Decisions, decisions! When I wanted to hustle a trivia team to join me on Burt Reynolds’ and Leslie Nielsen’s birthday recently, I actually made a list of local spots in both the Sporcle Events and My Trivia Live league and tried to narrow it down.

But in the end – it all came down to ONE player who I wanted to invite that we don’t normally play too many trivia games with anymore. I know that he only likes to play trivia games that he can ride his bike out to play, so I chose the spot closest to his home, which is also closest to ours.

So…Corner Brewery – aka Arbor Brewing Company Microbrewery then in Ypsi? Sporcle tells me that this was our 174th game that we’ve played at this bar.

So when he and my husband Mike stayed until the bar’s closing to chat about nerdy stuff, I knew that it was worth it to pick this trivia spot (warm fuzzies – I love it when a plan comes together).

It’s not just about me, after all. What’s the point of a birthday celebration if everyone’s not having a good time?

Overall, I think we all had a good time on the loud and crazy Corner Brewery trivia night! My music trivia partner in crime Kim and her husband Brent came out with cool gifts in tow, Pods OG Dave made time for the meetup, and of course “the” elusive man of the hour and other Pods OG Brad joined my husband Mike and I for two hours of trivia,,, chaos.

The Corner Brewery Wednesday scene isn’t for the uninitiated. It’s kind of like shopping at Aldi, you have to be prepared! Firstly, you need to arrive early enough to get a table on most trivia nights. Secondly, you’ll ideally want a big enough group to hold your own against the goliath teams who typically play here each week. Thirdly, you’ll need to be OK with not being able to hear or understand anything that’s said on the mic (the acoustics are shite). You can either either look at the screen for the questions, or see them on your phones if you sign in. If you don’t like metal chairs in winter, bring an ass pad. Lastly, don’t forget the quarter for your shopping cart and resuable grocery bags.

Ah, disregard that last thing! That’s an Aldi thing, not a Wednesday Corner Brewery thing 😂

I noticed that the banged up white banquet tables that they used to move into the trivia room on trivia nights are no more. Now they have all new permanent tables – all the same size – in the room for trivia nights.

There used to be a caste system under former hosts involving the tables. Teams of fewer than six were asked to use the crappier – and smaller –  banquet tables hugging the walls, and larger teams were allowed to use the bigger “premium” tables in the center rows. It was kind of like Thanksgiving celebrations of auld when kids had the little tables for their food fights while the adults got to have all of the fun at the bigger tables and bottomless bottles of wine.

I like it when things are fair and square in life – and on trivia nights (or rectangular at least)!

Honestly, though – I wish that there were some bistro tables available for smaller teams who want to come out to play but don’t have enouh players to justify occupying one of the tables that turn into virtual clown cars on trivia nights.

We finished in fifth overall for the night – no prizes. There were eighteen teams playing –  and if the host Ben’s post game report was accurate, there were 108 players on this night!

To think that we were among the very first teams to wage trivia battle here on the first trivia night offered here in February, 2012. Isn’t it adorable watching kids – and trivia spots grow up 😍?

1 Agriculture – Golden Monkey, Russian Caravan and Eastern Beauty Oolong are all varieties of what product that comes from shrubs widely cultivated in China?

2 Flags – What U.S. state is the only one with a flag that features the likeness of an American president?

3 Fashion – Russell SImmons created the menswar label Phat Farm in 1992 and established what similarly named womenswear brand seven years later?

4 Same Title – A chart-topping song by Camila Cabelo and Shawn Mendes and a 2003 single by Justin Timberlake share what one-word title?

Mystery Round One – Visual

5 Football Plays – On September, 1994, what school currently in the Big 12 Conference defeated the University of Michigan on a last-second Hail Mary pass thrown by quarterback Kordell Stewart? Miss. No Hail Mary for us on this question!

6 Action Films – Other than the United States, name one of the two countries that serve as the primary setting for a film in the Taken trilogy.

NERD POINT: Name both countries.

7 Evolutions – Two organisms that are not closely related but have evolved to share very similar forms or features can be said to have gone through what type of evolution that starts with a “c” name? Dave totally had a triviagasm here. I feel bad for the staff who had to clean up  later! 😂  I kid, I kid…Seriously, he just tore up the brinstorming paper a bit when he excitedly wrote down his answer. If you leave an actual mess when you have a triviagasm, then you are way too excited about trivia and need to seek professional help!

8 Games – In the current standard version of Monopoly, what is the flat dollar penalty for landing on the Income Tax space?

M1 On January 25, Alex Honnold completed a free solo climb of what building in Taiwan, named for the city in which it is located and the number of stories that it has?

M2 What film received a record 16 nominations at the upcoming 98th Academy Awards, including three for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor?

M3 – On January 22, what Florida city became the latest in which Waymo offers public fully autonomous rides?

M4 – Rhode Island announced that it may stop featuring what character on specialty license plates, due to Hasbro’s ongoing move from the state?

We were in sixth out of 19 teams with 37 points heading into the final. Ahead of us were boogie dud in fifth with 38; four teams tied for fourth with 40 points –  24 Hour Brunch, Know Wrong Answers, Snoops wins the Olympic tray race and Smells like Poutine Spirit; Hotter Than Mordor was in third with 43; Don’t Forget to Strips Your Bartender was in second with 44 and My Type on Paypah was in first with 46. Clearly they were teh team to beat on this night! night !

Final Question Game One:

Category – Beer

In September, 2025, what beer overtook Bud Light as the best selling beer brand by volume in the United States? This brand was first introduced in 2002 during a short-lived craze involving low-carb beers.

Anyone else start reminiscing about the strange Atkins Diet fad in the early 2000s? I know that Dave had some interesting stories about his friends piling plates high with nothing but… greasy meats when they took a trip to Vegas!

We ended up in fifth place after the final, knew this one. 24-Hour Brunch and Know Wrong Answers were tied for second and third with 55 points (do not know how the tiebreaker shook out), and My Type on Paypah finished first with 60 points.

Game Two/Round Three

9 Nickelodeon – The Nickelodeon sitcom 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, which aired from 1999-2002, features the 17-year-old title character, whow as turned into what animal as a punishment for being a bully? Good guess.

10 Athletes – Lisa Fernandez, Jessica Mendoza and Jennie Finch are athletes who earned Olympic gold medals in what team sport that debuted at the Summer Olympics in 1996? 

Dave hit a home run with this one. 

11 Commercials – What Apple product was introduced nationally in a Super Bowl commercial titled “1984,” which was broadcast during the game that same year?

NERD POINT: This commercial was directed by what Academy Award-nominated English filmmaker?

Got this for the points and the nerd point, though there was a lot of discussion on what specific product the Apple product was.

12 2026 Films – The 2026 horror thriller film Send Help, which follows an employee and her disrespectful boss who get stranded on a deserted island stars Dylan O’Brien and what Canadian actress?

Damn it, I think I saw the trailer for this maybe once or twice, and all I could remember about the chick was that she was “normally kind of hot, but they hagged her up a bit for this movie.” I also kind of remembered her hair color, though that means nothing in a movie trailer, since actors can be wearing wigs, extensions like Ice Barbie, or have dye jobs. Or be like Natalie Portman in V for Vendetta and shave it all off!

Sadly, none of the vague descriptions I remembered about this trailer were enough for me to remember her name. Had they named at least ONE movie she’d been in – even if it wasn’t that horrible stalker one with Ryan Gosling – it may have helped! 😔

If they asked who directed this movie I would have been all over it!

Mystery Round Three

Europe

For this mystery round, your team can give four answers and can put them in any order you choose.

Name the four countries in Europe with the short-form English names that begin with “M.”

One of the M countries we put down apparently isn’t a country anymore, or it goes by its stage name now or something – so we only got three of these correct. Bugger (shakes fist)! Even geography is a category where the goalposts can be moved, damn it! I’ve gotta hit the books!

To think I thought that I was so on top of geography things by remembering that they added an “I” to their name! 😂

13 SCIENCE! – The temperature at which air must be cooled, at constant pressure, for condensation to occur is known as what “point?” 

14 Authors – What author won the Hugo Award for Best Novel three years in a row from 2026-2018 for the books in her Broken earth trilogy? FB clue.

15 Choirs – This was an audio clue, so I’ll do a lame attempt at converting into a “words” question. What artist recorded the original version of the song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want?” I guess you could say that it was kind of the “Isn’t it Ironic” of the 1970s?

16 The Best – A tier list is a ranking system where items are subjectively arranged in groups from best to worst. Inspired by the Japanese word for “excellent,” what letter is typically reserved for the best tier? Miss.

M1 Ossining, a town found about 30 miles north of New York City, is home what what facility that inspired the phrase “up the river?”

M2 A dolphinfish is perhaps better known by what name derived from the Hawaiian language?

M3 What song was notably analyzed by the FBI in 1965 for claims of obscenity in its lyrics, with the Bureau concluding that the song was “unintelligible at any speed.”

M4 The TV series Seinfeld makes repeated references to what fictional film, whose plot is described as “A young girl’s strange erotic journey from Milan to Minsk.”

Got all of these, Brad’s expertise in Seinfeld was crucial here!

We were in fifth going into the final with 46 points behind three teams tied with 47 points – 2030 Mixed Quad Luge team, Know Wrong Answers and Beers for Queers; two teams tied with 52 points – Hotter than Mordor and Smells LIke Poutine Spirit – two teams tied for second with 52 – Snoop Wins the olympic tray race and Don’t Forget to Strip Your Bartender – and My Type on Paypah was all alone in first with 54 points.

Final Question Game Two:

Category – Cable TV

The cable network known today as USA Network originally launched in 1977 as a sports netowrk with a name referencing what location that is often known by its three letter initials?

Miss for us.

4 Horsewomen finished third with 68; boogie dud finished second with 59 and Snoop finished first with 68.

This wraps up our trivial pursuits for the week. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Judd Hirsch!

Answers:

R1 tea, WA, phat farm, senorita

R2 Colorado, Turkiye, convergent, 200

M1 pose, taxi, Joey, beef

M2 Taipei 101, sinners,Miami, potato head

F Michelob ultra

R3 dog, softball, Macintosh/Ridley Scott, Rachel McAdams

R4 dew, jk nemisin, Rolling Stones, s

M3 Moldova, malta, Monaco, montenegro

M4 sing sing, mahi mahi, Louie Louie, Rochelle Rochelle

F MSG