We played our third virtual Sporcle Events game in November on a recent Wednesday evening. The “plan” was to hustle a couple of “OGs” from our trivia team.

You know – those players who were among the first to join you years ago when you sent out that e-mail about “Hey let’s go to X” place and play a trivia game?”

We had to do a virtual meetup because our team’s founder Sam – moved out of state 11 years ago. We were also joined by another OG Dave, who still lives close enough to be able to occasionally help us in our live trivia battles!

Special thanks also to the wives of Sam (Angela) , Dave (Susan) and Dave’s stepdaughter – who attempted to help us answer a music question!

Bet you didn’t know that virtual trivia offered the opportunities for “lifelines,” did you? If someone is in your house, they can technically be called upon to help answer questions!

Sadly, Dave’s stepdaughter was unable to come up with the name we needed for the question (hey she tried)!

We finished with 115 points, no prizes because…no prizes in virtual games, but we did finish first in game two out of five teams.

We managed to get both final questions correct, which is extremely rare in Sporcle Events games for us!

For those inquiring minds out there, yes, we do plan to return to playing live trivia games very soon! Two are on the calendar for next week (both My Trivia Live joints)!  We just wanted to take a bit of a break this month. We thought that playing some Sporcle Events games would be a good “warm-up” for the Globe Games in early December.

Here were our game questions:

1 Toys – What toy brand was introduced in 1969 with a foam ball marketed as “the world’s first official indoor ball?”

2 Games – What board game, played with black and white stones on a 19 by 19 grid with 361 points, dates to at least the fifth century BCE? Sam said he owns this game and has been trying to learn how to play it. He says it’s more complicated for a bot to learn than chess!

3 U.S. States – What is the third smallest U.S. state by total area, ranking ahead of only Rhode Island and Delaware?

4 ’90s Films – Whitney Houston stars as Julia Biggs, the title character in what 1996 film that also features Courtney B. Vance? Miss.

Mystery Round 1 – Visual

5 Sports – Name one of the two NFL quarterbacks who have defeated all 32 teams but are not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as  of 2025.

NERD POINT: Name both. Miss and miss. Dave thought of one correct guy after we turned in our answer 😀

6 TV Series – What NBC series, which aired from  2020-2021, stars Jane Levy as the title character, a software developer who discovers she can hear the innermost thoughts of people as songs? FB host clue, thankful for that!

7 Weather – According to the title of a 1922 Robert Frost poem, the narrator stops by the woods on an evening featuring what kind of weather?

8 More Weather – What six-letter “D” name – also the name of a notable TV title character – was used for a North Atlantic storm for the first time in 2025?

Mystery Round 2 – This Day In History

Answer the following questions about things happening on November 19 in history:

M1 In 1985, President Ronald Reagan met with what Soviet leader for the first time at a summit in Geneva?

M2 In 1969, astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean became the third and fourth people to walk on the Moon as part of the Apollo mission with what number?

M3 In 1999, John Carpenter became the first person to win the top prize on what game show?

M4 In 1962, what actress who has won Oscars for her roles in The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs was born in Los Angeles?

Got all of these.

I didn’t write all of the scores, we had 41 points.

Final Question Game 1:

What was the full three-word name of the TV channel that merged with the WB in 2006 to form the CW?

Got this…

Game 2/ Round 3

9 Flags – Which of the following European countries does not use a national flag that is predominantly red, white and blue – France, Czechia, Norway or Romania? Dave’s wife Susan was all over this.

10 Movie Titles – Name two of the three words beginning with “D” that appear in the titles of films in the Indiana Jones series. Thankfully Sam remembered the most recent offering (it was pretty forgettable).

11 Energy – A drawn bow or stretched rubber band holds what type of stored energy that depends upon the relative position of  various parts of a system?

12 Duets – What singer was a featured artist on the Sam Smith song “Unholy?” This artist was the second transgender woman to win a Grammy.  Here’s where we attempted our “lifeline” from Dave’s stepdaughter, who couldn’t think of the correct name (though she was familiar with the song). Thanks anyway!

Mystery Round 3 – WNBA

Name four of the five cities that will be home to future WNBA expansion teams that will begin play between 2020 and 2030.

We played the game of “pick a city.” We picked one correct city.

Round  4

13 Government Jobs – In July, 2025, David Steiner became the head of what independent government agency, taking a position that has been in existence since 1775?

14 Animated TV – What animated series, which aired on Cartoon Network from 2001-2004, was revived on Adult Swim in 2017, features an opening narration by a “shapeshifting master of darkness” named Aku?

15 Groups – What ethnic group native to Tibet and primarily living in Nepal is closely associated with mountaineering, having been instrumental in the first ascents of a number of Himalayan peaks, including Mount Everest?

16 Advertising – What actor has starred in commercials for State Farm in which he is depicted as a less-than-capable superhero compared to a certain DC Comics character?

Mystery Round 4

M1 “We slept in what had once been the gymnasium,” Margaret Atwood

M2 “This is my favorite book in all the world though I have never read it,” William Goldman

M3 “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day,” Charlotte Bronte

M4 “In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since,” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

We had 44 points going into the final.

Final Question Game 2:

Robert Fulton is credited with developing the world’s first commercially successful steamboat, which in 1807 made a 300-mile round trip in 62 hours on what river, sometimes known as the North River at the time?

Sam is a native of the state this river flows through so that was helpful here! ✊ Got this and finished in first! 🥇

This concludes our trivial pursuits for the week. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, that guy in the poem Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening!  Did anyone else have to recite this one in school? 🤔

Answers:

r1 nerf, go, CT, the preacher’s wife

m1 dolly parton, creed, queen, aretha franklin

r2 tom brady/drew brees, zoe’s extraordinary playlist, snowy, dexter

m2 gorbachev, 12, who wants to be a millionaire, jodie foster

f united paramount network

r3 romania, doom/dial/destiny, potential, kim petrasm

m3 portland, cleveland, detroit, philly, toronto

r4 postmaster, samurai jack, sherpas, jason bateman

m4 the handmaids tale, princess bride, jane eyre, great gatsby

f hudson river