QUIZ RECAP

Welcome, welcome, welcome, to last Tuesday tonight's Trivia Recap. I figured that everyone would have been snuggling up indoors with a blanket and some coffee in order to celebrate National Book Day. But I guess everyone decided to get it out of the way in the morning because we had a great crowd of brain athletes looking to eat and drink their way through a night of factoids both known and unknown. We had 5 teams of competitors tonight: Children? More Like Turpin!, One Oberon Please, Time Was a Construct, LGBT BBQ, and NFC YA FACE. But enough with the editor's forward, on to the novel!

Chapter 1: General Knowledge

Chapter 2: This Music Looks Good

Chapter 3: A Star Is Born

Chapter 4: Guess Who?

Chapter 5: Find the Connection

Chapter 6: Is Olympia A Country?

Chapter 7: The Real Housewives of King Trivia

Chapter 1: It was a dark and stormy night; torrential rains turgidly berated the confidence of the host as teams effaced the round's questions with unparalleled precision. The city that created Deep Dish Pizza (Chicago), the cold water challenge used to raise awareness of ALS (Ice Bucket Challenge), nothing could stop the expanding morass of public knowledge from dissolving the veiled expertise of the announcer.

Chapter 2: It's said a picture is worth a thousand words, but we only were given fifteen. Iconography of auditory engineers; was this a worthy foe or a capricious exercise of idolatry? Whether a straightforward mouth and lips (Rolling Stones) or Hieroglyphic-esque symbols (Prince, or The Artist Formerly Known as Prince), these bands couldn't fool the eyes of those who were watching.

Interlude 1: We'll get you back to the reading in just a moment, but first, can we take a moment to talk about our favorite bed in a box solution, Team Scores? Team Scores is a paradigm shifting approach to the outdated mattress industry, by taking out the middle man we can deliver scores directly to you at reduced prices. Whether you have a podium-size budget for our first place team (Children? More Like Turpin at 12 points), second place team (One Oberon Please at 10 points), or third place team (NFC YA FACE at 9 points), or whether you're interested in budget value-brands like fourth place (Time was a construct at 7 points) or fifth place (LGBT BBQ at 5 points), Team Scores has a bed for you. Now let's take you back to the reading.

Chapter 3: Astrology, Astronomy, Babies. Are they the ties that bind us together or the weights that pull us apart. Some called for the namesakes of bear constellations (Ursa Minor), some for the pre-genesis event leading to the Boomers (World War II) , and others still drew upon the myths of the great Talking Baby (Look Who's Talking).

Chapter 4: Guess Who? She came into this world in 1968 our first clue said, and it was upon this wording that the foundation of our trickery was built. An air-force pilot and security chief, she fought on behalf of oppressed peoples, but this was a tale not of history but of heroics. Leaping from the printed page to the silver screen, the strongest Avenger has made herself known as Captain Marvel.

Chapter 5: Find the Connection. Puns, puns, puns. The lowest form of humor some would lament. But is it not true that high art can be created from clever use of low-art mediums? Then let us not tally with the discrepancies between MTV award statue names (Moonman or Moonperson), let us not question the necessary fixings of Jordan Peele's comedy partner's name (Keegan-Michael Key), nor should we abstain from naming the wife of Black Sabbath's frontman (Sharon Osbourne). No, let us rejoice in the continuation of our MCU-tinged questions with the connection of types of stones. For who among you can deny the inherent pun-larity of Sharon Stone.

Interlude 2: Hey folks, I hope you've enjoyed tonight's reading, but we have just one more quick commercial break before we get back into the action. As you know it's the Trivia Recap Fundraising Week and we depend on the generous donations of listeners like you to keep this show funded. Whether you're donating 27 points (One Oberon Please), 26 points (Time Was a Construct), 25 points (LGBT BBQ and NFC YA FACE), or even just 23 points (Children? More Like Turpin), every little bit counts. So head on over to our donation page for more info and a chance to be entered into our giveaway!

Chapter 6: Is Olympia A Country? Do the Olympic Warriors fight first for the glory of their name, or that of their own nation? To answer such a tangled knot we must first know the homes of these medalists, and in that way, we honor them. Whether in water (Ian Thorpe / Australia) or on land (Usain Bolt / Jamaica), we are but one part of the same human race.

Chapter 7: The Real Housewives of King Trivia. All good things must come to an end. But not all ends are themselves good. I ask you:

What are the nine US cities/areas in Bravo's "Real Housewives" family of shows?

You may say New Jersey, you may say Orange County. I say go further! You give me New York City, you give m e Beverly Hills. I say go deeper! You cannot find Atlanta, you cannot find Dallas. And then I whisper, as we stand at the very edge of the world, look down into that dark abyss and you too will see...the Real Housewives of Potomac.

The end of the road left Children? More Like Turpin with zero points and the last place position; their failed Double or Nothing costing them what would have been an otherwise flawless finishing lap for the victory. For while Vancouver/B.C. is a Housewives show, it is Canadian-based, not US.

The End

Epilogue: Endgame

They did not heed my warnings. I warned them of the dangers of Tie-Breaking Questions, the horrors of chance utterly consuming the flesh of skilled memory and mental acuity. But no, they would not listen. They rebuked me, not just once, but twice!

Tied for first with 41 points was One Oberon Please and NFC YA FACE. And tied for third with 40 points was LGBT BBQ and Time Was a Construct. They brought this ruin upon themselves, but I took no satisfaction in wielding the executioner's ax.

Four teams, four guesses, four numbers.

Michigan Stadium, the largest college stadium in North America, seats how many people?

107,601. This was the number which no one could ever know. So it came down to relativity, to the degree of wrong-ness. Who among you was the least incorrect? And on this basis, you have been judged.

First Place: One Oberon Please

Second Place: NFC YA FACE

Third Place: LGBT BBQ

Fourth Place: Time was a construct

Fifth Place: Children? More Like Turpin

Let us pray that in this Tuesday's sequel, the end may come more naturally.

QUIZ RECAP

I hope that everyone had a great "Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day". My boss wasn't so enthused but hey, I'm sure our clients were more than impressed with my dedication to celebrating obscure national holidays. Luckily I had time to change back into my regular digs, after all, it's not wear your pajamas to trivia day. Joining us this Tuesday evening were five teams of competitors. We had Kings and Queens of the North, The Durst Boys Go to Mars, I Love Pineapple Pizza, Not Yo Mama's Trivia Team, and NFC Ya Face.

We started the post-pajama party hi-jinks off with our General Knowledge Round 1. This is the round where we'll toss out some softball questions ("What is the national bird of the US? Bald Eagle) as well as some trickier specialty questions ("Who was the first black manager of MLB? Frank Robinson). And despite my careful repetition of the Double or Nothing rules, Not Yo Mama's Trivia Team learned the hard way how easy it is to fall short by just one question.

Things moved into our Picture Round 2 where teams identified famous characters based on their lego mini-figures. We had plenty of easy grabs like The Flash, Medusa, and Hermione, but the real challenge for our teams was instantly recognizing the protagonist of the Lego Movie and then realizing you had to remember what the heck his name was (Emmet). I Love Pineapple Pizza had the skills to not only recall that little namesake, but to correctly differentiate between what some teams thought was Han Solo but was actually Ripley.

That little trick allowed them to succeed with a self-assured Double or Nothing for 16 points which secured them an early first place at a total of 19 points. Second place was taken by The Durst Boys Go to Mars with 11 points, third place was held by NFC Ya Face with 9 points, fourth went to Not Yo Mama's Trivia Team with 5 points, and finally Kings+Queens of the North were our caboose with 4 points.

Theme Round 3 was a 'Make a wish / Place a curse' theme. Teams were tasked with identifying the film associated with a description of a curse or wish. For example, "A young girl makes a birthday wish and wakes up as Jennifer Garner" would be describing 13 Going on 30. Not every film was quite so recognizable however, unless you happen to be a fan of cult films like Bedazzled or Thinner.

Our Guess Who? Round 4 was another Guess Where? this week. We didn't have any impressive high-point clue guesses though, but I'm guessing even you the reader couldn't tell me what National Park was established in 1919. Most of our teams were able to quickly identify The Grand Canyon after our 6-point clue revealing it's connection to the Pueblo people, the Sonoran Desert, and the oldest exposed rocks on Earth. Suprisingly, the team with two ASU graduates weren't able to guess this one until the very end, but that's their shame to live with.

Before we head into Round 5 let's get a quick score update. First place was still held by I Love Pineapple Pizza at 26 points, followed by The Durst Boys Go to Mars at 21 points. Third place was held NFC Ya Face at 17 points, fourth was Not Yo Mama's Trivia Team at 13 points, and our caboose remained Kings+Queens of the North at 10 points.

Find the Connection Round 5 was a tough nut for my foes to crack. Although our teams were able to put up an average accuracy of 70%, only a single team was able to discover the connection between our smorgasbord of questions. If I told you what substance is the opposite of acid is (base), the Hawaiian word for "to slice" (poke), and the picture editing software included with Windows (Microsoft Paint), could you piece together what's the common denominator? I'll give you a minute then tune back in.

......

Welcome back, did you get the answer? If you said "They're all kinds of balls" then you got it. Don't understand yet? Baseball, pokeball, and paintball. Now it makes sense huh. Well, most of our teams didn't think it was quite so clever, but they weren't The Durst Boys Go To Mars who not only knew the connection, but every other answer along the way to their impressive Double or Nothing for 20 points allowing them to take the first place lead at 41 points.

Unfortunately for The Durst Boys their mission to Mars hit an unexpected snag in Handout Round 6 where we asked teams to match DJ Khaled songs with their featured artist. For those who didn't know who DJ Khaled was, let alone his song titles, it was a brutal round earning them zero points. The best result was from I Love Pineapple Pizza with 50% accuracy, but the overall average was a meager 22% accuracy.

Before we hit the final round, let's get a complete overview of the scores and standings. The Durst Boys Go to Mars were still in first at 41 points, but they were closely followed by I Love Pineapple Pizza in second at 37 points. Third place was held by NFC Ya Face at 26 points, fourth place was Kings+Queens of the North at 20 points, and Not Yo Mama's Trivia Team was now our caboose at 19 points.

So without further ado, let's reveal the prompt for our final round. And although I swear to you I have nothing to do with writing these questions, it was yet another geography related prompt for your esteemed geography major host to read.

According to the UN list of member states, what 8 countries have names starting with the letter 'E'?

Quite a few teams were fooled into answering England, forgetting that it's official title is the United Kingdom. Overall though, our teams did quite well, putting up an average accuracy of 65%. Although everyone got the gimmies like Egypt and Ecuador, the hard ones like Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea eluded all but two of our teams. And I enjoyed the comical answers that some teams put forward so a quick shout out to East LA and Ebonia.

So how did things shake out after the dust had completely settled? Let's roll through our team placements starting from the bottom. The battle for the caboose ended with Kings and Queens of the North falling prey to winter and fifth place at 20 points after a failed Double or Nothing. Fourth place was edged out by Not Yo Mama's Trivia Team at 24 points, meaning that the remaining teams had all managed to reach the pedestals.

Our third place team was NFC Ya Face at 29 points. And who managed to stay on top at the very end? I Love Pineapple Pizza...was not the ones to pull off a second comeback, ending the night in second place with 42 points. That means the victory for tonight went to the Durst Boys Go to Mars with 47 points.

Thanks everyone for coming out and enjoying a great boisterous evening full of food, friends, and fun. I hope to see you all again sometime soon, pajamas or not.

QUIZ RECAP

It was an intimate affair this last Tuesday at Petoskey's. With only three teams, and one of them comprised of staff, we had less than a dozen entrants overall. But as the whiffs of summer begin to make their way through the air, perhaps this is to be expected. As our seasonal depression leaves so too must our summer exuberance enter. Well, whether you're excited to be off splashing in the water or hiking up the hills, here's what things looked like indoors.

We had Free Pickles, our kitchen staff representatives, as well as We Have Birthdays and Cornstache. Things kicked off with a more difficult than usual General Knowledge Round 1, as the average accuracy was worst in this round compared to any other. If you're wondering why, perhaps you already knew that the most populous capital city in the world was Beijing, or are you a movie-trailer conniseur who knew Charlize Theron was the co-star of Seth Rogen in the upcoming Long Shot?

Things improved dramatically for some of our players in the Picture Round 2, where teams were tasked with identifying the film and TV series associated with famous newscasters. We Have Birthdays pulled off an impressive 16-point Double or Nothing but Cornstache and Free Pickles weren't quite as lucky. Because while we had live-action stalwarts like Ron Burgandy (Anchorman) and Phil Connors (Groundhog Day), we had a large serving of cartoon reporters as well like April O'Neil from T.M.N.T, or J. Jonah Jameson from Spiderman.

Heading into Round 3 We Have Birthdays had an early lead at 22 points, with Free Pickles and Cornstache trailing behind at 9 and 8 points respectively. Round 3 is traditionally our pun-happy theme round, but I award no creativity points for today's theme of "Who Ordered the Pastica: All questions or answers have to do with pasta or Africa". I know we can do better, but more importantly, we deserve better. The questions themselves weren't so bad though, whether it was testing your knowledge of map projections to identify the largest country in Africa (Algeria) or recalling some famous historical movies (The African Queen) or subgenres (Spaghetti Western).

We changed things up a bit in our Guess Who? Round 4, as today it was transformed into Guess Where?. Teams had to puzzle out the identity of Las Vegas using clues ranging from the generic "A new city hall was opened in 2013" to the insanely specific "The city's motto is 'What happens here, stays here'".

Score wise the team's positions had begun to spread out. Free Pickles had fallen behind to third with 13 points, leaving Cornstache in second at 21 points, while We Have Birthdays remained in first with 31 points. Moving into Round 5 we had Free Pickles drop out of the running, turning the night's already cozy gathering into a tender little two-party race.

Find the Connection Round 5 ended up being no challenge at all for the two teams. Even the more difficult questions were easily dispatched, (What is mixed with vodka and lime juice to make a Moscow Mule? Ginger Beer), including an otherwise ridiculous Hobbit related question ("What dwarf plays the flute along with Ori and Dori? Nori). Perhaps it was the Sushi Connection that made some of these easier to guess, or perhaps Petoskey's is just #blessed with superb trivia players.

Unfortunately for We Have Birthdays though, they weren't superb enough to outshine their rivals Cornstache, as Cornstache stole back first place off the back of their 20 point Double or Nothing, landing at 41 points just an inch away from Birthdays' 40 points.

Things stayed tense in Handout Round 6 where the teams were asked to match famous castle names with their corresponding franchises. We had castles from video-games (Hyrule Castle: Zelda, Eichenwalde Castle: Overwatch), books (Tower of Joy: Game of Thrones, Castle Caladan: Dune), and movies (Aldera Royal Palace: Star Wars), but nothing could stump our contestants as they went for 10 and 9 points each.

This meant that the teams were all tied up at 50 points each heading into our Final Round 7. You know how sometimes it's the quiet kid in the back who turns out to be the most ferocious on the field, well, sometimes a quiet night of trivia ends up being the most ferocious back and forth.

Our closing prompt for the day's contest was:

What 10 countries exported the highest dollar amount worth of cars in 2017?

This was a tricky question to answer, because while it's easy enough to guess Germany or the United States based on brands alone, that won't help you in knowing that Spain and Belgium were both on the list as well. In the end, the teams finished off the night separated by just one points: 57 points to 56 points.

The winner of tonight's two-way brawl was....We Have Birthdays. Congratulations on your victory, but a big shout-out to Cornstache for pulling things back with an incredible 20-point Double or Nothing for a rip-roaring down to the wire finish.

Thanks to everyone who spurned the glory of the sun for booze and facts, and I hope to see more of you next week!