It’s been a hot minute – or two, or three, or several hundred – since we paid a visit to McShane’s Pub on a Tuesday night for its My Trivia Live scene.

We have played several of the Thursday trivia nights at McShanes this season.

McShane’s has had a Tuesday night trivia scene for at least a dozen years or more, and even before that when the bar was called Roundtree, it had a trivia scene too. Though I do not know if Roundtree’s trivia scene was on a Tuesday (that is above my pay grade). All I remember about Roundtree was going there to have drinks while my husband and I used the laundromat that used to be next door! What better way to pass the time while your laundry is going than playing cards and having some drinks?

These days, that laundromat is no longer there, though there is a fancy looking coffee joint named for a Middle Eastern capital city (San’aa, which is the capital of…if I have to guess, I’m gonna say Yemen and probably be wrong). Whew I’m right! 😊

The coffee joint may or may not be in the old laundromat space. If not, it’s next to it.

While we’re on the subject of that shopping center at Ellsworth and Hewitt, anyone remember the night club slash bar called The Edge? I spent many nights there with friends back in the day. But I was never into the dance floor area as much as the pool table/bar area!😃

That being said, with me having some recent changes to my work schedule, Tuesdays and Wednesdays have opened up more for trivia than they have been in the past few months.

Since we had a gift certificate prize to use at McShane’s, my husband and I said…

“Trivia tonight at McShane’s then?”

We failed to make any noise in this highly competitive trivia scene, finishing fifth overall heading into the final question. Which no teams got right. So the top teams all finished where they were going into the final by wagering zero.

In a rare scenario, my husband said “Wow, that was a really well-written final question!”

It’s easy to get grumpy about final questions, especially if you get them wrong. Yet there we were! I’ll happily listen to any non-grumpy statement that comes out of my husband’s mouth – especially on a trivia night!

Uh, did I actually write that or just think it? 🤣

I couldn’t help but notice that there were quite a few players that have been present at most Tuesday trivia nights at McShane’s that were not there on this night. I know one of them (Francis) has been hospitalized. It’s so odd not seeing him at a trivia night when in the past, I would see him at nearly EVERY local trivia night. 😢 He was a fixture. And he shares my passion for colorful pens!

In other instances, some teams just seemed to be missing a player or two, or entire teams seemed to not be there (Dead Guys). It’s not a trivia night unless we get to hear Dead Guys’ overly-long dad-joke infused team names, now is it? Or Spacecats’ similar names that they changed for every game!

I did see some players from Space cats, but not all of them 😔

For the most part though, most of the players and teams we’ve been accustomed to seeing at Tuesday trivia nights were there as usual. Maddie Platters, Rather Be At, We Were Never Here (yes you were – we totally saw you)🤣, and Lab Geeks (whom we’ve also encountered Thursdays).

Sadly there was a team playing outside on the patio that had to be admonished for having a phone out on the table and in use during the game. This was not a regular team. Host Stacy did talk to them and warned them about not having phones in use during the game.

Obviously I don’t know if they were actually cheating or not. But we can all agree that trivia cheaters are just… icky, aren’t they? 😕

Our questions were not presented visually on a public screen or on phones like they are for Sporcle Events games, so bear with me, the ones I will present next will be very, very abridged. Here goes:

Round One

Science Fiction – What planet is the focus of Robert Heinlein’s science fiction novel Red Planet?

Measurements – How many feet is in 10 yards?

Labels – What does the letter “v” stand for when the FDA label says “DV?”

Round Two

Insects – What insect is the subject of the song La Cucaracha?

Hosts – What host of “The View” is also the winner of best supporting actress in the 1990 movie Ghost?

Baseball – What numbered position is second base in MLB regulations? I came up with the correct guess but was overruled. Yet violence did not erupt at our table (we were very chill and just in a “let’s use our prize money for free drinks tonight kinda mood”). 

Round Three

Obsolete Measurements – What no longer used measurement represents three miles? This time I was NOT talked out of my correct answer! 

Fun With Words – What word means to level a building to the ground and also sounds like a word for moving into an upright position? 

Documentaries – What state is the setting of the 2004 Dick Pronneke documentary “Alone in the Wilderness?” We had no idea but thankfully put in the right guess…

Halftime – U.S. States

Of the eight U.S. states that start with the letter “M,” which four states come last alphabetically.

Got all of these. I’m pretty sure most teams also got all of these correct.

Round Four

Education – Which female Supreme Court justice was also the first female dean of Harvard? Miss, we had two choices written down as guesses, picked the wrong one.

Sports – In what sporting event would you see the Fosbury Flop? Miss.

Movie Music – What Doris Day song was debuted in the Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much? Mike wanted to use our “sh– we don’t know this answer so let’s use our answer of the week freebie” since we had to wager six, but I said I’d own it if we missed it and really wanted to go with my guess. Which thankfully was correct. It was also literally the only Doris Day song that I could name! If you like cover songs, listen to the groovy Sly and the Family Stone cover of this song that was used in the ending credits of Heathers.  Damn I want to listen to this one right now!

   

Round Five

Artists – Who painted The Birth of Venus?

Reminded me of this bit from The Simpsons:

Progress – In what current U.S. state was the “golden spike” driven into earth to mark the point where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific rails converged? Thank the gods we watched the series “Hell on Wheels,” which is why we knew this. Hey who says watching TV doesn’t help you know trivia question answers?

If you’re a fan of “Star Trek” actor Colm Meaney, this is a must-watch! He plays such a complicated character in this series. He’s not quite a villain, but he’s definitely not a hero, either. 

1980s Music – What song by The Clash is the only song that charted in the Billboard top ten? 

Round Six

Academy Awards – What actor was the first African American actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting actor for his role in An Officer and a Gentleman?

Constitution – What numbered amendment was not passed until 202 years, seven days and 10 days after it was proposed? We used our “answer of the week” option to avoid answering this for full points. 

Writers – What playwright penned Romeo and Juliet and Othello?

Heading into the final…

Still Not Dead had 50 points (I know who you are 😢), Perimenopausal had 52, Lab Geeks had 58, Pods (us) had 66 points, Maddie Platters, 67; Rather Be At, 68; We Were Never Here, 70; and Two was in first with 73. Will they top off that perfect regular rounds score by getting the final correct? 

We entered the final round of a MTL game back in January, 2026 with a perfect score and blew it by missing the final question. It’s like…not managing to score when you’re a teenager on prom night! Sorry if this reference is too lewd for some of you. 😉

Final Question Category: 

Greek Kings

The skeletal remains of what king are the first and only case of  remains conforming to the historical record? 

We put in a guess of that king from the movie and graphic novel 300, though we were definitely not confident.

No teams got this correct. Top three finishers remained the same.

This concludes our trivial pursuits for the week, we may be “hitting the road” for an “away” game next week in a different county!

As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Elena Kagan!

Answers

R1 mars, 10, value

R2 cockroach, w goldberg, five

R3 league, raze, alaska

Halftime missouri, mississippi, montana, Minnesota

R4 Kagan, long jump, que sera sera

R5 boticelli, utah, rock the casbah

R6 lou gosset jr., 27th, Shakespeare

F phillip 2