Trivia Hunt VI: A 90s Themed Hunt
Congrats to our three fastest perfect-scoring teams, taking home $538.46 each:
1st – Exotic Fruit Basket – 42 minutes, 8 seconds
2nd – Slumdoge Millionaire – 45 minutes, 57 seconds
3rd – Awful Lawful Falafel Waffle – 46 minutes, 47 seconds
Our Recap
For the second Trivia Hunt in a row, 192 teams battled for supremacy. This version of Trivia Hunt had a 90s theme to it and we hope you enjoyed it. Compared to other Trivia Hunts, the average submittal time was slightly higher, however, we had our lowest amount of perfect scoring teams to date with 26. For reference, 71 teams won cash at our previous hunt. One or two questions caused this (see below). Each team that went perfect took home $38.46 and our fastest three teams had $500 added to their prize totals. Win or lose, we hope you all had a good time solving our trivia puzzles on Saturday night. We appreciate your continued support!
Average Completion Time: 173 minutes
Average Score: 22.3
Team Winning Cash – 26
CLICK HERE FOR THE STANDINGS
Trivia Hunt VII is on June 5th, 2021 at 8 PM Eastern. We’ll be quizzing you about anything and everything! There is no specific theme in this hunt. The prize pool for this event is $2500 and if you get 25/25 before 11 PM Eastern, you win some cash. Trivia Hunt VIII is on June 26th and you can buy a combo ticket now and save some dough.
A quick note about the questions and how we go about them: when we write each question, we test it in a small group, re-write them, and try again. A different group does a test run 2-3 days before the hunt, and again, we revise. Even with all that, we sometimes don’t discover an additional answer or a possible wording issue. We certainly do our best, and our intent is never to trick you. We want you to get them right, but we also want them to be a challenge. With that said, there are sometimes questions where there were multiple accepted answers.
Question #1:
Oh, snap! It’s time for our sixth Trivia Hunt! This one’s all about the 1990s, so let’s kick things off with this video question from a very special guest: Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows!
A: My Back Pages
Most Common Wrong Answer: World Gone Wrong
Correct Percentage: 83%
Quick Note: Big thanks to Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows for kicking us off. The key here was you needed a live-recorded single (not album) by Bob Dylan. That was My Back Pages.
Question #2:
The MLB player who earned the most BBWAA MVP awards during the 1990s shares his initials with a pop group nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy during the 1990s. Find the member of this group whose age is closest to the aforementioned baseball player. Next, find the actor to win the Best Actor Oscar for a film released during the 90s that shares his first name with the aforementioned pop group member. How many other theatrically-released films made by the director of this film were released in the 1990s?
A: Zero
Most Common Wrong Answer: Two
Correct Percentage: 97%
Quick Note: You were looking for Sam Mendes here. American Beauty was his only film released in the 90s.
Question #3:
The product being advertised in this clip was spoken by a guest star in an episode of The Simpsons in the 90s. Who was the guest star that mentioned this product?
A: Steven Hawking
Most Common Wrong Answer: Danny Devito
Correct Percentage: 97%
Quick Note: What was your favorite Fruitopia flavor and why was it Strawberry Passion Awareness!?
Question #4:
What term, usually referring to something found on certain common casino items, is also the name of a musician played in a 1994 comedy film and a character in a Charles Dickens novel whose name is changed to something else for a 1998 film adaptation?
A: Pip
Most Common Wrong Answer: Various
Correct Percentage: 98%
Quick Note: Well done on this one hunters!
Question #5:
What Oscar, Golden Globe, and Golden Raspberry-nominated actor was born the day before the Hubble Telescope was launched?
A: Dev Patel
Most Common Wrong Answer: Shirley Temple
Correct Percentage: 99%
Quick Note: Two easy ones back-to-back.
Question #6:
This collage consists of music videos or “performances” of four different songs from the 1990s. Arrange their titles in “Before and After” style.
Clarifier: For those unaware, “Before and After” is where we combine two clues together to form a single answer. As an example, “Batman’s real name AND Hockey player nicknamed ‘The Great One’” would have the answer “Bruce Wayne Gretzky.” For these “Before and After” questions, combinations may share a word, part of a word, or a syllable.
A: I2I Want You’ll Be in My Heart-Shaped Box (Any spelling of I2I/Eye to Eye was accepted)
Most Common Wrong Answer: I2I Want You Stole My Heart
Correct Percentage: 83%
Quick Note: The songs were: Nirvana’s Heart-Shaped Box, I2I from A Goofy Movie, Savage Garden’s I Want You, and Phil Collins’ You’ll Be in My Heart.
Question #7:
A certain debut single from the 1990s sampled a 1964 hit by a singer born with the first name Riley. This debut single was used in the soundtrack to a 1996 film that includes a memorable fight scene that pays homage to an episode of Star Trek. Name the episode.
A: Amok Time
Most Common Wrong Answer: Chain of Command
Correct Percentage: 93%
Quick Note: Your path: Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money In My hand (samples How Blue Can You Get) -> The Cable Guy -> Amok Time
Question #8:
These six sports team logos from the 1990s have had team names removed and colors inverted. For each logo, take the first letter of the team name (not the location!) it belongs to. Those six letters, placed in the correct order, combine into the name of a stadium that got demolished during the 1990s. One of the teams represented in the image played two official games in that stadium, one of which was against a team that was playing their last game ever. What was the name of the team that replaced that disbanded team in the league?
A: St. Louis Gunners
Most Common Wrong Answer: Washington Nationals
Correct Percentage: 93%
Quick Note: (T)imberwolves, (M)agic, (E)xplorers, (E)agles, (L)ions, (P)enguins -> Temple (Stadium) – Eagles played two games -> Cincinnati Reds -> St. Louis Gunners
Question #9:
What 8-letter adjective is also the title of a 1991 album by an Irish-English rock band, a play mentioned in an iconic 1997 video game, and the last name of a villain in a 1999 film loosely based on a TV series?
A: Loveless
Most Common Wrong Answer: Various
Correct Percentage: 98%
Quick Note: Straight forward on this one. Well done!
Question #10:
Mel Gibson, Ralph Fiennes, Kenneth Branagh, and Kevin Kline all portrayed a certain character in different performances during the 1990s. One of the other characters who interacts with this shared character shares their name with an album released in May of 1998. Its singer’s previous solo album features a track written in tribute to an actor who passed away in 1993. Name the actor.
A: River Phoenix
Most Common Wrong Answer: Various
Correct Percentage: 98%
Quick Note: Here’s your path: Hamlet -> Ophelia -> Natalie Merchant -> River -> River Phoenix
Question #11:
In film roles during the 1990s, a certain actress gave a treasure trove of memorable quotes. Some of these quotes involved replacing “the magic word” of “please” with “now,” directly referencing a quote from The Fly, asking someone what death was like, and saying “pickety” at least six times. Which of this actress’s films released in the 90s was set on New Years Eve?
A: 200 Cigarettes / Mermaids
Most Common Wrong Answer: Sleepless in Seattle
Correct Percentage: 88%
Quick Note: Christina Ricci was our mystery actress. 200 Cigarettes is set entirely on New Years Eve, however, Mermaids is also partially set during that holiday as well. We accepted both answers.
Question #12:
Of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Cover Models of the 1990s, one later appeared in a Disney Channel film with Justin Timberlake. Four songs from this film’s soundtrack were provided by the same girl group. The second word in this girl group’s name is also the title of a TV series that began in the 1990s. Take the number of original episodes of this series that aired in the 1990s and convert this number into Roman numerals. On AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes list, only one quote from the 1990s contains this Roman numeral. Who directed the film featuring that quote?
A: Robert Zemeckis
Most Common Wrong Answer: Various
Correct Percentage: 98%
Quick Note: Life is like a box of chocolates…
Question #13:
Find the number of days between the day the first McDonald’s opened in China and the date of birth of the first openly LGBTQ Black artist to win a Country Music Association award. Next, find the prime number closest to this number of days. Rearrange the digits in this prime number to get the most recent four-digit year A.D. that has existed. Who was President of France in this year?
A: Gaston Doumergue
Most Common Wrong Answer: Émile Loubet
Correct Percentage: 92%
Quick Note: The path for this one: Shenzhen McDonald’s and Lil Nas X: 3105 days -> 3109 -> 1930 -> Gaston Doumergue
Question #14:
In the main event of the WWF pay-per-view event that debuted Stone Cold Steve Austin’s “Hell Frozen Over” music (with the shattered glass at the beginning), one wrestler commits a certain act at this same event. This act is also the definition of one of the National Spelling Bee winning words from the 1990s. Identify the word (and, of course, spell it correctly).
A: Vivisepulture
Most Common Wrong Answer: Kamikaze
Correct Percentage: 90%
Quick Note: Sorry to the three teams that got to Vivisepulture, but did not spell it correct (as the question asked). Stone Cold’s music debuted at In Your House: Buried Alive. Vivisepulture is the act or practice of burying alive. And that’s how you ask about spelling bees and old school wrestling in the same question!
Question #15:
(Read the Clarifier) In a scene from the 1995 Mortal Kombat film, Goro crushes Johnny Cage’s sunglasses with his bare hand. Johnny later tells Goro how much those glasses cost. Suppose that a) this somehow took place in real life, b) that Johnny’s glasses remained fully intact. and c) that Johnny had a lucky dime he wanted to spend on U.S. Forever stamps. If Johnny Cage were to sell those glasses now for the inflated (2021) value of how much he spent on them 26 years ago (this inflated value being rounded to the nearest multiple of $10), how many U.S. Forever stamps could he buy?
Clarifier: Use https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm as your inflation value source.
A: Answers reasonably close to 1582, 1600, and 1618
Most Common Wrong Answer: Various
Correct Percentage: 97%
Quick Note: This was the one that lit the Trivia Hunt inbox on fire on Saturday night. We could have done better in asking for which month during that year we wanted you to use. Some of you assumed January, some of you assumed August (based on the film), etc. We took a range of answers here based on the numbers at any point that year. Our apologies for any confusion.
Question #16:
This famous moment in Microsoft history took place at an event held in a certain state. How many electoral votes was this state worth at the time of the audio clip?
A: 22
Most Common Wrong Answer: 4
Correct Percentage: 32%
Quick Note: This question now holds the record for lowest correct answer rate in Trivia Hunt history. This clip took place at Comdex. Comdex was an annual event in Las Vegas, which was where all the 4 guesses went. However, in a handful of years they also held Comdex at other sites, including NYC, Atlanta, and Chicago. The clip in question was at the Chicago version of the event. Illinois at the time was worth 22 electoral votes.
Question #17:
Remove the third letter in the brand discussed in this clip and rearrange the remaining letters to get the name of a character in a 1990s Disney animated film. The actor who voiced this character in this film appeared in five theatrically-released films in the 1990s. The most recent of which includes a scene in which the title character gives a speech about a certain work of art. What is this work of art’s colloquial name?
A: Whistler’s Mother
Most Common Wrong Answer: The Scream
Correct Percentage: 96%
Quick Note: Did you own any Zubaz pants? Here’s the path: Zubaz pants -> Zazu -> Rowan Atkinson -> Bean -> Whistler’s Mother
Question #18:
Time for some 90s literature math.
- Find the number chapter in which Jonas, the Receiver of Memory, tells his first lie to his parents in The Giver.
- Multiply that number by the nickname of the 90s literary character portrayed in film by the guy who played the character Mike in that 2005 roller disco movie. Let’s call that product x.
- The soundtrack of the highest-grossing film worldwide that was released in 199x (x is the ones digit here) includes a track with the same name as a Pokémon.
What is this Pokémon’s Kanto Pokédex number?
A: 132
Most Common Wrong Answer: Various
Correct Percentage: 94%
Quick Note: 16 x 0 (Zero from Holes) = 0. 1990 film is Ghost. Track 4 is Ditto, Kanto Pokédex is #132.
Question #19:
Of all the people that Bill Clinton pardoned at some point during the 1990s, find the one whose last name comes second-to-last alphabetically. What war was his/her crime related to that Clinton pardoned?
A: Korean War
Most Common Wrong Answer: Absent Without Leave
Correct Percentage: 93%
Quick Note: Samuel Harrell Woodard was the one here. Some of you mentioned the crime, but not the war. The question was asking which war it was from.
Question #20:
In 1992, the Mall of America opened its doors. Of the four anchor stores, find the one that closed for business in that mall first. Of that store’s current locations, what is the least populous US state to have one?
A: New Hampshire
Most Common Wrong Answer: Alabama
Correct Percentage: 95%
Quick Note: Bloomingdales was the store in question here. They still operate a number of retail locations (including outlets). According to their site, the least populous state to have one is indeed New Hampshire.
Question #21:
DeNora Getachew is the current CEO of a non-profit organization co-founded in the 90s by a TV heartthrob. This actor’s last film role in the 90s was one of several based on a book by a certain author. Of this author’s works’ film adaptations released in the 90s, find the one that has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating. From that title, remove the letters found in the title of a 1996 novel listed on the BBC’s 2003 survey The Big Read. What two letters remain?
A: MR
Most Common Wrong Answer: MB
Correct Percentage: 80%
Quick Note: Here’s your pathway to success: Andrew Shue -> The Rainmaker -> John Grisham -> The Chamber – The Beach = MR
Question #22:
The first woman to win a Best Direction of a Musical Tony Award did so in the 1990s. For the musical in which she won, she is given writing credit on one of the songs from the show. That song shares its name with a 1967 novel by what famous fiction writer?
A: Agatha Christie
Most Common Wrong Answer: Various
Correct Percentage: 97%
Quick Note: Well done on this one, teams!
Question #23:
There are two people on this 1990s version of the board game Guess Who who share their first name with a winner of Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actor (or Actress) in a Drama Series during the 1990s. Name both actors/actresses.
A: Tom Skerritt / Peter Falk
Most Common Wrong Answer: Various
Correct Percentage: 96%
Quick Note: Fun fact – Sporcle owns a bar called Haymaker Public House in Ann Arbor, MI. We have lots of board games for the patrons. The game we’ve had to replace the most often due to “wear and tear” and mysterious disappearances is Guess Who.
Question #24:
Six different logos used by six different companies were used to make this somewhat awkward-looking ransom note. Name any one of the six companies.
A: Blockbuster (Video), Payless (shoe Source), KB Toys. Circuit City, Claire’s, Limited Too (see note)
Most Common Wrong Answer: Various
Correct Percentage: 91%
Quick Note: We chose to also accept Rockstar Games as the R in that logo is about as identical as you can get with the human eye. We went through each incorrect answer to see if we should accept any others and felt like Rockstar was the only exception here.
Question #25:
Time to do some research, folks. We’ve chosen one film from Rotten Tomatoes’ list of 140 Essential 90s Movies. This movie:
- Has a title that includes neither “of” nor “the.”
- Has a title with more than one word.
- Has a title that does not include a character’s first name.
- Has a title that neither begins nor ends with any of the halogen symbols (including #117).
- Has a title that does not contain a double-letter (“ll,” “zz,” etc).
- Has a title that does not include the same number of words as there are letters in any word of its title.
- Was neither nominated for nor won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- Has a title that does not contain an English integer (written out or in Arabic numerals).
- Has a title that does not contain three or more of the same vowel. (For this, vowels with accents are considered to be the same as their accentless counterparts.)
- Is not its director’s feature film directorial debut.
- Does not feature Bill Murray, Meat Loaf, or Tim Allen in a credited role.
- Was not released in 1990.
- Was written by a different person than its director.
- Has a title that does not contain the letter worth 5 points in a regular U.S. English game of Scrabble.
- Is not set, partially or in full, in San Francisco.
Name this movie.
Clarifier: All instances of “title” refer to the films’ common English titles.
A: True Romance
Most Common Wrong Answer: American Pie
Correct Percentage: 85%
Quick Note: And with that, let it be said that we have a “True Romance” with all of you Trivia Hunters. We sincerely appreciate your support of this game! We’ll see you again on June 5th and June 26th!
The Next Hunts:
Trivia Hunt VII – June 5th at 8 PM Eastern
Trivia Hunt VIII – June 26th at 8 PM Eastern
Tickets On Sale Here