It was the trivia night that was nearly not to be (for two of us, anyway)!

The plan was for my husband Mike and I to meet another couple (Kim and Brent) at McShane’s Pub for trivia. But our silly car didn’t want to do its best Rudolph impression and guide us there in the dark!

Won’t you guide our car tonight – or do we need that gimmicky reindeer?

We pulled over at a drive-in restaurant called the Chick Inn so we could try to figure out why our low-beam headlights were not working (only the high beams and parking lights seemed to work).

Not wanting to attempt a repair after dark, we texted the others to tell them we weren’t going to risk the drive. She said they were already on the way – and could they just pick us up? So I said something along the lines of:

“Oh sure!”

We wound up taking first place/$30, thanks mainly to a favorable question set for our combined brains. Kim and I chalked up our “girl power” as the reason we knew a soap opera answer, Kim’s musical mojo helped us with an obscure R&B song question and last but not least – Mike helped jog my memory about the title of a super boring movie we attempted to watch a few years ago but stopped partway through because we were bored to tears – helping us get 10 points on the halftime round! And he so adorably tries to say he’s the weakest link on our team! 😂

And here I go with some super abbreviated questions:

Round One

Trees – What type of tree’s acorns are especially appealing to squirrels?

Volcanoes – What volcano erupted in Washington on May 18, 1980? Hey I remember that!

Space – A mini what was stuck in orbit for two months around Earth in 2024? Mike took a swing and hit a home run here.

Round Two

Games – What type of object is used in the sport of Ultimate? Mike and I used to play this sport for a few years! Boy I’d sure love to throw around one of these again! The pinnacle of talent is to be able to hold a beer in one hand and throw and catch with your other hand without putting down or spilling your beer! 🍻

Ok, OK, maybe no beer during league play! But at a hippie music festival? Hells yeah!

Baseball – The Mudhens team plays in what city roughly one hour from Detroit?

Albums – Whose Cowboy Carter country album received 11 Grammy nods but no CMA nominations?

Round Three

Advertising – Diane Amos has served as the spokesperson for what multi surface cleaner since 1993? Miss.

Soap Operas – “Beyond Salem” is a spinoff of what long-running soap opera streaming on Peacock?

British English – What is the British word for suspenders? Since I work in a place that sells clothing and accessories, I’ve come to learn a few wacky words that people from overseas use for clothing and other things. Imagine how slack-jawed I was when a Brit asked me to show him where the “jumpers” were! Through a brief verbal exchange, I figured out that he wanted a sweater vest. Hey, someone needs to buy them or else why would anyone make them? 🤔

The actress on the left is in one of the movies described below!

Halftime – From the Movie Reviews

I didn’t get all of the wording for these word for word, so I’ll just include brief descriptions of the films we had to identify:

H1 Kristen Wiig co-writer, womens’ journey and female friendship

H2 Timothy Chalamet, a 2017 role that catapulted his career out of obscurity

H3 Directed by Richard Linklater, filmed over a 12-year period,

H3 Film directed by Jane Campion receiving 12 Oscar nominations, “unique ride of a movie.”

Got all of these.

Halftime scores: We were in first with 36 barely ahead of More Beer Less Pants and We Were Never Here who were in third trailing MBLP by just one point. There were nine teams total.

Round Four

Geography – What is the word for a ring-shaped island made of coral?

Classic TV – What syndicated series starring Don Cornelius debuted in 1971?
Supreme Court – What Supreme Court justice known for being a swing vote retired in 2018?

Round Five

Science – What element with atomic number 89 is first alphabetically? Miss.

2000s Music – What R&B hit named for a dessert by Group 112 hit the charts in the early 2000s?

Authors – F. Scott Fitzgerald met what future wife while stationed in Alabama?

Round Six

Treaties – What 1848 treaty ended the Mexican American War and paved the way for the Gadsden Purchase?

Souvenirs – A komboloi is a Greek souvenir made of what shiny objects?

Apps – What streaming service features a red letter N over a black background?

We remained in first going into the final with 70 points with MBLP behind us by just two points, and We Were Never Here behind them with 65 points.

Our final question in the category of Vegetables:

According to USDA reports what is the most consumed vegetable per capita in the United States based on overall availability?

We agonized over a couple of possibilities finally settled on one that would be correct.

That was probably our last trivia game of 2024 (though we may squeeze in a music bingo game). As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Kirsten Dunst! Boy did you rock the bell bottoms in Fargo!