We brought a never before used lineup of players to a recent trivia game at the “Corner Brewery,” in Ypsilanti, MI which officially is called “Arbor Brewing Company Microbrewery.” For going on the past 13 years, “Corner” has had a bustling Wednesday night trivia scene, which we know all too well! It’s the trivia spot closest to our home, and we started playing there at the very beginning, doing so for about four years or so. After that, it became a more occasional place for us to play than a regular one, with us finding other trivia spots in the trivia “seas” in which to sink – or swim.

Speaking of sinking? Those final questions sunk us! We wound up finishing 13th overall, despite having really decent regular rounds. Warm-up game? We’ll do better next time out!

Special shout out to Terry R. from the longtime team Your Resume Sucks – for the generous holiday gift!

As for our player lineup, we had three of our “OGs,” who’ve all played from the beginning, including myself, my husband Mike and our dear friend Brad. New to our lineup was Andrew F., whom joined us for the very first time at a recent Sporcle Events Globe Game, helping us win second place/$250! We were also joined by Kevin S., whom previously played with his own team called Ennui before the pandemic. Kevin has also backed us up at a few tournament games.

The verdict? By golly, I think we might finally have a team again! A number of things over the years have caused our team numbers to shrink, including moves out of state, people losing interest in trivia, personality conflicts (pour me a drink or two and I’ll tell you all about some of those incidents in grisly details, lol), people leaving to form their own teams in different towns, players having life changes at home – you name it, we’ve had it all happen to us!

In that regard, trivia teams are really not that different from rock ‘n roll bands (and not just because of the occasional drama)! Lineups change, people leave, people from other bands/teams might join your team permanently or just be a “guest star” for a gig or two. We like to joke that we’ve had more “guest stars” play with us than the Love Boat! Or for a more recent pop culture reference – Friends? Doesn’t that show have a lot of guest stars too (I’ve only seen one episode of it, but since I don’t live under a rock I might have accidentally absorbed a little bit of knowledge about it)!

We’re not going to be able to commit to playing regular weekly games at Corner, but we will try to play here at least once a month. We’ll still maintain our “dual citizenship” by playing occasionally at McShane’s Pub in the My Trivia Live league as well.

Game One/Round One

1 Zodiac – What sign of the Western zodiac is symbolized by a ram?

2 Insurance – GEICO was founded in 1936 to provide auto insurance to what type of employees, as referenced by the “G” in its name?

3 U.S. History – The American Civil War began with the April 1861 bombardment of what fort near Charleston, South Carolina?

4 Countries – Three countries on the Atlantic coast of Africa have names that include what word that is also found in the name of an island country near Australia?

Got all of these.

Mystery Round One – Last Christmas – Audio

We had to listen to FOUR DIFFERENT COVER versions of this damn song. We did manage to get two of these correct.

Round Two

5 Disney Channel – What actress appears on more total episodes of the Suite Life of Zach & Cody and the Suite Life on Deck than any performer other than Cole and Dylan Sprouse? Miss. We had the correct first name, but not the correct last name…

6 Taglines – What word completes the tagline for the 2014 film Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt – “Live. Die. (BLANK)?”

7 Measures – A standard blood pressure reading measures two different values of pressure, each known by a different name. Name one of those two terms.

NERD POINT: Name both.

8 Advertising – A four-year-old character named “Little Mikey” was featured in advertisements beginning in the 1970s for what Quaker Oats cereal, which has varieities including original, cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate?

Mystery Round Two – Winter Olympic Sports

M1 Game in which two teams of four players each slide stones over a stretch of ice toward a target circle

M2 Sport made up of a ski jumping portion followed by a cross-country skiing race

M3 Sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down and head first

M4 Sports in which singles competitors perform a short program and a free skate

Got all of these.

We were in second going into the final question with 48 points, one point behind Beers for Queers, who had 49 points. My Type on Paypah was tied with us, and the remaining teams behind us were divided by just 1-2 points, so yeah, it was a very competitive night of trivia!
Final Question Category – Presidential History

The “Air Force One” call sign was created for the U.S. president’s plane following an incident in which a commercial air craft using the same flight number entered the same airspace. EITHER name the decade in which this took place OR name the U.S, president who was the first to fly using the “Air Force One” call sign.

Damn, we missed this…we were one president too late. Oh well, moods were good on this evening, we just shrugged it off (meh).

Round Three/Game Two

9 Candy – The tropical variety of Skittles candy includes five flavors, one of which combines lime with what non-citrus flavor? Miss.

10 Title Roles – Actress Keri Russell plays the title character, a college student in New York City, on what series that aired on the WB from 1998-2002?

11 Football – Name one of the two West Coast schools that play an annual college football game known as “The Big Game,” the 1982 version of which ended with a touchdown while the band was on the field.

NERD POINT: Name both.

12 Video Games – What 2015 video game developed by Psyonix has been described as “soccer, but with rocket-powered cars?”

Got all of these. We didn’t recognize the “A” movie at all, but deduced its order by correctly guessing that it was made fairly recently (though I had to look closely to make sure Tyler Perry’s Madea character wasn’t in it, which would have thrown me off)!

Is anyone else in the mood to watch the Solar Opposites holiday special now after seeing image “C?”

Round Four

13 Animals – What animal native to the Arctic has a scientific name from the Greek meaning “Single-tooth single horn?”

14 #1 Hits – What 2000 single, the only #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 by NSYNC, has a music video featuring members of the band as dolls inside a toy store attempting to be bought by a woman? Wow, that’s creepy, weird and exploitative (I love it)!

15 Railroads – The first transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869, ran from San Francisco to the eastern bank of what river?

16 Stories – What object completes the following quote from the short story The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry – “I sold the (BLANK) to get the money to buy your combs?”

Mystery Round Four – “S.C.” is comin’ to town

Give the first and last names of the people described by the following clues, all of whom have the initials SC

M1 Host of The Late Show since 2015

M2 “King of Soul” known for the top ten hits “Shake” and “Chain Gang”

M3 Actress who plays First Lady Abbey Bartlet on the West Wing

M4 Director who made his feature directorial debut with the 1999 film The Virgin Suicides

Got all of these.

I didn’t get a screen capture in time to get the scores going into the final, but I think we were in first with 53 points.

Final Category – Surnames

According to data from Ancestry.com, the surnames Smith and Johnson combine to be the most common in 45 U.S. states. Four other surnames combine to be the most common in the other five states – California, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas. Name one of those four surnames.

This kind of question is always a crapshoot, and unless one of your players was lucky enough to have recently read an article about the subject and have the answer fresh in their heads, it pretty much comes down to wild guessing. And we guessed…wrong.

Again, oh well! Our pre-final game scores were good enough to convince us that we just might have a chance if we actually bring a team to play here! Even with just 4-5 players I think we’d hold our own just fine! We almost had six players on this night, but our sixth man forgot about it!

That’s it for our trivial pursuits until after Christmas. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Dwight Eisenhower!