Scroll to the bottom for the answers…

We played our first game of the new Sporcle Events season on a recent sultry Monday night. We hit up a “new kid on the block” trivia spot – Water Tower Distilling Co., which is close to Ypsi’s “downtown” area.

If you’re not from the area, then you may not know that Ypsi is a water tower town! Yes we are famous for a very (ahem) suggestive looking – water tower! “Brick Dick?” One of the other trivia teams called themselves “Brick Dick Energy!”

We were excited to try out a local trivia spot, as three of our “core” players have had difficulty finding a local spot that we can all agree upon liking! We’re not unlike Goldilocks in our pursuit of finding a spot that is “just right.” Our player who bikes – and doesn’t drive – to games can get here on his own, close and free parking is available, I don’t need an army of players or have to arrive overly early to play here and it’s on a night without a lot of other conflicts. Why not? 🤔

Behold an AI generated image of an Old Fashioned (more about those in a bit). I didn’t take pictures, because I was playing a trivia game, and didn’t want someone to think I was looking up answers! 😂

It was easily the most “spiritual” trivia spot we’ve ever played! I’m not talking about paranormal spirits, though the building IS from the 1850s, so…maybe? 👻.

The last place we played trivia games that was rumored to be haunted was Arbor Brewing Co.’s downtown Ann Arbor “brewpub” location, which is no longer open. Multiple staff members reported seeing eerie stuff, especially after dark. An Ann Arbor police officer was killed in the line of duty there decades ago when a robbery was going on.

My husband was jabbed in the ribs by an unseen force while we played a trivia game there in 2016. Nobody was sitting right next to him, and to this day, we can’t explain how this happened. We joked that the ghost was probably busting his ass for giving me a hard time about something in the game! So maybe the ghost cop was taking my side? Too funny!

So how is the Water Tower Distilling Co. “spiritual?” Because it serves only spirits – no beer, no wine, no hard seltzer, no Jagermeister, no Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Do people still drink that? I remember when it was the “It Girl” of bottled booze in the early 2000s, when hard seltzers were just a glimmer in the eyes of purveyors of drinks.

Soft drinks and club sodas are available for purchase in canned form, and water is available for patrons. There are also “mocktails” for customers who want something interesting to drink, but want to stay clear headed. The cocktails are the centerpiece of the “menu” here. If you want to eat, you can order in or bring any food you like.

Our longtime friend and trivia cohort Brad sampled at least a couple of different cocktails during the game. One he said was a signature cocktail called “Far From the Orchard,” which was made of rye whiskey, apple cider syrup, orange juice and lemon juice, garnished with an apple slice and orange peel.

The other cocktail he had was your basic old fashioned – which you can get pretty much…anywhere, since it’s probably one of the most popular cocktails in the U.S. Jon Taffer on “Bar Rescue” says that the margarita is the top dog when it comes to popular cocktails in the U.S.! He also says cocktails help a bar drive sales more than anything else a bar sells.

Mike and I were a little less adventurous – we each had single shots of vodka in glasses with ice and club soda. We knew we’d be meeting a couple of other people for drinks after the game, so we didn’t want to do too much “pregaming.”

The spirits to choose from here include straight bourbon whiskey, straight rye whiskey, classic gin, flavored gins – Rosie’s Gin, inspired by Rosie the Riveter, and Willow Run Gin, vodka, and Michigan Gin, another flavored gin. If you like gin, this is the place for you!

Now that everyone reading this is craving cocktails – how about talking about the damn trivia game?

It was really weird in a few ways! First off, we wagered points on a sports final question (a rarity for our team), got it right (also rare) and won first place!  We wagered nothing on a movies final question, and won second place. Also my trivia “pardners” managed to wrangle a correct trivia answer out of my brain in a really, really strange way (more about that if you read on, it involved a “gravelly voiced guy”).

Here were our questions:

Game One/Round One

1 Weather Terms – Similar to “may Gray” and “No Sky July,” what two-word approximate rhyming phrase includes a month and refers to cool, cloudy weather during summer? No clue, miss for one.

2 Anagrams – What European country on the Baltic Sea appropriately anagrams to “Into Sea?”

3 Video Games – What team sport that is played on a field is the focus on the 2025 video game Rematch?

4 TV Actors – What Oscar-winning actor plays 1960s New York gangster Bumpy Johnson in the MGM+ show Godfather of Harlem?

NERD POINT: For what film did this actor win his Academy Award?

Knew both of these.

Mystery Round – Also a DCOM

The correct answer to each clue is also the title of a Disney Channel Original Movie.

M1 – Undead creatures who love eating brains

M2 American quarterly music magazine founded in 1985

M3 Members of the New England colonial militia during the American Revolutionary War

M4 Someone with a very high IQ

Missed #2. I suggested it but wasn’t sure, and forgot that it was quarterly (used to subscribe to it in college). Its publisher was mentioned by name in the Guns ‘n Roses song “Get in the Ring,” which had all of the subtlety of your average angry rants on “X!”

Round Two

5 Slogans – According to its slogan, what paper towel brand is the “quicker picker upper?”

6 Presidents – Who is the author of the 2003 novel The Hornet’s Nest, the first fictional publication by any president of the United States? FB host clue.

7 Clothing – Also known as hickory or railroad stripe, what type of fabric has a name that originates from the Persian phrase o shakkar, literally meaning “milk and sugar?” This was one instance where it really paid off to be able to see this question. Just hearing it might not have helped us come up with the answer (nice work Mike)!

8 Singers – Elizabeth Woolridge Grant is the birth name of what singer whose most recently released studio album is titled “Did You Know that There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd?” Miss, we guessed Lizzo.

Mystery Round – Visual

We got all of these correct.

We were first going into the final with 48 points. Behind us were We Ride the Magic Bus (a fella we all know), 43; Brick Dick Energy (great name for an Ypsi team, we are known for our Brick Dick, after all 😀 ), 40; Team Strikeforce Awesome, 39; If you’re not first you’re last, 38 and Emo Gleeks, 37 (I think, my screenshot cut off here).

Our final category was…

Big Four Teams

Brad and I outvoted Mike and decided that we were going to wager points on this. We crossed our fingers that we wouldn’t have to know anything about top draft picks, championships, individual players or coaches and hoped it would simply be about teams, team names and or geography.

Whew! It was!

Big Four Teams

What is the southernmost U.S. state that is home to exactly two teams in the Big Four sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL)?

We wagered just enough to be ahead of the last place team if they wagered it all and go it correct. We finished first $25), and We Ride the Magic Bus finished second ($15).

Round Two/Game Two

9 English – What striped animal is in the British English term for marking typically called a “crosswalk” in American English? This was all Brad!

10 TV Songs – Audio clue of a song – had to ID the group inspiring the song used in a 1990s TV show (which was Saved by the Bell). After Mike explained to me exactly what the question wanted (LOL), we were off to the races since I was able to figure it out. This wasn’t the first time my guys helped me out in this game (team work makes the dream work)!

Too bad teamwork wouldn’t prevail with the next question… 😢

11 – Directors – What 2018 horro film starring Tony Collette was Ari Aster’s feature directorial debut?

NERD POINT: Scheduled for release in July, 2025, what is the most recent completed film directed by Ari Aster?

Nope and nope. I knew the name of the horror film had to do with “family” in some way and vaguely remembered the plot, but we just couldn’t come up with this. Miss.

12 Food Substitutes – Sorry, didn’t get this question down…something about egg whites and the water they produce (gross). Answer was Aquafuba, which made me think that it must be Awkwafina’s sister or something…

Mystery Round (SPOILER – this is gonna be awful)!

Reality Stars – Who Am I?

Name the reality television personality (current or former) based on the “Who Am I” style question.

M1 – I appeared on the MTV reality series The Real World: Philadelphia in 2004, and I now star as the culture expert on the Netflic Series Queer Eye. Who am I?

M2 I didn’t get all of this down, but something about a cosmetics company, KKW, lasted until 2021 and I think is known by some other name now…

M3 In 2007, I became the youngest winner of Project Runway due to my “fierce” style, and I designed costumes for the Disney film The Pirate Fairy. Who am I?

M4 I rose to fame as the breakout star of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, and later appeared in Glee and the Broadway musical Chicago. Who am I?

Nope, nope, nope and….nope! We definitely didn’t have the right players to know any of these!

Round Four

13 DC Comics (now THAT’s more like it) – After an incident in the comics when he defeats Bruce Wayne, what supervillain, portrayed on film by Tom Hardy, is known “The Man Who Broke the Bat?”

14 Plays – Torch Song Trilogy is a collection of three plays by what writer and actor known for his gravelly voice, who also starred in the supporting cast of Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day?

Mike described the guy from Independence Day, and even the scene he was in during the movie. After some prodding, I wrote down the name of a gravelly voiced actor. And then another…

This was a close call! We almost went with the wrong gravelly voiced guy!

He also voiced a character on “The Simpsons,” the blonde guy named Carl who counsels Homer after he takes hair growth serum and suddenly becomes…awesome. The episode is called “Simpson and Delilah,” which is season two, episode 2 (now I want to rewatch this, I have a physical copy of this season on DVD so not have Disney+).

15 Trains – What do any two of the letters “BNSF” stand for in BNSF Railway, three of which collectively stand for two U.S. cities, one in the Midwest, and the other in the Southwest? Yay Mike!
16 TV Networks – First launched in 2000, what cable network with the same name as that of a chemical element was co-founded by Oprah Winfrey?

Mystery Round Four – To “Hav” and Have Not

All correct responses will have the letters HAV in them.

M1 Capital of Havana

M2 Scented lotion typically applied after hair removal (usually by men)

M3 German synth group recording the song “Forever Young” in 1984

M4 A type of Danish cheese

Missed #3. I didn’t know that this group was German, and the only song I know by them is…not this song. 80s music fail (what will Kim say to this)? 😂

This time we were in third going into the final. Here were the scores:

If you’re not first your’re last, 28; We Ride the Magic Bus/Pods tied with 41; Brick Dick Energy, 42; and Team Strikeforce Awesome, 51. Obviously they did a lot better on that “Who Am I?” mystery round than us!

Final Question Category: High Grossing Films

This is typically a category we do NOT wager points on. Too broad of a trivia category. Thankfully we were wise to do it this time…

Name two of the five highest-grossing films at the domestic box office starring Kristen Stewart that are NOT part of the Twilight saga.

I did manage to name one correct one, but we wagered zero and had to name two! No teams got this at our bar.

We finished second with $15, unsure who finished first.

Our next trivia outing this week will be our “regular” spot at McShane’s. We think we may play at the Distilling place occasionally, but can’t commit to weekly games here because of music quiz games every other Monday, among other things.

As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Kim Kardashian West!

Answers:

Round One

June Gloom, Estonia, soccer, Forrest Whitaker/Last King of Scotland

M1

zombies, spin, minutemen, genius

r2

bounty, jimmy carter, seersucker, lana del rey

m2

eye, hip, arm, leg (I think…)

final – Louisiana

r3

zebra, i’m so excited, hereditary/eddington, aquafuba

m3

Sorry I didn’t get all of these answers. Corelle Brown? Kim Kardashian West? Christian Syriano? Nene Leakes?

R4

Bane, Harvey Fierstein, Santa Fe/Burlington, Oxygen

f:

snow white and the huntsman, panic room, jumper, messenger, zathura