Morgan’s trivia trips on stockings

LAKEVILLE — As any serious trivia player knows, sometimes it isn’t pretty.

The trivia game at Morgan’s, at the Interlaken Inn, on Thursday, Aug. 22 will go into the books, at least for some contestants, as “The Great Fishnet Controversy,” or “Socks vs. Stockings.”

Bruce Paddock of Berkshire Trivia runs the weekly game. The participants, including many regulars, arrive around 5:30 p.m., have a drink and order some dinner, and otherwise gird for battle, which commences at 6 p.m.

Cell phones are not allowed, for obvious reasons. And woe to the newbie who blurts out an answer. Such transgressions are met with severe shushing.

The questions get progressively more difficult, verging on downright sneaky.

So while everyone more or less sailed through the Dalmatian being the official dog of the National Fire Protection Association, and ibuprofen being the active ingredient of Advil, the first bumps came during the halftime question, which was to name up to six cities with Disney theme parks.

There is a clear demarcation line between age groups when it comes to Disney questions. The more seasoned players tend not to be au courant with the latest developments in the Magic Kingdom.

But the real stinker was the question about what a stocking with an open diamond weave pattern is called.

The crew that gave the answer “argyle” was focused, in error as it turned out, on the “diamond” part of the question.

They should have zeroed in on the word “stocking.” (As opposed to “sock.”)

The answer: Fishnets.

The argyle crew challenged but lost.

And that was pretty much that. Despite holding their own on matters such as the historical role of the tarantula in dance, or Queen Elizabeth’s mother’s title, it just wasn’t their night.