‘Carousel Critters’ Win at Trivia Night

A trivia contest, hosted by Adara, feline, in Le Lapin Rose nightclub Wednesday night, ended with a victory for the Carousel Critters team, 11-7. Carousel Critters, consisting of Austin, coati; BunnyHugger, devibunny; and Garrison, black and white ‘roo, went up against Team Pony/LOP, whose membership consisted of Findra, bunny; Natasha, ‘toon coati; and Nyni, My Little Pony Breezie.

The trivia competition was the second hosted by Adara and had a changed format from the first. Rather than awarding a point only to the first individual to answer each question correctly, this time it was a team event, and a point was awarded to any team that whispered the correct answer to the host. Six people chose to participate, and divided into two teams, while many others were content to watch.Carousel Critters, or Team CC (as they were called throughout the evening), drew their team name  from BunnyHugger’s enthusiasm for carousels and the fact that Garrison was the model for a figure on the Edgeworld Park Grand Carousel. Team Pony/LOP acquired their name when Nyni suggested Team Pony, and Findra suggested Team Lack of Porpoise.

The trivia night fell on Iceberg Day, one of the official SpinDizzy holidays, and some holiday touches added to the atmosphere of the event. Austin had recently been given a new arctic-style coloration, white with black points, by Beltrami, changing out his red-and-green Christmas pelage for a more Iceberg Day (and rest-of-the-winter) appearance. BunnyHugger was wearing a penguin costume. Some of the trivia questions had also been chosen with Iceberg Day in mind, such as “What razor-thin country accounts for more than half of the western coastline of South America?” (Chile) and “At what temperature do the Farenheit and Celcius scales intersect?” (-40 degrees).

Midway through the event, fluffy, critter, arrived, wanting to play. Adara told fluffy that it would not be able to join unless another person also came along to play, to avoid uneven teams. Since no one else arrived, fluffy was not able to officially participate, but it did unofficially whisper answers, getting many of them right.

During the first half of the contest, the score remained tied, with either both teams missing or (more commonly) both teams correctly answering the questions. The breakaway came when Team CC correctly responded that Saturnalia was the ancient festival in which masters temporarily served their slaves. After a two more rounds of correct answers by both teams, Team CC earned another unanswered point by responding that the country containing the world’s tallest waterfall is Venezuela.

“What’s the name of the waterfall, by the way?” Findra asked. Austin responded, “I believe it’s named That One from Up, isn’t it?” but Adara said, “Angel Falls.”

The official end time of the event arrived with Team CC ahead 9-7. Adara asked if people wanted to stop there or finish the questions she had prepared. Team Pony/LOP suggested three more questions, which would give them the chance to regain the lead, and Team CC agreed.

Team Pony/LOP’s hope of winning was quickly dispelled by the next question, “Marvin Lee Aday is the real name of what singer/actor?” Only Team CC responded with the correct answer, “Meat Loaf.”

The following question, “What famous artist was struct in the face with a mallet by an envious rival, disfiguring him for life?” was missed by both teams. After the answer, “Michelangelo,” was announced, BunnyHugger made a frustrated noise and then said, “Sorry Garrison. That was Garrison’s choice. Austin and I went for Rodin.”

The last question of the night was “What was television’s first western series?” Team CC won the point with “Hopalong Cassidy,” ending the game with a decisive victory. Adara announced the final score as 9-7, but a review of the record by the SpinDizzy News indicates that this was an error and the correct final score was 11-7, Team CC.