For those of you out there who, for whatever reason, regularly read the recaps of trivia games that I post here, I’m sure you have your reasons! Maybe you need something to read that might help lull you to sleep, or perhaps you like the “toilet reading.” Sure, it’s possible that you genuinely love trivia, like I do. If so, we have that in common!

What other things do I love? Well, sandwiches, for one! If I had to choose only one type of food to eat the rest of my days, sandwiches would be on my short list. Hell, if I were a condemned felon and had to choose a last meal, some kind of sandwich and fries or chips would probably be it! Behold one of my favorite subs from a local spot in Ann Arbor called DiBella’s. If you only knew how much I painfully missed this place when they had to temporarily shut down because of a fire!

So what’s with all of this food porn, you ask? It’s about that time that two of my biggest loves of my life converged – trivia and sandwiches – and how it ultimately led to disaster, despair and complete disappointment! 😦

Last night at Original Gravity Brewing Company in Milan, I was all excited about being able to use some trivia winnings to buy a sandwich for my lunch break at work the following day. So I ordered the turkey pastrami sandwich to go – pastrami seasoned turkey breast, Vermont cheddar, onion and chive cream cheese, horseradish and lettuce/tomato/onion on sourdough. They had a sign stating that there was a backup on food orders, no worries, I put my order in an hour ahead.

Fast forward to the next morning, when I’m getting ready for work, so I opened the fridge, and….and…

Here’s an AI generated image of a generic horrified female face…(this is kind of how my hair looks in the morning lol)

MY SANDO WASN’T THERE! I HAD LEFT IT IN THE CAR OVERNIGHT! They’ve made horror movies about these things, haven’t they?? If my husband wasn’t sleeping upstairs, I would have belted out a blood curdling scream! A quiet “fuck” uttered under my breath would have to suffice.

I didn’t have the time or the supplies to make a sammie myself, so I grabbed a bag of cashews and figured I’d take my chances with the vending machine (I chose a pair of Grandma’s soft baked peanut butter cookies) . It was the lunch of…sadness and desperation (though protein packed)… sigh…I picked up some Jimmy John’s at a drive-thru on my way home but, it wasn’t the same!

On the positive side, it was a pretty fun trivia game! We won a first place prize in game one after a tiebreaker, and we beat ALL of the teams we set out to beat. My husband Mike and I were joined by our longtime Pods OG Dave and special guest Kim S. I’ve been trying to lure her away from cozy virtual trivia games by giving her a taste of in-person games again!

This was the first Thursday I had available to go out for a trivia game in more than 100,000 minutes. You know how people like to say they haven’t done “x” thing in a minute when what they really mean is a long time? Yeah, that! I used a nifty online time calculator to figure out how many minutes had elapsed between June 6 and August 15.

Now that I’ve made all of you hungry for sandwiches, let’s move on to trivia questions from the game!

Round One

1 Fruit – On average, water makes up what percentage of watermelon – 68, 80, 92, or 99 percent? Hit.

2 British fashion designer Mary Quant is one of several people credited with inventing and commercializing what article of clothing in the 1960s, which she may have named after a type of compact car that she liked? Hit.

3 Judges – Judge Marilyn Milian served as the arbitrator for the final 22 seasons of what TV series prior to its cancelation in 2023? Her lengthy tenure surpassed that of her predecessors, Joseph Wapner. Did anyone else talk about the movie Rain Man while discussing the answer? Hit.

4 Elections – Within four, in what year was the most recent U.S. presidential election in which the Libertarian Party candidate did not finish third in the popular vote?

NERD POINT: What candidate finished third that year?

Got the nerd point, missed the other part.

Mystery Round One

Twisted Titles

The correct response to each part is the title of a film directed by Guillermo del Toro with just one letterchanged. Give the new film title with just one letter changed.

M1 CharlIe Hunnam and Idris Elba use liquor made from sugarcane to battle gigantic monsters (2013)

M2 An inked writing utensil that believes itself to be the reincarnation of a princess from the underworld must complete a series of tasks (2006)

I didn’t get the last two down…we were in the midst of switching tables, but we did get the whole round correct.

Round Two

5 Rocks – What lightweight, porous volcanic rock floats in water and is commonly used for personal care, such as to remove hair or skin? Hit.

6 The Moscow Canal is almost 80 miles long and connects the city to what river that flows into the Caspian Sea? Miss.

7 Slogans – What restaurant chain, named for a literary character, has used the slogan “We speak fish?” Hit.

8 Soundtracks -What song by Kelis, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2003, is featured on the soundtrack for the film Mean Girls? Hit for Kim.

Mystery Round Two

We got all of these correct (I did nothing to help). Nice work, Dave!

We were in first with 48 points, tied with regular top dogs Josh Pit. Another former regular OG team Mind The Gap, whom only recently returned to OG, was in third with 43 points. These old trivia rivalries from the long long ago die hard (I love being in the thick of it again, it’s a shame we can’t play here more often).

Final Category Asia

Among the six countries that share a land border with India, which one is both the smallest by area and by population? This country is landlocked and is outside the top 30 in both total area and population.

We got this correct and so did our competitors tied with us, so we had to duke out a tiebreaker:

How many sovereign nations are larger than South Korea in total area?

We guessed 122, the correct answer was 106 and our guess was closest. So I went up and ordered that sandwich that I would not be able to eat!

Game Two/Round Three

9 Reality TV- The reality TV series Deadliest Catch follows vessels and their crews who are fishing for what animal?

10 Brand Names – What brand of tools and other equipment was founded in 1927 and was owned by Sears until being purchased by Black & Decker in 2017? Hit.

11 Brand Names – Because of a geographical oddity known as the Northwest Angle, what Midwest US state is farther north than NY other state except Alaska? FB clue.

12 Basketball- Active from 1998-2020, initially with the Toronto Raptors, who is the only player in NBA history to have played in four different decades? Miss.

Mystery Round Three

Artist Pick ‘Em

From the following list of seven artists, choose the four who were French born.

Morisot, Degas, Gauguin, Klein, Cassatt, Rubens, Basquiat

Got three correct.

13 Star Wars – What Star Wars character played by Daisy Ridley is first introduced in The Force Awakens as an orphan scavenger living on the planet Jakku? Hit.

14 Outer Space – On November 14, 1971, Mariner 9 orbited what planet – the first planet other than Earth to be orbited by a spacecraft? Miss.

15 Audio question…got it

16 Prisons – What prison had a band of inmates called the Rock Islanders, which gave regular Sunday concerts? Hit.

Mystery Round Four

Name the group or solo artist based on their first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist. The year in which the song was released is also given.

M1 SOS, 2006

M2 Bills, Bills, Bills, 1999

M3 Wrecking Ball, 2013

M4 Whatever You Like, 2008

Got all of these, nice teamwork Kim and Dave (I only knew one).

We were in third going into the final with 48 points. TTPD with 49 points and Katie is better with 55 points were both ahead of us.

Final Category: Cars

Among the top 25 best selling cars, trucks and SUVs in the US in 2023, three have model names beginning with “E.” Give those three model names.

Two out of three ain’t bad? What, only in Meat Loaf lyrics? Six teams got this correct, we did not and dropped to seventh, but finished in second overall with 96 points, behind Chippy and Friends with 99 points. We’ll take a bridesmaid prize! Katie took first with 70, TTPD took second with 64 points.

After the game, a woman from another team was very friendly to me and congratulated us on how we did. She also said “We only had four of our players tonight.” I told her that we’re lucky if we can ever get that many players! Another nice thing happened in the restroom, when a little girl exiting a stall warned me that the lock was difficult to engage. Someone is raising that girl right! Bathroom courtesy is so important!

We’re in “One Game at a Time” mode for the time being, no real plans for our next outing as of yet. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Basquiat!