File this one, without a doubt, under “geekathon”.

Two weeks ago I missed out on a general True Nerd trivia session, so when I heard their next round of questions was going to be Lord of the Rings-centric, I knew it would be something… special. I had no idea I’d win some pie! I joined Team Sea Cucumber and immediately avowed my weakness: I’m no Rings-trivia slouch, but I’m definitely no expert, either. I got told it didn’t matter, because one way or another, we were going to Eat Pie! Turns out Team Sea Cucumber has been bested by Team Treebeard for some time now, but after 4 incrementally-difficult rounds including topics like “Evil”, “Movies versus Books” and “Translate This” (not to mention a final “Asshole” bonus question each round), our teams stood gridlocked at 42 points each. A lightning round would decide the winner.

Sometimes a nerd’s esoteric knowledge frightens even me: each team’s captain took to answering 10 questions in 30 seconds – they don’t call it lightning round for nothing! After that, we still stood tied, with each team answering 9 of 10! Unbelievable that after 54 questions, and I mean TOUGH questions, these NerdNYC trivia-goers answered 51 questions correctly!

Super-nerdy post, I know, and if you’re so inclined they’re having a two-day game-a-thon, Recess, on January 15th and 16th in Manhattan. It’s a non-profit gathering of board gamers, wargamers and card gamers – here are photos from the 2009 Recess, and the nerd in me has already put this event into my new year’s calendar!

team Treebeard:

team Sinister Six:

team Sea Cucumber:

the other teams: