Frustrating Trivia

At trivia this week the question-asker was Erin’s usual replacement, who had performed adequately in the past. He mentioned that, unlike Erin, he wasn’t cool enough to have prepared a musical theme.

1. GoogleX released a video showing that they are working on what product? David thought glasses. Kevin first thought goggles. Joel answered “vision”, which the lenient trivia master accepted. One point.

2. What is the complimentary color for blue? After a little discussion, I drew out a color wheel. Orange is opposite blue on the wheel, but does that mean they are complimentary? With no other reasonable answer, we went with orange. Five points. I have no idea why yellow was also accepted.

3. How many total dots are on three dice? David and Joel tried to count in their heads. David calculated 60. I wrote down the numbers and added on paper. Joel and I got 63. Bama was singled out for showing their work, though supposedly they answered wrong. Three points.

4. What fictional character lived at 221B Baker Street in London? Joel knew, as did several others…and every other team: Sherlock Holmes. Five points.

5. The first four books of the New Testament are known as what? Easy…for most of us: The Gospels. Three points. Mary’s mind was on the Old Testament.

6. Including this year, how many years has Chipper Jones played for the Braves? Big discussion. The championship year was his first full year: 1995. In 1994 he was injured in one of the last spring training games, and missed the entire season. Kevin was sure he had a cup of coffee in 1993. I demurred, and as usual, Kevin was right: 19 years. Twenty was also accepted. One point.

7. To correctly brew a French Press, you need to use coffee ground on what setting? Joel’s guess was right: coarse. Three points. Had we wagered five, we would’ve won.

8. In 1819 Spain gain the US what? Here’s where the evening went downhill. Kevin and I both heard 1891…that’s what I wrote. Mary suggested Florida, but 1891 was much too late for such an eastern state. Kevin mentioned the Spanish and Indian War; fought much earlier in the 1800’s (my historical reading is finally paying off). I was thinking California, even though the gold rush was almost fifty years earlier. Kevin thought Cuba, which for a time was a US territory. The answer was Florida. We had wagered one point. Later the trivia master was convinced of his mistake, and gave every team equal credit. Fair? My Friday morning thought: teams that wagered 5 or 3 lost more than us, who’d only wagered one. Now we had the opportunity to score eight in the round. Other teams could only score six or four.

9. Obrigado means what in Portuguese? We guessed welcome. It was thank you. Having the five points to wager cost us the game. Indeed, our 21 point halftime score was three points behind the eventual winners. We led Bama by three.

10. In what country or city are the following landmarks?

…Mt Everest…Nepal…two points.

…Christ the Redeemer statue…Rio, in Brazil…two points.

…Mt Kilimanjaro…David had been to Kenya, but Tanzania was the answer. Is this right?

…Giza Metropolis…Egypt. Kevin thought Lebanon, but who knew?

…Victoria Falls… Zimbabwe.

…The Summer Palace…I shouldn’t have suggested India. Russia was right.

11. What does P.S. stand for? We didn’t hear the question, and had to ask. Post Script, of course. Six points.

12. What river runs through London? The Thames. Four points.

13. What movie featured the famous line “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”? When this question was asked, everyone in the house groaned. Joel was ready to write, and asked me for the answer. Without thinking (clearly) I replied. Still, before he turned it in I had David check what Joel wrote. Hurt looked up and exclaimed “Casablanca!” Margaret couldn’t believe I got that wrong. I was totally thinking about “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Of course, we answered correctly: Gone With the Wind. Two points.

14. How long is the term of a US Supreme Court justice? Life…six points.

15. John Lennon married what video artist? Yoko Ono. Four points. David mentioned that they were most probably never actually married.

16. What is the only mammal that cannot jump? Joel relied on several reliable sources for his answer: kid’s TV shows “Arthur, Scooby Doo…” The Elephant. Two points. Having answered six straight second round questions, we were feeling good about ourselves. Then it was announced that ALL teams have answered six straight.

17. What are the colors of the Olympic Rings? Joel thought Gold, but I corrected him to Yellow. Margaret knew five, but said white. Red, Blue, Green, and Black. Six points.

18. This Easter, what candy will sell enough to circle the world twice? Joel was sure it was Peeps, and it was. Four points. The trivia master shared a weird story of microwaving peeps with toothpicks, so they would joust. David wondered if he left the door open, and was exposed to the radiation.

19. Beans grown at higher elevations are known as what kind of coffee? Having heard several coffee trivia questions over the past few months, I offered Joel helpful information: higher elevations means no bugs, making for a longer growing season, making for higher caffeine content. I didn’t remember that the quality was better. Joel answered Robusta, but the answer was Arabica: the only coffee served at Land of a Thousand Hills. A crucial two point miss.

Going into the final question we were two behind Dubai, the twentysomethings who had already won at least two straight weeks.

20. Name the element for the following periodic table symbols:

…Cu…Copper

…Mn…Manganese

…U…Uranium

…K…Potassium

…C…Carbon

…F…Fluorine

Kevin quickly knocked out the answers. Unfortunately, the top six of the seven teams also got this easy question right, so the order of finish did not change. Once again we finished two points out of first place.