How Not Knowing Hints Makes You a Rookie

You are alone on an empty street. You see a five dollar bill on the sidewalk. Do you pick it up?   You are a regular at your local bar. You tip well and are polite. The manager offers you a drink on the house. Do you accept?   Your cell carrier offers a 25% discount off of your exact plan for people who work at your company. Do you sign up for the discount? Did you even hesitate to answer these? Was there a question in your mind at all?   Given the fact that you are a discerning consumer, you probably said yes to all of these questions. You are obviously a person who understands value, and not an idiot.   Having said all that–are you taking full advantage of all the ways that Last Call is offering to help you improve your game?  There are several ways to improve your trivia performance.  We’ve mentioned quite a few, including Laura’s great articles on musical hints, and how to NOT second-guess yourself. (Ginkgo Biloba and surgery won’t help, alas!) Players are still looking for an edge.   How about we just TELL YOU THE ANSWERS?   No, not like that. I don’t mean that Last Call is going to pull a Quiz Show— cheat and offer a set of answers to one team.  We believe in fair play and competition too much to do that.  It is the same deal for everyone, and available to anyone.  The teams you compete against are already doing this!   Here’s what you do:

1. Before you show up at trivia night, check this page. (Or do it while you’re there BEFORE the game starts.)
2. You’ll see a list of several answers.  Write them down.
3. Each choice will be an answer on one trivia night during the week.  We’re not going to tell you which works on which night, but you’ll have an edge over the other teams.

For example the week of May 24-30 had this list of hints:

• Dray
• Fjord
• San Francisco
• Skylark
• Space Command
• Tidal

One Tuesday night, the third question in Round 5 was: ANIMALS – From the genus Alauda, what bird shares its name with a Buick car model that had 6 production runs from 1953 to 1998? 1953 Buick Skylark It’s a good question, but dead simple – if you have a list to chose from.  It’s the Skylark, of course. Always use the hints.  Ignoring them is a rookie mistake. Why would you leave points on the table?   TRIVIA: Charlie Sheen and Clint Eastwood starred together in 1990’s buddy-cop film The Rookie. 1990’s The Rookie What other actor from Two and A Half Men had a part in 2002’s Disney underdog sports film The Rookie? Send all guesses to: [email protected].  First correct guess will win a mention in this column, and my undying gratitude.   GAME RECOGNIZE GAME! Eagle-eyed and rerun savvy reader JANET HICKS was the first person to answer this question and point out that Lucille Ball conceived, carried and gave birth on I Love Lucy all while the show never once uttered the word “pregnant” on air.