Show of hands – how many of you other Sporcle Events trivia players out there knew an answer to a mystery round question because of watching an HBO music documentary about the funk band Earth, Wind and Fire?

As I like to say about trivia games – it doesn’t matter HOW you know an answer, as long as you know it!

It had been a minute since me and my “better half” had gotten out for a regular old trivia game. Besides the Monday music quiz games. About those…

The host for those games – Phil – likes to host those games in Arbor Brewing’s outdoor beer garden. Which is awesome on a lovely summer night. But…this most recent Monday turned out to be a tad too warm for some players’ tastes. Like mine!

Our team did a “hybrid” model for this game! There were three players sitting outside with a couple of USB fans. Let’s face it. When it’s hot and humid, those little fans can only do so much, right? Two other players from our team opted to sit inside while the game was going on, with me following the game on my phone and occasionally wandering outside to try helping out with answers.

For inquiring minds, music quiz games are based entirely on audio clues. If I couldn’t hear the songs that played, I couldn’t cheat to look up the answers.

As for last Wednesday when outside temps in Southeast Michigan hovered a round 100 degrees Fahrenheit, we played indoors. along with 13 other teams. At one point it got a little…moist 🥵. I know it wasn’t just me… My husband felt it too! We placed our icy drinks against our forehead for some relief. Eventually, the temperature leveled off again – but man – was that weird!

We finished fourth overall for the night – no prizes, but in a strange twist, we wound up getting two mystery rounds 100 percent correct (usually those tend to kill us), and we got both final questions correct.

Here were our game questions: 

Game One/Round One

1 Bacteria – The bacterium Yersinia pestis was the cause of what 14th-century pandemic, which killed up to 50 percent of Europe’s population at the time? 

2 Politics – In 2026, what reality TV personality finished third in the nonpartisan primary for the Los Angeles mayoral election?

NERD POINT: Since 2008, he has been married to what other reality TV personality?

Miss and miss. This will be a rough game for us.

3 Mountains – The highest of the Collegiate Peaks in central Colorado is named for what university that was founded 233 years before the mountain was named in 1869?

NERD POINT: What other Colorado mountain is the highest in the Rocky Mountains?

4 HBO – The following clip is the opening theme music to what HBO series that aired from 2016-2022?

Since I can’t play that clip for you reading this, I’ll say that the original film version of this Michael Crichton book adaptation was a show with everything AND Yul Brynner!

We missed everything in this round except question #1.

Mystery Round One – Visual

Round Two

Board Games – In what two-player board game that traces its origins to 17th-century England do players try to move “tablemen” or “checkers” along 14 triangular points? Nope. Miss. So much “duh” when the answer was revealed though!

6 Superb Owls – What NFL team plays its home games at the northernmost currently existing stadium to have hosted a Superb Owl?

This was a nod to the “Brain Scramblies” episode of What We Do in the Shadows!

7 Antagonists – Calvin Candie is a primary antagonist in what 2012 film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture?

NERD POINT: What actor plays that character in the film?

This was one of three questions we’d get correct in this regular round.

8 Snacks – Calientes, porras and jeringos are alternative names or variations of what fried-dough snack from Spanish and Portuguese cuisine?

So just to summarize, in this game, we only knew things about weird instruments, bacteria, bad guys and snacks!

Mystery Round Two

Recent Events

Answer the questions about events that have taken place recently.

M1 On June 23, who became the first player to score a goal in six different FIFA (men’s) World Cups?

M2 What restaurant chain, known for locations with distinctive red roofs, is being sold by Yum! Brands in two separate transactions for a total of $7 billion?

M3 What prime minister of the UK announced his intention to resign after the conclusion of the 2026 Labour Party leadership election?

M4 On June 30, what streaming service released the immersive horror video game Unhinged, starring Zoe Kravitz and Sadie Sink?

Missed #s 1 and #3.

We were in ninth place out of fourteen teams with 34 going into the final. boogie dud was in first with 52, you’re resume sucks was in second with 50, and beers for queers was in third with 48 points.

Final Question Game One

The Solar System

What character of folklore associated with the springtime holiday lends its name to the nickname of the  dwarf planet  Makemake,, which is named for the god of fertility in the myths of the Rapa Nui people. 

We went all in on this, but kind of drew blanks all around at first. Then we started talking – me about the series American Gods, and he about something else related to that Thankfully we thought of the right answer! 

Finishing first was boogie dud, You’re Resume Sucks finished second, and 24 Hour Brunch finished third. 

Game Two/Round Three

9 Title Characters – Athos, Porthos and Aramis are the title characters in what 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas? 

Interesting note, this author was mentioned by name by another character from the movie they asked about in game one. 

10 Festivals – What annual music festival takes its name from Creole slang that, when translated literally, means “best in the street?” Facebook host clue. 

11 In addition to UCLA, two Big Ten Conference schools have made the Final Four of the NCAA diVision I men’s basketball tournament at least six times. Name one of those two schools. 

NERD POINT: Name both schools. 

Nope and nope. Miss.

12 NASA – What NASA mission that launched in April, 1970 was deemed a “successful failure” by its commander because the entire crew returned safely to Earth but failed to land on the moon?

NERD POINT: Who commanded this mission?

Mystery Round Three

Real Story or the Onion?

For each given headline, identify if it came from a real news source or from the satirical company The Onion. Answer “real” or “Onion.”

M1 Harley-Davison, Jack Daniels to Collaborate on Felony

M2 Missing “G” Leads to World Scrabble Contest Squabble

M3 Strapped County Sacks Santa to Save $660

M4 Poll: 1 in 5 Americans Believe Obama is a Cactus

Round Four

13 1980s Films – What comedic actor plays crown Prince Akeem Joffer in the 1988 film Coming to America

NERD POINT: Akeem is the crown Prince of what fictional African nation?

We put in Wakanda as a joke answer for the nerd point  🐈‍⬛

14 Museums – The Carnegie Museums are a group of four museums, including the Kamin Science Center and the Andy Warhol Museum, in what city?

15 Companies – Leather goods are the signature luxury items manufactured by what French company whose name, ignoring the accent mark, is spelled the same as a Greek god?

16 TV Competitions – Within two, in what year did the first season of American Idol air?

NERD POINT: Get the year exactly correct.

We got it within two.

Mystery Round Four –

This was all audio. I’m not recreating it…all songs about hot, heat, sweat, what have you.

We were in tenth with 44 points going into the final. boogie dud was in first with 55, you’re resume sucks was in second with 54 and beers for queers was in third with 52.

Final Question Game Two

TV Creators

Other than The Office (which he developed from the UK version), Greg Daniels has co-created two series that have aired at least 100 episodes. Name both shows – one a live-action sitcom that ran from       2009 to 2015, and the other an animated series that originally ran from 1997 to 2010 and was revived in 2025. 

Got this, and moved up to sixth again. boogie dud finished first again, you’re resume sucks finished second again, and All Blender finished third.

This wraps up our trivial pursuits for the week. We wanted to squeeze in a game before the holiday weekend.

Stay chill, everyone!

As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Leslie Knope!

R1 black/bubonic plague, spencer pratt/heidi montag, Harvard/Elbert, Westworld

R2 backgammon, Minnesota/US Bank Stadium, Django Unchained/Leo DiCaprio, churros

M1 balalaika, kalimba, doumbek, hurdy-gurdy

F easter bunny

R3 three musketeers, bonnaroo, msu/osu, apollo 13/Jim lovell

R4 Eddie murphy/zamunda, Pittsburgh, hermes, 2002

M3 onion, real, real, onion

M4 nelly, snoop dogg, Van Halen, avril lavigne

F parks and recreation, king of the hill