s Music – Charting at #1 in 2007, what song with a girl’s name in the title was the highest charting one for the Plain White Ts?

Round Five

Independence – In 2002, what island nation declared its independence from Indonesia?

Sports – What famed general competed in the 1912 Olympics pentathalon event?

Emoji Origins – What emoji had its origins in a 1998 Japanese TV show as chronicled on the recent Hulu documentary series The Contestant? Funny, our original guess was correct, but we weren’t confident and used our freebie magic word answer that this league lets you do once per game.

Round Six

Controversies – What little boy was the center of an immigration and customs dispute with Cuba in 2000?

Reality TV – What Oscar nominated actress from the 1994 film Bullets Over Broadway also will be appearing on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for its 14th season in 2024? I picked the wrong actress but had the right film. But…

No teams got this, so Stacy threw this out and used this alternate question..

What word from the old French meaning “stray beast” has also been used to describe the models Twiggy and Kate Moss? Psst, it’s not “bulimic!”

Logos – What two primary colors make up the Domino’s logo?

We were in first with 67 points going into the final, ten whole points ahead of the next highest scoring team. This is about when I rather prophetically said, “All we have to do now is fuck up the final question.”

Brand Names

Introduced in 1922, what grain-based product made by LuxCo has a website promoting its uses as a cleaner, especially behind the bar?

When the answer was revealed, I said “Well, it DOES clean out your insides!”

Truth be told, because this product had had a restraining order against me since 2009, I am not allowed to say or write its name as part of that restraining order.

KIDDING! I know lots of people who have bad experiences with the consumption of certain adult beverages swear they will never drink them again…but do anyway.

Not me, no SIR! I will NOT drink this stuff ever, ever again (that and any dark rums or Southern Discomfort).

They keep the AC nicely cranked high in this place, which pleases my cold blooded tendencies. I do not do well in heat at all, not since I was a kid and passed out in 114 degree heat at a theme park and had to spend the rest of the day in First Aid (no roller coasters for me). This might be a good summer trivia spot!

One game at a time…one game at a time. That’s our mantra these days!

Don’t count your baby octopuses before they hatch? Burn the bridge after you cross it? Don’t make any wooden nickels?

Sorry, I never was too great at figures of speech! 😃

On the “other” trivia league front (Sporcle Events), we have no specific plans for now. We may try making a run at a Globe Game if any spots remain when our RSVP window opens. We certainly won’t be getting excited about outdoor trivia games when it’s scorching hot.

Wherever and whenever we decide to play, Go Pods, and stay classy, George Patton!