I guess you can never be too careful about when you answer nature’s call during trivia games, can you?

All Hell broke loose following a recent My Trivia Live game at McShane’s Pub in Ypsilanti, MI about…just that! There we were all slack-jawed at our first place win thanks 100 percent to one of our player’s extraordinary knowledge of 1990s music! Too bad that excitement had to be completely ruined by having the trivia host approach us after the game telling us that two other trivia players had taken issue with one of our players taking a potty break. He had handed our final answer slip DIRECTLY to the host – THEN went to the restroom. Which we thought was OK, especially during regular league play (this was not a “money” or deciding trivia tournament game which has strict potty break rules). If there are rules that a trivia host states on the mic during games, we do our darndest to follow those rules (like keeping phones put away). So if such a rule about when we’re allowed – and not allowed – to use restrooms had been stated on the mic – we’d follow that rule, too. That’s how dorky we are, and for the record, there were two former Girl Scouts playing on our team on that particular night (how much more goody-goody can ya get)?

All of us playing that night – two of us “regulars” from my own team – and two borrowed longtime players from another team – thought we knew the proper protocol for bathroom (or washroom if you’re Canadian) breaks. Apparently not!

We very understandably took considerable offense to this. Show of hands – who wants to be wrongfully accused of anything – let alone (gasp) cheating in a trivia game? Though the host said “I don’t think you were cheating,” and did not disqualify us, it still made us feel kinda…icky.

I get it. I’m occasionally too competitive for my own good during trivia games (though I have tried to tone that down considerably especially after the pandemic). Not everyone’s gonna cheer you on when you win first place.

Put me on a stand in front of a judge (preferably an English high court judge wearing a powdered wig) and I’ll swear up and down under oath to a barrister (also wearing a powdered wig) that we came upon our final answer completely legitimately by use of our own brains (well, one brain more than others) – and were not aided by the use of electronic devices, mental telepathy with Ken Jennings, Encyclopedia Brittanica, or that lovely reference librarian from our local library that we have on speed dial (JK, JK)!

Next time we play at McShane’s we’re going to INSIST that any protocol involving bathrooms breaks be clearly stated by the host on the mic to (hopefully) avoid this kind of BS in the future. BTW, McShane’s has “single seater” style bathrooms, which means you use ’em while the gettin’s good sometimes!

Now that I’ve gotten all of this out of the way (whew if I were saying these as actual words I’d have to catch my breath) – how about some really, really abbreviated questions?

Round One

Sports – Caitlyn Clark of the Indiana Fever is a point guard in what sport?

Same Name – What common pair for peanut butter is also a slang term for envy?

Mythical Creatures – What mythical creature has a body, tail and back legs of a lion with the wings, talons and head of an eagle?

Round Two

Tools – A spinning wheel and spindles are used to turn wool into what?

Government Publications – What U.S. government agency’s annual calendar features thousands of examples of explosives detecting canines?

Animals – How many humps does a dromedary have?

Round Three

Islands – Located in Nunavut, which island is the largest in Canada?

Transportation – The Honda spree is what type of vehicle?

NASA – NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory operates out of which West Coast university? Miss.

Halftime – World Music

Identify the names of the countries submitting the following pieces of music on the space shuttle Voyager’s time capsule called the “Golden Record,” when given the names of the works and the composers:

H1 Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

H2 Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring

H3 Chuck Berry, Johnny B Goode

H4 – Mozart, The Magic Flute

Initially we had all four answers correct. Then we flip-flopped two of these, so…four points.

We were in seventh going into the final with 29 points, Beethoven’s something or other had 36 points and were in first.

Round Four

Birds – The California Gull is which landlocked U.S. state’s bird? Miss.

Advertising – Ella Fitzgerald was the spokeswoman for what brand in the 1970s and 1980s? Miss.

Medicine – According to the World Health Organization, what country has the most doctors per capita? We used our word of the day to avoid having to answer this for six points – and yes we were glad we did…

Round Five

Justice – What Department of Justice investigation launched in 1986 which investigated corruption and fraud involving nine government officials and included the prosecution of Secretary of the Navy Melvyn Paisley? Miss.

Pseudonyms – Film director John Hughes co-wrote the movie Beethoven under what pseudonym taken from classic literature? Thankfully our answer didn’t have to be spelled correctly…

Songs – Que Sera Sera is the signature song of what actress?

Round Six

Prom Night – What U.S. president’s daughter had their high school prom at the White House?

Celebrity Marriages – What is the first and last name of the N’SYNC band member who married Jessica Simpson? Fist bump for Kim here woot!
Sports – What is DP an abbreviation for? Sorry there was more to this question but I didn’t get it all down.

We were tied with Nope with 51 points going into the final with Spacecats in first with 65 points.

Our final question category was very exciting for Kim, who joked “Maybe it will be one-hit wonders from the 1990s or something like that…” She was close!

Final Category – 1990s Music

What song released in 1999 contains nine samples including one from Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, an electric piano riff and had a video directed by Spike Jonze and Roman Coppola?

Kim immediately had it narrowed down to two possibilities, but we ultimately went with the one that was correct. We were the only team to get this correct, but as you already know, we were obviously meant to not enjoy this victory. Shake it off? Literally? It was a guy going to use the bathroom, after all!

We’ll be taking a break from MTL games next week which should make at least two of the teams from McShane’s happy! We promise we’ll ask permission every time we need to use the restroom like we’re following prison rules!

As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Fatboy Slim!