Trivia Night questions and answers

I hosted a trivia night on Saturday. These were the questions. I’ve made some slight edits to questions that were too hard or poorly worded. If you’re wondering why I included a question on any given topic, it’s because I let each guest request a topic for one trivia question.

Each round has eight questions. The answer to the eighth question of each round contains a clue to an overarching riddle. The solution to the riddle is a noun.

Work

1. Until this year, MAQ Software annually held a company-wide lunch to celebrate what fall holiday?
2. MAQ founder Rajeev Agarwal has written two books called “What I Did Not Learn at (blank)”. Fill in the blank for either book.
3. In the parlance of senior housing, what type of facility treats individuals with dementia or similar impairments?
4. Fortune named this company “America’s Most Innovative Company” for six consecutive years. Then it was discovered that the whole business was built on top of accounting fraud. Name this notorious company.
5. What company was once known as “BankAmericard” but rebranded to present itself as more international?
6. The Sweets & Snacks Expo awards the most innovative new candy and snack varieties every year. 2025’s Best in Show award went to Belle’s Gourmet Popcorn for what trendy popcorn flavor?
7. Three professions have a divorce rate over 50%. Name any one of them.
8. (Riddle hint) Sodium hypochlorite, a highly basic substance, is one of the most produced chemicals in the world. What is it better known as?

Play

1. Only two Pokemon types are super effective against themselves. Name either one.
2. In League of Legends, each team typically sends one player to roam through the overgrown areas of the map instead of the lanes. What is this role called?
3. What color of Pikmin is immune to poison?
4. Out of eight StarCraft II World Championship Series, Joona Sotala was the only non-Korean player to win. What is his nationality?
5. In NBA 2K11, three players were tied for the highest rating in the game: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and which player on the same team as LeBron?
6. Write the highest-scoring Scrabble word you can think of. It has to be in the Scrabble dictionary and have at most nine letters.
7. In what playing card game do you track your score with pegs on a wooden board?
8. (Riddle hint) In Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, what class spends “ki points” to do special martial arts moves?

Big Group Round

Pairs of teams worked together for this round.

1. What notable psychoanalyst coined the term “collective unconscious”?
2. 9/11 led to the passage of what act that granted the US government greater surveillance powers in the name of fighting terrorism?
3. What is the longest-running Broadway show ever?
4. In close-quarters battle, what part of a room is considered the “fatal funnel”?
5. The three most populous countries in the world are India, China, and the USA. What country is number four?
6. What color is this hex code: #0000ff
7. There is only one word in English that has the letters IZU consecutively. What is it?
8. (Riddle hint) What is the third element on the periodic table?

Music Round

Too lazy to create spoiler-free audio clips at the moment, sorry. But the format was that I played 5-15 seconds of each song, let people turn in guesses, then played a longer snippet and let people guess again. If you guessed it the first time you got full points, and if you only got it the second time you got half points. Also you had to guess the artist, not the song.

Big Group Round 2

Pairs of teams worked together for this round.

1. Qin Shi Huang is buried alongside an army of 8,000 terracotta soldiers near what major city?
2. What is the only marsupial native to North America?
3. What Christian denomination calls themselves the Religious Society of Friends and is depicted on a popular grocery item?
4. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was nominated for Best Picture in 2003. What huge battle is a central event of the film?
5. At the Academy Awards, The Two Towers competed for best picture with Chicago, Gangs of New York, and The Hours. What actor featured in all three?
6. What year did Blackbeard die?
7. Order these cities from west to east: Atlanta, Detroit, Miami, Panama City
8. (Riddle hint) The tallest statue in the world depicts Vallabhbhai Patel. Who does the second-tallest statue in the world depict?

Picture Round

Questions

Local

1. What type of food was largely popularized by a Seattleite named Toshihiro Kasahara?
2. One of Mercer Island’s landmarks is known as “The Lid”. What does it cover?
3. Seattle boomed in population in the 1890s as a gateway to Alaska during what event?
4. What legendary musician attended Garfield High School in the late 1950s?
5. What local comedy show introduced the world to Bill Nye the Science Guy?
6. What Seattle Seahawk currently leads the NFL in receiving yards?
7. In 1971, two real estate agents put up a billboard that read: “Will the last person leaving SEATTLE – Turn out the lights”. This was a response to what company’s financial downturn?
8. (Riddle hint) What Pioneer Square tavern is the oldest music venue in Seattle?³