February is shaping up to be another tight month. Three teams are separated by one point and those three teams have vowed to shower each other with Valentine's Day gifts. We've always felt that trivia is the perfect place for love triangles. If we cannot manufacture real ones, we can at least manufacture a round on love triangles. One day. Not this week.

February 8th was not a good night for those suffering from pogonophobia, but if you knew what that was, you were set to win yourself three-fourths of a pint of a beer.

We missed some regulars. Where was Scottish Robin? Where was the Evil Mr. Phil? Where was Noah from the University of Inwood? Were they all still reveling over the Giants victory? Were they suddenly curious about the true meaning of Santorum after the former senator's victories on Tuesday night? Was another type of trivia triangle building? Yikes!

That said, welcome back to IMSA.

So, what were the rounds from Wednesday? The first round was an early word play round where you had to figure out the band from synonyms about their name. Most teams did well, but no one knew what Bhut Jolokia is. It's the hottest of all the Red Hot Chili Peppers. You thought it was Flea, didn't you?

Round two was by request. It was all about celebrities' children. However, Bill from the Ignorant Virtuosos, who requested the round, was in absentia. Another one intrigued by Santorum, perhaps?

Round three was a doozy. Teams were leveled by a round about Valentine's Day. We hope, at the least, they walked away a little wiser.

The second pint on us asked what plant was used to kill Baldur. Perhaps you once used it to get to first base.

Round four was also by request. It was all about the British Empire. It included a question about the thin red line, which was the answer to that morning's hint. The British Empire is something that English Mark from Seaman and Cumming would have aced. He wasn't there. Scottish Robin would have shouted Freedom! He wasn't there. Geoff from the Bunny Slipper? Nope. Absent.

In round five, Dr. Jordan pulled out A Huge Pile of Ship. It was the type of round that Phineas K. Turniphausen would love, but trivia regulars wouldn't.

Round six was the common bond and everything linked to Han Solo. Everyone except for the Bunny Slippers nailed the bond, but only three teams had a perfect ten, which introduced the most shocking part of the evening. In the chug off, champion chugger George from Motherboy XXX was almost bested by George Lucas of Woman and Husband. While George was ready to admit defeat, the quizmasters conferred and declared the chug a tie. In the tie breaker, order was restored and George bested George Lucas. Neither one of the them claimed the t-shirt. Alas.

That's when the Evil Mr. Phil burst through the glass doors to claim his ipod. The one we appropriated.

Congrats to Comrade Question on a terrific win.

Some recaps take longer to post than others.
Some quiz nights resist descriptions.
Some people will never have their druthers.
Some poems don't rhyme.

We're still getting comfortable with our new oversized quizmaster's table, so please forgive us if we seem to be adrift. And, I'd like to remind everyone that we still don't have a good name for the provisionally-named Quizmaster's Cup and are accepting suggestions.

We did indeed have a fantastic quiz last week with record attendance. But enough about that, in just two days we're going to have an even better quiz. Can you imagine? How exciting this must be for y'all?

See you in a couple days. Until then take deep breaths and try to remain calm.

It took until the end of the month, but January has really followed through on all its promise. We finally got some snow, the New York Football Giants are going to the Super Bowl, and we at the IRCPQ have just crowned our monthly winners!

I think we set a record for attendance, which is good for many reasons. Most importantly, lots of people will be able to say they were there the night the IRCPQ delivered its final polygamy round.* In the first half of the night we wished happy birthdays to Neil Diamond (the champion fencer) and Ernest Borgnine (the copilot of Airwolf). We also learned that the best way to counteract the Knights Who Say Ni is to simply say "it".**

The second half of the quiz began with naming the movie by its climax location, such as Devil's Tower, the Hill Valley Clock Tower, or Mt. Rushmore. OJ did a round on geometric geography, that included a question about Hunts Point's rampant prostitution.*** We finally wrapped up the night with the Common Bond Round™ which was all about Disney. Did you know that Walt Disney's final dying act was to write the name "Kurt Russell" on a piece of paper?

We ended the night with a tie in regulation between Semiannual University of Inwood Tailored Underpants Party and Treats and Snoozin. The three closest-answer tie-breaker questions all went to Treats and Snoozin, so they earned the weekly gift certificate. We also offer our congratulations to Treats and Snoozin for having the top score for January and winning the IRCPQ Monthly Prize Pack™ - this includes 2 tickets from AllShows, a cocktail created and named in their honor, and possession of the newly minted Quizmaster's Cappuccino Cup.

We'll have pictures of the QM Cup soon, and we are accepting bids for its naming rights. All offers will be accepted at next week's quiz where we'll once again try to separate the boffins from the hoddypeaks.

* - So long polygamy rounds, we'll all miss you.

** - We still don't know how to counteract quizmasters that ask questions about the Knights Who Say Ni.

*** - This makes me wonder what people think of me when I wear my Hunts Point Hustle t-shirt.

As the Evil Mr. Phil promised, the 18th of January was a doozy. Seldom does the 18th have a round where every other question is the same answer. In fact, the 18th is usually a good day not to discuss football and to learn a little about our 11th president. That's the type of discussion that will make you go home full of blond ambition.

Last night was a lot like other nights. There were two bespectacled, namesake quizmasters, two pints on us, six rounds of trivia and lots of beer chugged.

Unfortunately, last night lacked professionalism. Yours truly was not able to keep it together after playing the audio of a turtle having an orgasm.

So, if you weren't lucky enough to be there, what were the six rounds?

1. Lessons learned from movies
2. The 2011 NFL Season
3. Identify the celebrity appearance on The Simpsons
4. James K. Polk
5. Songs about titular women
6. The Common Bond all about Madonna.

Thanks for a great evening and we hope to see you next week when we crown a champ for the month.