She's the quiz-master
Since taking over Final Score Trivia in 2007, Christy Wnuk-Fink has written more than 12,000 questions for the 20-some games played each week in Greater Baltimore.
Think about that for a second. 12,000 questions. It's a full time job, she says, and Final Score Trivia is the biggest live trivia company in the state.
Wnuk-Fink, who lives in Laurel, pours through reference books every week, searching for little bits of information that might make good questions.
Today's nightlife column is all about Wnuk-Fink and Final Score Trivia ...
Some of the questions Wnuk-Fink comes up with are serious head-scratchers.
For instance: "Within one either way, how many countries share a land border with Gabon?" I didn't even know what Gabon was (it's a country in Africa), let alone how many neighbors it has (three: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo).
Feel dumb yet? I do. But I feel that way a lot.
The flamingo next to Christy in the photo is named Victory. At some of the Final Score games, whichever team wins gets to put Victory on their table the following week.
"It's a badge of honor," Wnuk-Fink said.
Damn right.
(Baltimore Sun photo by Colby Ware)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
trivia makes me feel so dumb. has anyone ever cheated at bar trivia? your admissions will make me feel less dumb, so please-- confess here :)
Posted by: Samantha | April 2, 2010 10:57 AM
who am I kidding with that grammar? destined for trivia failure.
Posted by: Samantha | April 2, 2010 10:58 AM
You can doubt it if you like, but I actually knew that 3 countries border Gabon, so that post made me feel very smrt. Thanks Sam.
Posted by: The Baltimore Chop | April 2, 2010 12:11 PM
You can doubt it if you like, but I actually knew that "Chakotay" was a Star Trek character, so that column made me feel very nerdy. Thanks a lot Sam.
Also, anyone know of anywhere within the city or at least walking distance of a light rail/metro station to play?
Posted by: Mike D | April 2, 2010 1:32 PM
My team competed in a playoff game a few seasons ago. Christy was the host, and she reminded everyone that teams are limited to ten people.
We knew that ahead of time. We had our 8-month-old daughter with us, who technically made us a team of 11. Christy would not let us play because we had an 11th person, who happened to be 8 months old. She was very nasty about it, and I would never support her game. There are better trivia games out there.
Posted by: Jeff W | April 2, 2010 4:22 PM
Actually, Final Score doesn't count anyone against your player count until they reach the age of 8 years old. In fact, we provide items like crayons at trivia bowl to amuse players both old and young. I am a mother of 2 so my games are designed to never be unwelcoming to children and I would never count anyone under 8yrs (the point at which they might be a reasonable help to the team) against a team player count.
Posted by: christy | April 3, 2010 7:44 AM