NEAT TRIX: Trixie the Trivial Tranny holds court as quizmistress during a Wednesday Trivia Night at the Queenshead. Credit: Larry Biddle

Tampa Bay loves its trivial pursuits. The Tampa Bay Dream Team asks the questions on Monday and Thursday nights at Ferg’s (with Thursdays reserved for the faster Turbo Trivia), and on Tuesdays at Crowley’s. Trixie the Trivial Tranny oversees Wednesday night’s quiz at the Queenshead in the Grand Central District. And the folks from Pop Quiz Live Trivia Events are everywhere, every day of the week except Sunday, at locations ranging from Largo to Lutz, St. Pete to Land O' Lakes. Bar tabs and bragging rights await the winners, and the mood is convivial even when the competition’s fierce.

We asked Prolific Productions' CEO John Parker, who's behind the Pop Quiz events; Lee Palmer, manager/owner of the Dream Team; and Paul Smith, Queenshead co-owner, to share some of their toughest questions with CL readers. You’ll find the answers below, but don’t be a wimp and check them now. See if you can hang with the champs. According to Smith, “Some of the questions don’t seem that hard, but it’s amazing how many people get the simple/tough ones wrong!”

Trixie’s Top 20

Note from Paul Smith: “Just so you know, we try to keep the questions reasonable to give people a chance. One way we make them harder is by not giving the multiple choice options!”

1. Which movie was the first to receive an ‘X’ rating: Midnight Cowboy, Along Came a Spider, The Extraordinary Seaman or The Italian Job?

2. The Roscher System and the Henry Classification System are used by the police for what?

3. Who landed roles in Hairspray (The Original) and Airplane 2: The Sequel before landing a seat in the U.S. Congress?

4. Where was the UN Earth Summit held in 1992: New York, Sydney, Tokyo or Rio De Janeiro?

5. What is the name given to the thin veil worn by Muslim women in public?

6. In Star Trek: First Contact what is the Borg name given to captain Jean-Luc Picard after he is assimilated into the Borg collective?

7. From which country did French horns originate: Germany, France, Austria or Spain?

8. Anne Hathaway’s character works for which magazine in The Devil Wears Prada?

9. It occurs once in a minute, twice in a week and once in a year. What is it?

10. Who said, “My left leg is Christmas, my right leg is Easter, why don’t you come up and visit me between the holidays?”

11. Esto is the best-selling newspaper in which country?

12. The Aborigines call this thing Uluru. What do we call it?

13. La Gioconda is better know as what?

14. During World War 1, what kind of gas was considered the most effective in trench warfare and introduced by Germany in July 1917?

15. What wine-making country produces varieties from its Maharashtra region?

16. What is the world’s most popular green vegetable?

17. Where was a speed record of 11.2 mph set in 1972?

18. Who was the first actor to appear on the cover of Time Magazine?

19. We all know that JFK airport in New York is named after John F Kennedy, but which famous singer is Liverpool Airport in England named after?

20. The following are all characters in a play by Shakespeare: Tybalt, Benvolio, Frair Laurence and Mercutio. What is the name of the play?

Dream Team Top 10

1. Who was the first man to receive Social Security when he received a lump-sum check for $0.17 in 1937?

2. Who was the first person to be awarded a gold record?

3. What is the first ever registered domain name?

4. What MLB Hall of Fame pitcher hit a home run in his first major league at-bat and never hit another in his entire career?

5. Three actresses have managed to win a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and an Oscar in the same year (1973, 1998, 2006). Name these accomplished women.

6. If you were to write out all numbers as Roman numerals, which number would be last if the numbers were written lexicographically?

7. What are the five most common letters to begin words in the English language?

8. Most toilets in the modernized world flush in what key?

9. The only two bands to ever win the Grammy for “Record/Album of the Year” in back-to-back years are who?

10. What critically acclaimed movie sequel in the ’00s used the pseudonym Rory’s First Kiss to deter potential footage thieves from looking in on early filming?

POP QUIZ TOP TEN

1. Who are the first four vocalists heard in USA for Africa’s “We Are The World”?

2. After Elvis & The Beatles, who was the third act to replace themselves at #1 on the Hot 100 (Pop Charts)?

3. Who started the tradition of taxis being painted yellow

4. This symbol, which used to appear in print ads, is so rarely used that it has been dropped from computer and typewriter keyboards.

5. What was the first work uniform registered with the US Patent & Trademark office?

6. What were the five “flavors” of the Spice Girls?

7. What does "Weird" Al Yankovic have a college degree in?

8. What did Momofuku Ando invent?

9. For what TV show did Steve Martin win his first Emmy?

10. In what city was Disney World originally going to be built?

TRIVIA ANSWERS

Trixie’s Top 20

1. Midnight Cowboy

2. Fingerprinting

3. Sonny Bono

4. Rio

5. Yashmak

6. Locutus

7. Germany

8. Runway

9. The letter ‘e’

10. Mae West

11. Mexico

12. Ayers Rock

13. The Mona Lisa

14. Mustard gas

15. India

16. Lettuce

17. The Moon

18. Charlie Chaplin

19. John Lennon

20. Romeo and Juliet

Dream Team Top 10

1. Ernest Ackerman

2. Glenn Miller (“Chattanooga Choo-Choo”)

3. Symbolics.com

4. Hoyt Wilhelm (1952), NY Giant knuckleballer

5. Liza Minnelli (1973), Helen Hunt (1998), Helen Mirren (2006)

6. 38

7. t, o, a, w, b

8. E flat

9. Roberta Flack (1972-1973: The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face; Killing Me Softly With His Song); U2 (2001-2002: Beautiful Day; Walk On)

10. The Dark Knight

Pop Quiz Top Ten

1. Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers

2. Boyz II Men

3. John D. Hertz

4. Cent sign

5 Playboy Bunny

6. Posh, Baby, Sporty, Ginger, Scary